Euphrosyne – Byzantine Empress – Part 1
Countless numbers of women served in God’s kingdom throughout history. Even in the earliest centuries, women evangelized, prayed, taught, preached, went on pilgrimages, reigned over kingdoms, founded monasteries, and took care of the poor. These women contributed greatly to the Kingdom of God, not so they could be remembered, but so they could serve the Lord Jesus by serving others.
Our stories over the last few months have mainly been about women in the western part of the world because more of their writings have survived the ravages of time. We do have some historical writings from Byzantium, so in the last several weeks we have taken a trip towards the East to look at the lives of three Byzantine empresses – Irene, Euphrosyne, and Theodora (9th century). We needed two posts to cover the amazing life if Irene! The stories of these three empresses would make a good movie! Before we talk about the second of the three, Euphrosyne, let’s review a bit about icons. Icons are still very popular in some Eastern Orthodox churches. It is an important part of their history and understanding the issues helps to understand the changes in leadership in the Byzantine empire.
Note on Icons:
The use of icons has a long history. Some early church leaders in the Western and Eastern churches felt that the pictures of saints helped the common folk to learn the story of the gospel. Indeed, Pope Gregory the Great said that religious images were the “Bible of the illiterate”. Other theologians were against using images in worship. They believed that in the Old Testament images had been forbidden by God. After all, they reasoned, God had given us a written word and it should be sufficient. These objectors to the use of images were also worried that the images would be too easily worshipped in place of God. These two views remain with us today.
The picture on the left is of a very famous icon from the Byzantine era. Icons of Christ are the most
revered. This icon was at the Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia was built in the sixth century by Justinian[1] as an Orthodox cathedral. It remained a Christian cathedral until 1453 when Constantinople was captured by the Ottomans. Constantinople was renamed Istanbul and the church was converted to a Muslim mosque. Today it is a museum that you can visit. (See picture on the right.)
Euphrosyne – (793? – 836?)
Let’s review a bit. We learned from our last two posts that Irene became the sole ruler as Empress mother/Regent of Byzantium when her husband Leo IV died. She proved that she would be a strong, effective, and popular ruler as she protected her son’s throne, accumulated support, won military battles, lowered taxes, and spent time and money caring for the poor. Irene is still remembered as a devout empress who loved her people.
In 787 Irene found a bride for her only son, Constantine VI, Mary of Amnia. Mary bore two daughters, Irene (named after her paternal grandmother) and Euphrosyne. The girls would have been born between 789 and 794 but no records exist of actual dates. When Euphrosyne was born Constantine decided he was tired of waiting for a male heir and divorced Mary. He could only put her away on charges of treason, so he spread the lie that Mary was trying to poison him. Many, including the Patriarch found the accusation untrue and shameful. Nevertheless, Constantine succeeded in getting Mary convicted and exiled.
The empress mother Irene objected to this. The patriarch tried to talk Constantine out of it. Divorce was not allowed in the Orthodox religion. Actually, even the citizens of Constantinople felt that Constantine VI was sinning and most refused to recognize the divorce. Nevertheless, Constantine forced Mary and their two daughters to leave Constantinople in January 795 to go to a monastery. Only much later would the wrong be righted when Mary was exonerated, and Euphrosyne would return to Constantinople.
After this Irene and Constantine fought for control of the throne. The people and the leaders favored Irene. Constantine had not been an effective ruler. He lost battles, raised taxes, alienated top government officials, and the people were still angry about his divorce. Irene prevailed over Constantine and had him exiled in 797. Irene reigned for five more years. In October 802 there was a military supported coup d’etat. Irene was forcibly removed from the throne. The finance minister, Nikephoros assumed the throne. He was not a member of the royal family and it seemed to be the end of the Syrian dynasty.
Meanwhile, the exiled Euphrosyne was growing up in a monastery on a large island in the Princes Isles, Prinkipo. Her mother was forced to join the religious community. Mary and young Irene and Euphrosyne were virtually prisoners there. As royalty their housing was probably better than most. Prinkipo is a beautiful island with forests and rocks and beaches where the girls probably enjoyed playing. Mary and the girls no doubt had a nice apartment and maybe even some servants. The girls were taught to read and write by other nuns or tutors. Eventually, Euphrosyne likely took the vows to be a nun. At this stage in her life she probably thought she would be in a monastery until she died.
During their stay in the monastery, Mary kept in touch with what was going on in court through letters. The girls were probably aware of the conflict over icons. Euphrosyne would no doubt have been taught that she was a true daughter of Constantine and therefore a royal princess. Of coursed at this time of her life she could not foresee any other future than taking vows as a nun and spending the rest of her life in the monastery. When her sister Irene died, Euphrosyne became the only living descendant of Leo III, the last of the legitimate ruling dynasty. This fact will later play a significant part in her life.
After the coup d’etat of 802, when Euphrosyne’s grandmother Irene was forced off of the throne, Nikephoros I assumed control and he reigned from 802 to 811. Nikephoros would be the first of the next four emperors who succeeded to the throne by military might or rebel takeovers. The story of the changes in government over the next eighteen years reads like a good movie plot. While the men were fighting over the throne, Mary and her daughters, Irene and Euphrosyne were living peaceful lives away from the intrigues and bloodshed. We will pick up the story of the Byzantine empire in Part 2 next time with the takeover by Nikephoros in 802. Euphrosyne would be in seclusion for eighteen years during all the drama at court. It will have a happy ending for her.
[1] You can read about Justinian and Theodora, posted on this blog – September 10, 2019, “Christianity Women in the Medieval Era – Part 4”
