Co-empress With Zoe
With Michael IV’s death in December 1041, Zoe adopted Michael’s nephew, who was crowned as Michael V. Although he promised to respect Zoe, he promptly banished her to a monastery on Princes' Islands on charges of attempted regicide. This treatment of the legitimate heir to the Macedonian Dynasty caused a popular uprising in Constantinople, and on 19 April 1042, the people dethroned Michael V in support of not only Zoe, but Theodora as well. Michael V, desperate to keep his throne, initially brought Zoe back from Princes’ Island and displayed her to the people, but his insistence that he continue to rule alongside Zoe was rejected. Key members of the court decided that flighty Zoe needed a co-ruler, and that it should be her sister Theodora. A delegation headed by the Patrician Constantine Cabasilas went to the monastery at Petrion to convince Theodora to become co-empress alongside her sister. Theodora rejected their pleas out of hand, and fled to the convent chapel to seek sanctuary. Constantine and his retinue pursued her, forcibly dragged her out and exchanged her monastic clothes for imperial ones. At an assembly at Hagia Sophia, the people escorted a furious Theodora from Petrion, and proclaimed her empress along with Zoe. After crowning Theodora, the mob stormed the palace, forcing Michael V to escape to a monastery.
Zoe immediately assumed power and tried to force Theodora back to her monastery, but the Senate and the people demanded that the two sisters should jointly reign. In her first act, Theodora was called upon to do what her sister would not—deal with Michael V. Zoe, weak and easily manipulated, wanted to pardon and free Michael. Theodora was made of firmer stuff; at first she guaranteed Michael’s safety before she ordered that Michael be blinded and spend the rest of his life as a monk. With Michael V dealt with, Theodora refused to leave Hagia Sophia until she had received word from Zoe, some 24 hours after Theodora had been crowned. Officially, while Theodora was the junior empress, and her throne was situated slightly behind Zoe’s in all public occasions, she was the driving force behind the joint administration. Both sisters then proceeded to administer the empire, focusing on curbing the sale of public offices and the administration of justice. Although Michael Psellus claimed the joint reign was a complete failure, John Scylitzes stated that they were very conscientious in rectifying the abuses of the previous reigns.
Although Theodora and Zoe appeared together at meetings of the Senate, or when they gave public audiences, it was soon apparent that their joint reign was under considerable strain. Zoe was still jealous of Theodora, and had no desire to administer the empire, but would not allow Theodora to conduct public business alone. The court soon began to split in two, with factions forming behind each empress. After two months of increasing acrimony between the two, Zoe decided to search for a new husband, thereby denying Theodora the opportunity to increase her influence, stemming from her sister’s obvious talents for governing. She eventually married Constantine IX Monomachos, on 11 June 1042, and the management of the empire reverted to him. Although officially Theodora and Zoe continued to be recognised as empresses and Theodora continued to appear at all official functions, all power devolved onto her brother-in-law. Nevertheless she was still able to exert some influence at court, as demonstrated by her ordering the arrest and blinding of John the Eunuch, the powerful minister who ran the courts of Romanos III, Michael IV and Michael V, and who had been living in exile after the fall of Michael V.
Constantine IX’s preferential treatment of his mistress in the early part of his reign saw rumours spread that he was planning to murder both Zoe and Theodora. This led to a popular uprising by the citizens of Constantinople in 1044, which was only quietened by the appearance of Zoe and Theodora at a balcony, who reassured the mob that they were not in any danger of assassination.
Read more about this topic: Theodora (11th Century)