Theodora

Theodora (Greek: Θεοδώρα; c. 815 – c. 867), sometimes called Theodora the Armenian or Theodora the Blessed, was Byzantine empress as the wife of Byzantine emperor Theophilos from 830 to 842. Following Theophilos's death, the widowed Theodora acted as regent for the couple's young son, Michael III, until her son deposed her in 856.

In 830, Theodora married Theophilos, becoming Byzantine empress consort and giving birth to seven children. Theodora, as an iconophile, held contrasting beliefs from her iconoclast husband during a period of intense conflict over the veneration of religious images. Nevertheless, while on his deathbed in 842, Theophilos named Theodora as regent for their then-two-year-old son Michael III. Theophilos designated a selection of advisors to assist the empress regent, most notably the logothete and eunuch Theoktistos, who would become one of Theodora's closest confidantes.

Throughout her son's minority, Theodora proved an able regent over the empire. Though her rule saw the loss of most of Sicily and failure to retake Crete, she also oversaw several successful foreign policy measures that secured the empire against threats from the neighboring Bulgarian Empire and Abbasid Caliphate. She is perhaps best known for bringing an end to the second Byzantine Iconoclasm (814–843), an act for which she is recognized as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

As Michael III grew older, he came to fear and resent the authority his mother held over the empire and successfully had her deposed in 856, declaring himself sole emperor. Theodora continued to live in the imperial palace until 857 or 858, when she was expelled and confined to a convent in Gastria alongside some of her daughters. She may have been released from the convent around 863 and allowed to take some form of ceremonial role. She died some time after Michael III was murdered by his friend and co-emperor, Basil I.

Source: Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodora_(wife_of_Theophilos)