Theophanu

Theophanu (956 - 991) (also known as Theophano) was born in Constantinople, was the wife of Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor. Her true parentage is a matter of some dispute -- the German emperor had requested a Greek princess for his son, Otto, to seal a treaty between the Holy Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire. Theophanu duly arrived in 972, and is identified in the marriage contract as the neptis (niece or granddaughter) of Emperor John I Tzimisces. However, no mention is made of her being a porphyrogenneta (Imperial daughter), nor are her parent's names given. It is unlikely that Theophanu was the daughter of any emperor -- the current theory is that her father was Konstantinos Skleros (brother of the pretender Bardos Skleros ) and her mother was Sophia Phokaina (niece of Emperor Nicephorus II and the sister of Tzimisces' wife Maria Skleraina).

Theophanu and Otto were married after April 14, 972. Their children were:

• Sophia, Abbess of Gandersheim, born 978
• Adelaide, Abbess of Quedlinburg, born 977
• Matilda of Saxony, born 978, and
• Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor, born 980

When Otto II died in 983, Theophanu reigned as Empress on behalf of her son Otto III until her death in 991, and was buried in Cologne. Because Otto III was still a child, his grandmother Adelaide of Italy took over the reign until Otto III became old enough to rule on his own.

Sources

Davids, A. The Empress Theophano: Byzantium and the West at the turn of the first millenium, 1995.