This relationship was promoted by Marozia ’ s mother, Theodora, and the result of this affair was a male child who would in time become Pope John XI ( 931 – 935 ).

The question of whether Theophylact and Theodora needed to tie Sergius to them by such means, particularly when Sergius was already deeply indebted to them for his elevation to the papacy, as well as wasting Marozia in a relationship when, as the daughter of an important house, she would have been a valuable tool to link via marriage to another noble house, is open to debate.

This " pornocracy " was an age with women in power: Theodora, whom Liutprand characterized as a " shameless whore ... exercised power on the Roman citizenry like a man " and her daughter Marozia, the mother of Pope John XI and reputed to be the mistress of Sergius III, largely upon a remark by Liutprand.

Edward Gibbon wrote of her that the " influence of two sister prostitutes, Marozia and Theodora was founded on their wealth and beauty, their political and amorous intrigues: the most strenuous of their lovers were rewarded with the Roman tiara, and their reign may have suggested to darker ages the fable of a female pope.

From this description, the term " pornocracy " has become associated with the effective rule in Rome of Theodora and her daughter Marozia through male surrogates.

Then in 925 Theophylact of Tusculum and Alberic I of Spoleto also died ; this meant that within the course of a year, three of Pope John ’ s key supporters had died, leaving John dangerously exposed to the ambitions of Theophylact ’ s daughter, Marozia, who, it was said, resented John ’ s alleged affair with her mother Theodora.

Theodora and Marozia, one John X ’ s reputed lover, the other his reputed murderer

His characterisation of John as an unscrupulous cleric who slept his way to the papal chair, becoming the lover of Theodora, and who held the throne of Saint Peter as a puppet of Theophylact I, Count of Tusculum until he was murdered to make way for Marozia ’ s son Pope John XI, has coloured much of the analysis of his reign, and was used by opponents of the Catholic Church as a propagandist tool.

* Theodora ( senatrix ), Roman senatrix and mother of Marozia ; concubine to Pope Sergius III.

His wife Theodora and daughters, Theodora and Marozia held a great influence over the papal selection and religious affairs in Rome through conspiracies, affairs, and marriages.

Liutprand affirms that Marozia arranged the murder of her former lover Pope John X ( who had originally been nominated for office by Theodora ) through her then husband Guy of Tuscany possibly to secure the elevation of her current favourite as Pope Leo VI.

* Pope John X ( 914 – 928 ), alleged lover of Theodora ( the mother ), allegedly killed by Marozia

Theophylact had two daughters with Theodora: Marozia and Theodora.

Theodora ( circa 870 – 916 ) was a senatrix and serenissima vestaratrix of Rome, mother of Marozia, alleged concubine to Pope Sergius III.

Theodora was a grandmother of Pope John XI, a son of Marozia and — according to Liutprand of Cremona and the Liber Pontificalis — Pope Sergius III.

A considerable number of Monophysite bishops from all parts of the East, including Theodosius of Alexandria, Anthimus the deposed patriarch of Constantinople, Constantius of Laodicea, John of Egypt, Peter and others, who had come to Constantinople in the hope of mitigating the displeasure of the emperor and increasing the sympathies of Theodora, were held by Justinian in one of the imperial fortresses under house arrest.

Despite the fact that Theophilus was an iconoclast, Theodora held fast to the veneration of icons which she kept in her chambers in the imperial palace.

The principal writer was John Philoponus, the great Aristotelian commentator ; the leaders were two bishops, Conon of Tarsus and Eugenius of Seleucia in Isauria, who were deposed by their comprovincials and took refuge at Constantinople where they found a powerful convert and protector in Athanasius the Monk, a grandson of the Empress Theodora.

In Oz: the Great and Powerful, when Oscar Diggs ( James Franco ), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he ’ s hit the jackpot — fame and fortune are his for the taking — that is until he meets three witches, Theodora ( Mila Kunis ), Evanora ( Rachel Weisz ), and Glinda ( Michelle Williams ), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone ’ s been expecting.

The alliance was more favourable to Byzantium than Jerusalem, as Baldwin was forced to recognize Byzantine suzerainty over Antioch, and if Theodora were to be widowed she would be provided the city of Acre.

Late 14th-early 15th century icon illustrating the " Feast of Orthodoxy | Triumph of Orthodoxy " under the Byzantine empress Theodora ( wife of Theophilos ) | Theodora over iconoclasm.

John and Theodora competed for influence over Emperor Justinian and each brought forth accusations concerning their rival's activities.

It is now believed that Theodora ’ s influence over Theophylact was overstated by misogynistic contemporary chroniclers such as Liutprand of Cremona, who wished to exaggerate the corruption of the Roman and Papal court, as a counterpoint to rulers such as Alberic I of Spoleto, and the future emperor Otto I, whom Liutprand later served.

Later historians, influenced by the moral tone of this critique, described the influence of Theodora and her descendants over the papacy as the “ Pornocracy ” or the “ Rule of the Harlots ”.

Some years later Theodora and her children were captured and handed over to the emperor Manuel, who kept them in Constantinople as a bait to encourage Andronikos to return to his Byzantine allegiance.

Theodora, widow of the Emperor Theophilus ( died 842 ), acted as regent during the minority of her son Michael III, who was said to have been introduced to dissolute habits by her brother Bardas.

The iconoclast controversy returned in the early 9th century, only to be resolved once more in 843 during the regency of Empress Theodora, who restored the icons.

Constantine XI married twice: the first time on 1 July 1428 to Theodora Tocco, niece of Carlo I Tocco of Epirus, who died in November 1429 ; the second time to Caterina Gattilusio, daughter of Dorino of Lesbos, who also died, during childbirth, in 1442.

This coin struck during the regency of Theodora ( 9th century ) | Theodora shows how Michael was less prominent than his mother, who is represented as ruler alone on the obverse, and even less than his sister Thecla, who is depicted together with the young Michael on the reverse of this coin.

She received five Best Actress nominations during her career: for Cimarron ( 1931 ), Theodora Goes Wild ( 1936 ), The Awful Truth ( 1937 ), Love Affair ( 1939 ) and I Remember Mama ( 1948 ).

John X was the first pope buried within the walls of Rome, granted such a prominent burial due to rumors that he was murdered by Theodora, during a historical period known as the Pornocracy.

It was alleged by Liutprand of Cremona that John became her lover during a visit to Rome ; it has also been speculated that John was related to either Theodora or Theophylact.

Antonina was often with him during these years, and Graves uses stories about her connections to the court of the emperor Justinian and his empress Theodora to incorporate political intrigue and other information into the story of Belisarius ' military exploits.

Teddy had been an artist as a teenager and during the series launched a career as a fashion designer, which led to a relationship with British millionaire Simon Bolt ( Mark Frankel ) who purchased and eventually sold her fashion company ( then named " Theodora Reed "; Teddy then opened a new fashion company under the name " Teddy Reed ," only to be ousted by her shareholders in season six and reopen yet again under the name T. R .).

For this purpose, he marched to Trebizond during Emperor John II Comnenus ’ absence at Constantinople in April 1282 ; and although he failed to take the city, the Georgians occupied several provinces and helped John ’ s half-sister Theodora, daughter of Manuel I of Trebizond by his Georgian wife, Roussudan ( Rusudan ), seize the throne in 1285, only to be put suddenly to flight.

During the course of the investigation into the ship ’ s sinking, representatives of MTL theorized that the ship ran aground during her maneuvering to help the Theodora, fatally damaging the hull.

Emperor Trajan let build a number of fortications in the area during Roman times, as the well-known Trajan's Bridge ( Pontes was built on the Serbian side, Theodora was built on the Romanian side ).

Although Andronikos was at that time fifty-six years old, age had not diminished his charms, and Theodora became the next victim of his artful seduction.

During this time the queen dowager, Baldwin III's widow Theodora, eloped with her cousin Andronicus to Damascus, and Acre, which had been in her possession, reverted back into the royal domain of Jerusalem.

Although Presian was blinded and then sent to a monastery, Theodora was not condemned, but in 1031 she was again implicated in another conspiracy, this time with Constantine Diogenes, the Archon of Sirmium.

In order to obtain a wife more consonant with his rising status, Constantius divorced Helena some time before 289, when he married Theodora, Maximian's daughter.

During this time, he spent his leisure at the home of his uncle Bob Cowper, where he fell in love with his cousin Theodora, whom he wished to marry.

However, in 1187, Conrad also left for the East: Isaac II Angelus had offered his sister Theodora to Boniface as a wife, to renew the family's Byzantine alliance, but Boniface had just married for the second time, while Conrad was a recent widower.

His other plays and poetry ( e. g. Amyntor and Theodora ), popular at the time, are largely forgotten ( see Samuel Johnson's Lives of the Poets ), but he was a significant enough figure to be chosen by Bolingbroke as his literary executor.

Around this time Bohemond left his wife Theodora, a niece of the recently-deceased Emperor Manuel, and married a woman named Sibylla, " who had the reputation of practicing evil arts " according to William of Tyre.

After a year of marriage, Josiah is well enough to visit Paris, where Theodora sees her father, Dominic, again for the first time since her wedding.

Mrs. McBride is aware of Theodora's unhappy marriage, and seeing the situation she sympathetically arranges for Hector and Theodora to spend time together as often as possible.

“ It was clear to the labour movement at that time that its lowest paid members were dying because they couldn ’ t afford medicines ,” says Theodora Steel, Campaigns Coordinator at COSATU.

He was the eldest son of Alexios I of Trebizond and Theodora Axuchina, and was perhaps still a minor at the time of his father's death in 1222, as the throne passed to his brother-in-law, Andronikos I Gidos.

It was at this time, however, that their daughter Eirene married Alexios, an illegitimate son of Emperor Manuel I by of Theodora Vatatzina.

At this time, too, Theodora interceded with Andronikos to pay the ransom for her nephew, Isaac, a former Byzantine governor of Isauria now a captive in Armenia ; Andronikos afterwards regretted doing so, since Isaac rebelled and seized control of Cyprus.

Born in Lovech in 1324 or 1325, Ivan Sratsimir was the second son of Theodora and Ivan Alexander ( r. 1331 – 1371 ), who was despot of Lovech at the time.