Editing Theophanu (section)

==Regency==
[[File:Eschwege_St._Dionys_119.JPG|thumb|upright|Modern statue at St Dionysius Church, [[Eschwege]].]]

===Consolidation of power===
Theophanu ruled the Holy Roman Empire as regent for a span of five years, from May 985 to her death in 991, despite early opposition by the Ottonian court. In fact, many queens in the tenth century, on an account of male rulers dying early deaths, found themselves in power, creating an age of greater diversity. Her power as queen, empress and regent was based on the basis of Saxon tradition (which assigned the women an equal role in the family), Byzantine influence (which presented a model of a female counterpart to the emperor) and her mother-in-law Adelaide's legacy.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Görich |first1=Knut |title=Imperial Ladies of the Ottonian Dynasty (reviewed by Knut Görich) – recensio.net |website=www.recensio.net |date=2021 |pages=89, 91–93 |url=https://www.recensio.net/rezensionen/zeitschriften/german-historical-institute-london-bulletin/vol-xliii-2021/2/ReviewMonograph715948032 |access-date=9 July 2022 |language=en |archive-date=15 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715211753/https://www.recensio.net/rezensionen/zeitschriften/german-historical-institute-london-bulletin/vol-xliii-2021/2/ReviewMonograph715948032 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Norris |first1=Harper J. |title=Empress Theophanu: The Politics of Power at the Intersection of Byzantium and the Ottonian Empire |date=2020 |publisher=University of Central Florida |pages=27, 29 |url=https://stars.library.ucf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1746&context=honorstheses |access-date=31 July 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mckitterick |first1=Rosamond |date=1993 |title=Ottonian intellectual culture in the tenth century and the role of Theophanu |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-0254.1993.tb00010.x |journal=Early Medieval Europe |language=en |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=53–74 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-0254.1993.tb00010.x}}</ref> Theophanu and her mother-in-law, Adelaide, are known during the empress' regency to have butted heads frequently—[[Adelaide of Italy]] is even quoted as referring to her as "that Greek empress."<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Ottonian Queenship|last=Maclean|first=Simon|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2017|isbn=978-0-19-880010-1|location=Oxford, United Kingdom}}</ref> However, according to historian and author Simon Maclean, Theophanu's rivalry with her mother-in-law is overstated. Theophanu's "Greekness" was not an overall issue. Moreover, there was a grand fascination with the culture surrounding Byzantine court in the west that slighted most criticisms to her Greek origin.<ref name=":1" />

Theophanu did not remain merely as an image of the Ottonian empire, but as an influence within the Holy Roman Empire. She intervened within the governing of the empire a total of seventy-six times during the reign of her husband Otto II—perhaps a foreshadowing of her regency.<ref name=":02"/> Her first act as regent was in securing her son, Otto III, as the heir to the Holy Roman Empire. Theophanu also placed her daughters in power by giving them high positions in influential nunneries all around the Ottonian-ruled west, securing power for all her children.<ref name=":02" /> She welcomed ambassadors, declaring herself "imperator" or "imperatrix", as did her relative contemporaries [[Irene of Athens]] and [[Theodora (wife of Theophilos)|Theodora]]; the starting date for her reign being 972, the year of her marriage to the late Otto II.<ref name="Davids (2002) 26, 38">Davids (2002), pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Db9Z_BagLw8C&pg=PA26 26], [https://books.google.com/books?id=Db9Z_BagLw8C&pg=PA38 38].</ref> Theophanu's regency is a time of considerable peace, as the years 985-991 passed without major crises.

===Internal peace, diplomacy, warfare and cultural achievements===
[[File:Muurschildering Theophanu door Gerco Hiddink en Maaike van den Heuvel, Veerpoorttrappen, Nijmegen.jpg|thumb|left|Theophanu, mural, Nijmegen]]

In the North, she made a treaty with King [[Eric the Victorious]], which promoted an alliance against Slavic tribes as well as reinforced trade and cultural connections. In the East, she sent envoys to [[Vladimir the Great]] of Kiev, who was married to the Byzantine princess Anna, sister of Emperor [[Basil II]]. Economou notes that, "Theophano had in mind a 'family of kings,' in parallel to Byzantine tradition: The emperor was the 'father' of other kings, who were his 'sons' and 'friends' (amici) in a kind of family hierarchy. She also adopted the Byzantine model of relations between the emperor and patriarch in her relations to the pope (Ostrogorsky 1956b). The 'family' of the western empire included the duke of Poland, [[Mieszko I]], Bohemia and Hungary".{{sfn|Economou|2021|p=9}} Her model of imperial rulership, influenced by Byzantine and Ancient Roman ideas, was taken over by Otto II and especially Otto III who developed it further (although his abrupt death at a very young age prevented it from becoming an established foundation for the future).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Weinfurter |first1=S. |title=Frühmittelalterliche Studien Band 33 |date=31 December 1999 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-242202-1 |pages=1–19 |doi=10.1515/9783112422021-002 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110242317.1/pdf |access-date=10 July 2022 |chapter=Kaiserin Adelheid und das ottonische Kaisertum |archive-date=15 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220715211755/https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/?next_url=/ezproxy/r/ezp.2aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVncnV5dGVyLmNvbS9kb2N1bWVudC9kb2kvMTAuMTUxNS85NzgzMTEwMjQyMzE3LjEvcGRm |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to historian [[Gerd Althoff]], Theophanu's prowess in diplomacy could be exaggerated. Royal charters present evidence that magnates were at the core of governing the empire. Althoff highlights this as unusual, since kings or emperors in the middle ages rarely shared such a large beacon of power with nobility.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Otto III|url=https://archive.org/details/ottoiii00alth|url-access=registration|last=Althoff|first=Gerd|publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press|year=2003|isbn=0-271-02232-9|location=University Park, Pennsylvania|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ottoiii00alth/page/n52 40]–42}}</ref>

Theophanu introduced Byzantine protocol, "which influenced dress, crowns and jewelry, eating habits and utensils, even furniture". Her retinue of scholars brought to the empire Byzantine lawyers' procedures. The cult of Saint Nicholas in the empire traces its origin from her too.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Economou |first1=Emmanouel/Marios/Lazaros |title=Kaiserin Theophano's: The political, economic and cultural deeds of a Byzantine princess who became empress of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation |date=2021 |publisher=University of Thessaly |url=https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/107530/1/MPRA_paper_107530.pdf}}</ref>
[[File:Sarcophagus-Theophanu-Cologne.jpg|200px|thumb|Sarcophagus of Empress Theophanu, [[Church of St. Pantaleon|St.&nbsp;Pantaleon]], [[Cologne]].]]

As she and her husband and her son promoted trade in the Empire, [[Magdeburg]] and its traders were granted various privileges. Historical evidences show strong commercial activities in regions from [[Lüneburg]] to [[Halle (Saale)|Halle]]. There are traces of Byzantine, Slavic as well as Arab traders.{{sfn|Economou|2021|p=10}}

As with many Byzantine monarchs, Theophanu preferred diplomacy, but she did wage wars when necessary and accepted personal risk. She carried out at least one (successful) military expedition herself, in 987, when she marched with an imperial army to assist the Prince-Bishop [[Notker of Liège]] against [[Odo I, Count of Blois]].{{sfn|Economou|2021|pp=10, 11}}

Due to illness beginning in 988, Theophanu eventually died at [[Nijmegen]] and was buried in the [[Church of St. Pantaleon]] near her [[wittum]] in [[Cologne]] in 991.<ref>Althoff, p. 50.</ref> The chronicler [[Thietmar of Merseburg|Thietmar]] eulogized her as follows: "''Though [Theophanu] was of the weak sex she possessed moderation, trustworthiness, and good manners. In this way she protected with male vigilance the royal power for her son, friendly with all those who were honest, but with terrifying superiority against rebels''."<ref name="Davids (2002) 46">Davids (2002), p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Db9Z_BagLw8C&pg=PA46 46].</ref>

Because Otto III was still a child, his grandmother [[Adelaide of Italy]] took over the regency until Otto III became old enough to rule on his own.