THEOPHANE, PRINCESS IN OTHONS' COURT

THEOPHANE, PRINCESS IN OTHONS' COURT. Staying in the centre of Ravenna: visit Ravenna.

Images:1,2,3) European Bysantine Art

A mark of admiration must be made to Theophane. Othon II's Byzantine wife became, after her husband's death in 983, empress of the Sacred Roman Empire, a title that she held for seven years.

Having become one of the most influential sovereigns in Europe, Theophane strengthened her imperial power in Lorena and in Italy; she conducted military campaigns against the Slavs, pacifying the Bohemians and Polish. She stayed in Ravenna several times, sending wedding negotiations for the young Othon III from our city.

On 1st April 990 she created a juridical-political precedent, with many official documents emerging, by signing herself as male "emperor": Theophanous Gratia Divina Imperator Augustus.

Theophane was hated by the men of her time: they slandered her for her private life, they condemned her affection for her fellow countrymen, they blamed her for the disastrous influence that she held over her husband, but above all they saw her as the great corruptor of the Germanic virtues. The terrible record left highlights the 10th-century West's deep dislike of what they saw of the elegant and refined East.

There was no love lost between the Latins and those excessively malleable, ingenious and subtle Greeks, whose superiority they both recognised and feared. The Empress Theophane was the first to experience this and when the Crusades multiplied contacts between them, the bad feeling between the Greeks and the Latins increased further.

Misunderstanding was rife between the Latins and Byzantines who never really liked each other either. Civilisation owes important progress to Byzantium, for whom Fate had in store a strange destiny: that of finding nothing but mistrust and ingratitude in those that it had served the most.

Prof.Gianni Morelli

The pleasure of fine accommodation in the centre of Ravenna: we recommend the Fabbri hotels for a pleasant stay as follows:

The Centrale Byron hotel, 3-star hotel in the centre of Ravenna;

The Bisanzio, 4-star hotel in the centre of Ravenna;

Once you have reached the hotel and parked your car, forget it and walk everywhere, because everything is within walking distance.

The railway station is near our hotels and within walking distance.

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