Theodora (senator)

Teodora and Marozia Theodora was a senator (in Latin: senatrix) and serenissima vestaratrix of Rome, mother of Marozia, who was the alleged concubine of Pope Sergio III, Teodora the Young, Theophilate, Bonifacio (in 870 - † 916) and Sergia, that although it was recognized by its husband everything makes suppose that it was daughter of Sergio III. Together with Teofilacto I, they controlled the city of Rome and the papacy at the beginning of the tenth century in the so-called Reign of Prostitutes.

Theodora was grandmother of John XI, son of Marozia (and according to Liutprando of Cremona and the Liber Pontificalis) and also of Sergio III. However, a third contemporary source, the analyst Flodoardo (c. 894-966), says that John XI was the brother of Count Alberico II of Spoleto, the latter being the son of Marozia and her husband Count Alberico I of Spoleto. Therefore John was also probably the son of Marozia and Alberico I.

Theodora was characterized by Liutprando of Cremona as "shameful whore ... [who] exercised power over Roman citizenship as a man." This bishop of Cremona was often described by the Catholic Encyclopedia as unjust to his adversaries and could show a partiality in his judgments. Seeing how many in the church were biased against the feminine domain, not everything that has been written by it can be taken as an indisputable truth.

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