Poulcheria 1

Prosopography of the Byzantine Empire
SexF
FloruitM IX
ReligionChristian;
Iconophile
LocationsTa Gastria (Monastery of, Constantinople) (burialplace);
Ta Gastria (Monastery of, Constantinople) (exileplace);
Ta Gastria (Monastery of, Constantinople);
Constantinople (residence);
Ta Gastria (Monastery of, Constantinople) (residence);
Constantinople
OccupationNun
Textual SourcesConstantine Porphyrogenitus, De Ceremoniis Aulae Byzantinae Libri II, ed. J. J. Reiske, CSHB (Bonn, 1829); also ed. (in part) A. Vogt (Paris, 1935, repr. 1967) (history);
Genesii, Josephi, Regum Libri Quattuor, eds. A. Lesmüller-Werner and I. Thurn, CFHB 14 (Berlin, 1978) (history);
Georgius Monachus Continuatus, in Theophanes Continuatus, ed I Bekker (Bonn, 1839), pp. 761-924 (history);
Leo Grammaticus, Chronographia, ed. I. Bekker (Bonn, 1842) (chronicle);
Pseudo-Symeon, Chronographia, ed. I. Bekker (Bonn, 1838), pp. 603-760 (history);
Scylitzes, Ioannes, Synopsis Historiarum, ed. J. Thurn (Berlin, 1973) (history);
Theophanes Continuatus, ed. I. Bekker (Bonn, 1838) (history);
Zonaras = Ioannis Zonarae Epitome Historiarum, libri XIII-XVIII, ed. Th. Büttner-Wobst, (Bonn, 1897) (history)

Poulcheria 1 was the daughter of Theophilos 5 (the emperor Theophilos) and Theodora 2; the emperor Michael III (Michael 11) was her brother, and she had four sisters, Anastasia 2, Anna 2, Maria 4 and Thekla 1: Theoph. Cont. III 5 (p. 90), Leo Gramm. 237, Georg. Mon. Cont. 823, Ps.-Symeon 628, 658, Zon. XV 26. 4, Const. Porph., De Cer. II 42 (Reiske, 647). She and her sisters used to visit their grandmother (either Euphrosyne 1 or Theoktiste 1; probably the latter, since Euphrosyne 1 was their step-grandmother) in the monastery of Ta Gastria but they were stopped after Theophilos 5 discovered that they were being encouraged to venerate icons; it was Poulcheria 1, who was the youngest girl and not old enough to understand, who revealed the secret under questioning by her father: Ps.-Symeon 628 (Euphrosyne), Theoph. Cont. III 5 (pp. 90-91) (Theoktiste), Zon. XV 26. 4-8 (Theoktiste). After Michael 11 fell out with his mother, Poulcheria 1 was exiled from the palace with her sisters; because she was a favourite of their mother she was exiled to the monastery of Ta Gastria, where later her sisters were sent to join her and they were all tonsured: Leo Gramm. 237, Georg. Mon. Cont. 823, Ps.-Symeon 658, Zon. XVI 3. 4-6 (in Ta Gastria in the reign of Basil I (Basilios 7)), Genesius IV 11. She was buried in the Monastery of Ta Gastria in the same sarcophagus as her mother Theodora 2 and her sisters Thekla 1 and Anastasia 2: Const. Porph., De Cer. II 42 (Reiske, 647).

Poulcheria 1 was one of the children of Theodora 2 (τὰς τῆς Θεοδώρας ... παῖδας): Scyl., p.52, line 75. Poulcheria 1 had siblings Anna 2, Anastasia 2, Thekla 1 and Maria 4: Scyl., p.52, line 75. Poulcheria 1 was influenced by her mother's mother Theoktiste 1 and was drawn to the veneration of icons: Scyl., p.52, lines 76-81. Poulcheria 1 visited Theoktiste 1's house which was later to become the Gastrion monastery: Scyl., p. 52, lines 74-75. Poulcheria 1 had feelings of disgust for her father's heresy and was attracted to the form of the Holy Icons (αἵρεσιν ... εἰκόνων μορφάς): Scyl., p.52, lines 80-81. Because of her youth she betrayed the icons in Theoktiste 1's house to her father, Theophilos 5: Scyl., p.52, lines 89-93.

(Publishable link for this person: )