BESSARION HIEROMONACHUS: IAMBI ON THE DEATH OF THE EMPRESS THEODORA
A Theodosius Zygomala relates, in a letter to Martin Crusius, an atrocious crime of the Emperor Constantine during the siege of Constantinople; namely, that he ordered his children, kinsmen, and relatives, who had been made partakers of the sacred mysteries, to be beheaded, lest they fall into Turkish slavery. It is said that after he had first imparted the sacred mysteries to his children, to the Empress, and to many relatives and kinsmen, he ordered them all to be beheaded, so they would not fall into the hands of the enemy alive. I do not know the name of this last Empress, although I have asked many; but no one could tell me the truth or show me any history.
This rumor is entirely false. For Constantine had no children, and his wives were already dead: the first, Theodora, daughter of Prince Charles; and the second, Catherine Catalusia, daughter of the lord of the island of Lemnos; and before he could take a third, a daughter of the King of the Iberians, with whom he had contracted marriage, the Turk invaded Constantinople and, having slain him, occupied the city. I have in my possession some sepulchral iambics on the first, Theodora, who had died in childbirth, written by Bessarion while he was still a hieromonk, as was the fashion of the age, and they are not ungraceful. So that you, reader, may escape boredom through variety and refresh your mind by a change of subject, I shall set them down here.
One might indeed say, without any hesitation, that she was a copy superior to any criticism of an image; a statue excelling in good things, alas, how many! A likeness of graces, a limit of prudence, an ornament of her line, and a most sumptuous feast spread out before all. The earth, having hidden her in this grave, shows her to all, lifeless, unbreathing, and destitute of all speech. O wonderful mystery! To her, who sprouted from the Latin race and sprang from an Italian root, her good progenitors and parents appeared as friends to such a shoot, and a great ornament to their own race.
And so, as she excelled in both lineage and character, she was joined in the bond of marriage to Constantine, a despot breathing Mars, a warrior experienced in conflicts, in depth of sense and mind; and she was worthy of the imperial bed and the title, of which she was not undeserving. Having lived with him for a very short time, she was translated to the heavenly mansions, leaving her life in the very pains of childbirth—that, departing from the sorrows of life, she might become a partaker of joy that never ceases in heaven, which time neither causes to wither nor obscures, indulging entirely in love and possessing the crown.
It is in vain, therefore, that we seek the name of the last Empress, for there was none. Nor do the others [belong to him, namely] Andrew, Manuel, and John, the sons of the Despot Thomas Palaiologos, who survived the destruction, as others relate. Although it is true that, on the night before that fatal destruction, the Emperor and other primary figures entered the most august temple of Saint Sophia, and there, with prayers and shed tears, partook of the sacraments and immaculate mysteries, and having returned to the palace, sought pardon from everyone; and only then did they gird themselves for battle.