mary reed | Author Suzanne Adair

Empress Theodora: Saint, Sinner, or Both?

Posted on October 9, 2018 by suzanneadairOctober 9, 2018

Relevant History welcomes back Mary Reed, who, with Eric Mayer, co-authors the John, Lord Chamberlain, Byzantine mystery series and, writing under the transparent nom de plume Eric Reed, the Grace Baxter mysteries, set in WWII England. An Empire for Ravens, John’s latest adventures, will be published by Poisoned Pen Press in October 2018. To learn more about her and her books, visit her web site, blog, and author page, and follow her on Twitter.

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The depiction of Empress Theodora in our John, Lord Chamberlain mysteries is based on her character as described in contemporary historian Procopius’ Secret History.

Justinian I ruled the Byzantine Empire from 527 to 565, and once married to him, Theodora was in effect co-ruler and thus in a position help the downtrodden in various ways—and women in particular.

According to late legend she was spinning wool and living a virtuous life when Justinian, heir to the throne via his uncle Emperor Justin I, fell in love with her. We might well speculate how likely it was their paths would cross given their disparate social positions and especially her colourful past.

A notorious act
Theodora had been an actress, regarded as synonymous with prostitution. Procopius mentions her notorious semi-naked act presenting the story of Leda and the Swan, in which trained fowl pecked grain from her groin. Even before that, according to his Secret History, when prepubescent she worked in a brothel servicing customers while “still too young to know the normal relation of man with maid, but consented to the unnatural violence of villainous slaves…” Common gossip had it Theodora worked her way back to Constantinople by prostitution after being cast off by a man named Hecebolus, whom she had accompanied abroad when he became governor of Pentapolis in North Africa.

Procopius is a venomous writer, but there appears to be some truth in his allegations. John of Ephesus was a Monophysite bishop and therefore adhered to the belief Christ had but one nature, a theological distinction causing significant upheaval in the church for years. He would surely would be grateful to Theodora, who provided refuge for a number of his fellow co-religionists, going so far as to hide them in Constantinople’s Hormisdas Palace and extracting a promise from Justinian he would protect them after her death. Nevertheless, John mentions in his Ecclesiastical History that Theodora had a daughter before her marriage, and in his Lives of the Eastern Saints refers to her in an offhand manner as “Theodora who came from the brothel.”

A stumbling block overcome
But love is blind and Justinian wished to marry her. The major stumbling block was it was illegal for an actress and a man of Justinian’s rank to marry. The law had to be changed to get around the difficulty, but the problem was Euphemia, Justin’s wife, was set against such a marriage. She herself had been a slave, purchased by Justin well before he ever had any notion he would rise to be emperor. As empress Euphemia staunchly upheld imperial dignity, and it was not until she was dead that the needed legislation could be passed.

It laid down “…women who had devoted themselves to theatrical performances, and, afterwards having become disgusted with this degraded status, abandoned their infamous occupation and obtained better repute, should have no hope of obtaining any benefit from the Emperor, who had the power to place them in the condition in which they could have remained, if they had never been guilty of dishonorable acts, We, by the present most merciful law, grant them this Imperial benefit under the condition that where, having deserted their evil and disgraceful condition, they embrace a more proper life, and conduct themselves honorably, they shall be permitted to petition Us to grant them Our Divine permission to contract legal marriage when they are unquestionably worthy of it.”

Marriage brings power
Justinian and Theodora were therefore able to marry. As empress Theodora is regarded as having a hand in legislation helping those forced into prostitution, some of them only children or country girls sold by their impoverished parents or lured to the city with fine promises of a better life. It is not unlikely this was so, given both her past and Justinian’s statement that “Having reflected upon all these matters, and discussed them with Our Most August Consort whom God has given Us…We enact the present law,” in this case one forbidding the purchase of office.

Justinian’s law against pandering declared “No one shall carry on the trade of pandering, prostitute women in his house or in public for gratification of the passions, or do any other act to that end.” It commanded guilty parties to leave Constantinople, providing that “if any one hereafter takes a girl against her will and keeps her force in order to make money for himself by meretricious traffic, shall be arrested by the worshipful praetors of this fortunate city and visited with the extremest penalty.”

Help for the downtrodden
Theodora made other efforts to help these unfortunate women. An imperial building on the Asian side of the Bosphorus became a refuge known as Metanoia (repentance), and about five hundred former prostitutes were sent there. Procopius waspishly declares residency was not a matter of choice for these women, and some committed suicide by throwing themselves from a height, but he does not deny Theodora’s role in the matter.

Theodora was involved in other good works such as founding hospices and an orphanage, repairing holy buildings, charitable giving, and so on. These acts are acknowledged by an inscription in the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus in Istanbul, referring to her as “God-crowned Theodora whose mind is bright with piety, whose toil ever is unsparing efforts to nourish the destitute.” Justinian was just as active in attempts to better the life of his subjects, including judicial reforms and an extensive building programme covering public works, defences, and numerous churches, most notably the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. It is worth noting the imperial couple are regarded as saints by the Eastern Orthodox Church.

It appears Theodora’s marriage to Justinian was a true love match. Even Procopius in his History of the Wars admits this to be the case, referring to Justinian’s “extraordinary love” for her. It seems to be the truth, for Justinian did not remarry after Theodora died in 548, although he survived her by seventeen years.

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A big thanks to Mary Reed. She’ll give away an electronic copy (ePub format) of An Empire for Ravens to someone who contributes a comment on my blog this week. I’ll choose the winner from among those who comment by Friday at 6 p.m. ET. Delivery is available worldwide.

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Operation Pied Piper: the Evacuation of British Children

Posted on June 21, 2016 by suzanneadairJune 21, 2016

Relevant History welcomes back Mary Reed aka Eric Reed, pseudonym for Mary Reed and Eric Mayer, co-authors of the John, Lord Chamberlain, mystery series set in 6th century Byzantium. Murder in Megara, the eleventh entry, was published in October 2015 by Poisoned Pen Press. The Guardian Stones, a World War Two mystery set in rural Shropshire, England, appeared in January 2016 from the same publisher. To learn more about them and their books, visit their web site and blog, and follow them on Twitter (Mary and Eric.)

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This past month or two the news has been full of reports of evacuations from wild fires or floods, but they pale by comparison to the voluntary evacuation of about twenty percent of British children on the very eve of World War Two. Other evacuations occurred later, but this was the first event of its kind and the largest mass movement of civilians carried out in the UK.

Ministry of Health poster 2 Planning for the event had begun in May 1938 as it became increasingly obvious the outbreak of hostilities was inevitable. Hansard, the official record of the proceedings in Parliament, reported work on the task in hand 2 February 1939. During a House of Commons debate on air raid precautions, in response to a question from the MP representing a Tyneside town, the Lord Privy Seal stated plans were then in preparation for evacuating Newcastle-on-Tyne and Gateshead schoolchildren.

Newcastle-on-Tyne being my (Mary) birth city, naturally I was interested how the situation was handled there, and details will serve as an example of arrangements put in hand all over the country.

Dress rehearsals
Staggering logistical problems faced those organising the nation-wide evacuation of children as part of the unfortunately-named Operation Pied Piper.

Just how complex these plans were can be gleaned by perusing “Evacuation of Civilian Population from Newcastle and Gateshead In The Event of Emergency.” The document was sent in mid-August 1939 to local authorities in Newcastle-on-Tyne and Gateshead by the London & North-East Railway, which was to carry out evacuation over the course of two days.

Schoolchildren accompanied by their teachers and helper-volunteers were to leave on the first day, with passengers on the second composed of what were termed special classes, these being predominantly mothers with children too young to attend school. Payment for evacuating trains was agreed between the railway and the Ministry of Transport.

To familiarise all concerned with what they should do and where they should go when the day arrived, a dress rehearsal was held in late August 1939 in the two cities.

The LNER booklet includes a chilling note that “Should hostilities begin before evacuation is completed the pre-arranged plan may require to be modified”. In the event, changes were not necessary but it was a close-run thing. The official order for evacuation to begin was issued in the late morning of 31 August 1939, and the first two days of September saw the removal of children from the two cities to rural areas of Westmoreland, Cumberland, Yorkshire, and Northumberland.

Only just in time: war was declared on 3 September 1939.

Even a glance at the LNER booklet provides a hint of the massive planning and coordination effort between local authority officials, schools, the police, railway personnel, and others needed to get children at risk away from Tyneside.

o District Evacuation Officers were made responsible for arrangements for the evacuation of schools in their specific districts. They were also to serve as liaison between individual railway stations and the schools being evacuated therefrom.
o Coloured armlets would identify the roles of those wearing them. Thus Newcastle-on-Tyne Evacuation Officers would wear blue armlets, and teachers white ones.
o All passengers were to be labeled or ticketed as proof they were permitted to travel on the evacuating trains.
o The railway’s Liaison Officers would have sole charge of entraining and would work with the Evacuation Officers when the official order to evacuate had been issued.
o Medical personnel were to be available at each station in case children become distressed.
o The public and mothers of the children evacuated on the first day were not to be allowed on the platforms during evacuation.

There must have been many tears at parting and in the temporary homes to which evacuees were sent. Their experiences were varied to say the least. Some met nothing but kindness, others were ill-treated, sometimes physically abused. Some who were homesick or unhappy at being sent away from their families absconded in an attempt to rejoin them, though others were reportedly relieved to be living away from their old homes due to bad conditions or neglect there. Indeed, a number of children arrived with less than the minimum of recommended luggage. Not every family could afford to send their children off with spare clothing, a warm coat, or even such basic necessities as a toothbrush and handkerchiefs.

Not all children were sent away
Ministry of Health poster 1 Many parents kept their children at home because they did not want to be separated from them. Another factor in their decision was the difficulty and expense of the travel needed for them to visit their evacuated children. Some evacuees were brought back when they fell ill or had accidents and older children who had contributed to the family income returned as they were still needed to do so.

In response to a question put to the Minister of Health on 1 February 1940 concerning how many unaccompanied children had returned to certain cities, the Minister reported a January estimate had noted that of 28,300 children evacuated from Newcastle-on-Tyne, 14,000 were already back in the city. There does not seem to be any comparable figure readily available for Gateshead, from which 10,598 children had been sent away, but in both cities 71 percent of eligible schoolchildren were evacuated.

Birmingham, another major industrial city, sent over 25,000 schoolchildren to safer areas. In The Guardian Stones, published as by Eric Reed, we introduced a handful of trouble-making evacuee children from Birmingham whose behaviour made them not particularly welcomed by the residents of Noddweir, a remote Shropshire village near the Welsh border. The second book in the series is now being written and will take Grace Baxter, one of the main characters in The Guardian Stones, to wartime Newcastle-on-Tyne.

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The Guardian Stones book cover A big thanks to Eric Reed. They’ll give away an ebook copy of The Guardian Stones to someone who contributes a comment on my blog this week. I’ll choose the winner from among those who comment by Friday at 6 p.m. ET. Delivery is available worldwide.

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The Winner of Ten for Dying

Posted on March 24, 2014 by suzanneadairMarch 24, 2014

Anna Castle has won a copy of Ten for Dying by Mary Reed. Congrats to Anna Castle!

Thanks to Mary Reed for the interesting look at spontaneous combustion. Thanks, also, to everyone who visited and commented on Relevant History this week. Watch for another Relevant History post, coming soon.

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Fiery Death: Spontaneous Combustion in Literature and Life

Posted on March 18, 2014 by suzanneadairMarch 17, 2014

Relevant History welcomes back Mary Reed. She and Eric Mayer contributed several stories to mystery anthologies and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine prior to 1999’s One For Sorrow, the first novel about their protagonist John, Lord Chamberlain to Emperor Justinian I. Ten for Dying, the latest entry in a series Booklist Magazine named as one of its “Four Best Little Known Series,” will be published in March 2014 by Poisoned Pen Press. Find out more about the authors on their web site.

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As Two for Joy opens, our protagonist Lord Chamberlain John sees a remarkable sight during a thunderstorm in Constantinople: a stylite, one of those holy men who spend their lives perched atop a column, bursts into flames.

Argument about the cause of spontaneous human combustion has raged in scientific publications and the public prints for at least the past couple of centuries. In Familiar Letters On Chemistry, In its Relations To Physiology, Dietetics, Agriculture, Commerce, and Political Economy (1861), Justus Liebig observed with some irritation that a cause not understood is used to explain an occurrence also not understood, the theory being disease causes accumulation of combustible gas in cellular tissue which “when kindled by an external cause, by a flame, or by the electric spark, effects the combustion of the body.”

Another “electric spark” theory was earlier advanced by F. J. A. Strubel in an 1848 work, The Spontaneous Combustion of the Human Body, With Especial Reference to its Medico-legal Significance, which speculates if electricity is accumulated in the body and subsequently discharged, spontaneous combustion may occur.

J. G. Millingen’s Curiosities of Medical Experience (1839) covers several of the better known cases, among them a priest whereby circumstances “…would seem to warrant the conclusion that the electric fluid was the chief agent in the combustion.” Millingen mentions hydrogen gas, which one expert notes can develop in those who suffer certain diseases, with combustion resulting from a uniting of hydrogen and electricity, presumably meaning static electricity as sometimes occurs when we disrobe.

Tipplers beware!
A remarkable letter to the editor from one A. Booth of Colchester in the September 15, 1832 issue of The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction links drinking to spontaneous combustion via witchcraft.

Citing the 1744 case of Grace Pitt, an Ipswich fishmonger’s wife, Booth states Grace was said to be a witch, adding it was well-known witchcraft could only destroy certain parts of bodies and some members could be protected against such spells. That Grace’s hands and feet were not consumed when she caught fire was attributed by country people to just such a spell—did he mean dueling witches were involved? He further opines old ladies said to be witches were so-called from “…their excessive devotion to spirituous liquors, which…[in every case has] been found to predispose to spontaneous combustion…”

An unsigned article on Temperance and Teetotal Societies in the April 1853 issue of Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine relates John Anderson, a carrier, was found burnt to death in a roadside field. He was last seen in an extremely intoxicated state smoking a pipe. It is conjectured a spark from his pipe ignited alcohol fumes from his drinking and thus combustion occurred.

A letter in the October 6, 1832 issue of the same magazine from W.A.R. of St Pancras, London, argues calling such cases spontaneous is incorrect, mentioning Pierre Aimee Laire’s Essay on Human Consumption from the Abuse of Spirituous Liquors, which states such cases occur when an imbibing individual’s breath came into contact with a flame. W.A.R’s theory is since Grace enjoyed an evening pipe and having lately consumed spirits, while lighting her pipe her breath caught fire and set fire to her spirit impregnated body.

The connection between death by burning and drinking, leading to carelessness with lamps and so forth, is so obvious it’s hardly worth mentioning, but what about someone known to eschew all spirituous liquors? The insinuation given is the victim was probably a secret tippler.

Used as defense in murder trial
In possibly the most inventive pleading heard in a criminal case, spontaneous combustion was advanced as causing the death of a countess in June 1847. A household servant eventually confessed to strangling her when discovered stealing her jewels, surrounding her with inflammable material, and setting it alight. Convicted of robbery, murder, and arson, he later obtained a free pardon—on condition he emigrated to America, according to Sabine Baring-Gould’s Historic Oddities and Strange Events (1889).

An anonymous article in the April 1861 issue of Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine points out actual evidence of the phenomenon was not known because all cases occurred when the person was alone and therefore nobody could know what had happened. However, attempts to explain the phenomenon continue.

The debate continues
In 2012 Professor Brian J. Ford of Cambridge University suggested acetone as a feasible cause of spontaneous combustion. It seems under some conditions such as diabetes, alcoholism, certain diets, or teething, the body creates the highly inflammable substance. He reports acetone-soaked pork tissue was used to make scale models of humans that were dressed and set alight, being reduced to ashes within thirty minutes.

Another explanation was advanced by Dr Matthew Ponting of the University of Liverpool in a TV documentary last year. He investigated Tutankhamun’s mummification, and it appears those carrying out the process did not follow the correct procedure or else made a mistake. Examination of the pharaoh’s skin under a scanning electron microscope showed carbonization, thought to be the result of a combination of oxygen, the linen used in the process, and embalming oils. As a result, he said, Tutankhamun’s body appears to have “cooked” soon after it was mummified.

Moving from science and crime to spontaneous human combustion as a plot device, the best known instance is the fiery death of the tippler Krook, collector of rags, papers, etc., as described in Dickens’ Bleak House. Given our stylite was unlikely to be drinking spirituous liquors, we provided a different explanation for his terrible death in keeping with the limitations of the era.

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A big thanks to Mary Reed. She’ll give away a .pdf copy of Ten for Dying to someone who contributes a comment on my blog this week. I’ll choose the winner from among those who comment by Friday at 6 p.m. ET.

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Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.

Mythraic Myths

Posted on February 7, 2012 by AdminDecember 2, 2013

Relevant History welcomes historical mystery author Mary Reed. She and Eric Mayer contributed several stories to mystery anthologies and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine prior to 1999’s One For Sorrow, the first novel about their protagonist John, Lord Chamberlain to Emperor Justinian I. Two For Joy, a Glyph Award winner and IPPY Best Mystery Award finalist, followed. Four For A Boy and Five For Silver (Glyph Award for Best Book Series) were Bruce Alexander History Mystery Award nominees. Nine For The Devil is the latest entry in a series Booklist Magazine named as one of its Four Best Little Known Series. For more information, check their author blogs here and here.

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Persecution of both Christians and pagans in the Roman Empire ended during the reign of Constantine the Great when an edict of tolerance was issued in 313. Under the Edict of Milan, freedom of worship was granted to all.

For believers of all stripes, this happy state of affairs changed under the rule of Theodosius I. In 380, an imperial edict was issued making Christianity the state religion, with adherents to other faiths declared heretics. Persecution followed.

Mithraism was among the proscribed religions, and is of particular interest to me as co-author of an historical mystery series whose protagonist, Lord Chamberlain John, is a Mithran serving in the officially Christian court of Justinian I.

Mithra was a god of light. The religion had roots in Persia, and even before its prohibition, adherents worshiped in secret in underground one-room temples. Mithraism was a mystery religion with all that implies. Thus much of what we know about Mithraism comes from its enemies, who accused it of vile acts and blasphemous imitation of Christian rites.

For example, Tertullian’s Prescription Against Heretics speaks of Mithraism’s distortion of Christian rites and beliefs, stating:

…and if my memory still serves me, Mithra there, (in the kingdom of Satan) sets his marks on the foreheads of his soldiers; celebrates also the oblation of bread, and introduces an image of a resurrection, and before a sword wreathes a crown.

Tertullian’s reference to a sword and crown relates to a Mithraic rite. In Of The Crown, he elaborates further:

…any soldier of Mithra, who, when he is enrolled in the cavern, the camp, in very truth, of darkness, when the crown is offered him, (a sword being placed between him and it, as if in mimicry of martyrdom) and then fitted upon his head, is taught to put it aside from his head, meeting it with his hand, and to remove it, it may be, to his shoulder, saying that Mithra is his crown…See we the wiles of the Devil, who pretendeth to some of the ways of God for this cause…

Similarly, in the First Apology Justin Martyr writes of the Eucharist, which he says:

…the wicked devils have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For, that bread and a cup of water are placed with certain incantations in the mystic rites of one who is being initiated, you either know or can learn.

Scholasticus’ Ecclesiastical History goes so far as to accuse Mithrans of human sacrifice. In his description of the manner in which a riot broke out in Alexandria during clearance of a site formerly occupied by a mithraeum (temple to Mithra), Scholasticus states:

In the process of clearing it, an adytum of vast depth was discovered which unveiled the nature of their heathenish rites: for there were found there the skulls of many persons of all ages, who were said to have been immolated for the purpose of divination by the inspection of entrails, when the pagans performed these and such like magic arts whereby they enchanted the souls of men.

As a result of parading these skulls through the city, he goes on, fighting broke out between enraged Christians and insulted pagans.

But what was Mithraism in reality?

Mithraism was an austere religion particularly popular with soldiers, who spread it to the far corners of the empire. Although Mithraism excluded women, some of its requirements and beliefs paralleled those held by Christians.

Published in 1903, Franz Dumont’s The Mysteries of Mithra pointed out a number of these similarities. Dumont’s work is one of the most important books about Mithraism and his comments are telling.

Mithra, he said, “…is the god of help, whom one never invokes in vain, an unfailing haven, the anchor of salvation for mortals in all their trials.”

Comparing the two religions, he notes that:

The sectaries of the Persian god, like the Christians, purified themselves by baptism; received, by a species of confirmation, the power necessary to combat the spirits of evil; and expected from a Lord’s Supper salvation of body and soul. Like the latter, they also held Sunday sacred, and celebrated the birth of the Sun on the 25th of December, the same day on which Christmas has been celebrated, since the fourth century at least.

Further, both religions

…preached a categorical system of ethics, regarded asceticism as meritorious, and counted among their principal virtues abstinence and continence, renunciation and self-control. Their conceptions of the world and of the destiny of man were similar. They both admitted the existence of a Heaven inhabited by beatified ones, situate in the upper regions, and of a Hell peopled by demons, situate in the bowels of the earth. They both placed a Flood at the beginning of history; they both assigned as the source of their traditions a primitive revelation; they both, finally, believed in the immortality of the soul, in a last judgment, and in a resurrection of the dead, consequent upon a final conflagration of the universe.

It was therefore not surprising Christianity and Mithraism would struggle to gain the upper hand. As history shows, Christianity won the battle.

One reason was that because Mithraism was a mystery religion, fantastic and lurid stories of Mithran practices and beliefs found it easy to gain a foothold in, and inflame, the popular imagination.

Much of the fear of other religions comes from lack of knowledge, all too often leading to bloodshed. Consider the human toll taken over the centuries from the blood libel accusing those of the Jewish faith of murdering Christian children and using their blood for religious rituals. I was told this very story as a fact by a playmate in my childhood when my family lived in an area with a high Hassidic population.

There we see the ongoing historic relevance of religious misapprehension, with Mithraism, a religion with much to admire about it, providing another example of the dangers in reacting to, and acting upon, hazily understood religious tenets.

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A big thanks to Mary Reed!

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