Royal Women in Power T

TALESA DE ARAGON

a.k.a. Talese de Aybar

Regent of Bearn, 1096-1099, for her husband, Gaston IV of Béarn, when he participated in the First Crusade.
Regent of Bearn, 1131-1134, for her son Centule VI of Béarn who was a minor when he succeeded his father.

TANCRED, PRINCE OF GALILEE (1072-1112)
Prince of Galilee
[Bio1]
Regent of Antioch, 1100-1103, when Bohemund I was taken prisoner by the Danishmends.
Regent of Antioch, 1105-1112, for the young Bohemund II.
Regent of Edessa, 1104-1109. (Bradbury, p. 96)


Tancred was the son of Eudes the Good Marquis and Emma d'Hauteville.

"When the spoils of war were doled out by the newly crowned Baldwin I, Tancred was created Prince of Galilee, with his capital at Tiberias. He became regent of Antioch when Bohemond was captured by the Danishmend Turks in 1100, and expanded the principality's holdings at Byzantine expense9he also held Raymond IV of Toulouse prisoner for a time) until his uncle's release in 1103. Tancred took possession of the County of Edessa in 1104, while Baldwin II was being held prisoner by the Seljuk Turks following the disastrous Battle of Harran. When the king finally regained his freedom in 1107, he was obligated to wrest control of Edessa from Tancred by force of arms." (Peoples, p. 31)

Teresa de Leon (1080-1130)
Teresa of Portugal
Queen-Regent of Portugal, 1112-1128 for her son Afonso I of Portugal.

"Modern writers, desiring to save the moral reputation of D. Theresa as a wife, forget to do her justice as Queen or Regent of Portugal. Much is said about her connection with Count Fernando Peres for which we have no authority, while the historic value of her government is ignored. The acts of the widow of Count Henry for the space of fourteen years, during which she governed, showed great perseverance and skill in her endeavours to further the idea of independence which he had initiated. Yielding to force of circumstances, she did not shrink from acknowledging the supremacy of the Court of Leon to obtain a desied peace, nor to refuse obedience when she judged proper to resist. Associating herself skilfully to the civil bands which were breaking up the Leonese monarchy, she was able to form in their midst a country for herself and her people. And in spite of invasions from Christians and Saracens, of devastations and the evils consequent upon these devastations, she was able to increase her population , wealth, and military strength...." (McMurdo, pp. 147-148)

TEREZA ANSUREZ (d. after 997)
Regent of Leon, 975-980 for her son Ramiro III of León.

"...[S]omething happened in 975...[when] Elvira disappeared from the records and Ramiro's mother took over as regent until she, too, returned to seclusion in 980." (Bitel, p. 278)
"...[B]y December 975 her (Elvira's) role had been taken over by Ramiro III's mother, Teresa Ansurez... Until the winter of 978-79 Ramiro issues charters in the names of both himself and Teresa Ansurez... Teresa, however, soon disappears once more from royal charters and was clearly definitively supplanted by the time Ramiro married Sancha Diaz in 980. Not least significant in this respect was that the king's wife was a member of the family of the counts of Saldana, rivals and enemies of the Ansurez counts of Monzon, Queen Teresa's relatives. The latter seems to have retired once more into monastic life and was possibly the last survivor of the complex events of the 970s; she outlived her son by a decade and appears as abbess of San Pelayo in 966...." (Parsons, pp. 85-87)

TERESA DE ENTENZA (1300-1327)
[Bio1]
Countess of Urgell, 1309 (1314)-1327, Viscountess of Ager.
Queen Lieutenant General of Aragon, 1324-1327 (Earenfight, p. 37)

Teresa was the daughter of Gombau de Entenza and of Constanza de Antillon, daughter of Alvaro I of Urgel. She was Ermengol X of Urgell's niece and heiress. She married Alfonso IV of Aragon in 1314, with whom she had 7 children, including Pedro IV of Aragon, and Jaime I of Urgell. She did not become Queen of Aragon and Countess of Barcelona because she died 5 days before her husband's accession. (Chaytor, p. 116)

THEDA UKENA OF OSTFRIESLAND (1432-1494)

Regent of East Friesland, 1466-1491 for her sons, Enno I, Count of East Frisia who drowned and then for Edzard I, Count of East Frisia.

"Theda Ukena (fem.), regent 1466-1494. Granddaughter of the Friesian chief Focko Ukena, and married to Ulrich Cirksena who was created Count of Ostfriesland in 1454 one year after their marriage. After his death she was first regent for son Enno I, (drowned 1491) and then for Edzard I. She successfully led her troops in warfare against other major chiefs and counts in the Friesland area; Regent of East Frisia, 1491-1494, for her second son Edzard I of East Frisia."

THEODELINDA OF BAVARIA (c570-628)
Queen of the Lombards
Regent of the Lombards, 616-626 for her son Adaloald when her husband, Agilulf died.

Note: "[S]he acted as regent for her son Adaloald for ten years until he went insane. After that, Theudelinda dropped out of Paul's history. As a bride, a wife and a mother, she could hold her own in the tribal memory, but once she lost her men, she, too, disappeared." (Bitel, p. 91) 

"...She therefore found it expedient to contract a second marriage with Flavius Agilulphus, who, as her husband, was invested with the ensigns of royalty before a general congress at Milan. She was destined to be a second time a widow when Agilulphus died in 615. From that time she assumed the government as regent, which she maintained with vigour and prosperity; she encouraged and improved agriculture; endowed charitable foundations; and, in accordance with what the piety of that age required, built monasteries. What was more extraordinary, and seems to have been rarely thought of by the men sovereigns of that day, she reduced the taxes, and tried to soften the miseries of the inferior classes. She died in 628, bitterly lamented by her subjects. Few men have exhibited powers of mind so well balanced as were those of Theodelinda; and this natural sense of the just and true fitted her for the duties of government." (Adams, p. 734)

Theodora (d.867)
the Saint
Empress-Regent of Byzantium, 842-857, for her son Michael III who was only 6 years old when he began his reign.

"...The second was the wife of Theophilus, who was left a widow in 842, and ruled as regent for her son, Michael III., till 857, when she was deposed and imprisoned in a monastery; died 867...." (Rich, p. 769)

Theodrada of Friuli (d. after 690)
Regent of Benevento, 680-? for her son Gisulf I of Benevento.

She was the daughter of Lupus of Friuli and his first wife Ita. She married in 664 Romoald, Duke of Benevento.

Theoktistos (c815-after 867)
Regent of Byzantine Empire, 842-855 for Michael III.

Theophano
Regent of Byzantium, 963 for her sons, Basil II and Constantine VII. 

“Her husband, Romanus II, died in March 963. In August 963, she married Nicephorus Phocas who had marched into Constantinople and was crowned Emperor (reigned 963-969). He then married the Empress-Regent Theophano and promised to take protect her two sons.”

Theophanu (959-991)

Regent of the Holy Roman Empire & Germany, 983-991 for her son, Emperor Otto III who was only 3 years old when his father the Emperor Otto II died suddenly.

Daughter of Konstantinos Sklerios and Sophia Phokaina
Holy Roman Empress, 972, as wife of Holy Roman Emperor Otto II

"After Otto II's death on December 7, 983, Theophanu at first made no effort to claim the regency for her infant son Otto III. After Duke Henry the Quarrelsome proved his unsuitability for the post by trying to make himself king, the twenty-three-year-old Theophanu stepped into the vacuum that had been created. She gained power especially thanks to the efforts of Archbishop Willigis of Mainz, who summoned her from Italy to help protect her son's rights. Shen then acted as effective sole regent until her death... Much of her authority as regent came from her close alliance with churchmen who often acted as her agents, especially Gerbert of Aurillac and Bishop Notger of Liege. She was about thirty years old when she died in 991...leaving a stable realm for her son...." (Jeep, pp. 752-753)

Theresia Kunigunde of Poland (1676-1730)
Regent of the Palatinate, 1704-1705

"...The consort assumed a more active role when she was entrusted with exercising princely authority. Occasionally, this occurred while the prince was still alive, but unable to rule directly, as in the case of Electress Theresia Kunigunde who was entrusted with full political and military powers by her husband, Max Emanuel, who was driven out of Bavaria after the battle of Blenheim in 1704...." (Orr, p. 226)

Thibaud I of Blois (d.975/978)
Regent of Brittany, 952-956 for his sister's son Drogon of Brittany, Duke of Brittany, 952-958

" . . . Alan Barbetorte, count of Nantes, had been compelled to flee the country and take shelter in England... He died in 952, leaving his duchy and his infant son Drogo to the care of his wife's brother, Theobald, count of Blois and Chartres, a wily, unscrupulous politician known by the well-deserved epithet of 'the Trickster,' who at once resolved to turn his brother-in-law's dying charge to account for purposes of his own. . . ." (Norgate. England Under the Angevin Kings, Vol 1: 115)

THIEBAUD DE BAR (1260-1312)
[Bio1]
Prince-Bishop of Liege, 1302-1312.
Joint Governor of Bar, 1302, during the minority of his nephew, Henri III.

Thomas Randolph, 2nd Earl of Moray
Regent of Scotland, 1329, for David II of Scotland.

TORKEL KNUTSSON
a.k.a. Torgils Knutsson
(d.1306)
Regent of Sweden, 1290-1303 for Birger I of Sweden.
[Bio1]

"The new king, Birger (1280-1321), was only ten years old when he succeeded to the throne; he had two younger brothers, Erik and Valdemanr. Regent was the marshal Torgils Knutsson, who was both able and respected and who carried on successful campaigning in Finland...." (Scott, p. 70)
"...When Magnus died in 1290, his son Birger was only ten years old. Marshal Torgils Knutsson governed as regent, and he had the sons of the late King Valdemar kept in prison; but they escaped into Denmark and then took refuge in Norway...."
"Torgils Knutsson was an influential and powerful man in Sweden during the 13th and early 14th centuries. Under his command, the Swedish army won many victories. His ambition and thirst for power made him many enemies, which eventually led to his death.

"Torgils Knutsson was related to the royal family and he became a very powerful man. He got the title "Marsk", which meant that he was the second-most important man in the kingdom, serving directly under the King. He was the highest military leader in the country, and sought to make Sweden strong. He re-armed the military forces and led his well-trained army to the south-east of Finland. Eastern Karelia was conquered in a war against Russia. Torgils founded the town of Viborg to protect the eastern-most part of Sweden against Russia. Viborg became a fortified town with a strong ring-wall.
"Torgils Knutsson also tried to make a lot of changes in Sweden. He was of the opinion that the country should be ruled by the noblemen. This led to a conflict between him and the young King, Birger Magnusson. In 1350, King Birger had had enough. He put Torgils in prison and had him tried at court. The next year, Torgils was executed. He was not even considered worthy of a proper grave in a church-yard. Torgils Knutsson ended his life as a criminal, but few years later, his body was taken to the Riddarholmen Church."

"Birger, in the year 1304, tried in vain to appease a rebellion by cutting off the head of Tokel Canut-son, the hated regent of his minority...." (Chepmell, p. 523)

"...As effective regent from 1290-1303 Tyrgils Knutsson and his supporters must also have exercised control over the hertigdome...." (Line, p. 253) 

Tiberius
Regent of Byzantium, 574-578 for Justin II

TIBURGE OF ORANGE.

"In 1172 the lordship of Les Baux fell to Hughes's brother Bertrand. He had married Tiburge, daughter of Raimbaud III, prince of Orange, who died without a male heir in 1175, leaving the principality of Orange to Bertrand. The Holy Roman Emperors confirmed and strengthened Bertrand's rights, including the right to display his flag from the Alps to the Rhone, and from the Isere River to the Mediterranean. Bertrand completed the nearby abbey of Silvacane, founded by his father, and gave endowments to various churches in the region, but he was assassinated in 1181." (Northern Europe: International Dictionary of Historic Places: 86)

TODA OF NAVARRE (885-after 970)
a. k. a. Toda Aznarez; Teuda de Larraun

Regent of Navarre, 931-934, for her son García I Sanchez of Pamplona who was still a minor when his father died.

"...[I]t is not difficult to uncover the presence in it of another power female regent. This was Queen Toda Aznarez, wife of the first king of the second Pamplonan dynasty, Sancho Garces I (r. 905-25). Their marriage took place before 912, but their only son, Garcia Sanchez, was still a minor at his father's death. The royal title was then taken by the late king's brother Jimeno Garces (r. 925-33), but with its reversion apparently secured for the young Garcia. In 933 the boy began his long reign (933-70) under his mother's tutelage... From 933 until the late 950s many of the charters of the kingdom of Pamplona and of the county of Aragon, which was attached to it, refer to Garcia Sanchez and his mother, Queen Toda, as reigning together... It is clear...that it was Toda whom the Arabs saw as ruling the kingdom of Pamplona in the 930s, and as responsible for making diplomatic, political and military decisions... It is not until 940 that Garcia Sanchez [ruled] as lord of Pamplona in his own right without reference to his mother... Thus, while Toda does not feature in royal documents of the early 940s, the formal language of the charters reveals her again ruling jointly with her son by 947...." (Parsons, pp. 87-88)

"However, even after Garcia I attained the age of majority, the government of the Caliph of Cordoba, Abd-ar-Rahman III, "still regarded Queen Toda as the real ruler of the kingdom of Pamplona in the years from 933/4 up to 939....It is striking that she continued to exercise considerable power even after her son had attained his majority, and several charters record them as ruling jointly. She was still alive and sharing power with her son as late as 958." She was the daughter of of Aznar Sánchez de Larraún & his wife Oneca [Íñiga] Fortún and wife of Sancho I of Navarre (880-925)."

"...Toda became a powerful figure and was the principal organiser of the coalition of Christian princes which defeated Abd al-Rahman III at Simancas in 939. She developed alliances through the marriages of her daughters, not only with three successive kings of León but also the powerful Condes de Álava and Castilla. "(A)n autonomous part of the kingdom was delegated to Queen Toda during the reign of her son. See. "...When Sancho Garces I (r. 905-925) died in 925, Toda or Theuda, the Queen-Regent of Navarre, placed her territory under the protection of 'Abd al-Rahman III. (Jayyusi & Marin, p. 463) 

"Regent for her son, King Garcia Sanchez, Toda was a principal leader of Christian Spain for over forty years. To retrieve the throne of Leon for her grandson Sancho the Fat, she took him to Cordoba for a weight reduction course. Despite Christendom's general horro, Toda also used her Islamic allies from Cordoba to secure the throne for Sancho." (Echols & Williams, p. 403)

Tovma
(Thomas)
Regent of Armenia, 1168-1170, for Thoros II's son Ruben II of Cilicia who was murdered by his uncle Mleh.

"...If Thomas was the father of Thoros II's second wife, his appointment as guardian for Rupen suggests that he was also the young boy's grandfather. He succeeded his father in 1168 as RUPEN II Lord of the Mountains, under the regency of Thomas. His succession was disputed by his uncle Mleh who deposed and murdered Rupen II in 1170 with the help of troops from Nur ed-Din...." (FMG-Armenia)
"Disheartened by the country's misfortunes, Thoros abdicated before his death in 1169 in favor of his son Roupen, a minor, under the guardianship of Baille Thomas. But Thoros's brother Mleh, once member of the order of the Knights Templars, and now supported by Nour‑ed‑Din, the Turkish atabek (prince) of Aleppo, invaded the Armenian barony. Mleh at first agreed to a settlement offered by the guard of Roupen, by which he was to receive an equal share of the territory. But soon after this, the usurper repudiated his pledge and seized the entire territory. The Baille secretly carried Roupen to the castle of Romgla and put him under the care of the Katholikos Nerses (Shnorhali, "the Gracious"). But despite this precaution, the young prince was found dead not long afterward." (Kurkjian)
"...But long before then Toros II, weary after nearly [a] quarter of a century of rule and warfare, abdicated in favour of his young son Roupen, who was placed under the guardianship of the regent Thomas. Toros died in 1169." (Ghazarian, p. 121)

Torchitorio III of Cagliari
Joint Regent with his three brothers, 1147-1150, when his father, Gonario II of Torres, joined the Second Crusade.

Torson
Count of Toulouse, 778-790

Regent of Aquitaine, 781 for Louis I of Aquitaine, later Louis I France