Paulo Silva Neto Sobrinho

Did Theodora have 500 prostitutes killed?  Part 1

"Do not spread rumors or raise false testimony against the life of your neighbor". (Leviticus 19:16)

"Never repeat a rumor, and you will lose nothing". (Ecclo 19,7)

"But let your statement be: yes, yes; no, no; because anything beyond these is of evil". (Mathew 5,37)

Introduction

We often listen to our Spiritist companions, who are concerned in proving the existence of reincarnation, stating that the Church previously approved it, as if this is enough to validate such divine law. These people also come forward with the information that the Empress Theodora, of the Byzantine Empire, an ex-courtesan, had 500 prostitutes killed. It was also assumed that she would have to reincarnate as many times as the ones she had killed, thus to fulfill her karma. Therefore, she developed a hatred regarding reincarnation and did everything for her husband, Justinian, to ban this belief from the Church, at the time of the Council of Constantinople (553).

courtesan: S.F. (SXV) 1 ant. Lady of the court, favorite of the king and usually maintained by him; 2 ant. Woman of dissolute habits, libertine and with a luxurious life; 3 Prostitute who meets people of upper classes; ¤ ETIM it. cortigiana 'lady of the court', 'whore'; ¤ SIN/VAR lady; also synonyms of whore. (Electronic Dictionary Houaiss. Version 3.0, June / 2009).

We defined the meaning of the word "prostitutes" used in this text. 

What "several" authors say about it

We have in our private library seventy-nine books on the subject reincarnation; let us see what we find about this matter.
Reincarnation According to the Bible and Science, author Jose Reis Chaves (1935-), writer and a BA in Communication and Expression: 

[...] The Empress Theodora was a courtesan and interfered in her husband’s government affairs, and even in Theology matters.
Some authors say that, since she had been a prostitute, her former colleagues had great pride in this. However, she, on the other hand, felt a great revolt because her ex-colleagues mentioned this fact, which was for Theodora a disgrace.

To put an end to this story, she eliminated all prostitutes of Constantinople – almost five hundred of them. 

As the people at that time believed in reincarnation, although most of them were Christians, they began to call her murderess, and said that she should be killed in future lives, five hundred times; and this was her fate for having murdered her ex-colleagues prostitutes. 

The truth is that Theodora came to hate the doctrine of reincarnation. As she ordered left and right through her husband, she decided to chase, relentlessly, against this Doctrine and its most famous supporter among Christians, Origen, whose fame of wise man made the followers of Christianity very proud, although he lived almost three centuries before. (KEYS, 2002, pages 185-186) (Emphasis added). 

The author does not mention the source, and we have, several times, tried to obtain it without any success. The fact is that in his bibliography, he does not mention Holger Kersten.

And from the start, we want to make it clear that we do not want in any way to challenge the opinion of anyone, let alone our friend Chaves, whose work disseminating Spiritism is noteworthy; what moves us is simply to discover the truth of the facts.

In Jesus lived in India, the author Holger Kersten (1951-), a German theologian, is the only source besides Chaves, where we find this story: 

So far, almost all Church historians believe that the Doctrine of Reincarnation was declared heretical at the Council of Constantinople in 553. However, the condemnation of the Doctrine is due to a fierce personal opposition of Emperor Justinian, who was never connected to the protocols of the Council. According to Procopius, the ambitious wife of Justinian, who in reality was who wielded power, was the daughter of a keeper of bears in the Byzantium amphitheater. She began her rapid rise to power as a courtesan. To get rid of her past that shamed her, she ordered later, the death of former five hundred "colleagues", and not to suffer the consequences of this cruel order in another life as envisaged by the law of Karma, she worked to fully abolish the magnificent Doctrine of Reincarnation. She was confident in the success of this annulment ordered by "divine order"! (KERSTEN, 1988, page 240) (Emphasis added). 

In Analyzing the Biblical Translations, the author, Severino Celestino da Silva (1949-), also mentions the case of the death of five hundred prostitutes (page 158). However, as he quotes Jose Reis Chaves, we cannot consider him as a primary source. 

What we found about this fact

Procopius, the historian, quoted by some of the authors, mentioned something about the five hundred prostitutes, according to what we found on web:

Theodora also devoted considerable attention to the punishment of women found in carnal sin. She took over five hundred prostitutes in the Forum, who lived a miserable life selling their bodies for three coins, and sent them to the opposite shore, where they were locked in a monastery called Repentance to force them to reform their way of life. Some, however, threw themselves from the parapets at night so as to rid themselves of the unwanted salvation.
(Source: http://procopius.net/procopiuschapter17.html) (Emphasis added).

Note that it was said that Theodora "devoted considerable attention to the punishment of women," and not that she had them killed. The fact that they "were locked" (locked?), and that Procopius gives us no further information on what happened to them, we can then assume anything; however, everything we may assume will be a hypothesis.

Searching for the information above in the work Secret History of Procopius, we find the following:

Theodora, however, also liked to imagine punishments for offenses against morals. She brought together more than five hundred prostitutes, who plied their trade in a public square for three alms - the necessary to survive - and sent them to the opposite shore in order to close them in the monastery called Metanoia (Repentance), forcing them to change their lives. Some of them at night jumped from the top of the monastery and so escaped from a change they did not want. (PROCOPIO, page 47) (Emphasis added).

A very similar report to the previous one is on internet. Continuing our research, we found something on Internet. The Italian writer and journalist Carlo Maria Franzero (1892-1986), states referring to this episode: 

It would only be natural if the Empress exercised her influence in favor of her former colleagues and thus five hundred prostitutes for a very modest price would openly exercise their profession in the Forum. However, they were coercively invited to join the new convent of Repentance, on the other bank of the Bosphorus – a magnificent retreat for those who wanted to meditate. Apparently, however, many of these maids did not get along with the regime and chose to throw themselves into the sea during the night, with a clear disadvantage to the possibilities of salvation of their souls. (FRANZERO 1963, page 87) (Emphasis added). 

The Frenchman, Francis Fevre (1951-), an expert historian in ancient societies of the Middle East, especially in Egypt and Byzantium, adds in more to this story:
 

[...] To avoid the accusation of impiety, Theodora does not return them to the wandering dark streets, in discrete small squares. Perhaps in order to embody with conviction her new role as Empress, she had the prostitutes closed in a convent founded for this purpose.

It is difficult to say if the prior courtesan, cursed by all the clergy of the capital, acted out of pity or diplomacy. But the sinners, redeemed at gold weight, dispensed the monastic life. The new convent, intended to receive them in the capital, shows clearly its purpose: all the inhabitants know it by the name of Convent of Repentance. The walls are very high, and an escape could cripple the sinners, who eventually ventured to flee. These women should spend the rest of their lives in the shadow of the walls of the convent, maintained by a significant amount donated by their benefactor, to the glory of Theodora, intended to go to Heaven due to her pious collaboration to save souls in danger. (Fevre, 1991, page 173) (Emphasis added). 

Well, we cannot actually know the reason why Theodora had five hundred prostitutes locked up. What we can presume from this episode is that something serious was happening to them, because some of them jumped from the highest point of the monastery, and preferred to die than being locked up. (Continued on next week's edition).
 

References:

CHAVES, J. R. Reincarnation according to the Bible and Science. Sao Paulo: Martin Claret 2002.
Fevre, F. Theodora, the Empress of Byzantium. Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira 1991.
FRANZERO, C. M. Theodora. Lisbon: ENP 1963.
GIORDANI, M. C. History of the Byzantine Empire. Petropolis, RJ: Vozes 1968.
KERSTEN, H. Jesus lived in India. Sao Paulo: Best Seller, 1988.
PROCOPIO. Secret Story. Belo Horizonte: CEDIC, s/d
SILVA, S. C. Analyzing the biblical translations. Joao Pessoa: 2001.
WELLMAN, P. I. Theodora, from courtesan to empress. Rio de Janeiro: Vecchi, 1961.