Cultural depictions of Theophanu

As the trusted political partner of her husband and later the regent of her young son Otto III, she left a remarkable legacy as one of the most powerful female rulers of the Ottonian era as well as of the Holy Roman Empire's history in general.

Although the empress's personal role in some aspects of these processes (especially the contact between the Macedonian Renaissance and Ottonian Renaissance) is a subject of debate, she is often depicted in historiography and (recently revitalized) artistic portrayals as a cultured, spirited woman who had to adapt to a difficult situation after her husband's death and whose political vision was unfulfilled due to the early deaths of herself and her son.

[4] Giulia Bellato remarks that like her mother-in-law Adelheid, Theophanu relied on a network that went beyond their already advantageous roles as mothers and wives of the emperors, whose stronger authority supported them.

Even when being sidelined or even pushed out of official functions, they could rely on association with the magnates, friends and ecclesiastical connections, such as when Theophanu wielded power in Pavia.

[6] Reacted to Gerd Althoff's image of the empress as a conservative ruler whose reign was marked by reaction rather than design, Maclean notes that in widowhood, Theophanu did face difficulties because she was an outsider like Editha previously and because the title of consors (working partner of the emperor) was available to powerful men who might usurp it if they were strong enough, and that the charters issued in Otto III's minority "were intended to shape alliances and thus help Theophanu intervene decisively in the complicated politics of the succession crisis and the related struggle for Lotharingia—but at the same time they were couched in a conservative language of confirmation, friendship, and the continuing authority of the late emperor.

MacLean opine that the title she used in 989 Theophanius gratia divina imperator augustus (she had been consors regni from the start of her marriage even though at this point her husband's title was only "king"; she became coimperatix in 974 and soon after that coimperatrix augusta) displayed "an autonomous, masculine, imperial status", and was "not only a sign of her own confidence or a manifestation of her Byzantine identity, but also an attempt to outface her mother-in-law by appropriating the collective authority of the "dominae", for herself."

Her most lasting legacy was probably the transformation of the German language through a "Greek Committee of Wise Men" (scholars from the Constantinople School, an institution established by Emperor Constantine VII).

[11] Odilo Engels opines that Theophanu managed to combining the task of stabilizing the border after Otto II's defeat at Capo Colonna (Battle of Stilo), which included achievements such as preventing a French invasion, and initializing new concepts.

Johannes Fried sees Theophanu's eastern policy as "passive", considering that the troops that fought both the Liutizes and the Bohemians were just Saxon noble contingents instead of being "imperial".

She herself adapted to the West's conditions and tried to gradually introduce Byzantine ideas and institutions, hoping that eventually the process would be accomplished through her son Otto III.

[29] Cohen opines that the Marriage Charter of Empress Theophanu is "the most spectacular monument associated with Theophano [...], standing over four feet tall and written in gold and silver ink on dyed purple parchment.