husband by his political opponents, while celebrating the obsequies of
the Emperor Theodore, provoked a terrible outburst of indignation and
grief on her part,[160] and so vehement was her condemnation of the
criminals that her uncle, the treacherous Michael Palaeologus,
threatened she would share her husband's fate if she did not control her
feelings.[161] After the accession of Michael Palaeologus to the throne,
her hand was bestowed on the protovestiarius Raoul, and hence she is
generally known by his name and title as Raoulaina the protovestiarissa
([Greek: he Rhaoulaina protobestiarissa]). One of her beautiful
daughters became the wife of Constantine Palaeologus, the ill-fated
brother of Andronicus II. But, as already stated, Theodora was not only
highly connected. Like many noble ladies in Byzantine society, she
cultivated learning,[162] and took a deep interest in the theological
discussions and ecclesiastical affairs of her day. She was a devoted
adherent of the party attached to the person and memory of the Patriarch
Arsenius; the party that never forgave Michael Palaeologus for blinding
the young John Lascaris and robbing him of the throne, the party that
opposed the subjection of the Eastern Church to the Papal See, and
which maintained the freedom of the Church from the political
interference of the emperor. Whatever its faults, that party certainly
represented the best moral life of the period.

[Illustration: PLATE XXVI.
(1) S. ANDREW IN KRISEI. CAPITAL IN THE INNER NARTHEX.
(2) S. ANDREW IN KRISEI. CAPITAL IN THE ARCADE UNDER THE WEST DOME ARCH.
_To face page 110._]

To heal the schism caused by the attitude of the Arsenites 'was the
serious labour of the Church and State' for half a century. And in
pursuance of the policy of conciliation, Andronicus II. allowed the body
of Arsenius to be brought to Constantinople from the island of
Proconessus, where he had died in exile and been buried. The whole city
gathered to welcome the remains of the venerated prelate, and saw them
borne in solemn and stately procession from the landing at the Gate of
Eugenius (Yali Kiosk) to the church of S. Sophia. There, robed in
pontifical vestments, the body was first seated upon the patriarchal
throne, then laid before the altar, while the funeral service was
intoned, and finally placed on the right hand of the bema in a chest
locked and sealed for safe keeping. Once a week, however, the body was
exposed to public