According to Theophanes: "[H]e hated her because of the insinuations of his mother, who was aiming at the rule: Irene did this to make everyone accuse him." The cross signified the empire's strength and prosperity since the time of Constantine the Great. The council was immediately
She had earlier sought to unite East and West, first through the marriage between Rotrude and Constantine. Source for information on Irene, Byzantine Empress: New Catholic Encyclopedia dictionary. https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/irene-athens-c-752-803, "Irene of Athens (c. 752–803) When Constantine V died in September 775, Leo succeeded t… Irene of Athens, (Εἰρήνη ἡ Ἀθηναία) died on August 9, 803 AD. Irene of Athens, (Εἰρήνη ἡ Ἀθηναία) died on August 9, 803 AD. Therefore, in January 795, he forced Maria to become a nun. She then made the army swear that it would not support her son as ruler as long as she lived. In 788, she arranged for Constantine to marry a certain Maria of Amnia, the daughter of a well-to-do but otherwise obscure family of Paphlagonia (supposedly as the result of a beauty contest held to select the bride). Everyone knew that she called the shots. By 1412 BC, the settlement had become an important center of the Mycenaean civilization and the Acropolis was the site of a major Mycenaean fortress whose remains can be recognised from sections of the characteristic Cyclopean walls. 771), emperor of Byzantium (r. 780–797); children: Euphrosyne (c. 790–c. Category : Historian personalities Irene was related to the noble Greek Sarantapechos family of Athens. Realizing that her fall was final, Irene had the intelligence to step aside gracefully thereby perhaps saving herself from physical harm. Being now 17 years old, he felt he should begin to assume more of the imperial duties. With this in mind, it is difficult to say why Constantine V chose Irene to marry his eldest son, Leo IV. Known as the Second Council of Nicaea or the Seventh Ecumenical Council, more than 300 bishops attended this conclave which lasted from September 13 to October 13, 787. She did so but was then exiled to a nunnery on one of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara. Refer to each style’s convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. Empress Irene and the Silk Trade (752-803 CE). Treadgold, Warren. With Irene on the throne, whatever the circumstances that brought her there, the Pope could legitimately consider the Roman throne to be legally vacant. The Athens Urban Area (Greater Athens and Greater Piraeus) extends beyond its administrative municipal city limits, with a population of 3,090,508 (in 2011) over an area of 412 km2 (159 sq mi). She was the first woman to be rule the Byzantine Empire. Irene was deposed in 790 and settled in the palace of Eleutherios in Constantinople. She was older, there was no pressing religious issue to pursue, and there was no clear heir to the throne. Origins and early history. 4: The Byzantine Empire. It was the last Ecumenical Council so recognized by the Orthodox Church. 2nd ed. History of the Byzantine State. Last modified : 2011-06-30. But part of the army had gone to Cyprus to stave off an Arab attack, and when it returned it helped Constantine to power. Laws protected women and slaves. Her body was moved to the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople later in the 9th century. Influenced on legal history. The Chronicle of Theophanes. In the worst disaster since the days of Hannibal the Roman army and the emperor Valens were wiped o…, Theodosius I or Theodosius the Great, 346?–395, Roman emperor of the East (379–95) and emperor of the West (394–95), son of Theodosius, the general o…, Sigismund (1368-1437) was king of Hungary from 1385 to 1437, Holy Roman emperor from 1411 to 1437, and king of Bohemia from 1420 to 1437. Although it was said of Irene that she had the mind of a man, she was not a competent ruler and much of her reign was dominated by the struggle between her favorite eunuchs. Called “Irene of Athens” in honor of her birthplace, Irene is mainly remembered for two dramatic events. The first woman ever to hold the throne of the Roman Caesars in her own right, however illegally, the empress Irene was born to an obscure but noble Greek family of Athens. Athens has been inhabited from Neolithic times, possibly from the end of the fourth millennium BC, or over 5,000 years. The soldiers broke up the council and departed. In January 792, Irene was acclaimed co-emperor with Constantine, but his name came first on official documents once again. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1987. On December 23, 800, he did so, and Leo was cleared of all charges. Strong-willed and independent, capable of pursuing and holding power herself, Irene was extremely active in administering her own affairs. Irene of Athens, Byzantine basilissa, is comparable to Egyptian queen Hatshepsut, and Russian empress Catherine the Great. For nearly two decades, Irene's power as regent was secure, but as Constantine VI approached manhood, he was determined to rule for himself. Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps, Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Her usurpation of the imperial throne created a theoretical justification for the coronation of Charlemagne. . She was a member of the noble Greek Sarantapechos family, which had significant political influence in central mainland Greece. [8] By 1412 BC the settlement had become an important center of the Mycenaean civilization and the Acropolis was the site of a major Mycenaean fortress whose remains can be recognised from sections of the characteristic Cyclopean walls. Early Life. Byzantine empress, Isaurian Dynasty, Pala D'oro, Venice are important aspects of Irene of Athens life. When she died she was turned into an icon and was an important character in Christianity. Constantine V died in 775, and Leo IV, known as the Khazar for his maternal heritage, became the emperor, and Irene the empress consort. Each of these women's stories is a great one, wrought with controversy and struggle, but Irene's story is one that is most commonly forgotten. A much more complex, intellectual, and refined argument, however, was offered by the Syrian Christian philosopher Mansur, better known as St. John of Damascus, held by both the Catholic and Orthodox churches to have been the last of the Greek "Fathers of the Church." Although she was an orphan, her uncle or cousin Constantine Sarantapechos was a patrician and possibly also a strategos ("general") of the theme of Hellas at the end of the eighth century. In the short run, there is no question that the Byzantine government appreciated the support of the monks in favor of iconolatry and, just as they restored the icons, Constantine VI and Irene reversed the policies of Constantine V and Leo III secularizing the enormous monastic estates and limiting the number of monks in the capital. At the end of the deliberations, iconolatry was reestablished, iconoclasts were anathematized, and Constantine VI and his mother were hailed as the new "Constantine and Helena," in reference to the first Christian Roman Emperor and his pious mother. In an elaborate charade, he lied about an attempted coup by the generals and told the palace guards that Irene had proclaimed him emperor in order to ward off the others. Although married to Leo IV, "the Khazar," one of the more moderate iconoclastic emperors, Irene herself strongly supported the veneration of images. Despite the dissatisfaction with her rule, however, Irene had many friends, especially among the monks who adored her, and she was allowed to live out the rest of her life in dignified exile on the island of Lesbos where she died in 803. 840, who married Byzantine emperor Michael II of Amorion). She was a member of the noble Greek Sarantapechos family, which had significant political influence in central mainland Greece. The Cambridge Medieval History, vol. There may have been many reasons: a sensed need to align the imperial house more closely with mainland Greece rather than the East; a chance to gain firmer control over an unruly area; a gesture of reconciliation toward the empire's icon-loving (iconophile) inhabitants; or even that Leo, who was sickly, would not likely become emperor, so it would have mattered little who his wife was. IRENE, BYZANTINE EMPRESS Coregnant 780–797, sole ruler from 797 to Oct. 31, 802; b. Athens, c. 752; d. Lesbos, Aug. 9, 803. 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