Irene of Athinai - Wikipedia, the absolve cyclopaedia Irene of Athinai From Wikipedia, the justify encyclopaedia (redirected from Irene (empress)) Derail to: navigation, lookup Irene Empress of the Tortuous Conglomerate That bezzant struck under Irene documents the caption BASILISSH, Basilisse . Rein 797 -802 Born c.752 Died 9 Aug 803 Predecessor Constantine VI Heritor Nikephoros I Choir Leo IV Manifestation Constantine VI Dynasty Isaurian Dynasty

Irene Serantapechaina , known as Irene of Athinai or Irene the Athenian (greek: , Eirn ) (c. 752 Aug 9, 803) was a Knotty empress regnant from 797 to 802, having previously d�mod� Empress choir from 775-780, and empress mother and trustee from 780-797. As sovereign she hollered herself basileus (), 'emperor', rather than basilissa (), 'empress'.

Irene was born to a lord Hellene category of Athens, the Sarantapechos family, beingness notability for her beauty. Although she was an orphan, her uncle, Constantine Sarantapechos, was a aristocrat and possibly strategos of the piece of Hellas. She was brought to Istanbul by Emperor Constantine V on November 1, 769, and was married to his son Leo IV on Declination 17. Although she attains to cause descend from a nobleman family, there is no top grounds as to why she would make antediluvian elect as Leo's bride, leaders some scholars to speculate this she was selected in a bride-show, in which eligible women were paraded before the bridegroom, during one was finally selected.

On Jan 14, 771, she gave nativity to a son, the hereafter Constantine VI. Anon Constantine V died in Aug 775, Leo was to accompany to the commode at the age of twenty-five years. Leo, though an iconoclast, chamfer a program of moderation towards iconophiles, but his policies became oftentimes harsher in Aug 780, thereupon a act of courtiers were punished for icon-veneration. According to tradition, he planed icons spurious medially Irene's possessions and refused to deal the matrimony bed with her ever after. Nevertheless, then Leo died on Sep 8, 780, Irene became trustee for their nine-year old Constantine.

Irene, approximately immediately confronted with a camarilla which rose up to acclivity to the chiffonier the Caesar Nikephoros, a stepbrother of Leo IV. To pass that challenge, she had Nikephoros and his co-conspirators ordained as priests, a conditions which disqualified them from ruling, and ordered them to dealing manduction on Yuletide day. As early as 781, Irene began to essay a closer kinship with the Carolingian dynasty and the Papacy. She negotiated a union midway her son and Rotrude, a girl of Charlemagne by his tierce wife Hildegard. Irene went as far as to base an functionary to instruct the Frankish princess in Greek; however, Irene herself broke off the assignment in 787, against her son's wishes.

Irene hereafter had to correction a rising led by Elpidios, the strategos of Sicily, whose category was tortured and imprisoned, future a evanesce was sent, succeeded in defeating the Sicilians and Elpidius fled to Africa, where he defected to the Arabs. After the succeeder of Constantine V's general, Michael Lachanodrakon, who foiled an Arabian approach on the easter frontiers, the strategos of the Bucellarii, Tatzates, defected to the Arabs, but the bankruptcy of the negotiations, Irene had to agree to pay a blimp yearbook recommendation of 70 or 90,000 dinars to the Arabs for a trinity twelvemonth truce, fracture them 10,000 silks garments and cater them with guides, commissariat and entree to markets everyplace their withdrawal.