Irene of Athens

Irene of Athens, who lived from around 750 or 756 to 9 August 803, was a Byzantine ruler who held power in successive capacities: empress consort to Emperor Leo IV from 775 to 780, regent for her young son Constantine VI from 780 to 790, co-ruler from 792 to 797, and finally sole empress regnant from 797 to 802. Born into the prominent Sarantapechos family of Athens, she was chosen to marry the future Leo IV for reasons that remain unclear, though her family's political standing likely played a part, and despite her husband's iconoclastic policy she held pro-icon sympathies. Her most significant act as regent was calling the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, which formally declared the veneration of icons an article of faith, ending the first iconoclast period and reuniting the eastern church with Rome. As Constantine VI matured, tensions grew between mother and son; after military revolts in 790 Irene was briefly removed from power but was reinstated as co-ruler in 792, and when Constantine moved toward independence through a controversial remarriage, Irene orchestrated his downfall, having him blinded and confined to a monastery. A palace coup led by the finance minister Nikephoros deposed Irene in October 802; she was exiled to Lesbos, where she died the following year, supporting herself by spinning wool.