Some more facts about the life of Irene
- Solidus with empress Irene
Irene was born in Athens, presumably between 750 and 755, but little is known about her family. It is not clear why Irene was chosen as bride for the future emperor Leo IV. Irene might have been selected as wife for the future emperor - strange as it now sounds - after a ‘bride show’, a kind of beauty contest. This procedure, employed from the eighth until the tenth century, looks as follows. Envoys were sent out through the empire to select girls who met the strict standards of beauty laid down for potential empresses. The girls were then presented to the bridegroom and he, or in fact his mother, made the choice.
On 17 December 769 she married Leo IV and became at the same time empress. In 771 she gave birth to her son, the later Constantine VI. Her husband Leo IV succeeded to the throne in 775. Leo IV died already in 780.
Now her husband was dead, Irene became regent for her son. However, the transfer of power to her did not go smoothly. Her brother-in-law Nikephoros wanted to take over the throne but he didn’t succeed. She punished the insurgents and confirmed her power. The way she was ruling is apparent from a coin from that period: she, not her son Constantine, is holding the orb or globus, a symbol of imperial rule, and she is referred to as Constantine’s co-ruler; moreover, Constantine’s name is placed on the reverse, the less important side of the coin. Nevertheless, she wasn’t sure about her position. She wanted to strengthen it. Therefore in 781 she decided on a matrimonial alliance between Constantine and Rotrud, daughter of Charlemagne. Still her position deteriorated by military defeats. The Byzantine army was unhappy with Irene as supreme commander and demanded a new supreme commander, her son.
Thus Constantine was crowned emperor in 790 and Irene became the empress-mother. Constantine was ruling the empire together with his mother, but there was a continuous controversy between mother and son, especially about the (future) wives of Constantine. The first selected wife was Rotrud, a daughter of Charlemagne, but Irene broke the marriage contract for good reasons. For, Charlemagne couldn't part from his daughter. However, Constantine was very dissatisfied with this outcome. The second selected wife he married was Maria, but he didn’t like her. So he married a third wife, Theodote, but the result was that he was accused of ‘adulterous’ behavior. Therefore Irene planned a revolt against him.
In 797 she overthrew her son and blinded him. So she became the sole ruler of the Byzantine empire. She reigned till 802, when she was overthrown. An important reason was a proposal of Charlemagne and Pope Leo, asking Irene to marry emperor Charlemagne, in other words reuniting the two halves of the former Roman empire. Irene appeared to be happy to consent, but the Byzantine bureaucracy shuddered at the idea. She died already the next year.