irene of athens son

The leader of this successful revolt against Irene replaced her on the Byzantine throne under the name Nicephorus I. As imperial regent, Irene subdued rebellions and fought the Arabs with mixed success. In 769, Emperor Constantine V chose her as a bride for his son and co-ruler Leo IV. Cite This Work Even if she would have another baby it would be unlikely that this baby would inherit the Frankish Empire. Early life and rise to power. Leo IV was married to Irene of the Sarantapechos family of Athens and their son was Constantine VI (r. 780-797). Ancient History Encyclopedia. Irene’s most notable act was the restoration of the veneration of icons, thereby ending the First Iconoclasm of the Eastern Church. On 14 January 771, Irene gave birth to a son, the future Constantine VI. Ruling as regent for her young son over the next decade, Irene quashed a rebellion led by the sons of Constantine V, dismissed ministers and military men whose loyalty was questionable and made use of the experience of two court eunuchs, in particular, Staurakios and Aetios. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/Empress_Irene/. These farms were taken over by the largest land owner in the Byzantine Empire, the monasteries. The army was all too unimpressed with the young emperor, and his popularity plummeted even further when he began to blame his soldiers for their defeats, taking the ill-advised action (cunningly suggested by Irene, of course) of tattooing the word “traitor” on the faces of 1,000 of them. A final crushing blow to Constantine’s ambitions was the protests following his divorce and subsequent marriage to his mistress Theodote, the so-called Moechian Controversy, in 795 CE. These small farmers of Anatolia owed a military obligation to the Byzantine throne. Next, Irene convened a Church council in Constantinople in 786 CE to put an official end to the destruction of icons (iconoclasm). Born to the wealthy Sarantapechos family in Athens, Irene was an orphan raised by her uncle, Constantine Sarantapechos. 803- Irene and Charlemagne's son, Theodosius, is born. The strategos of the Bucellarian Theme, Tatzates, defected to the Abbasids, and Irene, in exchange for a three-year truce, had to agree to pay an annual tribute of 70,000 or 90,000 dinars to the Abbasids, give them 10,000 silk garments, and provide them with guides, provisions, and access to markets during their withdrawal. To make matters worse, the couple had a son 18 months later. Irene of Athens, the first empress of Byzantium. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Some Rights Reserved (2009-2021) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. Even though she brought some noteworthy changes to the empire like improving relations between the Orthodox Church and the Church of … Seized by his attendants on the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus, Constantine was carried back to the palace at Constantinople. Web. Leo, though an iconoclast, pursued a policy of moderation towards iconodules, but his policies became much harsher in August 780, when a number of courtiers were punished for venerating icons. 792–793: Rebellion of the Armeniacs against the restoration of Irene of Athens as co-ruler by Constantine VI. In effect, they ruled jointly for the next five years, but Irene soon began to plot against her son. Riding around Constantinople in a golden chariot launching coins into the crowds did not help much either. Constantine could only flee for aid to the provinces, but even there participants in the plot surrounded him. She is best known for ending iconoclasm. She also ended the First Iconoclasm in the Eastern Church. Related Content 800: Uprising in Cappadocia, instigated by Staurakios. License. Irene sent a fleet, which succeeded in defeating the Sicilians. And Irene of Athens was anything but a common woman. Irene was always scared of loosing her new status, she knew that in order to secure her position she needed to bear a child a soon as possible, at age 19, she gave birth to her only son who was named Constantine VI in honor to his grand father Constantine V. The former was logothetes tou dromou or chief minister with a wide range of powers. Health Details: Athens Banner-Herald Recent Obituaries: All of Athens .Health Details: Joseph Gillespie, 93, of Athens passed away on December 24, 2020.Born on March 31, 1927, he was the son of the late Ulysses Grant Gillespie and Sarah Key. Irene was related to the noble Greek Sarantapechos family of Athens and was brought to Constantinople by Emperor Constantine V on 1 November 768 and was married to his son Leo IV. "Empress Irene." 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