[August 9] Irene, empress of Constantinople

True Name: Ειρήνη Σαρανταπήχαινα
Date of Birth: c. 752

House: Sarantapechos

Spouse(s): Leo IV, emperor of Constantinople, son of Constantine V, emperor of Constantinople, and Tzitzak of Khazaria

Predecessor: Constantine VI
Reign: 797 – 802

Summary: Irene was born into an Athenian Greek family known as the Sarantapechos. She was orphaned while young and her uncle, Constantine, was a patrician. In 769, she was married to the Byzantine crown prince, Leo, after being brought to the court a few months earlier. No good reason has been fronted as to why she was chosen as empress, suggesting she may have been chosen from a list of mostly qualified contestants. Irene moved into the palace and in 771 gave birth to a son, Constantine. When her father-in-law died in 775, Leo became the new emperor at Constantinople and attempted to rule as a moderate in the ongoing iconoclasm debate. Beginning in 780, however, Leo IV became a harsh fighter against icons and when he discovered that Irene was harboring icons, he refused her the marriage bed. Leo died that same year, and Irene became regent for their nine-year old son Constantine VI. Almost immediately, Leo's half-brother, Nikephorus, attempted to take the throne. Irene counterattacked by ordaining him and his conspirators as priests, thereby disqualifying them from the throne. Irene also attempted to negotiate a closer relationship with Western Europe and the Franks by betrothing her son to Rotrude, a daughter of Charlemagne. She broke off the betrothal in 787, however, against her son's wishes. Throughout this all, Irene was working to secure her borders from Arab attacks, which were increasing annually. Still as regent, Irene summoned two church councils to resolve the iconoclasm debate. The second council, the so-called Seventh Ecumenical Council, in 787 reunited the Eastern and Catholic churches and revived the veneration of icons in Eastern Orthodoxy. Despite the resolution, the Franks attacked various Byzantine possessions in 788 while Irene's forces reconquered the Balkans.

Irene's ascent to the Byzantine throne began around 790 following an attempt revolt from her son, Emperor Constantine IV. At the age of 19, Constantine VI was proclaimed sole emperor by a large group of Byzantine soldiers. Irene began conspiring to keep the throne for herself. She set of cells of her conspirators throughout the Empire, leaving Constantine with nowhere to flee. He attempted to cross the Bosphorus in 797 but was captured and returned to the capital. There, his eyes were gouged out and he died from wounds several days later. Irene's ascent to the top was complete. She became the first female ruler of the Roman Empire since its creation in 27 BCE. Her rise to power brought unexpected opportunity to the west, where Pope Leo III, who was at risk of losing his papal seat, interpreted the ascension of a female in the east as a sign that the Roman Imperial throne was vacant. He crowned Charles the Great Roman Emperor in 800, a move that was viewed in the east as a direct attack on their authority and legacy. Irene, however, took advantage of the coronation of her rival to propose a marriage between the two, thereby binding East and West together in one Roman Empire. Her scheme was frustrated by a courtier, Aetios, and Irene's brief reign came to an inglorious end. She was deposed in 802 and replaced by Nikephorus, a Byzantine minister. Irene was exiled to the Greek isle of Lesbos where she died the following year. 

Date of Death: 9 August 803
Successor: Nikephoros I

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Trajan, emperor of Rome (117)
• Valens, emperor of Rome (378)
• Al-Ma'mun, caliph of Sunni Islam (833)
• Damasus II, pope of Rome (1048)
• Horikawa, emperor of Japan (1107)
• Eric IV, king of Denmark (1250)
• Metrophanese III, patriarch of Constantinople (1580)
• Michael, voivode of Wallachia (1601)