Irene of Athens

Irene of Athens (c. 752–803) married Leo IV in 769 and became empress in 775. Though her husband opposed icons, Irene favored their veneration. From 780 she was regent for her son Constantine VI, and in 787 convened the Second Council of Nicaea, restoring icon veneration.

In 790 a military revolt restored Constantine; Irene returned as co-ruler in 792 and in 797 had him blinded, ruling alone until 802, when Nikephoros I overthrew her and exiled her to Lesbos, where she died in 803. Her usurpation helped prompt Charlemagne's imperial coronation in Rome in 800.