Casey Stewart 11/19/15

8SS8 Social Studies

Irene’s Rule

Soon after Justinian’s rule, one of the greatest rulers in the history of Byzantium, who was known for re-conquering formerly Roman lands and creating a new code of laws that influenced the legal system today, a woman named Irene took control of the Byzantine Empire and became the first empress in Byzantium. Edward D. English’s book Encyclopedia of the Medieval World Volume Ientails thatEmpress Irene was born in Athens in 752 and died in 803. She got married to Emperor Leo IV, who lived from 775 to 780. The Empress was a regent for her only son, Constantine, who was a very important part of the Byzantine Empire, just like his mom and Justinian. In 790, Constantine could finally become ruler and Irene didn’t want him to so in792 she returned to the king’s dwelling and blinded and killed him (383). Fromthe website WomeninHistory.com, Irene additionally had her face put on both sides of a coin. Her nickname was “Irene of Athens” in honor of her birthplace, Athens. Irene was a voluminoushelp in the refurbishment of Christian icons. She furthermore was put on proscription for seven years, but was later recalled when her irresponsible and lackadaisical son was deemed ill-equipped to rule Rome. She toosuccored the “silk-secret” get into Byzantine and of course wanted it to stay there for she was in love with the thought of silk and money. Irene absolutely yearned for silk and could barely survive without the caterpillar’s slowly spun silk. She rarely appeared in public. In 792, she decided that she wanted her crown back and took over Constantine’s castle. She reclaimed her son’s crown, blinded him, and was the possible cause of his death (1 and 2). Finally, Empress Irene was a very important part to Byzantium and without her, Byzantium would have been very different.She helped inspire today’s presidents. Irene was a very important part of Byzantium with a very important role to play, especially being one of the only empresses ever in Byzantium’s history.Irene was very important and lived on after her death because she made such a big influence on Byzantine.

Casey Stewart 11/23/15

S88S Social Studies

Works Cited

“Empress Irene Byzantium at the Terminus of the Silk Route” Women in

World History.n.p. 1996-2013. Web.17 November 2015.

I got a lot of information out of this website. I learned that Irene got

her face on both sides of a coin. Lastly, I learned that her

nickname was “Irene of Athens” because of where she was born.

English. Edward D. Encyclopedia of the Medieval World Volume INew York:

Facts on File Inc., 2005. Print.

This book was very helpful. I learned that Empress Irene killed and

blinded her son just to get his crown. Lastly, I learned that Irene

married Emperor Leo IV.