The byzantine History of the Eastern Roman Empire S2 E9 Constantine VI & his mother Empress Irene

Constantine VI and his mother Empress Irene of Athens were the last two rulers of the Isaurian Dynasty that ruled the Eastern Roman Empire from 717 to 802 A.D. After the death of Leo IV, the nine year old Constantine was named ruler of the empire with his mother Irene of Athens acting as his regent. Due to the ineptness of Constantine, her mother Irene eventually became co-ruler and made many of the decisions that continued to shape the empire such as ending Iconoclasm and establishing ties with the Franks and trying to strengthen ties with the Roman Catholic Church. But due to Irene being a woman along the Franks and the Eastern Romans fighting over the remnants of the Kingdom of the Lombards in the Italian peninsula doomed their relationship.

The Armenian Province rebelled in 790 A.D. and demanded that Constantine be named the sole ruler of Constantinople but his meekness and ineptitude in dealing with the Bulgarians, Arabs and the Franks led to Irene being brought back as a co-ruler. Irene however had her own plans to make herself Empress and overthrew her own unpopular son and became sole ruler of the Eastern Roman Empire after her followers arrested Constantine and had his eyes removed before being exiled with his second wife. Irene was now Empress but continued to have to deal with the Greek Orthodox Church and the Imperial hierarchy who were uncomfortable with being ruled by a woman. The Roman Catholic Church took this a step further and on 800 A.D. recognized the Frankish King Charlemagne as the new "King of the Romans" because they refused to acknowledge Empress Irene because they also didn't want to take orders from a woman and regarded Constantine VI as the last true Roman Emperor.

Irene was removed from power on October 31, 802 A.D. by her own finance minister Nicephorus and was sent to exile on the Island of Lesbos where she became a wool spinner until her death several months later on August 9, 803 A.D. Listen to the Illustrious Narrator talk about "Constantine VI and his mother Empress Irene."
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