Irina (Byzantine Empress)

Origin

Born about 752 years in Athens ^{[to 1]} . Being an orphan, she was raised in the family of her uncle, the patrician Konstantin Sarantapekos, who allegedly was a strategist (commander) in the local district ^[1] . Thus, although the future empress came from a noble Greek family, historians suggest that her appearance more than a political calculation influenced the decision of the Byzantine emperor to choose Irina as a bride to her heir ^[2] . On the other hand, it is suggested that marrying a Greek woman could strengthen the position of the ruling Isaurian dynasty within the state ^[3] .

Irina, who grew up in provincial Athens , as Charles Diehl notes, was devout, but was extremely passionate ^[4] .

Marriage with Leo IV

In 768, the Byzantine emperor Constantine V chose Irina to be his wife and his son and heir Leo:

On the 1st of September, the 8th indiction, Irina departed from Athens, and from Jeria sailed to the reigning city on many fast ships and other ships decorated with silk fabrics, and she was met and accompanied by famous citizens with their wives; and on the 3rd of September, in the church of Fara, the patriarch who came to the palace was committed to the engagement of King Leon with that Irina. On December 17, she was crowned as a queen in the palace hall, and having come to the prayer-room of St. Stephen in Daphne, she took the crown with Leon, the son of Constantine.

- Theophanes Chronography , year 6261/761 (768)

Irina, being a supporter of the veneration of icons, during the reign of her father- iconoclast hid her beliefs. Before the wedding, at the request of Constantine, she swore an oath that she would never recognize icons and would not worship them, as she was accustomed to in Athens ^[2] .

Irina's marriage with Leo on January 14, 771 gave birth to her only son Konstantin , who became the last representative of the Isaurian dynasty .

After the death of Emperor Constantine in 775, his son became the Byzantine Emperor Leo IV . Since that time, Irina began to influence her husband in the area of ​​softening the policy of iconoclasm ^[5] . Theophanes notes that at the beginning of his reign, Leo: “ for a short time seemed pious and lover of the Virgin and monks; put on the first thrones metropolitan of the hegumen " ^[6] . During this period, Leo enjoyed the sympathies of the previously persecuted icon icon-readers. In 776, a crowd at the Constantinople hippodrome , pleased not only with the emperor’s religious policy, but also with the reduced tax burden, demanded that Lev crowned his young son Constantine ^[7] . The emperor agreed, and on the day of Easter a solemn ceremony was performed, of which Irina became a participant:

... on the great resurrection of Easter on the 14th of the indiction, at the first dawn the king went out to the hippodrome with the patriarch; they brought antimins , and in the presence of all the people the patriarch prayed and the king crowned his son; then two kings with two caesars and three luminaries went to the great church. After the procession of kings, Queen Irina walked along; before her the pages carried skiptra; she entered the brass gate into the announced part of the church and did not ascend to the middle of the pulpit.

- Chronography of Theophanes , year 6268/768 (776)

The historian A. V. Kartashev believes that this was the triumph of Irina, who secured the title of emperor to her son, but due to the envy of the Leo brothers, from that moment her relationship with her husband, who began to please the iconoclast party, deteriorated again ^[8] . Irina finally fell into disfavor in 780 after Leo discovered two icons in her bedroom, which were hidden under a pillow ^[9] . However, the Byzantine historian George Cedrin conveyed this story with icons only 300 years later, when the veneration of icons was long ago restored, and the credibility of the story, illuminating Irina's activity in a favorable light, cannot be estimated ^[3] .

Irina was saved from disgrace by the death of her husband: on September 8, 780, Emperor Leo IV died. His death was overwhelmed with legend: “ as the greatest gemstone lover, he stole a crown from the great church and wore it. Carbuncles covered his head; he fell into a fierce fever and died in the fifth year of his reign without six months ” ^[10] . The cause of death according to one of the versions was the corpse poison from the crown from the head of Emperor Heraclius , taken by order of Leo from the grave, but a number of historians make a more likely assumption that Leo could have been poisoned by Irina ^[11] .

Regency

After the death of her husband, Irina was proclaimed regent with her 9-year-old son, Emperor Constantine VI .

40 days after the start of the regency, the iconoclast party, led by the five brothers of the late emperor Leo, prepared a coup in order to enthrone Nicephorus, the eldest of the brothers, on the throne ^[12] . The plot was uncovered, the main participants captured, subjected to scourging and exiled. The Lion brothers were also tonsured as monastic and ordained deacons and priests . On December 25, 780, on the feast of the Nativity of Christ, Irina forced them to serve in the church of St. Sophia with the people in order to deprive them of any claim to the throne ^[11] . On the same day, according to Theophan , Irina returned to the church the crown, previously seized by her husband ^[13] . In Sicily, Stratigh joined the conspirators. In order to expel him, it was necessary in 781 to send a fleet to the rebellious island ^[14] .

Irina began to openly express support for the veneration of the monks: the monks returned from exile, the relics of the martyrs Euthymius sent by Constantine V ^[15] were solemnly returned to Chalcedon . However, Irina’s religious policy during this period was moderate — she was afraid against the background of wars with Arabs and Balkan Slavs to set up an army against herself, most of which were on the side of the iconoclasts ^[16] .

Having concluded a forced peace with the Arabs in 781 and defeating the Slavs in Greece the following year, Irina wrapped her underage son with the 8-year-old daughter of Charlemagus Rotruda in 783 ^[17] . According to A. V. Kartashev , this was done in order to achieve religious peace with the West. The eunuch Elysius was assigned to Rotrud to teach the Frankish bride Greek language and Byzantine customs ^[3] .

Having established herself in power, Irina began to lead matters towards the restoration of the veneration of icons. In 784, the Patriarch of Constantinople Pavel retired to the monastery of Saint Flora, received the schema and announced his renunciation of the patriarchate ^[1] . To the ambassadors from Irina, he expressed the wish to hold a church council: " if there is no ecumenical council and the error is corrected among us, then you will not have salvation " ^[18] . Paul soon died, after his death the question of the veneration of icons was discussed openly, and it was decided to hold the Ecumenical Council .

Seventh Ecumenical Council

Preparations for the convocation

In order to prepare for the holding of the Ecumenical Council, Irina in 784 organized the election of a new Patriarch of Constantinople to replace the deceased Patriarch Paul . When discussing the candidates in the Mangavar Palace of Constantinople, after the empress's welcoming speech, there were shouts in support of Tarasia , who was not a clergyman, but held the position of asikrita (imperial secretary). Irina wanted to see Patriarch Tarasia (“ we appoint him, but he does not obey ” ^[19] ), and he, in turn, supported the idea of ​​holding the Ecumenical Council. The opposition that was present in the palace claimed that the convocation of the Council was inexpedient, since a decision had already been taken at the Council of 754 that condemned the veneration of icons, but the voice of the iconoclasts was drowned out by the will of the majority ^[20] .

Tarasia was quickly erected in all degrees of priesthood, and on December 25, 784 ^[21] on the feast of the Nativity of Christ, he was raised by the Patriarch of Constantinople, who remained for the next 22 years. After that, the elected patriarch, according to tradition, sent to all the heads of churches a statement of his religion and an invitation to the Eastern patriarchs to send their representatives to the Ecumenical Council ^[22] . Additionally, invitations were sent to the Ecumenical Council, written on behalf of Irina, her son Emperor Constantine. Ambassadors from the emperor and patriarch were sent to Rome to Pope Adrian I with an invitation to personally take part in the forthcoming Council:

... sent to Rome the cathedral messages and the book of his religion, which was adopted by Pope Adrian. The queen also wrote to the same pope and asked him to send his letters and husbands to attend the cathedral.

- Theophanes Chronography , year 6277/777 (785)

On October 27, 785, the answer was received by Pope Adrian, who later, with the reduction of unpleasant statements for the Constantinople Patriarchate (relating mainly to the primacy of Rome in the Christian Church) was read at the Council ^[23] . The pontiff expressed that he considers it possible to restore icon worship only on the basis of the patristic tradition , excerpt from which he cites in his letter, but seeing jealousy of the empress and patriarch about Orthodoxy, Adrian agreed to hold the Council under the following conditions: ^[24]

• the solemn anathematization of the iconoclastic cathedral of 754 in the presence of papal legates ;
• the provision by the empress, the patriarch and the Senate of a written guarantee of the integrity of the papal legates;
• the return to the jurisdiction of the Roman Church of the regions of Southern Italy , previously transferred by the Emperor Leo III Isauver to the jurisdiction of the Constantinople Patriarchate; ^{[to 2]}
• non-use of the title " ecumenical " by the Patriarch of Constantinople.

In his letter, the pope appointed two legates to the Council: Presbyter Peter and Hegumen Peter, and also called Irina and her son new Constantine and new Helena ^[24] .

Overclocking of the Cathedral in 786

The opening of the Council was scheduled in Constantinople on August 7, 786 ^[25] . Even before the opening of the Council, the bishops of the Iconoconbes arrived in the capital and began to negotiate with the military, who sympathized with them, wanting to enlist their support ^[26] . On August 6, a rally was held in front of Hagia Sophia demanding that the opening of the Cathedral be prevented ^[25] . Despite this, Irina did not change the appointed date, and on August 7, the Cathedral was opened in the Church of the Holy Apostles . When they began to read the holy scriptures, armed soldiers, supporters of the iconoclasts, broke into the temple:

“ We will not allow it,” they shouted, “ so that you reject the tenets of King Constantine ; let it be firm and unshakable that which he approved and legislatively approved at his council; we will not allow idols to be brought into the temple of God (as they called the holy icons); but if anyone dares to disobey the definitions of the Council of Constantine Copronym and, rejecting his decisions, begins to introduce idols, this land will be stained with the blood of the bishops. "

- The Life of the Holy Father Tarasius, Archbishop of Constantinople

The bishops who supported Irina had no choice but to disperse ^[27] . Having survived the setback, Irina set about preparing for the convocation of a new Council. Under the pretext of war with the Arabs, the imperial court was evacuated to Thrace , and the garrison loyal to the iconoclasts was sent into the depths of Asia Minor (supposedly towards the Arabs), where they gave the veterans resignation and paid a generous salary ^[28] . Constantinople was placed under the protection of another guard , recruited from Thrace and Bithynia , where the iconoclasts were not widely spread ^[3] .

Having completed preparations for the Cathedral, Irina did not dare to hold it again in the capital, but chose for this purpose the distant Nicaea in Asia Minor, in which the First Ecumenical Council was held in 325 ^[26] .

Ecumenical Council (787)

In May 787, Irina again sent out invitations with a request to arrive at the Cathedral of Nicaea. The composition of delegations has not changed. From Rome were the same legates; the three Eastern Patriarchs , who had no opportunity to come because of the wars with the Arabs, were represented by Sinkels John and Thomas ^[29] . In total, according to various estimates, 257–339 hierarchs attended the Council, but the number of signatories to the Act was 308 people ^[26] . The Seventh Ecumenical Council opened on September 24 and lasted a month.

The Empress Irene was not personally present at Nicea; she was represented by the committee of Petron and the chief of staff John ^[30] . The council held 8 meetings, only the last of which took place on October 23, 787 in Constantinople in the presence of Irina and the emperor, her son ^[31] . The Council began its work with a decision regarding the iconoclast bishops, many of whom were allowed to participate in the work of the Council by accepting their public repentance. And only at the fourth meeting, at the suggestion of the papal legates, an icon was brought to the temple where the Council met, ^[32] .

According to the results of the work, the Council of Oros was adopted, having restored the veneration of icons:

For the honor given to the image goes back to the prototype, and the icon worshiper worships the hypostasis depicted on it. This is the teaching of our holy fathers, that is, the tradition of the catholic church, which received the gospel from the end to the end of the earth. ^[33]

- Oros of the Seventh Ecumenical Council

After the closure of the Council, the bishops were dismissed in their dioceses with gifts from Irina ^[31] . The Empress ordered the image of Jesus Christ to be made and placed over the gate of the Khalkopraty in exchange for the one that was destroyed 60 years ago under the Emperor Leo III Isaurian ^[3] . The image was inscribed to the image: “ [image], which the lord of Leo once deposed, re-installed Irina here ” ^{[to 3] [34]} .

Power Challenge

Irina, who had become accustomed to managing the empire for the period of the regency, did not want to transfer power to her matured son Konstantin. She continued to treat him like a child, he lived separately from the imperial court and was not involved in management matters ^[35] .

In 788, the wedding of Constantine with the daughter of the Frankish King Charlemagne was upset, despite the fact that, according to Theophanes, he felt sympathy for her ^[36] . The reasons for canceling the wedding are not known exactly ^{[to 4]} . Theophanes reports that in the same year Irina sent troops to the north of Italy to fight the Franks , but the Byzantines were defeated ^[1] .

In the year 788, wanting to marry her son, Irina organized the so-called review of brides , first introduced into the practice of the Byzantine court ^[3] . Trusted officials were sent around the country with a set of requirements for the perfect bride, which included parameters such as height, foot length, head size and, of course, attitudes towards icons in the family. Of the 13 candidates submitted to the court, Irina chose a young Armenian, a young Armenian, the daughter of Paflagonia, Maria Amniy , a granddaughter of the holy righteous Philaret the Gracious , for her son as a wife ^[37] .

Царица, разорвавши сделку с Франциею, послала Феофана, первого оруженосца, и взяла невесту из армянок по имени Марию из дома Амния и соединила её браком с царём Константином, сыном своим, хотя он очень печалился, и не желал сего по привычке своей к дочери Карла, короля французского, с которою был обручён, и совершили брак его в ноябре месяце индиктиона 12.

— Хронография Феофана , год 6281 / 781 (788)

В 789 году был устроен заговор против Ирины с целью передать всю власть Константину. По сообщению Феофана Константин « посоветовавшись с немногими приближёнными своими… решился схватить её, послать в изгнание в Сицилию и сам овладеть царством » ^[38] . О разговорах среди ближайшего окружения Константина донесли Ирине, и она в качестве предупреждения предприняла жестокие меры:

Арестованные заговорщики были подвергнуты пыткам, изгнаны или заключены в тюрьму; но что ещё важнее, сам император был подвергнут телесному наказанию, как непокорный ребёнок строго отчитан матерью и на несколько дней посажен под арест у себя в комнате. ^[39]

В 790 году Ирина попыталась отстранить своего сына от престола, заставив войска присягнуть в том, что, пока она жива, они не позволят ему царствовать ^[3] . В армии между тем накопилось недовольство, скорее всего, связанное с неудачами в войне с арабами ^[40] . Когда заставили присягать Армянский легион в сентябре 790 года , вспыхнул бунт:

Воины не согласились присягать в том, что: «не признаём царём сына твоего при жизни твоей», но отвечали: «мы не будем ставить имени Ирины впереди Константина, но Константина, как и прежде, поставим впереди Ирины». Она послала Алексея оруженосца и друнгария стражи по прозванию Муселема схватить их. Но они, схвативши сами его, предложили ему быть их начальником, а Никифора патриция и военачальника посадили под стражу и провозгласили Константина единственным царём. Узнав об этом воины прочих легионов прогнали своих военачальников, и сами также провозгласили единственным царём Константина

— Хронография Феофана , год 6283 / 783 (790)

Ирина уступила силе и, лишённая титула августы, поселилась в декабре 790 года на полном обеспечении в Элевферийском дворце Константинополя ^[40] . Опала Ирины продлилась недолго. После ряда военных неудач в походах против болгар и арабов Константин под влиянием сановников решил вернуть матери в январе 792 года титул августы и разрешил проживать в императорском дворце ^[41] . Восстановив своё положение, Ирина всё же желала прежней самодержавной власти. В течение пяти лет она тщательно готовила смещение своего сына, дискредитируя его в глазах народа, армии и церкви ^[42] .

В июле 792 года Константин во главе византийской армии был разгромлен болгарским ханом Кардамом во Фракии ^[43] . В войске и народе заговорили о необходимости избрать императором Никифора, дядю Константина. В качестве упреждающей меры Константин в августе ослепил Никифора и приказал вырезать языки у братьев Никифора ^[44] . По предложению Ирины был ослеплён также (на всякий случай) военачальник Алексей Моселей, тот самый, который устроил переворот 790 года и находился в опале из-за очередного бунта Армянского легиона (по причине возвращения Ирине титула августы) ^[3] . Своей жестокостью Константин окончательно лишил себя поддержки в армии. Более того, среди армянских войск разгорелось восстание, которое пришлось усмирять силой ^[44] . Смутой в Византии воспользовались арабы, захватив без боя несколько крепостей.

According to Theophanes, the main action of Irina to discredit her son was to support his love affair with Fedoto, one of the court ladies, a relative of Theodore Studite . Constantine, who did not love his spouse, in 795 forced Maria to accept monasticism, while he himself married Fedota and even crowned her (which Mary did not deign) ^[45] . The event caused unrest among Christians, and the Sakkudi monastery on Olympus even rebelled from the Byzantine church, blaming Patriarch Tarasius for taking the veil of Mary ^[45] . Constantine carved and exiled monks, which restored public opinion against himself, which Irina took advantage of ^[46] .

Irina hurried to speed up the course of events, when in 796 Constantine had a son. The baby soon died, but the plot was quite ripe. On June 17, 797, the commanders of the Moscow garrison opposed Constantine, but he managed to escape through the bay, where loyal troops began to flock to him ^[47] . Irina was ready to ask her son for mercy, promising to step back from power, but before that she appealed to her supporters surrounded by the emperor with a direct threat to extradite them if they did not take decisive actions ^[47] . The conspirators seized Constantine in the early morning of August 15 and immediately transported across the bay to Constantinople, where in the porphyry bedroom of the Sacred Palace in which the emperor was born:

... at the ninth hour, horribly and ruthlessly gouged out his eyes at the behest of his mother and her advisers, that he almost died ... Thus, his mother became the one-man power.

- Chronography of Theophanes , year 6289/789 (797)

Further information about the fate of the ousted emperor Constantine is contradictory - he either died during the coup or was kept under house arrest outside the capital and died in the year 802 ^[47] . His wife Fedot was sent to the monastery, where she gave birth to a son, the grandson of Irina ^[48] .

Monopoly Empress

Irina became the first monopoly on the Byzantine throne. In her published Novels, she calls herself a man: “ Irina, the great basil and the autocrat of the Romans ”, on coins and ceremonial portraits depicted in lush imperial robes ^[49] . In the West, Irina did not recognize the title to the title, considering that the throne of the heritage of the Roman Empire became vacant ^[50] . The anonymous author of the Lorsh Annals demeaningly calls Byzantium the “ feminine empire ” (femineum imperium) ^[51] .

Prone to magnificent ceremonies, Irina on Bright Week in 799 makes a solemn departure before the people:

On the second day of Holy Pascha, the queen returned from the Church of the Holy Apostles in a golden chariot, carried by four white horses, led by four patricians, Vardan, a Thracian commander, Sisinius, a commander, Nikita, the head of schools and Constantine son Voila; the queen generously threw money at the people.

- Theophanes Chronography , year 6291/791 (799)

From the very beginning of her reign, Irina begins to generously bestow monasteries, reduces taxes and customs duties, arranges charitable institutions for the poor, and conquers the love of her subjects ^[52] . Theodore the Studite enthusiastically wrote about this policy of Irina: “The poor are no longer staying at home because of fear of vile exactions ” ^[53] . Especially a lot of funds were allocated to monasteries - new ones were built, destroyed ones were restored, and such large monasteries as Succudia in Bithynia and Studius in Constantinople reached Irina with unprecedented wealth ^[54] .

The courtiers, realizing that after the death of Irina there were no direct heirs to the throne (the brothers of Leo IV, tonsured and maimed, were exiled by Irina to Athens ^[55] ), began to conduct intrigues in the struggle for power: “ Two patricians, Stavraky and Aetius, the tsarina's confidants, rebelled against each other and already clearly manifested their enmity; both of them had the goal of the death of the queen to deliver the kingdom to their relatives " ^[56] . The struggle of the courtiers became aggravated in May 799 , when Irina fell ill from the experience, “ was almost at death ” ^[57] , and then recovered for a long time ^[58] .

The Roman church decided not to take Irina as the legitimate head of the Empire, which made it possible to transfer the imperial title to the West. On December 25, 800, Charlemagne was crowned king of St. Peter by Pope Leo III and proclaimed emperor by the Roman Senate. Karl, convinced by the persuasion of the popes dependent on him, believed that he had become the emperor of the united Roman Empire ^[59] .

In the East, the title of Charles was not recognized until 811 , his coronation was considered as one of the attempts of outrage against the legitimate sovereign ^[60] . In the West, they also did not recognize the imperial title for the rulers of Byzantium. A contemporary of Irina, Frank Teghan, in a work written in the 830s, calls the Byzantine emperor prince of Constantinople, which reflects the characteristic views of the West on the succession of the imperial title ^[61] .

Karl , in need of recognition of his new title by the Byzantine Empire, decided to approve his status by marriage with Empress Irina, realizing that after her death in the East, they would elect a new emperor, whose rights would be indisputable ^[62] . Ambassadors from Charles and the Pope were sent to Constantinople to ask Irina "to unite with Karl by marriage, and through that to connect east with the west " ^[63] . According to Theophanes, the patrician Aetius, who managed the affairs of the empire after the death of Stavrakia, opposed this marriage. Aetius intended (according to Theophanes) to put the emperor after the death of Irina his brother ^[63] . Irina herself did not openly object to marriage, but Charles’s plans were not realized due to the coup d'état that overthrew Empress Irina just at the time when the Frankish ambassadors were in Constantinople ^[64] .

Overthrow and Death

Irina was overthrown on October 31, 802 in a conspiracy organized by Nikofor , responsible for the finances of the empire (“ patrician and general counter ” ^[65] ) ^[66] . He, along with his accomplices, drew to his side the commanders of the troops, spreading quite a reliable rumor about the possible seizure of power by the patrician Aetius, whom Irina made the second person in the state, but who was not loved and feared because of his despotism ^[64] . Then, encircling the Imperial Palace of Eleutheria with Irina inside with loyal troops, the conspirators proclaimed Emperor Nicephorus. The next day, Patriarch Tarasius in the temple of St. Sophia hastily crowned Nicephorus in the kingdom .

Theophanes transmits the words of Irina, addressed to the usurper during their personal meeting:

“ Often I heard rumors of dignity that you are now clothed with, and the consequences proved that those rumors were true. They are known to you; if I were interested in them, I could easily have killed you. But believing your oaths, and sparing many of your smart men, I sinned before God ... " ^[65]

The new emperor Nikifor promised to save Irina the privileges and the Eleutherian palace, but later, having received the imperial treasury from her, decided to send the empress from the capital to one of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of ​​Marmara to the monastery founded by her ^[67] . Then, fearing that the people would call her to reign again, Irina was sent away to the island of Lesbos in custody. According to local tradition, Irina repented of her sins in exile and planted a tree in memory of her son, which she watered with her tears ^[1] . Irina is also credited with founding the monastery of the Virgin Trullloti in Pyrgi Thermis near Mitilina on Lesbos ^[1] .

Nikifor, being a moderate iconoclast, did not pursue a policy aimed at destroying the icon veneration restored by Irina — the relative calm she achieved on this issue lasted until the beginning of the reign of Lev V the Armenian ^[68] .

On August 9, 803, Irina passed away. Her body was transported to the St. Nicholas Monastery founded by her herself on Prince’s Island ^[69] . Between 861 and 864, Irina’s body was transferred to Constantinople and buried in a sarcophagus of Proconossian marble in the Church of the Holy Apostles ^[1] .

The main source on the life of Empress Irina is the “ Chronography ”, written by her contemporary, Hegumen Theophanes ^[1] . The author, who participated in the meetings of the Seventh Ecumenical Council and shared the views of Irina, in the overwhelming majority of cases, positively describes her actions or, at least, justifies her cruelty. He views the conflict with his son-emperor as the result of the envy of “ evil people ” who set up his mother against his son. Only when reporting on the blinding of the emperor Constantine Theophanes, despite her loyalty to Irina ^[70] , she condemns her and directly reports that the emperor was blinded by the will of his mother and even “the sun lost its rays for blinding the king ” ^[71] .

The Byzantine chroniclers call Irina a new Helen , who was martyred for the true faith ^[67] . Particularly flattering about her was Theodor the Studite , who called her “ God ’s name Irina ” and praised her as a champion of the truth, having “the care of the mental and physical benefits of Christians ” ^[72] . George the Monk ( 9th century ) reports the blinding of Irina’s son, without mentioning her role in this ^[73] , which supports the general direction of loyalists to her to soften Irina’s guilt in the incident and not focus on her moral side ^[74] . However, the chroniclers still noted contrasts in the character of Irina, as Dorotheus of Monemvasy wrote: “ O miracle! One woman with a child restored piety! But she also became a child-killer! " ^[75] . At the same time, the historian Friedrich Schlosser believes that Irina, although she was religious, but for her “ religion was more a means than a goal ” ^[75] .

Soon after her death, Irina was canonized by the Orthodox Church . The only manuscript of the 11th century is known with the text of the anonymous life of Irina, containing borrowings from Theophanes' Chronography (first 24 pages), the lives of Philaret the Most Gracious and Unknown source (final 3 pages) ^[1] . Also, the life story of Irina is contained in the life of St. Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople, known in Russia as described by Dimitri of Rostov . Irina's biography of biography represents her as a zealous woman of piety and Orthodoxy, who " more loving God and His truth than her own son ... ordered to blind him ", and then accepting the autocratic power " corrected everything that came upset in the reign of her son " ^{[ 76]} .

From the historians of the 20th century, French author Charles Diel wrote about Irina in a series of works on the history of the Byzantine Empire. Her activity in the organization of the Seventh Ecumenical Council was reviewed by the historian of the church Kartashev in the work " Ecumenical Councils ".

• Blessed Theodora - Byzantine Empress, finally restored the veneration of icons.

Sources

• Theophanes the Confessor . Chronicle from Diocletian to the kings Michael and his son Theophylact. - M. , 1884. - 1296 p.

Literature

• Irina // Orthodox Encyclopedia . - M .: Church-Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" , 2011. - T. XXVI. - p. 370-373. - 752 s. - 39 000 copies - ISBN 978-5-89572-048-6 .
• Vasilyev A. A. The history of Byzantium from the founding of Constantinople to the era of the Crusades. 324-1081 years. - M .: Lomonosov, 2016. - 320 p. - ISBN 978-5-91678-310-0 .
• Velichko A.M. History of the Byzantine Emperors. - M .: FIV, 2010. - T. 3. - p. 101. - ISBN 978-5-91399-019-8 .
• Dil S. Byzantine Portraits. - M .: Publishing House of the Sretensky Monastery, 2011. - P. 100-133. - ISBN 978-5-7533-0194-9 .
• Kartashev A.V. Ecumenical Councils. - Klin: ATLAS-PRESS, 2004. - p. 609-633.

• Irina (Byzantine Empress) (English) . - in Smith 's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
• Garland L. Constantine VI (780-797 AD) and Irene (797-802 AD) (Eng.) . An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors . 2002