Wu Zetian is the only empress in Chinese history, she ignored the eyes of the world, ascended the throne and claimed that the emperor achieved a career and left a name in history, but she was also cruel and killed, in order to consolidate the throne, she did not hesitate to kill her descendants and grandchildren, which was criticized.
Coincidentally, there is also such an empress in Europe, she is politically courageous, but also cruel, for the sake of power, she did not hesitate to blind her own son to death, she is simply a copy of Wu Zetian, she is the first empress of Byzantium, Irina.
In 752, Irina was born into a modest aristocratic family in Athens, Greece, and later married Leo (later Leo IV), son of the then Byzantine emperor Constantine V (later Leo IV), in an imperial beauty pageant.
At that time, the political situation of the Byzantine Empire was very chaotic, within the empire, the iconoclasm movement was in the ascendant, the government and the public were in opposing conflicts over the issue of faith, and outside the empire, they faced the military threat of Bulgar and Arabs.
Emperor Leo III launched a nationwide "iconoclasm campaign" in 726, strictly forbidding subjects in the empire to worship and worship icons and holy relics, and by the time of Constantine V, the iconoclasm movement reached its climax. But strangely, Irina was an avid icon worshipper, which planted a time bomb for the future religious and political division and turmoil of the empire.
In 775, Constantine V died, Leo IV succeeded to the throne, and Irina became imperial empress. Leo IV began as an iconoclaster, but under the influence of Irina, began to lean towards his wife's position. But then Leo IV took a firm stance on destroying the icons, which caused Irina's displeasure. Soon after, Leo IV died suddenly of illness during a war against the Arabs, which many historians believe may have been caused by Irina's poisoning.
After the death of Leo IV , her 9-year-old son Constantine VI succeeded to the throne , and Empress Irina became regent , and for the next eleven years became the de facto ruler of the Byzantine Empire , but her position was not secure.
Because of her support for the iconolites, the Anatolian army that supported the iconolites soon after her reign rebelled and supported one of Leo IV's five brothers as emperor. The rebellion was soon suppressed, and Leo IV's five brothers were forced to shave their hair into the monastery.
This riot made Irina realize that most of the church, the important positions in the empire, and the army were controlled by the iconoclas, and that the Reformation was necessary if it was to be firmly established.
In 787, Irina facilitated the Seventh Council of Christ, which condemned the iconoclastic campaign carried out by the two previous emperors, denouncing iconoclasters as heresy and restoring iconoclastic worship. This result earned Irina the title of "Saint Irina", becoming one of the four great saints of the Orthodox Church. Irina won a religious victory.
However, Irina was not satisfied with this, and then she wanted to seize more political power. In 790, Constantine VI grew up, and Irina as the regent should return to her son, but she was not willing to give up everything she worked hard for, and Constantine VI's cowardly character gave Irina a great opportunity to continue the regent. However, her excessively swaggering approach also caused great dissatisfaction among the subjects of the empire.
Irina issued a decree declaring herself the supreme empress of the empire, surpassing her son Constantine VI, and engraved her head on both sides of the imperial gold coin, which was a very transgressive act. After that, she brutally suppressed iconoclasters demanding restitution and imprisoned Constantine VI.
Her move completely angered the subjects of the empire, and a rebellion broke out in the Eastern Military District against Irina, who rescued Constantine VI from prison and installed him as the sole legitimate ruler of the empire, and Irina was exiled and placed under house arrest along with her supporters. Constantine VI began to rule alone, but it soon turned out that he was not a qualified emperor.
In 791, when the Arabs invaded the empire's eastern border, Constantine VI immediately signed a humiliating contract, offering huge reparations in exchange for a brief peace. The following year, Constantine VI fled to Bulgaria, but he soon fled in battle, and Constantine's incompetence caused him to gradually lose the support of his subjects.
In the same year, Constantine VI was persuaded by others to recall Irina to the capital and restore her original power. This was tantamount to betrayal for the iconoclastic faction who supported him, so they hatched a new conspiracy to overthrow Irina along with Constantine VI and install Leo IV's brother, the aforementioned monk, Nikiforos, as emperor. But the conspiracy was revealed, and Constantine VI showed a rare decision when he ordered Nikephoros to be blinded and the tongues of four other uncles cut off.
However, Constantine's absurdity did not stop there, and in 795 Constantine VI divorced his original wife Mary and married a palace maid, which was not allowed in the Orthodox Church, and his behavior caused dissatisfaction in the church. By this time, Constantine VI lost the support of the soldiers, the people, and almost everyone in the church.
Irina saw a great opportunity to overthrow Constantine VI. In 797, Irina instigated an uprising by the emperor's men, captured Constantine VI, blinded him in both eyes, and imprisoned him. A few years later, Constantine VI died in agony, and Irina became the sole ruler of the empire. Irina's murderous behavior violates basic human morality, making her unpopular and unpopular. When the Arabs invaded, Irina was equally powerless to resist and had to promise a huge amount of tribute, which exacerbated the resentment of her subjects. A riot plotting to overthrow Irina is brewing, and there is only one opportunity left.
At this time, it is necessary to say about the situation in Western Europe, when the Byzantine Empire was faltering in internal and external troubles, Charles's Frankish Empire conquered most of Western Europe and established the largest empire since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. In particular, as the papal protector, he repeatedly rescued the pope from danger, making Charles more qualified to be the emperor of the Romans than Irina is today. As a result of iconoclasty, the Holy See gradually distanced itself from Byzantium and sought refuge from the Franks.
So on Christmas Day 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charles as emperor of the Romans on the grounds that a woman could not become emperor and the Roman throne was vacant. Charles also accepted the crowning of the Pope according to the Franco's Salic Code, which stipulates that women cannot inherit the throne. So more than three hundred years after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, two more emperors appeared in Europe at the same time, and the Roman Empire was once again divided in form.
After the coronation of Charlemagne, in order to legitimize his title, he hoped to marry Empress Irina and promote the unification of the eastern and western Roman worlds. Irina also hopes to use the power of the Franks to consolidate her precarious rule within the empire. If the two parties become husband and wife, the unity of the Roman Empire will be achieved again.
However, Charlemagne's coronation and Irina's reaction completely angered the subjects of the empire and lit the fuse for overthrowing Irina's rule. On the one hand, the subjects of the empire were angry at Charlemagne's transgressions, and on the other hand, they believed that Irina, as a Roman, especially a Roman empress, should marry an illiterate barbarian, which was absolutely not allowed.
In 802, a group of high-ranking officials occupied the Holy Palace, announced the deposition of Irina, and then installed Nikephoros, the chancellor of the empire, as emperor, that is, Nikephoros I, and the Isurian dynasty collapsed. Irina was exiled to the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara and then to Lesvos, where she died a year later.
Irina became the first female empress of the Byzantine Empire and even Europe with her political skills, but it should be noted that Irina always called herself "Basilius" (male emperor) during her reign, not "Basilisa" (female emperor). However, although Irina was good at the struggle for the throne, she was not able to control the soldiers and subjects in the empire, let alone resist the invasion of external Bulgars and Arabs, so although Irina was the first empress of Byzantium and was even named a saint by the Orthodox Church, she did not have commendable achievements in domestic and foreign affairs, and her religious policy even further aggravated the turmoil and division of the empire.