Is empress irene of byzantine infamous?

Question

i'm doing a report on infamous people and want to know whether or not she is infamous.

Answer 1

Yes. Her zeal in restoring images and monasteries has given her a place among the saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Her most notable act was the restoration of the orthodox veneration of icons or images, a policy which she had always secretly favoured, though compelled to abjure it in her husband's lifetime.

Irene ranks with Egyptian queen Hatshepsut and Russian empress Catherine the Great as a breaker of male-dominated dynasties. When Irene of Athens was crowned sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire in 797, she became the first woman ever to hold the throne of the old Roman Empire.

Her illegal claim to the throne allowed the Frank king Charlemagne to be crowned Roman emperor in the West. This coronation ended the Byzantine Empire's power in Europe and forever changed European history.

Answer 2

Infamous? She isn't even famous!

Answer 3

Infamous  

  

Function: adjective

Etymology: Middle English, from Latin infamis, from in- + fama fame

Date: 14th century

1 : having a reputation of the worst kind : notoriously evil <an infamous traitor>

2 : causing or bringing infamy : disgraceful <an infamous crime>

3 : convicted of an offense bringing infamy

— in·fa·mous·ly adverb

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionar...

Upon the death of her husband, Emperor Leo IV, Irene of Athens became regent for her 10-year-old son, Constantine VI. She successfully defended her position against numerous plots and dominated her son in the process.

Empress Irene was a strong proponent of the use of Icons in the Christian church, a practice that had been prohibited for 60 years. After violent opposition from Iconoclasts, Irene managed to arrange the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, at which the use of Icons was restored. For this and for her patronage of monasteries, Irene is considered a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

When her son grew older and tried to wrest his indepencence from his mother, Irene had him blinded and imprisoned. She then took the title of Emperor for herself, becoming the first woman to rule the empire. Irene was also rumored to have considered a marriage to Charlemagne, who visited Constantinople during her reign.

In 802 Irene was deposed and exiled to Prinkipo (now Büyükada) and then to Lesbos, where she died.

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