Historical person
Irene of Athens
752–803
Irene of Athens was Byzantine empress, first as regent for her son Constantine VI and later as ruler in her own right from 797 to 802. She restored the veneration of icons at the Second Council of Nicaea, but her seizure of power after her son’s blinding remained deeply controversial.
In Cecelia Holland’s The Belt of Gold, Hagen is a Frankish warrior returning from pilgrimage when he reaches Constantinople at the end of the reign of Irene of Athens.
In non-fiction, Irene of Athens is discussed in Nick Holmes’s The Inheritors of Rome. Nick Holmes’s The Inheritors of Rome approaches the subject through religion, belief and institutional authority, political ambition and government, and exploration, travel and cultural encounter.
Standalone books
Standalone books featuring Irene of Athens (1 book)
Non Fiction
Non Fiction featuring Irene of Athens (1 book)
Biographies, histories and other non-fiction are listed separately from the historical novels above.
