Empress Eirene of Athens

Empress Eirene of Athens (lived c. 750—803, reigned 792—797) was the empress consort to Emperor Leo IV from 775 to 780, regent during the childhood of their son Constantine VI from 780 to 790, co-ruler from 792 to 797, and empress regnant and sole ruler of the Eastern Roman Empire from 797 to 802. Though her husband was an iconoclast, she harbored iconophile sympathies. She called the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, which condemned iconoclasm as heretical and ended the first iconoclast period (730–787). Her reign was controversial since most saw it as wrong for a woman to rule solely. The throne fell to her when her husband died, leaving her solely in charge.