This council officially ended the ban on icon veneration. Irene struck back, vehemently denying that she had put them there. On paper, the plan made perfect sense. These dudes just don’t give upâeven when they should really just stay home and treasure the organs they have left. Vasiliev, A. In any case, the rupture of the proposed union does not appear to have overly disturbed the empress, who, increasingly ambitious, had good reason not to want a daughter-in-law of such eminent rank. Despite the dissatisfaction with her rule, however, Irene had many friends, especially among the monks who adored her, and she was allowed to live out the rest of her life in dignified exile on the island of Lesbos where she died in 803. Their story ultimately had a heartbreaking end, especially for poor Maria. After three years of accepting his wifeâs different beliefs, Leo IV suddenly had a change of heart. Following the deposition of the Byzantine empress Irene of Athens, the throne of the Byzantine Empire passed to a relatively short-lived dynasty, the Nikephorian dynasty, named after its founder, Nikephoros I.The empire was in a weaker and more precarious position than it had been for a long time and its finances were problematic. Perhaps most important of all, Irene's usurpation of the throne provided the ideological justification for the coronation of Charlemagne the Great as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, an institution that was to survive and to trouble Europe until laid to rest by Napoleon. Ruthless and ambitious, she is widely suspected of having poisoned her husband after which she governed the Empire as regent and sole ruler for 22 years. No matter her motivation, man oh man, this was a bad idea. However, the latter had no interest in seizing Ireneâs authority. Once he got the information, he broke his word and exiled Irene to Lesbos. Constantine exiled Maria to a convent and then divorced her later on. He therefore sent emissaries to seek the empress's hand in marriage, apparently with the idea that after the death of the surviving partner one of his own children would succeed them since Irene's only son was dead and she was past childbearing age. The clergy may have reluctantly accepted Constantine VIâs divorce and subsequent marriage, but they just couldn’t stomach the idea of having a woman on the throne after his passing. However, despite our best efforts, we sometimes miss the mark. Little did they know theyâd picked a battle with the wrong woman. Wait and watch. It sounded like a solid plan, but Irene shocked everyone (and puzzled historians forever after) with her next action. In practice, however, it was a complete disaster. In 786, however, Charlemagne repudiated this brilliant alliance for reasons that are not clear but which probably concerned the council convened at Nicaea that year without his consultation and his own iconoclast resentment of Irene's well-known iconophile views. Elpidios got out of that jam too, successfully escaping to Africa. At the end of the deliberations, iconolatry was reestablished, iconoclasts were anathematized, and Constantine VI and his mother were hailed as the new "Constantine and Helena," in reference to the first Christian Roman Emperor and his pious mother. To keep the people on her side, she waived taxes and lowered duties. Known as the Second Council of Nicaea or the Seventh Ecumenical Council, more than 300 bishops attended this conclave which lasted from September 13 to October 13, 787. At Factinate, weâre dedicated to getting things right. 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