Theodore the Studite, also known as Theodorus Studita and Saint Theodore of Stoudios/Studium, was a Byzantine Greek monk and abbot of the Stoudios Monastery in Constantinople. He played a major role in the revivals both of Byzantine monasticism and of classical literary genres in Byzantium. He is known as a zealous opponent of iconoclasm, one of several conflicts that set him at odds with both emperor and patriarch. Throughout his life he maintained letter correspondences with many important political and cultural figures of the Byzantine empire; this included many women, such as the composer and nun Kassia, who was much influenced by his teachings.
Irene of Athens, surname Sarantapechaena, was Byzantine empress consort to Emperor Leo IV from 775 to 780, regent during the childhood of their son Constantine VI from 780 until 790, co-ruler from 792 until 797, and finally empress regnant and sole ruler of the Eastern Roman Empire from 797 to 802. A member of the politically prominent Sarantapechos family, she was selected as Leo IV's bride for unknown reasons in 768. Even though her husband was an iconoclast, she harbored iconophile sympathies. During her rule as regent, she called the Second Council of Nicaea in 787, which condemned iconoclasm as heretical and brought an end to the first iconoclast period (730–787). Her public figure was very polarizing during her 5 year reign, as most saw it as wrong for a woman to rule solely. Her reign as such made her the first ever empress regnant, ruling in her own right, in Roman and Byzantine imperial history.
Constantine VI, sometimes called the Blind, was Byzantine emperor from 780 to 797. The only child of Emperor Leo IV, Constantine was named co-emperor with him at the age of five in 776 and succeeded him as sole Emperor in 780, aged nine. His mother Irene exercised control over him as regent until 790, assisted by her chief minister Staurakios. The regency ended when Constantine reached maturity, but Irene sought to remain an active participant in the government. After a brief interval of sole rule Constantine named his mother empress in 792, making her his official colleague.
Tarasios of Constantinople was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 25 December 784 until his death on 25 February 806.
Maria of Alania was Byzantine empress by marriages to emperors Michael VII Doukas and Nikephoros III Botaneiates. Her status as empress was considered a significant success for a newly unified Kingdom of Georgia, which would achieve regional influence comparable to that of Byzantium only during the reign of Martha's nephew, King David IV, who refused to carry a Byzantine title. Maria was the only foreign Byzantine empress of the eleventh century.
Euphrosyne, was a Byzantine empress by marriage to Michael II. She was a daughter of Byzantine emperor Constantine VI, the last representative of the Isaurian dynasty, and his empress Maria of Amnia.
Zoe Zaoutzaina was a Byzantine empress consort as the second wife of the Byzantine emperor Leo VI the Wise. She was the daughter of Stylianos Zaoutzes, a high-ranking bureaucrat during the reign of her husband.
Theophano was the empress consort of Staurakios of the Byzantine Empire. According to the chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor, Theophano was a relative of Irene. Both women were from Athens but the nature of their relation to each other is not known.
Maria of Amnia was a Byzantine empress, the first wife of Constantine VI. Through her mother Hypatia, Maria was a granddaughter of Saint Philaretos, a magnate from the Armeniakon Theme known for his charitable activities, a relation mentioned in his hagiography. Maria was born in Amnia, Paphlagonia.
Eudokia was the third empress consort of Constantine V of the Byzantine Empire. According to the chronicle of Theophanes the Confessor, Eudokia was a sister-in-law of Michael Melissenos, strategos of the Anatolikon Theme. Her sister and brother-in-law were parents to Theodotus I of Constantinople.
Anna was the wife of Artabasdos, one of two rival Byzantine emperors in a civil war which lasted from June, 741 to November, 743 CE. The other emperor was her brother, Constantine V.
Alexios Mosele or Mousoulem/Mousele (Μουσουλέμ/Μουσελέ) was a late 8th-century Byzantine general of Armenian origin.
Bardanes, nicknamed Tourkos, "the Turk", was a Byzantine general who launched an unsuccessful rebellion against Emperor Nikephoros I in 803. Although a major supporter of Byzantine empress Irene of Athens, soon after her overthrow he was appointed by Nikephoros as commander-in-chief of the Anatolian armies. From this position, he launched a revolt in July 803, probably in opposition to Nikephoros's economic and religious policies. His troops marched towards Constantinople, but failed to win popular support. At this point, some of his major supporters deserted him and, reluctant to engage the loyalist forces in battle, Bardanes gave up and chose to surrender himself. He retired as a monk to a monastery he had founded. There he was blinded, possibly on Nikephoros's orders.
Staurakios was a Byzantine Greek eunuch official, who rose to be one of the most important and influential associates of Byzantine empress Irene of Athens. He effectively acted as chief minister during her regency for her young son, Emperor Constantine VI in 780–790, until overthrown and exiled by a military revolt in favour of the young emperor in 790. Restored to power by Constantine along with Irene in 792, Staurakios aided her in the eventual removal, blinding, and possible murder of her son in 797. His own position thereafter was threatened by the rise of another powerful eunuch, Aetios. Their increasing rivalry, and Staurakios's own imperial ambitions, were only resolved by Staurakios's death.
Aetios or Aetius was a Byzantine eunuch official and one of the most trusted advisers of Byzantine empress Irene of Athens. After Irene's rise to sole rule, Aetios developed an intense rivalry with her eunuch chief minister Staurakios. After Staurakios's death, Aetios became the leading man in the state. He plotted to usurp the throne for his brother, Leo, but lost power when Irene was deposed in 802.
Plato the Studite, also Plato of Sakkoudion, was a Byzantine minor official who became a monk in 759. After refusing the metropolitan see of Nicomedia or the headship of a monastery in Constantinople, in 783 he founded the monastery of Sakkoudion on Mount Olympus in Bithynia, of which he became the first abbot. He is notable, along with his nephew Theodore Stoudites, for his iconodule stance during the Byzantine Iconoclasm and his participation in the Second Council of Nicaea, and to his firm opposition to the second marriage of Emperor Constantine VI to his (Plato's) niece Theodote. He was canonized by the Church, and his feast day is April 4.
Theoktiste, also known as Phlorina (Φλώρινα), was the mother of the 9th-century Byzantine empress Theodora, the wife of Emperor Theophilos.
Thekla, Latinized as Thecla, was a princess of the Amorian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire. The eldest child of Byzantine emperor Theophilos and empress Theodora, she was proclaimed augusta in the late 830s. After Theophilos's death in 842 and her mother becoming regent for Thekla's younger brother, Michael III, Thekla was associated with the regime as co-empress alongside Theodora and Michael.
Joseph the Confessor was a 9th-century Archbishop of Thessalonica and brother of Theodore Stoudites. He is commemorated as a saint on July 14 by the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Theoktiste or Theoctista, was a politically influential Byzantine ascetic. She played an influential public role in the Byzantine Iconoclasm, as well as the controversial second marriage of emperor Constantine VI. Her biography was written by her son, Theodore the Studite.