Two thousand miles away, another powerful woman was also minting coins with her image pressed into metal. In Constantinople (now Istanbul) the Empress Irene had, over a period of thirty years from 775 to 802, progressed from queen consort, to regent for her son, and finally to sole ruler. Offa and Cynethryth, at the edges of the known world, were well aware that there was a woman at the very heart of power in the East. Irene’s supporters had gouged out her own son’s eyes to secure her position as sole ruler, and with her rivals out of the way Irene demanded she rule not as empress, but as
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