The Probert Encyclopaedia of People

ZOE

Zoe was a Byzantine empress who ruled from 1028 until 1050. She was born in 978 and died in 1050. She gained the title by marriage to the heir apparent Romanus III Argyrus, but was reputed to have poisoned him in 1034 in order to marry her lover Michael. He died in 1041 and Zoe and her sister Theodora were proclaimed joint empresses. Rivalry led to Zoe marrying Constantine IX Monomachus with whom she reigned until her death.
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