born с 978, Constantinople
died 1050, Constantinople
Byzantine empress.
The daughter of Constantine VIII, she married Romanus III Argyrus in 1028. He died in 1034, perhaps poisoned by her, and she married her lover and chamberlain, who became Michael IV. After his death in 1041, his successor, Michael V, banished Zoe to a convent; she was recalled by public outcry, and Michael was deposed, blinded, and exiled (1042). Zoe and her sister became uneasy corulers, and she married Constantine IX Monomachus to secure her throne.