Under-reported Events in History and their Irrelevance to Today(?) In 790 A.D. Constantinople, Constantine VI, angered at being kept under the tutelage of his mother --the Empress Irene, as well as perceived military and diplomatic defeats in Asia Minor, staged a successful coup d'etat and overthrew his regent Mother. He placed his mother in a convent. Almost immediately he showed great competence and energy in his administration of the Byzantine Empire. Unfortunately, Constantine missed his mommy and released her from the convent and even allowed her back into the counsels of power. In 797, Irene repaid him, by staging her own coup d'etat. Irene had her son seized, his eyes gouged out, and locked him up in a monastery. She then assumed the throne alone. 1,200 years later, McCauley Caulkin found out his parents spent all his money, even the stuff he got for 'Richie Rich' and 'The Nutcracker'. Though, I am not sure, I believe he still possesses his eyeballs.