Zoë Porphyrogenita

Zoë (Greek: Ζωή, Zōē meaning "life") (c. 978 – June 1050) reigned as Byzantine Empress alongside her sister Theodora from April 19 to June 11, 1042. She was also enthroned as the Empress Consort to a series of co-rulers beginning with Romanos III in 1028 until her death in 1050 while married to Constantine IX.

Early life: c. 978 – 1028

Zoë was one of the few Byzantine empresses who was Porphyrogenita, or "born into the purple" (that is, she was born to a reigning emperor). She was the second daughter of Constantine VIII and Helena, daughter of Alypius. Her father had become co-emperor in 962 and sole emperor in 1025. His reign as sole emperor lasted less than three years, from December 15, 1025 to November 15, 1028.

As an eligible imperial princess she was considered as a possible bride for the Holy Roman Emperor, Otto III in 996. A second embassy sent in 1001, headed by Arnulf, Archbishop of Milan, was tasked with selecting Otto’s bride from among Constantine’s three daughters. The eldest, Eudocia, was disfigured by smallpox, while the youngest, Theodora, was a very plain girl. Arnulf therefore selected the attractive 23-year-old Zoë, to which her uncle Basil II agreed. In January 1002 she accompanied Arnulf back to Italy, only to discover when the ship reached Bari that Otto III had died, forcing her to return home. Another opportunity arose in 1028, when an embassy from the Holy Roman Empire arrived in Constantinople with a proposal for an imperial marriage. Constantine VIII and the fifty-year-old Zoë rejected the idea out of hand when it was revealed that the intended groom Henry, the son of Conrad II, was only ten years old.

Zoe

Zoe or Zoey may refer to:

Persons

Music

Songs

Television

Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane

Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane is an American teen sitcom starring Selma Blair, David Moscow, Michael Rosenbaum, and Azura Skye that premiered in 1999 on The WB network (now known as CW). During development, the show was initially known as Zoe Bean and was later retitled Zoe... during its second season.

The series ran for a total of 26 episodes (13 each season).

Main characters

The series centered on four eccentric high school friends in New York City.

The show also starred Mary Page Keller as Zoe's single mother Iris during the first season. Scott Foley, fresh from Dawson's Creek, appeared in the pilot with the intention of having him star in the series as Zoe's love interest. But once the pilot finally got picked up, Foley had already moved on to Felicity.

Zoë (singer)

Zoë (born Zoë Pollock, 19 January 1969, Peckham, London) is a British pop singer and songwriter, who had brief success in 1991 with two hit singles, "Sunshine on a Rainy Day", which climbed to #4 on the UK Singles Chart, and "Lightning", which reached #37 (and spent three weeks in the UK Top 40). Zoë has released two solo albums and five singles.

Career

She initially started her career in the mid-1980s, by auditioning for Jimi Cauty and Youth to be the lead singer for their band Brilliant. She began dating Youth, who would later produce her two solo albums.

Zoë released her debut single, "Sunshine On A Rainy Day", in late 1990, with two different music videos. It failed to reached the UK Top 40, however it was remixed and re-released in 1991 and it became a Top 10 hit, peaking at #4. Her début album, Scarlet Red and Blue (to which singer Sam Brown contributed) included "Sunshine on a Rainy Day" and another moderately popular song, "Lightning", which peaked and spent a respectable 3 weeks at #37 on the UK Singles Chart. The album, despite good promotion and reviews, however, did not sell well, reaching only #67 on the UK Albums Chart. It featured similar dance-pop tracks as well as soulful ballads. Soulful vocalists Sam Brown and Yazz both provided backing-vocals on the album. "Holy Days" was the last single from Scarlet Red and Blue, released in February 1992, but only managed #72. In 1991, Zoë sang backing vocals on Bananarama's Pop Life album, which was produced by Youth.