name | Basil I |
---|---|
title | Emperor of the Byzantine Empire |
reign | 867–886 |
full name | Basil I the Macedonian |
predecessor | Michael III |
successor | Leo VI the Wise |
consort | Eudokia Ingerina |
spouse 1 | Maria |
spouse 2 | Eudokia Ingerina |
issue | by Maria: Constantineby Eudokia: Leo VI, Alexander, Stephen |
nationality | Armenian |
dynasty | Macedonian dynasty |
birth date | 830/835/836 |
birth place | Macedonia (theme) |
death date | (aged 75) |
Basil was ultimately lucky enough to enter the service of Theophilitzes, a relative of the Caesar Bardas (the uncle of Emperor Michael III), as groom. While serving Theophilitzes, he visited the city of Patras, where he gained the favor of Danielis, a wealthy woman who took him into her household and endowed him with a fortune. He also earned the notice of Michael III by winning a victory over a Bulgarian champion in a wrestling match, and soon became the emperor's companion and bodyguard (parakoimomenos).
On Michael's orders, he divorced his wife Maria and married Eudokia Ingerina, Michael's favorite mistress in around 865. It was commonly believed that Leo VI, Basil's successor and reputed son, was really the son of Michael. Although Basil seems to have shared this belief (and hated Leo), the subsequent promotion of Basil to Caesar and then co-emperor provided the child with a legitimate and imperial parent and secured his succession to the throne.
During an expedition against the Arabs, Basil convinced Michael III that his uncle Bardas coveted the throne, and murdered Bardas with Michael's approval on April 21, 866. Now Basil became the leading personality at court and was invested in the now vacant dignity of kaisar (Caesar), before being crowned co-emperor on May 26. This promotion may have included Basil's adoption by Michael III, himself a much younger man. As Michael III started to favor another courtier, Basil decided that his position was being undermined and preempted events by organizing the assassination of Michael on the night of September 23/24, 867.
Because of the great legislative work which Basil undertook, he is often called the "second Justinian." Basil's laws were collected in the Basilika, consisting of sixty books, and smaller legal manuals known as the Eisagoge. Leo VI was responsible for completing these legal works. Basil's financial administration was prudent. Consciously desiring to emulate Justinian, Basil also initiated an extensive building program in Constantinople, crowned by the construction of the Nea Ekklesia cathedral.
His ecclesiastical policy was marked by good relations with Rome. One of his first acts was to exile the patriarch Photios and restore his rival Ignatios, whose claims were supported by Pope Adrian II. However, Basil had no intention of yielding to Rome beyond a certain point. The decision of Boris I of Bulgaria to align the new Bulgarian Church with Constantinople was a great blow to Rome, which had hoped to secure it for herself. But on the death of Ignatios in 877, Photios became patriarch again, and there was a virtual, though not a formal, breach with Rome. This was a watershed event in conflicts that led to the Great Schism that ultimately produced the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church as separate entities. Church and state supported one another and it was during Basil's reign as emperor that Photios created a genealogy tree that purported that Basil's ancestors were not mere peasants as everyone believed but descendants of the Arsacid kings of Armenia. Members of the Macedonian dynasty would come to use this tree to claim their descent from King Tiridates III of Armenia.
In the West, Basil allied with Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor against the Arabs and sent a fleet of 139 ships to clear the Adriatic Sea from their raids. With Byzantine help, Louis II captured Bari from the Arabs in 871. The city eventually became Byzantine territory in 876. However, the Byzantine position on Sicily deteriorated, and Syracuse fell to the Emirate of Sicily in 878. This was ultimately Basil's fault as he had diverted a relief fleet from Sicily to haul marble for a church instead. Although most of Sicily was lost, the general Nikephoros Phokas (the Elder) succeeded in taking Taranto and much of Calabria in 880. The successes in the Italian Peninsula opened a new period of Byzantine domination there. Above all, the Byzantines were beginning to establish a strong presence in the Mediterranean Sea, and especially the Adriatic.
Basil's spirits declined in 879, when his eldest and favorite son Constantine died. Basil now raised his youngest son Alexander to co-emperor. Basil got on badly with Leo, whom he probably suspected of being the son of Michael III. Basil died on August 29, 886 from a fever contracted after a serious hunting accident when his belt was caught in the antlers of a deer, and he was allegedly dragged 16 miles through the woods. He was saved by an attendant who cut him loose with a knife, but he suspected the attendant of trying to assassinate him and had the man executed shortly before he himself died.
Category:Macedonian dynasty Category:811 births Category:886 deaths Category:Armenian Byzantine emperors Category:9th-century Byzantine emperors Category:Parakoimomenoi Category:Hunting accident deaths Category:Byzantine people of the Byzantine–Arab Wars
an:Basilio I bg:Василий I Македонец ca:Basili I cs:Basileios I. de:Basileios I. el:Βασίλειος Α΄ es:Basilio I fa:باسیلیوس یکم fr:Basile Ier gl:Basilio I ko:바실리우스 1세 hy:Վասիլ I Մակեդոնացի hr:Bazilije I. Makedonac os:Василий I Македойнаг it:Basilio I di Bisanzio he:בסיליוס הראשון, קיסר האימפריה הביזנטית ka:ბასილი I (ბიზანტია) la:Basilius I Macedonius lt:Bazilijus I Makedonietis hu:I. Baszileiosz bizánci császár mk:Василиј I nl:Basileios I ja:バシレイオス1世 pl:Bazyli I Macedończyk pt:Basílio I ro:Vasile I Macedoneanul ru:Василий I (византийский император) sk:Basileios I. sr:Василије I Македонац sh:Vasilije I Makedonac fi:Basileios I sv:Basileios I (bysantinsk kejsare) tr:I. Basileios uk:Василій I Македонянин zh:巴西尔一世This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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