Basil I

Basil I, nicknamed "the Macedonian" (Greek: Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, romanized: Basíleios ō Makedṓn; 811 – 29 August 886), was Byzantine emperor from 867 to 886. Born to a peasant family in Macedonia, he rose to prominence in the imperial court after gaining the favour of Emperor Michael III, whose mistress he married on his emperor's orders. In 866, Michael proclaimed him co-emperor. Fearing a loss of influence, Basil orchestrated Michael's assassination the next year and installed himself as sole ruler of the empire. He was the first ruler of the Macedonian dynasty.

Despite his humble origins, Basil was an effective and respected monarch. He initiated a complete overhaul of Byzantine law, an effort continued by his successor that ultimately became the Basilika. On the foreign front, he achieved military success against the heretical Paulicians, whom he subjugated in 872. He also pursued an active policy in the west, allying with Carolingian emperor Louis II against the Arabs, which led to a new period of Byzantine domination in Italy. Upon his death in a hunting accident in 886, he was succeeded by his son Leo VI, also rumoured to have been the son of Michael III.

Basil was born to peasant parents in late 811 (or sometime in the 830s in the estimation of some scholars) at

During Basil's reign, an elaborate genealogy was produced that purported that his ancestors were not mere peasants, as everyone believed, but descendants of the

One story asserts that he had spent a part of his childhood in captivity in

On Emperor Michael's orders, Basil divorced his wife Maria and married

When Michael III started to favour another courtier, Basiliskianos, Basil felt that his position was being undermined. Michael threatened to invest Basiliskianos with the Imperial title and this induced Basil to pre-empt events by organizing the assassination of Michael on the night of 24 September 867.^{[20][note 1]} Michael and Basiliskianos were insensibly drunk following a banquet at the palace of Anthimos when Basil, with a small group of companions (including his father Bardas, brother Marinos, and cousin Ayleon),^{[note 2]} gained entry. The locks to the chamber doors had been tampered with and the chamberlain had not posted guards; both victims were then put to the sword.^{[note 3]} On Michael III's death, Basil, as an already acclaimed co-emperor, automatically became the ruling basileus.^[27]

Basil I became an effective and respected monarch despite being a man with no formal education and little military or administrative experience. Moreover, he had been the boon companion of a debauched monarch and had achieved power through a series of calculated murders. That there was little political reaction to the murder of Michael III is probably due to his unpopularity with the bureaucrats of

Emperor Basil's reign was marked by the troublesome ongoing war with the heretical

Basil's spirits declined in 879, when his eldest and favourite son, Constantine, died. Basil now raised his youngest son, Alexander, to the rank of co-emperor. Basil disliked the bookish Leo, on occasion physically beating him; he probably suspected Leo of being the son of Michael III. In his later years, Basil's relationship with Leo was clouded by the suspicion that the latter might wish to avenge the murder of Michael III. Leo was eventually imprisoned by Basil after Theodore Santabarenos informed him of a plot against him, but the imprisonment resulted in public rioting; Basil threatened to blind Leo but was dissuaded by Patriarch Photios. Leo was eventually released after the passage of three years.^[35] Basil died on 29 August 886,^[36] 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.^[37] One of the first acts of Leo VI as ruling emperor was to rebury, with great ceremony, the remains of Michael III in the Imperial Mausoleum within the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. This did much to confirm in public opinion the view that Leo considered himself to have been Michael's son.^[38]

Some modern controversy and historical ambiguity surrounds Basil I's personal life, especially given a lack of contemporaneous sources. One question that has emerged in modern scholarship is whether or not Basil was involved in same-sex relationships and if such relationships played a role in his unlikely rise to power. Historian Shaun Fitzroy Tougher cites a history written by George the Monk^[39] that uses the Greek word pothos to describe Basil's relationship with Michael, a word which had historically been used in some Greek Christian sources to describe the desire between a wife and a husband.^[40] However, within the law code, the Basilika, inaugurated by Basil I, the illegal nature of male homosexuality and its, largely theoretical, capital punishment were retained in full.^[41][42]

Aspects of the family relationships of Basil I are likewise uncertain and open to a variety of interpretations. Therefore, the information given below should not be treated as comprehensive or definite:^[43]

• By his first wife Maria, Basil I had several children, including:
  • Bardas.
  • Anastasia, who married the general Christopher.
  • Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor, and Engelberga
    in 869. The marital contract was broken in 871 when relations between Basil and Louis broke down.
• By Eudokia Ingerina, Basil I had the following children:
  • Leo VI, who succeeded as Byzantine emperor and may actually have been a son of Michael III.
  • Stephen I
    , Patriarch of Constantinople, who may also actually have been a son of Michael III.
  • Alexander, who succeeded as Byzantine emperor in 912.
  • Anna
    Porphyrogenita
    , a nun at the convent of St. Euphemia in Petrion.
  • Helena Porphyrogenita, a nun at the convent of St. Euphemia in Petrion.
  • Maria Porphyrogenita, a mother of nuns at the convent of St. Euphemia in Petrion.

Leo VI's son Constantine VII wrote a biography of his grandfather, the Vita Basilii, around 950.^[44]

• Videssos, which is a thinly disguised Byzantine Empire. The Tale of Krispos trilogy – Krispos Rising (1991), Krispos of Videssos (1991), and Krispos the Emperor (1994) – are fictionalized retellings of the rise of Basil.^[45]
• Stephen Lawhead's book, Byzantium (1996), uses the succession of Basil I as seed for the conspiracy which occupies most of the novel.^[46]
• Robert Greene's book The 48 Laws of Power (1998), features Basil I's rise to power, by way of his interactions and later his manipulations of Michael III, as an example of a "transgression of the law" for Law #2, "Never put too much trust in friends, learn how to use enemies".^[47]
• Basil is a playable character in the Crusader Kings franchise, developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive

• List of Byzantine emperors

References

Citations

1. ^ Brubaker 1999, pp. 6, 152–162.
2. ^ P. Zepos 1931 Leges Imperatorum Isaurorum et Macedonum p. 114.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Treadgold 1997, p. 455.
4. ^ ^{a b} Vasiliev 1928–1935, p. 301.
5. ^ ^{a b c d} PmbZ, Basileios I. (#832/add. corr.)
6. ^ ^{a b} Tobias 2007, p. 20.
7. ^ PmbZ, Pankalo (#5679).
8. ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 455.
9. ^ Finlay 1853, p. 213.
10. OCLC 44045861
    .
11. ^ Tobias 2007, p. 24.
12. ^ Tobias 2007, p. 264.
13. ^ ^{a b c} Bury 1911.
14. ^ Gregory 2010, p. 242.
15. ^ Head 1980, pp. 231–232.
16. ISBN 978-0-7876-3736-1
    .
17. ISBN 978-1-84212-529-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link
    )
18. ^ ^{a b} Theophanes Continuatus IV.43.
19. ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 453.
20. ^ Theophanes Continuatus IV.44.
21. Encyclopaedia Britannica (2021), Michael III
    .
22. ^ Bury 1912, p. 177.
23. ^ Bury 1912, p. 469.
24. ^ Tougher 1997, p. 26.
25. ^ Herlong, M. (1987) Kinship and social mobility in Byzantium, 717–959, Catholic University of America, pp. 76–77.
26. ^ Finlay 1853, pp. 180–181
27. ^ Treadgold 1997, pp. 453–455.
28. ^ Finlay 1853, pp. 214–215.
29. ^ Finlay 1853, pp. 221–226.
30. ^ Mango 1986, p. 194.
31. ^ Magdalino 1987, p. 51.
32. ^ Alexander 1962, p. 349.
33. ^ Jenkins 1987, p. 191.
34. ^ Jenkins 1987, pp. 185–187.
35. ^ Jenkins 1987, pp. 196–197.
36. ^ Constantine VII (960). De Ceremoniis II, 52.
37. ^ Treadgold 1997, p. 461.
38. ^ Finlay 1853, p. 241.
39. ^ Harmatolos, George. "Operum Omnium Conspectus". www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
40. ISBN 978-0860787884
    .
41. ^ Morris, S. (2011) "The Gay Male as Byzantine Monster: Civil Legislation and Punishment for Same-Sex Behaviour" in, The Horrid Looking Glass: Reflections on Monstrosity, Yoder, P.L. and Kreuter, P.M. (eds.), Brill, Leiden, ISBN 9781904710158, p. 125
42. ISBN 9781317368151
    .
43. ^ Tougher 1997, pp. 7–8, 30–31, 42–50.
44. ^ Kazhdan & Cutler 1991.
45. ISBN 9780345494290
    . Retrieved 27 August 2018.
46. ^ "BYZANTIUM by Stephen R. Lawhead". Kirkus Reviews. 15 July 1996. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
47. OCLC 39733201
    .

Primary sources

Recent years have seen the first translations into English of a number of primary sources about Basil I and his times.

• Featherstone, Jeffrey Michael and Signes-Codoñer, Juan (translators). Chronographiae quae Theophanis Continuati nomine fertur Libri I-IV (Chronicle of Theophanes Continuatus Books I-IV, comprising the reigns of Leo V the Armenian to Michael III), Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2015.
• Kaldellis, A. (trans.). On the reigns of the emperors (the history of Joseph Genesios), Canberra: Australian Association for Byzantine Studies; Byzantina Australiensia 11, 1998.
• Ševčenko, Ihor (trans.). Chronographiae quae Theophanis Continuati nomine fertur Liber quo Vita Basilii Imperatoris amplectitur (Chronicle of Theophanes Continuatus comprising the Life of Basil I), Berlin: De Gruyter, 2011.
• Wahlgren, Staffan (translator, writer of introduction and commentary). The Chronicle of the Logothete, Liverpool University Press; Translated Texts for Byzantinists, vol. 7, 2019.
• Wortley, John (trans.). A synopsis of Byzantine history, 811-1057 (the history of
  John Scylitzes
  , active 1081), Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Secondary sources

• Alexander, Paul J. (1962). "The Strength of Empire and Capital as Seen through Byzantine Eyes". Speculum. 37, No. 3 July (3): 339–357.
  S2CID 155080903
  .
• Bury, John Bagnell (1911). "Basil I." . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica
  . Vol. 03 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 467.
• ISBN 9780521621533
  .
• Finlay, George (1853). History of the Byzantine Empire from DCCXVI to MLVII. Edinburgh, Scotland; London, England: William Blackwood and Sons.
• Gregory, Timothy E. (2010). A History of Byzantium. Malden, Massachusetts; West Sussex, England: Wiley-Blackwell.
  ISBN 978-1-4051-8471-7
  .
• Head, Constance (1980). "Physical Descriptions of the Emperors in Byzantine Historical Writing". Byzantion. 50 (1).
  JSTOR 44170616
  .
• Jenkins, Romilly (1987). Byzantium: The Imperial Centuries, AD 610–1071. Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press.
  ISBN 0-8020-6667-4
  .
• ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6
  .
• Kazhdan, Alexander; Cutler, Anthony (1991). "Vita Basilii". In
  ISBN 0-19-504652-8
  .
• Prosopographie der mittelbyzantinischen Zeit (in German). De Gruyter
  .
• ISSN 0378-8660
  .
• ISBN 978-0-8020-6627-5
  .
• Tobias, Norman (2007). Basil I, Founder of the Macedonian Dynasty: A Study of the Political and Military History of the Byzantine Empire in the Ninth Century. Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press.
  ISBN 978-0-7734-5405-7
  .
• Tougher, S. (1997). The Reign of Leo VI (886–912): Politics and People. Leiden:
  ISBN 9004108114
  .
• ISBN 9780804726306
  .
• ISBN 0-299-80925-0. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help
  )
• Vogt, Albert; Hausherr, Isidorous, eds. (1932). "Oraison funèbre de Basile I par son fils Léon VI le Sage". Orientalia Christiana Periodica (in French). 26 (77). Rome, Italy: Pontificium Institutum Orientalium Studiorum: 39–78.

Further reading

• Macmillan and Company
  .
• Mango, Cyril (1973). "Eudocia Ingerina, the Normans, and the Macedonian Dynasty". Zbornik Radova Vizantološkog Instituta. 14–15: 17–27.
  S2CID 240457579
  .
• Živković, Tibor (2013). "On the Baptism of the Serbs and Croats in the Time of Basil I (867–886)" (PDF). Studia Slavica et Balcanica Petropolitana (1): 33–53.

Footnotes

1. ^ ^{a b} May have actually been Michael III's son.
2. ^ Full title attested to in the Prochiron: Αὐτοκράτωρ Καῖσαρ Βασίλειος εὐτυχής εὐσεβής εὐτυχής ἔνδοξος νικητής τροπαιοῦχος, ἀεισέβαστος πιστός αὐγουστος ("Autokrator Caesar Basil fortunate, pious, renowned, victorious, triumphant, ever-venerable, faithful Augustus").^[2]

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Basileios I.

• Basil I – World History Encyclopedia

Basil I Macedonian Dynasty Born: c. 811 Died: 29 August 886
Regnal titles
Preceded by Michael III	Byzantine emperor 867–886, with Constantine (868–879), Leo VI (870–86) and Alexander (879–86)	Succeeded by Leo VI
Court offices
Preceded by Damian	Parakoimomenos 865–866	Succeeded by Rentakios
Political offices
Preceded by Michael III in 843, then lapsed	Roman consul 867	Succeeded by Lapsed, Leo VI in 887