Basil I the Macedonian ( Greek Βασίλειος Α΄ ὁ Μακεδών , Armenian Բարսեղ Ա Մակեդոնացի ; c. 811/836 - August 29, 886 ) - Byzantine emperor (867–886), founder of the Macedonian dynasty .
| Basil I the Macedonian | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greek Βασίλειος Α΄ο Μακεδών arm Բարսեղ Ա Մակեդոնացի | |||||||
 Coin about 883 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Predecessor | Michael III | ||||||
| Successor | Leo VI | ||||||
| Birth | between year 811 and year 836 Adrianople | ||||||
| Death | August 29, 886 Constantinople | ||||||
| Kind | Macedonian dynasty | ||||||
| Spouse | Maria, Evdokia Ingerina | ||||||
| Children | Konstantin , Leo , Alexander , Stefan | ||||||
Content
- 1 Biography
- 1.1 Origin
- 1.2 The early years
- 1.3 Management Board
- 1.4 In culture
- 2 notes
- 3 Literature
Biography
Origin
The birthplace of Vasily I is not exactly known. According to the traditional version, he was born in Adrianople [1] [2] ; according to another version - in Hariupolis [3] .
According to Greek and Armenian sources, Basil was an Armenian born in Macedonia . Despite the fact that one Arabic source speaks of the Slavic origin of Basil I, such assumptions are currently rejected by many historians [4] . Today, there is a consensus among historians that Vasily came from the Armenians who settled in Macedonia [5] [1] [6] . Byzantinist A. A. Vasiliev suggested that Vasily I came from an Armenian-Slavic family. The only basis of the “Slavic theory” is that one Arab source called Vasily the Slav , which historians in turn explain by the fact that, from the point of view of the Arabs, all Macedonians were Slavs [4] . According to Norman Tobias of the University of Toronto, Vasily I spoke the Armenian language , among his close associates and friends were Armenians [7] . According to John Norwich , Basil I's native language was Armenian , while in Greek he spoke with a strong accent [8] .
Vasily was the son of a peasant and spent part of his childhood in captivity in Bulgaria , where, starting in 813, his family was held captive by the Bulgarian Khan Krum . Only in 836, Vasily and some others managed to escape to Thrace belonging to Byzantium [1] .
The issue of Vasily’s birth date is at least controversial. The main source is a biography written by his grandson, Emperor Konstantin Bagryanorodny . The problem is that, referring to the fact that Vasily was a “baby in swaddling clothes” when the Bulgarian Khan Krum captured Adrianople (in 813), Konstantin Bagryanorodny at the same time calls him “a young man”, at a time when he appears when the courtyard of Michael III around 856 years. Many other facts reported by Konstantin and other sources (Vasily was a “handsome boy” who climbed onto the knees of the Bulgarian Khan Tervel before returning from captivity in 836; the eldest of the four sons of Vasily was born no earlier than 860; the circumstances themselves preceding the death of the emperor and others) indicate that such early birth dates as 811, 812 or 813 are erroneous. Because of this, some authors (N. Adontz, G. Moravczik and others) attribute his birth to a later time, up to 836.
Early years
After moving to Constantinople , Vasily, thanks to his beautiful appearance and physical strength, got a place in the imperial stables. Here he attracted the attention of Emperor Michael III , became the favorite of the emperor and his para-phenomenon . Michael III married Vasily to his mistress Evdokia Ingerin .
Having eliminated the influential uncle of the emperor, Ward, Vasily in 866 was declared instead of him Caesar, and soon and co-ruler. In 867, during a period of deterioration in relations between Mikhail and Vasily, the latter organized the assassination of the emperor and single-handedly occupied the imperial throne, establishing a new dynasty.
Board
The finances, administrative system and army of Byzantium were upset by the ineffective rule of Michael III . Vasily began to vigorously restore order in all areas of government. Organized a cleaning of the bureaucracy. He systematized Byzantine legislation (published the Prokhiron code and prepared the Epanagogue code). For the first time in the history of Byzantium, the Epanagogue made an attempt to determine the roles that the emperor, patriarch, and the state should play in state legislation, as well as to differentiate their responsibilities.
Basil increased the salaries of soldiers, expanded the size of the army. With varying success, he fought with the Arabs, returning part of the territories lost by his predecessors ( Samosata , Lul , Melitina , etc.)
In search of allies to fight the Arabs, he sought rapprochement with the German emperors and the papacy . In this regard, in 867 he restored the patriarch Ignatius , adherent of rapprochement with Rome , on the patriarchal throne of Constantinople.
Vasily died as a result of a hunting accident in 886 . There are several versions with a detailed description of his death. For example, that he was horned by the pursued deer leader and, hooked by a belt, dragged for a long time through the forest until one of the bodyguards caught up with the emperor and cut the belt with a sword. However, having regained consciousness, the emperor ordered the arrest of his liberator, suspecting him of an attempted murder: “Not for this he raised his sword to save me, but in order to kill me.” Due to fatal bruises, Vasileus died a few days later. According to the version of Konstantin Bagryanorodny, Vasily I was struck by the "expiration of the stomach."
After the death of Basil, his successor was Leo VI , who, according to most authors, is the illegitimate son of Emperor Michael III .
In Culture
- Harry Turtleldav , a historian and author of books in the alternative historical fantasy genre , has written a series of books about the world of Videssos , which is very close to the Byzantine Empire. The trilogy “Tales of Crispus” - “The Rise of Crispus” (1991), “Crisp Videssky” (1991) and “Emperor Crispus” (1994) - is based on the life of Emperor Basil I and his sons.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 Warren T. Basil's victories // A History of the Byzantine State and Society. - Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997 .-- P. 455. - ISBN 0-8047-2630-2 .
- ↑ Now - Edirne , Turkey .
- ↑ Vasiliev A. A. History of the Byzantine Empire
- ↑ 1 2 Bury JB A History of the Eastern Roman Empire, from the Fall of Irene to the Accession of Basil I, AD 802-867. - London: MacMillan, 1912. - P. 165. - ISBN 1-60520-421-8 .
- ↑ John H. Rosser. Historical Dictionary of Byzantium. - 2nd ed. - Scarecrow Press, 2011 .-- S. 52 .:
Beginning in the sixth century, Armenians emigrated to Byzantium in great numbers, becoming the most assimilated of any ethnic group, while, at the same time, maintaining their distinct literature, religion, and art. Thousands of Armenian soldiers served in imperial forces, and a number of important military leaders and civil administrators were Armenian, including emperors Leo V , Basil I, Romanos I Lekapenos , and John I Tzimiskes .
- ↑ Richard Barrie Dobson. Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages p884
- ↑ Tobias N. Basil I, Founder of the Macedonian Dynasty . - Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2007 .-- P. 24.
- ↑ Norwich John . History of Byzantium. - S. 214.
Literature
- Nikolov A. Medieval Slavonic translation of the “Teaching Chapters” of Emperor Vasily I: problems of studying the manuscript tradition and early prints // XIX Annual Theological Conference of the Orthodox St. Tikhon Humanitarian University . - M. , 2009 .-- T. 1 . - S. 41—47 .
- Basil I the Macedonian // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.