Indeed, I will probably not be able to wrap up this series until 2020, although there is an outside chance that I will be done by the end of next year.
I've read historian speculation that, like Bardas before he was murdered, Basil was spending a lot of time on the administration of the empire, and not paying much attention to Michael. Like Bardas, Basil was becoming estranged from Michael, and as Michael found Basil and made him Michael's favorite during the Bardas administration, during the dinner, a drunk Michael announced that he has found a new favorite, and was going to make that new favorite his co-emperor also. Basil, realizing that Michael was going to repeat history, and his position was precarious, decided instead to murder Michael and become the lone Emperor. This speculation seems very logical to me.
I think that the quality of this series only improves from episode to episode, though Basil is a very interesring figure altogether. Really good job Thersites. I'm looking forward to hear your take about Leo VI, just did some research about him myself for an article about the Hungarians arrival in Europe.
I can just hear George W. Bush: "It was around the 15th mile that I knew something was wrong. I raised my concerns with the huntmaster, but he told me to shut up, which was what he always said to me."
I gotta say. Between Nicephorus I, Leo V, the Amorian Emperors and Basil I, 9th century Byzantium is probably my favorite period of Byzantine history so far.
Is this series going to continue? It's such a rich subject and you cover it Impeccably. I just want to point out the you stopped right before the Byzantine Renaissance! Buzz Kill! I hope you continue. Amazing stuff!
I’ve read in some books that Basil was taking care of the horses when Michael fell from a horse and Basil saved his life .. That’s how the story started when Michael entrusted Basil
I know this is an old video but I really enjoyed this. Extremely interesting and the powerpoint screen images are useful. Excited to watch more of your videos and I’m happy I found this
Thank you for the compromise bit. I'm always so confused when I hear defeatist say "a good compromise is where both sides are unhappy". "No that's a bad compromise. People are unhappy because you're dumb clearly."
And Nasar, what an underrated but absolute gigachad general and admiral, only one who could actually consistently score victories against the aghlabids
When I saw the title I screamed. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
"Basil I, called the Macedonian (Greek: Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, Basíleios ō Makedṓn, 811 - 29 August 886), was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886. His ethnic origin is unknown and has been a subject of debate. 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 Arsacid (Arshakuni) kings of Armenia, and also of Constantine the Great. The name of his mother points to a GREEK ORIGIN ON HIS MATERNAL SIDE.[3][8] The general scholarly consensus is that Basil's father was "probably" of Armenian origin, and settled in Byzantine Thrace.[9] " wiki/Basil_I
Basil had a son from his legitime wife Maria, named Sebatios ( an armenian name) As Basil had usurped the throne he changed the name of his son in Konstantinos ( to evoke his pretended ancestor Konstantinos II ) .unfortunately for the " makedonian" dynasty co-emperor Konstantinos died as he was 18 years old.
@@ezzovonachalm9815 "Sebastos (Greek: σεβαστός, translit. sebastós, lit. "venerable one, Augustus", Byzantine Greek pronunciation: [sevasˈtos]; plural σεβαστοί, sebastoí [sevasˈty]) was an honorific used by the ancient Greeks to render the Roman imperial title of Augustus. The female form of the title was sebaste (σεβαστή). It was revived as an honorific in the 11th-century Byzantine Empire, and came to form the basis of a new system of court titles. From the Komnenian period onwards, the Byzantine hierarchy included the title sebastos and variants derived from it, like sebastokrator, protosebastos, panhypersebastos, and sebastohypertatos." wiki/Sebastos
@@vandare6913 Vous avez raison ! Parlant du premier fils de Basileios I j'ai lu Σηβατιος et, au moment d' écrire , m'est venu Sebastos, un des fourbes jeux de la mémoire.
Basil the Macedonian famously claimed to have ancestry from: an Armenian king, from Constantine the Great and from Alexander the great (!) simply because he wanted to add legitimacy to his usurped throne. Of course such lineage was impossible to be established and both the evidence and modern scholarship suggest that Basil I was most probably of a mixed Armenian (father) and Greek (mother) ancestry, while there is no actual evidence that he spoke any Armenian at all. From Mavrikios onwards all emperors were either Greek, either half-Greek or at the least totally Hellenized, otherwise they simply wouldn't be accepted as the rulers. By the end of late antiquity, in order to be accepted as a "Basileus Romaion" one had to 1) speak fluent Greek, 2) have Greco-roman cultural values and 3) be a Chalcedonian Christian. These three components together, made someone a true "Romaios".
It has become more than a little infuriating at this point. If I had a program where I could make video responses easily, then I probably would have responded to one of their RUclips Creator videos where they talk about all of the wonderful things that they do for creators and how everyone just needs to be patient and keep working hard.
As I read into the Byzantine emperors throughout the centuries I notice certain patterns. The 9th century seems to have hatred or jealousy because of suspicions. Basil I was suspicious that Leo was the son of Michael III his partner on the throne instead of his son and hated him because of it. Basil I was suspicious while hunting that people are trying to kill him and he executes them (or him) first. Going back to Leo the Armenian and Michael II they teamed up against their predecessor to abdicate his throne and they succeeded. But when Leo became emperor Michael conspired against him but was thrown in prison but his men succeeded in assassinating Leo and enthroning Michael II to the throne. So there’s an atmosphere of hatred and suspicion once again.
Gilgal Biblewheel The story does not end here.! As he was sitting on the throne Michael II ordered to arrest all of his complices in the coup against Leo V.they were all executed in the name of "Justice" and Equity. A typical effect of the " esprit tordu des byzantins" for which there are numerous other exemples.
In my view Basil's ecclesiastical policy was extremely reckless and endangered the Byzantine Church. By declaring that Photius had never been patriarch his council invalidated all his appointments and judgements and threw everything into confusion. It is interesting that the Tomus Unionis of 920 took the trouble to anathematize anyone who declared that Photius had not been patriarch though the zealot party, if they still existed at that date, could argue that this only referred to his second patriarchate.
For the Byzantine videos, I follow a combination of a textbook on Byzantium by Tim Gregory, John Julius Norwich's three-part history, and I have also been looking at Ostrogorsky recently. I sometimes also consult the Wikipedia page for each emperor and follow some of the links to see what I can find. For some of the earlier Byzantine emperors, I know that time period pretty well, so I have read the primary sources but now that we are venturing deep into the Middle Ages, we are out of my normal territorial waters. I am looking forward to being able to read Psellus' biographies for the emperors that he covers, but we are still at a remove from that period.
@@ThersitestheHistorian Thx! Because i wanted to know if its possible to cover this being able to bring accurate knowlodge without avind one 20y of studies because i owuldl ike myself to delivers that much knowlodge to ppl like you do! =) the for the informations =)
Yes, they are. I am a bit swamped at the moment, but when things settle down and I get through the last of the major Successors, I will get back to Byzantium.
What evidence/sources are there for the date of Basil's birth? I have heard it being said (for example on Robin Pierson's the History of Byzantium) that Basil was around 35 when he became emperor.
It looks like 811 is his official date of birth in the sources and the estimates that he was born in the 830's come from modern scholars who are trying to reconcile his athletic feats and friendship with Michael with an age gap that would seem to be a bit excessive. I just went with the official date, but there is a reasonably high chance that the revisionists are right on Basil's date of birth.
Blimey remind me never to turn my back on you! How can it ever be right to murder in cold blood someone who is: A) your best friend. B) views you as a father figure C) raised you up from nothing! Just for power.
First of all, one of the most interesting emperors. George Finlay's distaste against Basil I and Leo VI is really enjoyable to read. Also, in before someone appear saying "buh, macedonia is greek buh buh slavs are shit bla bla bla"
No one said that until you did. Also Idk if you know but Basil wasn't a Macedonian in an ethnic/subethnic sense, but rather in the regional sense, given that he came from the Theme of the Macedonians, which wasn't in Macedonia, it was in Thrace
@@dieselface1 I know, I know hy he was "Macedonian". I did not mean that all greeks think like that. But I have seen this kind of arguments so much. It gets on you, some time or another. I know it's the internet but urgh.
It will be a Patreon exclusive for the foreseeable future. It might be released to the general public at some point, but if it is, it will be after a considerable wait.
"Basil I, called the Macedonian (Greek: Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, Basíleios ō Makedṓn, 811 - 29 August 886), was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886. His ethnic origin is unknown and has been a subject of debate. 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 Arsacid (Arshakuni) kings of Armenia, and also of Constantine the Great. The name of his mother points to a GREEK ORIGIN ON HIS MATERNAL SIDE.[3][8] The general scholarly consensus is that Basil's father was "probably" of Armenian origin, and settled in Byzantine Thrace.[9] " wiki/Basil_I
sorry the only certain thing we know is that his mother was greek . For godsakeyou have a tendency to dehellenise all the Byzantine emperors . great majority of them spoke greek as first language
Basileios was not a Macedonian as he pretended, the Persian Shahanshah having deported his family to Macedonia ! Instaed he was born in Adrianopolis .His father was a comoner, his brother Bardas had an Armenian name. Basil has been remarked by Emperor Michel III as a wrestler, or an excellent horsedresser. So he invited him to the Imperial Court , made him his preferite and associated him to power. Basileios was no Macedonian but an Armenian, and was not even born in Makedonia ! Furthermore he was an usurper and finally he did NOT found any dynasty having left only one adult son (Alexandros) who also had NO issue ! His first son he had with his first wife Maria named Sebastos and renamed Constantin when he was associated as co-emperor (togheter with Leon ,the son of Michael III) died 878 an adolescent. To found a dynasty the tradition requests 3 consecutive regnants of the same family: grand father,father an son. So there is NO " macedonian " dynasty an NO " macedonian renaissance" . The AMORID dynasty continued till 1056 ( death of Emperess Theodora), daughter of Constantinos VIII. ...
@@ThersitestheHistorian vardas armenian name!most of the leadership is Armenian decent because they controlled the kataftakts!the tanks of the era!the Armenian influence starts from the mithridate wars,probably because they can supply heavy cavalry!In Strabo its says that there is an agreement of a union between Parthians aristocracy and Roman aristocracy !the whole Byzantine era (east Roman , Roman empire)! Armenian aristocracy is Parthian,this can bee seen in saint Gregor the enlighter life!So the palace in Constantinople is manipulated by Armenians(Parthian aristocrats) versus the walachian(aromunians=roman) original c romans citizens which are feared of collaboration with the Pope(influenced by the Franks)
Very important part that is not being mentioned in this documentary....why Macedonian..??!!...should be the HEART in explaining Basil,as a WHOLE....thats why so many unanswered questions....you answer that,the PICTURE will become much more clearer....it should be THE MAIN POINT actually....
I assume that he was called that because he hailed from a town somewhere in Macedonia. He seems to have kept his origins rather murky and that may have been on purpose. Most likely, he was not "Macedonian", but he didn't mind if others saw him that way.
...maybe you are right....but,we are talking about 200 years of "Macedonian dynasty" ruling the Byzantine(as is known in the official history)....the way i see it is,it is the WEAK link when explaining those 2hundred years of Byzantine history....i mean,so many emperors aligning themselves to that name....and history wise,so little attention paid to that fact....i mean,you are the emperor of Byzantine right...!!??...why do you need a NAME addition....hope you getting my point....
...what i beleive is missing while explaining(exploring) those 200 years is the fact(my beleive at least) were actually the most secular ages of the Byzantine....it is then,when Cyril and Methodi gave the alphabet to the Slavs...p.s.it was also Cyril that went to Baghdad as well...
...the Byzantine was so smart that instead of fighting the Slavs,oposite from that they sent Cyril and Methodi to Moravia,where while there,they invented the 1st Slavic alphabet(the glycolic alphabet) under the order from the Byzantium court...
Basil I did not found any dynasty. To found a dynasty one needs 3 rulers of the same family in sucession : grand father,father and son.Basils first son Sebastos,later renamed Constantinos died in his youth. Alexandros, the son Basil had from Eudokia Ingerina, died without issue. Leon VI was NOT the son of Basil I, and continued the Amorian dynasty with Konstantinos VII porphyrogennetos , Romanos II and his two sons Basileios II Boulgaroktonos, and Konstantine VIII and Konstantines daughters the emperesses Zoe and Theodora down to 1056.
You do realize, of course, that many Byzantine historians think Basil I was homosexual (or what we might now call "bisexual" though admittedly these modern conceptions didn't exist back then)? And all the hoopla about him being "so big! So strong! So handsome!" was the various men in question wanting him? And that he and Michael were a bit more than just "drinking buddies"? And yes, yes, yes, women and they had children, blah blah blah. But please. Don't be naive. One can do all that, yet still want men.
Sorry ! Basileios ho Makedôn did not found any MAKEDONIAN dynasty. Basileios usurpated the Byzantine throne by assassinating his benefactor Emperor Michael III on September 23/24 867. Michael III had forced him to marry his (Michael's) lifelong mistress Eudokía Ingerina with whom he (Michael) already had had two sons Leon VI and Stephanos. Basil had a son from his first marriage with Maria N, named Sebastos (an armenian name) whom he renamed Konstantinos while macking him his co-emperor. Unfortunately Konstantinos died as he was 14 years old (865-879).With Eudokia Basileios had a second son Alexandros (23.11.872-6.01. 913) to whom he dedicated all of his attentions to educate him as a good ruler. Basileios I died August 2 ,886. After Leôn VI's succession on the throne, he called his half brother Alexandros to reign with him as co-emperor. which Alexandros did. He reigned alone from May 11. 912 to June 6. 913, for 1 year after Leon' s death. So the "Makedonian dynasty" ended with the death of Alexandros in June 5, 913. To found a dynasty You need the uninterrupted succession of a minimum of three regnants of the same family. So the Amorian dynasty continued with Leon's son Konstantinos VII, his son Rômanos II, both sons of Rômanos II Basileios II The Great and Konstantinos VIII, the last male of the Amorian dynasty. Kônstatinos VIII had two daughters Emperess Zôê and her sister emperess Theodora, with whom the Amorian dynasty ended anno 1056.
Basil,,, is read VASIL.. na "bejzel".. That"b" is actually "V".... In Macedonia 🇲🇰, we stil have today the name "VASIL ", not "bejzel"... stop fake the past..
@@A1b1c1d1ee emmm... in what country ,today, the state gives names and last names to the people, who lives in ????. .. today, the "spoil" Europe 👶, the fashist grek state.. denied the Macedonian people, and hides the exodus of 2.000.000 of Macedonians,, building the today fashist grek state.. say everything what is Macedonian is grek... i don't care what you say or think 🤔 🤷 about Macedonia... you have done etnic cleaning... and today you're still doing it.... It is one Macedonia...and tha is not greek for sure.....
@@gabriilgabriilidis1186 Second of all ,or first. Geve back what you have stolen.. Macedonia 🇲🇰 missing two more parts... especially the grek part .. pay the reparations to Macedonians..and then we can talk...
@@gabriilgabriilidis1186 Macedonia 🇲🇰 is one and only one.. has three more missing parts... especially Aegean Macedonia 🇲🇰 is important... today grek fashist state is built on Macedonians land... etnicly clean the territory and populated with minor asia people... that is the real f a ct.... stil living 300.000 original Macedonians over there with basic human rights ✅ 😳... Grek bulgarian are fashists states in 21 century...
Chaz Skillzor No fakedonian clown. His soldiers came from all over the empire which included Greeks, Armenians, Slavs, Georgians and other ethnicities. The majority of the army came from themes in Asia minor which was largely Greek speaking at the time.
Getting into the real good stuff now. Glad to see the series continue
Hey, we're approaching the interesting chapter in Byzantine history. Keep it up! This series is gonna take awhile actually....
Indeed, I will probably not be able to wrap up this series until 2020, although there is an outside chance that I will be done by the end of next year.
#BasilIwas/ourguy/
@@ThersitestheHistorianfamous last words
Comment didn't age well :)@@ThersitestheHistorian
@@Aliexei Indeed, no.
I love the theory of Basil starting the rumor about Leo's paternity in order to create a win-win situation.
Kobiashi maru...
I've read historian speculation that, like Bardas before he was murdered, Basil was spending a lot of time on the administration of the empire, and not paying much attention to Michael. Like Bardas, Basil was becoming estranged from Michael, and as Michael found Basil and made him Michael's favorite during the Bardas administration, during the dinner, a drunk Michael announced that he has found a new favorite, and was going to make that new favorite his co-emperor also.
Basil, realizing that Michael was going to repeat history, and his position was precarious, decided instead to murder Michael and become the lone Emperor.
This speculation seems very logical to me.
I think that the quality of this series only improves from episode to episode, though Basil is a very interesring figure altogether. Really good job Thersites. I'm looking forward to hear your take about Leo VI, just did some research about him myself for an article about the Hungarians arrival in Europe.
Basil will be a tough act to follow since he was such an interesting fellow.
57:00 "needs of many outweigh needs of few" is just an excuse to steal my bike
Around Thracians, never relax!
I can just hear George W. Bush: "It was around the 15th mile that I knew something was wrong. I raised my concerns with the huntmaster, but he told me to shut up, which was what he always said to me."
Well worth the wait
RUclips "History Bad! No money for you!"
I gotta say. Between Nicephorus I, Leo V, the Amorian Emperors and Basil I, 9th century Byzantium is probably my favorite period of Byzantine history so far.
I love how your explaining all this very serious and important history and the just say shit like "his butthole was chaffed"
15:16 he is a happy pirate in this picture
Since Basil I is now your favorite Byzantine Emperor, I take it that means Zeno has now been demoted to 2nd place?
Is this series going to continue? It's such a rich subject and you cover it Impeccably. I just want to point out the you stopped right before the Byzantine Renaissance! Buzz Kill! I hope you continue. Amazing stuff!
I’ve read in some books that Basil was taking care of the horses when Michael fell from a horse and Basil saved his life .. That’s how the story started when Michael entrusted Basil
I know this is an old video but I really enjoyed this. Extremely interesting and the powerpoint screen images are useful. Excited to watch more of your videos and I’m happy I found this
Thank you for the compromise bit. I'm always so confused when I hear defeatist say "a good compromise is where both sides are unhappy".
"No that's a bad compromise. People are unhappy because you're dumb clearly."
Cant wait for the Diodochi series
Dude, your work is AMAZING! Please, keep up this amazing series!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
people tend to give credit to Basil for Michael's, Vardas' and Petronas' achievements
It is the work of Basil's underlings, creating an image of Michael being so despicable to engrandize Basil. This shit works... Kind of scary.
And Nasar, what an underrated but absolute gigachad general and admiral, only one who could actually consistently score victories against the aghlabids
Devotee of the hunt. Like King Robert Baratheon!
When I saw the title I screamed.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
We wait you to cover Lecapenus' age and times
That guy is THE definition of SNAKE
"Basil I, called the Macedonian (Greek: Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, Basíleios ō Makedṓn, 811 - 29 August 886), was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886.
His ethnic origin is unknown and has been a subject of debate. 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 Arsacid (Arshakuni) kings of Armenia, and also of Constantine the Great.
The name of his mother points to a GREEK ORIGIN ON HIS MATERNAL SIDE.[3][8] The general scholarly consensus is that Basil's father was "probably" of Armenian origin, and settled in Byzantine Thrace.[9] "
wiki/Basil_I
Basil had a son from his legitime wife Maria, named Sebatios ( an armenian name) As Basil had usurped the throne he changed the name of his son in Konstantinos ( to evoke his pretended ancestor Konstantinos II ) .unfortunately for the " makedonian" dynasty co-emperor Konstantinos died as he was 18 years old.
@@ezzovonachalm9815 Sebastos is not an Armenian name pal. Its a Greek one, has a meaning only in the Greek language and it means "venerable one".
@@ezzovonachalm9815 "Sebastos (Greek: σεβαστός, translit. sebastós, lit. "venerable one, Augustus", Byzantine Greek pronunciation: [sevasˈtos]; plural σεβαστοί, sebastoí [sevasˈty]) was an honorific used by the ancient Greeks to render the Roman imperial title of Augustus. The female form of the title was sebaste (σεβαστή). It was revived as an honorific in the 11th-century Byzantine Empire, and came to form the basis of a new system of court titles. From the Komnenian period onwards, the Byzantine hierarchy included the title sebastos and variants derived from it, like sebastokrator, protosebastos, panhypersebastos, and sebastohypertatos."
wiki/Sebastos
@@vandare6913
Vous avez raison !
Parlant du premier fils de Basileios I
j'ai lu Σηβατιος et, au moment d' écrire , m'est venu Sebastos, un des fourbes jeux de la mémoire.
Basil the Macedonian famously claimed to have ancestry from: an Armenian king, from Constantine the Great and from Alexander the great (!) simply because he wanted to add legitimacy to his usurped throne. Of course such lineage was impossible to be established and both the evidence and modern scholarship suggest that Basil I was most probably of a mixed Armenian (father) and Greek (mother) ancestry, while there is no actual evidence that he spoke any Armenian at all.
From Mavrikios onwards all emperors were either Greek, either half-Greek or at the least totally Hellenized, otherwise they simply wouldn't be accepted as the rulers. By the end of late antiquity, in order to be accepted as a "Basileus Romaion" one had to 1) speak fluent Greek, 2) have Greco-roman cultural values and 3) be a Chalcedonian Christian. These three components together, made someone a true "Romaios".
Great series, excited about the next ones coming.
RUclips is screwing quite a bit of people
It has become more than a little infuriating at this point. If I had a program where I could make video responses easily, then I probably would have responded to one of their RUclips Creator videos where they talk about all of the wonderful things that they do for creators and how everyone just needs to be patient and keep working hard.
Bas 007 destroys Goldfinger's HQ Teh Freaky. Uh huh. Gotta love it.
As I read into the Byzantine emperors throughout the centuries I notice certain patterns.
The 9th century seems to have hatred or jealousy because of suspicions.
Basil I was suspicious that Leo was the son of Michael III his partner on the throne instead of his son and hated him because of it.
Basil I was suspicious while hunting that people are trying to kill him and he executes them (or him) first.
Going back to Leo the Armenian and Michael II they teamed up against their predecessor to abdicate his throne and they succeeded. But when Leo became emperor Michael conspired against him but was thrown in prison but his men succeeded in assassinating Leo and enthroning Michael II to the throne. So there’s an atmosphere of hatred and suspicion once again.
Gilgal Biblewheel
The story does not end here.!
As he was sitting on the throne Michael II ordered to arrest all of his complices in the coup against Leo V.they were all executed in the name of "Justice" and
Equity. A typical effect of the " esprit tordu des byzantins" for which there are numerous other exemples.
Fuck yeah! been waiting for this for a while.
In my view Basil's ecclesiastical policy was extremely reckless and endangered the Byzantine Church.
By declaring that Photius had never been patriarch his council invalidated all his appointments and judgements and threw everything into confusion.
It is interesting that the Tomus Unionis of 920 took the trouble to anathematize anyone who declared that Photius had not been patriarch though the zealot party, if they still existed at that date, could argue that this only referred to his second patriarchate.
Nice👍
19:09 very interesting hypotheses!
You forgot the role of the filioque and Photius rejection of filioque in the Photian schism.
my salutations from italy bro.
A wrestler emperor ?
Basil mania is gonna run wild on you !
Freak out, freak out, feel what a wildly successful usurpation is all about! Oh yeah!
Anyone who says getting dragged by a horse for 16 miles isn't a bad way to go has never been dragged by a horse for 16 miles.
ROFL about Mr. Nanny! So funny.... I wonder if Roman Reigns realizes who Basil I was
I would like to know where do you take your informations?
For the Byzantine videos, I follow a combination of a textbook on Byzantium by Tim Gregory, John Julius Norwich's three-part history, and I have also been looking at Ostrogorsky recently. I sometimes also consult the Wikipedia page for each emperor and follow some of the links to see what I can find. For some of the earlier Byzantine emperors, I know that time period pretty well, so I have read the primary sources but now that we are venturing deep into the Middle Ages, we are out of my normal territorial waters. I am looking forward to being able to read Psellus' biographies for the emperors that he covers, but we are still at a remove from that period.
@@ThersitestheHistorian Thx! Because i wanted to know if its possible to cover this being able to bring accurate knowlodge without avind one 20y of studies because i owuldl ike myself to delivers that much knowlodge to ppl like you do! =) the for the informations =)
pretty good
more of these are coming yes???????????????
Yes, they are. I am a bit swamped at the moment, but when things settle down and I get through the last of the major Successors, I will get back to Byzantium.
@@ThersitestheHistorian just dont wait till the turks are at your gate
What evidence/sources are there for the date of Basil's birth? I have heard it being said (for example on Robin Pierson's the History of Byzantium) that Basil was around 35 when he became emperor.
It looks like 811 is his official date of birth in the sources and the estimates that he was born in the 830's come from modern scholars who are trying to reconcile his athletic feats and friendship with Michael with an age gap that would seem to be a bit excessive. I just went with the official date, but there is a reasonably high chance that the revisionists are right on Basil's date of birth.
Thanks. That clears it up :)
Blimey remind me never to turn my back on you!
How can it ever be right to murder in cold blood someone who is:
A) your best friend.
B) views you as a father figure
C) raised you up from nothing!
Just for power.
First of all, one of the most interesting emperors. George Finlay's distaste against Basil I and Leo VI is really enjoyable to read.
Also, in before someone appear saying "buh, macedonia is greek buh buh slavs are shit bla bla bla"
No one said that until you did. Also Idk if you know but Basil wasn't a Macedonian in an ethnic/subethnic sense, but rather in the regional sense, given that he came from the Theme of the Macedonians, which wasn't in Macedonia, it was in Thrace
@@dieselface1 I know, I know hy he was "Macedonian". I did not mean that all greeks think like that. But I have seen this kind of arguments so much. It gets on you, some time or another. I know it's the internet but urgh.
He was born closer to adrianople than to Thessalonica or Skopje
ROMAN HISTORY IS GRECO ROMAN HISTORY , GREEK BYZANTINE HISTORY , GREEK HISTORY , GREEK EMPIRE , GREEK CULTURE , GREEK IDENTITY
Hey, Thersites, the more detailed lecture on Basil I is exclusive to patreons or they get an earlier release?
It will be a Patreon exclusive for the foreseeable future. It might be released to the general public at some point, but if it is, it will be after a considerable wait.
👍
. Skylitzes and Zonaras clearly distinguish Thracians, Macedonians and Romaioi (Greeks)
"Basil I, called the Macedonian (Greek: Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, Basíleios ō Makedṓn, 811 - 29 August 886), was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886.
His ethnic origin is unknown and has been a subject of debate. 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 Arsacid (Arshakuni) kings of Armenia, and also of Constantine the Great.
The name of his mother points to a GREEK ORIGIN ON HIS MATERNAL SIDE.[3][8] The general scholarly consensus is that Basil's father was "probably" of Armenian origin, and settled in Byzantine Thrace.[9] "
wiki/Basil_I
Anyone else here from CK3?
He was a real bastard huh lol
sorry the only certain thing we know is that his mother was greek . For godsakeyou have a tendency to dehellenise all the Byzantine emperors . great majority of them spoke greek as first language
Basileios was not a Macedonian as he pretended, the Persian Shahanshah having deported his family to Macedonia ! Instaed he was born in Adrianopolis .His father was a comoner, his brother Bardas had an Armenian name. Basil has been remarked by Emperor
Michel III as a wrestler, or an excellent horsedresser. So he invited him to the Imperial Court , made him his preferite and associated him to power.
Basileios was no Macedonian but an Armenian, and was not even born in Makedonia !
Furthermore he was an usurper and finally he did NOT found any dynasty having left only one adult son (Alexandros) who also had NO issue ! His first son he had with his first wife Maria named Sebastos and renamed Constantin when he was associated as co-emperor (togheter with Leon ,the son of Michael III) died 878 an adolescent.
To found a dynasty the tradition requests 3 consecutive regnants of the same family: grand father,father an son.
So there is NO
" macedonian " dynasty an NO " macedonian renaissance" .
The AMORID dynasty continued till 1056 ( death of Emperess Theodora), daughter of Constantinos VIII.
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another one
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Another one... will come... his identity.... will probably not be.... very surprising.
@@ThersitestheHistorian vardas armenian name!most of the leadership is Armenian decent because they controlled the kataftakts!the tanks of the era!the Armenian influence starts from the mithridate wars,probably because they can supply heavy cavalry!In Strabo its says that there is an agreement of a union between Parthians aristocracy and Roman aristocracy !the whole Byzantine era (east Roman , Roman empire)! Armenian aristocracy is Parthian,this can bee seen in saint Gregor the enlighter life!So the palace in Constantinople is manipulated by Armenians(Parthian aristocrats) versus the walachian(aromunians=roman) original c romans citizens which are feared of collaboration with the Pope(influenced by the Franks)
I really don't approve of you shrugging him off as a mass murderer; but that's just me
Outstanding 9th century information.....But, please omit the totally unnecessary abject PROFANITY!
I thought that you were Ward Jones, not Ward Cleaver. :)
your mother was a hamster and your father smelled of elderberrys!
The what?
Very important part that is not being mentioned in this documentary....why Macedonian..??!!...should be the HEART in explaining Basil,as a WHOLE....thats why so many unanswered questions....you answer that,the PICTURE will become much more clearer....it should be THE MAIN POINT actually....
I assume that he was called that because he hailed from a town somewhere in Macedonia. He seems to have kept his origins rather murky and that may have been on purpose. Most likely, he was not "Macedonian", but he didn't mind if others saw him that way.
...maybe you are right....but,we are talking about 200 years of "Macedonian dynasty" ruling the Byzantine(as is known in the official history)....the way i see it is,it is the WEAK link when explaining those 2hundred years of Byzantine history....i mean,so many emperors aligning themselves to that name....and history wise,so little attention paid to that fact....i mean,you are the emperor of Byzantine right...!!??...why do you need a NAME addition....hope you getting my point....
...what i beleive is missing while explaining(exploring) those 200 years is the fact(my beleive at least) were actually the most secular ages of the Byzantine....it is then,when Cyril and Methodi gave the alphabet to the Slavs...p.s.it was also Cyril that went to Baghdad as well...
...the Byzantine was so smart that instead of fighting the Slavs,oposite from that they sent Cyril and Methodi to Moravia,where while there,they invented the 1st Slavic alphabet(the glycolic alphabet) under the order from the Byzantium court...
...it was during the reign of Michael the 3rd(the drunkard) when this was happening...
Basil I did not found any dynasty. To found a dynasty one needs 3 rulers of the same family in sucession : grand father,father and son.Basils first son Sebastos,later renamed Constantinos died in his youth. Alexandros, the son Basil had from Eudokia Ingerina, died without issue. Leon VI was NOT the son of Basil I, and continued the Amorian dynasty with Konstantinos VII porphyrogennetos , Romanos II and his two sons Basileios II Boulgaroktonos, and Konstantine VIII and Konstantines daughters the emperesses Zoe and Theodora down to 1056.
You do realize, of course, that many Byzantine historians think Basil I was homosexual (or what we might now call "bisexual" though admittedly these modern conceptions didn't exist back then)? And all the hoopla about him being "so big! So strong! So handsome!" was the various men in question wanting him? And that he and Michael were a bit more than just "drinking buddies"?
And yes, yes, yes, women and they had children, blah blah blah. But please. Don't be naive. One can do all that, yet still want men.
Sorry ! Basileios ho Makedôn did not found any MAKEDONIAN dynasty.
Basileios usurpated the Byzantine throne by assassinating his benefactor Emperor Michael III on September 23/24 867. Michael III had forced him to marry his (Michael's) lifelong mistress Eudokía Ingerina with whom he (Michael) already had had two sons Leon VI and Stephanos. Basil had a son from his first marriage with Maria N, named Sebastos (an armenian name) whom he renamed Konstantinos while macking him his co-emperor. Unfortunately Konstantinos died as he was 14 years old (865-879).With Eudokia Basileios had a second son Alexandros (23.11.872-6.01. 913) to whom he dedicated all of his attentions to educate him as a good ruler. Basileios I died August 2 ,886. After Leôn VI's succession on the throne, he called his half brother Alexandros to reign with him as co-emperor. which Alexandros did. He reigned alone from May 11. 912 to June 6. 913, for 1 year after Leon' s death. So the "Makedonian dynasty" ended with the death of Alexandros in June 5, 913. To found a dynasty You need the uninterrupted succession of a minimum of three regnants of the same family. So the Amorian
dynasty continued with Leon's son Konstantinos VII, his son Rômanos II, both sons of Rômanos II Basileios II The Great and Konstantinos VIII, the last male of the Amorian dynasty. Kônstatinos VIII had two daughters Emperess Zôê and her sister emperess Theodora, with whom the Amorian dynasty ended anno 1056.
Basil,,, is read VASIL.. na "bejzel"..
That"b" is actually "V"....
In Macedonia 🇲🇰, we stil have today the name "VASIL ", not "bejzel"... stop fake the past..
@@A1b1c1d1ee emmm... in what country ,today, the state gives names and last names to the people, who lives in ????. .. today, the "spoil" Europe 👶, the fashist grek state.. denied the Macedonian people, and hides the exodus of 2.000.000 of Macedonians,, building the today fashist grek state.. say everything what is Macedonian is grek... i don't care what you say or think 🤔 🤷 about Macedonia... you have done etnic cleaning... and today you're still doing it....
It is one Macedonia...and tha is not greek for sure.....
First of all if You are Macedonia you can write in Greek.
@@gabriilgabriilidis1186
Second of all ,or first. Geve back what you have stolen.. Macedonia 🇲🇰 missing two more parts... especially the grek part .. pay the reparations to Macedonians..and then we can talk...
@@johnneyjohnney2727 stop believing fairy tales and open some books from universities slav
@@gabriilgabriilidis1186 Macedonia 🇲🇰 is one and only one.. has three more missing parts... especially Aegean Macedonia 🇲🇰 is important... today grek fashist state is built on Macedonians land... etnicly clean the territory and populated with minor asia people... that is the real f a ct.... stil living 300.000 original Macedonians over there with basic human rights ✅ 😳...
Grek bulgarian are fashists states in 21 century...
Just he was a Macedonian not Ermenian!
He was Armenian Georgia. But the soldiers were macedonian today N. Macedonian people.
Chaz Skillzor
No fakedonian clown. His soldiers came from all over the empire which included Greeks, Armenians, Slavs, Georgians and other ethnicities. The majority of the army came from themes in Asia minor which was largely Greek speaking at the time.