A. VENEDIKTOV: The extraordinary interest in Byzantium over the past 2 weeks has pushed Natalya Ivanovna and me to one of the emperors, we, however, have already made just one emperor - Justinian, now we have Vasily Makedonyan in front of us. By the way, I’ll start with the fact that a question came over the Internet, Sergey asks: “I would like to know, during the existence of the Empire, could representatives of other nationalities come to power in Constantinople and hold high positions in the state? And how was it perceived in the Greek environment? Just hit!
N. BASOVSKAYA: Good afternoon. And today the answer to this question will certainly be in the history of the life of that same Vasily the Second Bulgarian fighter. For the reason that interests the listeners, why did you choose him, one of the brightest on the Byzantine throne. And it is a generally accepted fact that it was under him that the Byzantine Empire reached its maximum prosperity. He lived from 958 to 1025 and ruled from 976 to 1025. There was no such flourishing, such a huge territory, which he almost returned everything from the time of Ancient Rome, the eastern part of the Roman Empire. And, in fact, this already attracts attention. And as for his nickname, Bulgar-acton or Bulgarian-fighter in the Russian version, then, of course, he was distinguished by a ferocity somewhat falling out even from those cruel times. But why, how, when it happened - we will talk about this ahead. But to choose it is to choose the moment of prosperity, which in this form has never been repeated.
His biography is very typical for the rulers of Byzantium.
A. VENEDIKTOV: Just Sergei says: "He's not a Greek."
N. BASOVSKAYA: The fact is that, firstly, during the time of Vasily II, they just stop calling this Empire the Empire of the Rameans, the Romans. This is a turning point, it has not yet established itself as the Empire of the Greeks. And the expression "Greeks" is also quite figurative. Greeks, Syrians, Copts, Thracians, Illyrians, Armenians, Georgians, Arabs, Jews lived on the territory of Byzantium. Most of the named peoples could be called Hellenized for that time, because the majority spoke Greek. Latin gradually disappeared. But all the same, this is a huge ethnic diversity, and it also manifested itself on the imperial throne. This will be voiced by one of the predecessors of Vasily II, who seized the throne, was from Armenia. And this could happen because there were no strict rules of succession, legally formalized, for a very long time. Byzantium is an incredible state, half in jest, but in general, even historians sometimes say seriously, this is a state whose exact date of birth and death is strictly known. This is May 11, 330, so to speak, the discovery of Constantinople. Today they would say - the presentation of the new eastern capital. And on May 29, 1453, the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks. Arithmetically, 1123, but there were breaks, there were moments when it completely fell apart, it seemed they were not revived, in a conversation about Justinian, they kind of rightly hinted to me that why am I looking at the history of this strange medieval, or not quite medieval state so critically.
Moreover, I expressed a critical view long before the sensational film. What died and died, it lived for more than 1 thousand years. I repeat. In a sense, all these thousand years it did not move forward, but as if it was either trying to stop life ... I came across an expression in the literature about Basil the Second: “This Macedonian ruler wanted to fix the 10th century in Byzantium forever” or disintegrated. Yes, such a long, in a sense, dying. Therefore, I am far from idealizing Byzantium and adhere to the meaning of the famous Latin catchphrase"Non progradi est regradi" [lat. Non progredi est regredi] - not to go forward means to go back. In the traditions of this particular society and state, there were many attempts to stop and consolidate what had been achieved, not allowing new relations to develop, at least in the very important agrarian sphere and in the relationship between parts of the elite.
A. VENEDIKTOV: But Vasily II was trying to do something there.
N. BASOVSKAYA: He also tried to fix it so that there would be no large land ownership, so that it would not be sufficiently independent, at least somewhat independent of the central government. This means that there should not be those dangerous, large lords who in France, in Germany, for example, began to behave independently of the central government in Russia, because this is, like a disaster, feudal fragmentation, but it also contains a grain of truth very important for the future . Temporary isolation relative to parts of this growing formation of the state, allows there, inside, to achieve significant economic success, to create military squads that will come to fight. But Byzantium, nevertheless, relied more on mercenaries, among whom were our ancestors, but more on that later.
So, already at the beginning of Byzantine history, there were more than 30 million inhabitants, and a growing population. Numerous. Territories from the 5th century - the Danube region, Macedonia, the north of the Balkan Peninsula, the northern part of Thrace, Asia Minor, the countries of the Middle East, Egypt. Amazing brilliance! Ethnic, geographical, geopolitical, in fact, it was difficult to keep such a colossus under a single strong power located in Constantinople. And now our character today, our hero, it would seem, very difficult, very painful, achieved in a painful way what he holds, he is victorious, he wins a lot, he has been on the throne for more than 40 years. And then, right after it, such a collapse!
A. VENEDIKTOV: Collapse!
N. BASOVSKAYA: Which, as they say today, even narrow specialists, is difficult to explain. I will try to express the version, but at the end of the program. So, from the age of two.
A. VENEDIKTOV: He has been on the throne since the age of two.
N. BASOVSKAYA: Since 960, little Vasily has been called the co-ruler of his father, Emperor Roman II. Together with his brother Konstantin. From the age of five, since 963, he is legally emperor, together with his brother Constantine, who after his death will rule for a very short time, a very elderly man, Constantine the Eighth. Under Basil, he did not interfere in anything. And only since 976 he actually ruled, from the age of 18, having spent 49 years on the throne. And at the beginning he very firmly relied on a certain eunuch Vasily Nof, only after 9 years he exiled him, and began to really, completely independently rule. And, it would seem, with his successes, which were indisputable, in the international arena, he expanded and restored the borders of the Empire, much was lost. In the inner life - two, he conducted a strict inventory of property, achieved clearer taxation, enriched the treasury, he left countless treasures in this treasury for his dissolute brother, and dissolute heirs proved how quickly all this can be lost.
His life, first as a human, as a child, and then as a potential ruler, was very difficult, because he had very difficult preliminary circumstances, one cannot but say about them. His grandfather was the famous Emperor Constantine the Seventh, Porphyrogenet, Porphyrogenitus. Bagryanitsa - this was the room where the legitimate heirs to the throne were to be born. His father, Romanos II, was the son of Parthyrogenetes and emperor from 945, in fact, from 959. Married in 956, his father shocked the Byzantine court with his marriage to the daughter of a tavern keeper. There was something here, these Byzantine emperors. It is known that Justinian married Theodora, a woman from the upper classes. And here, Anastasia is the daughter of a tavern keeper, who received the throne name of Theophano. Again, the resemblance to Theodora is amazing. What about her was preserved in the sources? A lot of sources. It was a very writing civilization, for all that. In Greek, predominantly writing, there was a small but very educated elite of this society who wrote it in extremely detailed, although very biased.
A. VENEDIKTOV: In different ways.
N. BASOVSKAYA: Of course, everyone saw how he saw and many were afraid. The court was fierce and its manners were fierce. Amazing beauty, combined with cruelty and lust for power. They write literally the same thing about Theodore, so sometimes it seems to me that maybe even an element of some kind of literary cliché is present here.
A. VENEDIKTOV: Judging by her life and what she did after the death of Roman II, her husband, confirms the opinion of Byzantine historians.
N. BASOVSKAYA: Did she poison her husband?
A. VENEDIKTOV: Could! Easily!
N. BASOVSKAYA: There were rumors that his sudden irresistible illness very much resembled poisoning and, in fact, the coming to power of another person, the commander Nikifor Phokias, about whom they said that he was burning with an unprecedented passion for this very Empress Theophano, all these circumstances lead to these thoughts. The boy grew up in such an environment. After the sudden death of his father, neither he nor his co-ruler brother, but a certain Nicephorus II Phocas, a commander, becomes emperor.
A. VENEDIKTOV: And he marries their mother.
N. BASOVSKAYA: This is a normal bloody coup. The mother has been sent away, she is offended, it will be Vasily II who will return her, but will not give her any political role. Blood revolution. Fighting on the streets of Constantinople. Emperor-usurper. There are, of course, people who say that there are legitimate boys. By force he is established on the throne, he became famous for his cruelty, he had such fame that he won on this fear. In particular, the famous story, when he fought in Crete, in the name of the interests of Byzantium, fought with the Arabs, he shocked the pirates there, in fact, that is. hard-hearted people who have seen a lot of cruelty. He collected the heads of the dead, ordered them to be chopped off, part of them to be put in front of his camp, and part of the heads of the killed enemies to shell the city, throwing the heads of the enemies into the city with stone throwers. Even there, in this city of Khandaki, there was an impression that he was somehow cruel a little too much, although in the spirit of the time all this seemed to be nothing. There were persistent rumors that he wanted to castrate these boys so that they would not have offspring and that the Macedonian dynasty would not return and establish itself on the Byzantine throne. That is, Vasily II lived in cruel conditions.
The end of Nicephorus II was also terrible. Palace coup, narrow, this time, not fighting on the streets of the city, palace coup, secret murder, not without some tragicomic details described, the conspirators burst into the bedroom and did not find the emperor. Panic seized them that he ran away, hid. And suddenly they look - he fell asleep on the floor, near the fireplace. You can guess under what circumstances. According to sources, after a short bullying, they killed him. But then the guards knocked on the doors, then these guardsmen were shown his severed head. That is, there is something bloody in this dawn. They showed the head - the guardsmen calmed down. So the next one was established on the throne, again not our boy. He is waiting and waiting, he has been waiting for his legal rights, it seems, for 13 years. During this time, usually such legitimate heirs become very angry. This has been roughly known since ancient Egypt, when Queen Hatshepsut [Maatkara Hatshepsut Henemetamon (1490/1489-1468 BC, 1479-1458 BC or 1503-1482 BC) was a female pharaoh of the New kingdoms of Ancient Egypt from the 18th dynasty.] pushed aside the rights of her stepson Thutnos the Third, the future great conqueror and pharaoh, for many years. And this, too, had a very bad effect on his nature. He waits, and the illegal ruler John the First Tzimiskes, from the Armenian nobility, again came to power. And again a great commander. That is, the system of military coups, military regimes, his funny nickname, from Armenian word shoe, due to his small stature. But a brilliant commander. In domestic policy, he outlined a line that Vasily II would pick up - to clamp down on large landholdings, to subordinate them to a rigid single central authority, he exiled Empress Feofana to a monastery, she was regent for several months, and then nobody at all. She was so shocked by his impudent capture that the scene in the church of St. Sophia, where Theophan burst into such abuse, which immediately reminded her that she was the daughter of a tavern keeper. And she tried to rip out the eyes of this John.
A. VENEDIKTOV: That's the story.
NEWS
A. VENEDIKTOV: Before we go any further, I would like to name our winners, those who won. Of course, the correct answer was Tsar-Grad, it was not necessary to read the annals, one could read the Song of the Prophetic Oleg. And here is the one who receives books - Remal (490), Ekaterina (278), Oleg from St. Petersburg (250), Dmitry (135), Alexander (054), Konstantin (454), Andrey from Volgograd (381), Badri (757), Tatyana (531), Alexey (464). The next 10 winners are Katerina (442), Sasha (911), Andrey (592), Natalia from St. Petersburg (552), Irina from Vladikavkaz (422), Yuri (708), Maria (705), Svetlana (692), Nikolay (078) and Polina (055). Tsar-Grad.
So, Vasily II, not yet Vasily II, still a boy Vasya, with his brother Kostya, they live in a palace where bloody coups are taking place and before their eyes their educators are killed, their mother is glorified, their friends are tonsured monks and all this happens at change of the bloody emperor.
N. BASOVSKAYA: There are rumors that they want to castrate them.
A. VENEDIKTOV: In general, a good childhood.
N. BASOVSKAYA: Childhood, of course, is difficult. Another thing is that not everything can be explained and justified, but you need to know this. It must be said that the next step towards the formation of the painful features of this nature, and he had not only painful features, he was not stupid, not refinedly educated, but not stupid, everyone emphasizes this. Simple in behavior, but completely gifted with the ability to lead, but his very first steps, the first minutes of his tenure on the throne were overshadowed by two major internal rebellions during the first years. And the suppression of these rebellions, also exquisitely complex, cruel, apparently forever left some kind of imprint on his nature, on his further behavior. The rebellion was the first immediately after the death of John the First.
A. VENEDIKTOV: They were enthroned with Constantine.
N. BASOVSKAYA: They were recognized. And finally, everything is brought into line with reality. They are real emperors. But they are not really able to rule yet. And young Vasily still does not pretend at all and cannot do it himself, the previously known court figure Vasily Nov, a eunuch, is actually ruling, this was often accepted. And Vasily still does not intercept real power from him, he will show himself personally in the second rebellion, but not in the first. What was the rebellion? A certain domist was displaced to the East, Varda Sklir, and sent into actual exile, as in Byzantine history it was considered the strategist of Mesopotamia. In response, this Skleros, together with another commander, raised a military revolt, rebelled almost all of Asia Minor, plus Bulgaria rebelled, which wanted to defend its independence. The imperial army was defeated, everyone was in despair, in reality, Vasily was still no one, and such a commander Varda Foka was called to defeat this rebellion. Phocas is the nephew of Emperor Nicephorus, who was murdered.
And he rebelled back in 970, i.e. he believes that he, too, has a right to the throne, and in a sense he does. And he was exiled to a monastery. But the situation was so hopeless that they called this disgraced, suspicious and he showed himself again as a commander, Byzantium was not poor in talented military leaders. Fire-bearing ships played a very important role, the famous Greek fire, they burned the fleet of this Skleros and the rebellion was suppressed. Skleros himself was the leader of the rebellion, he was wounded in a duel with Phocas, there is something very ancient in these events. Here, the Middle Ages with antiquity are absolutely intertwined into a single traditional society. And after that he fled to Baghdad. It would seem that he was forgotten forever. But after 9 years, the already very aged Vardas Clear reappeared within the realm. Varda Foka again opposes this Clear. Now we will win! But Foka, this oppositionist, suddenly proclaimed himself emperor. Not so suddenly. We have 987, this is the second rebellion, and since 970 he has been fighting for his rights. Not at all suddenly. By cunning, he captured Skliros, who was rebellious, joined the troops, his army, as if on behalf of the emperor, with the rebellious army, things are bad. It was all this that made Emperor Vasily II turn to the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vladimir Svyatoslavovich for help.
A. VENEDIKTOV: To the future Saint Vladimir.
N. BASOVSKAYA: Why exactly there? He will become a saint not entirely voluntarily, because the terms of the contract were certain. Even before him, Nicephorus II used the prince of Kyiv Svyatoslav Igorevich in the fight against the Bulgarian kingdom. Rather vague information that Svyatoslav took the money, captured Pliska, but refused to leave. They fought well, it was a Russian-Varangian army, with excellent Varangian traditions.
A. VENEDIKTOV: Let's remember that the chief governor's name was Svineld.
N. BASOVSKAYA: This is how I wrote under John the First, they also encountered the army of Svyatoslav in Bulgaria. Leo the Deacon, a Byzantine writer, writes in his history: “The dews, which were led by their innate fury, rushed in a furious impulse, roaring, as if possessed, at ramia. And the Rami attacked, using their experience and military art. That is, they clashed as allies and as opponents, and it was known that these people knew how to fight. And then Vasily II was forced to ask for help from Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich. He agreed on the condition that Vasily II would marry him, give away, his own, half-sister Anna, the daughter of the very Empress Feofan, the daughter of a tavern keeper, a scold, who almost ripped out the eyes of the pretender to the imperial throne. Consent was not easy. The fact is that the Byzantines looked at Russia at that time, precisely as a barbarian periphery, quite accurately. And they had no tradition of handing over their princesses to the barbarians. But the situation is difficult. And he agreed that his sister, Anna, Vasily's sister, would arrive in Russia and marry the prince of Kyiv.
A. VENEDIKTOV: Under two conditions.
N. BASOVSKAYA: Yes. The prince will accept Christianity. The condition was accepted. Well, there was money involved. And a detachment of 6 thousand people, Russian-Varangian, powerful, skillful, entered Constantinople in the winter of 988, they defeated a significant part of Foki's army, saved Vasily II in a very difficult critical military situation. And Vasily II, who was not distinguished by the highest moral qualities, was in no hurry to fulfill his promise and send his sister Anna to the Russian lands. Then, angry, Vladimir with his army besieged and took Tauric Chersonese.
A. VENEDIKTOV: Crimea.
N. BASOVSKAYA: It then belonged to Byzantium. She was immediately put on a ship, Anna, and sent north.
A. VENEDIKTOV: By that time she was already very middle-aged, for that time, she was 25 years old.
N. BASOVSKAYA: And it was assumed that she would not have any dynastic marriage, but here are such special political circumstances. The wedding took place and the alleged Baptism of Russia, an event of which there are no eyewitnesses, and even the date is questionable, either 988, or 989. But, of course, that he alone will be baptized, he is accompanied by his squad. With this begins a long, long process of the arrival of Christianity in the Russian lands. Of course, it cannot be one-time, it cannot be the act and decision of one person. Everywhere and everywhere, all over the world, the arrival and strengthening of Christianity was a long and difficult process. But here was the starting point.
A. VENEDIKTOV: Wedding on a Byzantine princess.
N. BASOVSKAYA: Yes. And the fulfillment of an agreement concluded in exceptional, difficult, critical circumstances, a forced appeal to a barbarian.
A. VENEDIKTOV: By the way, this detachment of 6 thousand people remained the guards of Vasily II and accompanied him all his life.
N. BASOVSKAYA: And he served very well.
A. VENEDIKTOV: That is, he actually sold them. He got money for it. They were mercenaries.
N. BASOVSKAYA: The end of the rebellion was connected with the personal intervention of Vasily. Here he begins to become himself, he personally intervened in the struggle, on April 13, 989, near Avedos, on the banks of the Dardanelles, he gave the last battle, Varda Foka during this battle desperately made his way to the emperor Basil himself to engage in a duel with him. Again we see the face of time, let the duel decide, as in ancient Rome, who is the best warrior. And then an amazing event. He suddenly turned his horse back, rushed to Vasily and turned his horse back, got off his horse, lay down on the ground and died. And now the version...
A. VENEDIKTOV: Poison!
N. BASOVSKAYA: ... that Vasily II managed to negotiate with his butler. And before the fight, how was it not to drink a cup! Thus ended the second rebellion. So, began Vasily II - the ruler. Vasily II, as a strong figure who has changed dramatically, together all the Byzantine writers close to his time, some who made the end of his era, write how much the emperor has changed, how everyone paid attention to the huge changes in his nature. He lived that his, desperate, difficult life in childhood, in his youth, waiting for power for 13 years. And it began so hard, so badly, with heavy riots, rebellions. He suddenly changed. He stopped frolicking, which he knew how to do and gave it its due. He conducted a thorough census of the property of landowners, very carefully suppressed the growth of large land holdings of magnates, strengthening, figuratively speaking, Byzantine absolutism. The Byzantine political system is trying, as if continuing the line of late Rome and anticipating what will come at the end of the Middle Ages, absolutism in Western Europe, it is trying to skip these phases and create an absolutist system right now, in close alliance with the Christian Church.
In an alliance far stronger than between the Christian Church and secular rulers in the West. And yet, all these measures gave results. Moreover, he always proved that he was also a commander, annexed new lands. The riots weren't over. It must be said that for the gloominess that came into his nature, the severity, rigidity that he began to show, all the time there were grounds. Three years before the end of his reign, in 1022 there was another rebellion. The emperor was in the Caucasus, and his longtime comrade-in-arms, Nicephorus Xifius, revolted, joining forces with the son of Varda Foki. Foka handed over his rebel son. True, they quarreled with each other, Xifius killed Phocas, he himself was arrested, tonsured a monk, and the eunuch who helped them was given to be eaten by lions. And the lions dined very well that day. This is Vasily II.
Not only was he cruel, but he was getting progressively more and more cruel. And we have come to the point where he got his amazing and rather unique nickname. There are many nicknames for rulers. Traditionally Great, Holy, there are funny ones - Tolstoy, Stutterer, Birdcatcher. And such as this - the Bulgarian fighter - it is unique. He fought with the Bulgarians for 13 years. And it annoyed him. But it wasn't a record. Charlemagne conquered the Saxons for more than 30 years, however, he also showed cruelty. The scale is different. Hundreds of hostages were killed by Charlemagne on his orders, that was all. Here, after the battle, there was a battle at the foot of Mount Belasitsa, 1014. At this moment, Tsar Samuil, the Bulgarian Tsar who led the Bulgarians' efforts to maintain their independence, was absent. And his commanders, seeing how poorly the battle was going, how helpless they were in front of the stone-throwing machines of the Byzantines, that the army was simply being exterminated, ordered their troops to surrender. 15 thousand Bulgarian soldiers surrendered. And here Vasily II gave an amazing order, which was carried out. He ordered these 15,000 captives to gouge out their eyes. Every hundred - both eyes, and 101 - one. And so that, led by one-eyed centurions, they would return to the king of the Bulgarians, Samuil.
A. VENEDIKTOV: That is, he blinded 15,000 people.
N. BASOVSKAYA: This is incredible, fantastic. I recall the ideas of the ancient Greeks that it was somewhere here, between Bulgaria, Macedonia, in the north of the Balkan Peninsula, that there was an exit from Tartarus. And very often warriors came from there, some gloomy ideas, this is one of the brightest. He achieved victory, after 4 years, not instantly. This ferocious cruelty did not immediately serve its purpose.
A. VENEDIKTOV: It is very important to say that he did not hide it, he was proud of it, and the Byzantines, not the Bulgarians, called him the Bulgarian fighter. This is an established fact.
N. BASOVSKAYA: He liked it.
A. VENEDIKTOV: There was another story, a little earlier. The fact is that the Egyptian caliph, there was also a war going on there, at that moment was trying to destroy the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, this was in 1009. Destroy the Temple of the Lord and the Tomb. And he began to destroy it and destroyed most of it. And then the Christians of Jerusalem turned to the great Emperor Basil. And he refused them to defend the Holy Sepulcher. He fought with the Bulgarians, Christians. They were not Gentiles, they were baptized. It was a Christian army.
N. BASOVSKAYA: And therefore he is not called a saint, like Louis the 9th in France.
A. VENEDIKTOV: He simply refused to defend the Holy Sepulcher. political calculation.
N. BASOVSKAYA: This is not an ideology, these are not heretical thoughts, at that moment it was difficult for him, difficult. So, only after 4 years, the Bulgarians finally surrendered completely. And for 170 years Bulgaria was under the rule of Byzantium. That is, he achieved his goal, but this is a ferocious, incredible cruel trick, it did not turn the tide of events. He probably counted on this, or maybe that with such a halo of open, accepted evil, he would become terrible for all his external and internal enemies. But he still could not know, but in 1022 there would be that same rebellion, or maybe he felt that he had to return from each military campaign not only a winner, but formidable for his enemies. In this sense, these traditions of the ruler's formidability, making decisions about blinding, wheeling, here there could be mutual influence between Byzantium and Russia, in the sense of such traditions. It is very tempting to judge them from the position of today's morality, but it is impossible.
A. VENEDIKTOV: This is not a position of morality, but a position of efficiency. He practically ended the dynasty with such actions. Less than 5-7 years after his death, the dynasty collapsed and the Arabs came, took Alep, threw the Byzantines out of there. It was all built on sand, you can't save or build a state on cruelty and blood alone.
N. BASOVSKAYA: On the sand soaked in blood. And he thought it was good. And being afraid of these riots, just knowing his biography, you understand that all the time he dreamed of these conspiracies, severed heads, poisoned rulers, he prevented all the time, took very serious measures against the growth of large feudal rulers, with his squads and laid the foundation for to that absolutism in which mercenaries are the main support of the emperor. And how unreliable this support, he should have understood, but he did not fully understand. The Russian-Varangian came up, showed themselves well, and, probably, there was an idea that it was good that the support of the throne would be just like that, but, of course, could he? Could not! To see through the centuries that when in Constantinople in the 15th century it will be necessary to defend this city from the Turks, there will not be those same hired squads, there will not be those who will defend their homeland, in some sense, such, natural, the point is that from the 10th century, the century of Basil the Second, the Bulgarian fighters in France established the concept of France. In England - England, in the German lands, for all their disunity, the concept of Germany, this German country, is growing stronger. The same thing is happening on the Iberian Peninsula, on the Scandinavian Peninsula, and here something like this is united by the power of a single political ruler who rules there from God, by the will of the Divine, etc. Surrounded by a tight crowd of courtiers, whom he feeds from his palm, and having a huge treasury, on which any army can be hired. In fact, this is a big mistake that he did not understand. How did he end his life? Yes, like all these successful rulers and successful conquerors.
A. VENEDIKTOV: We emphasize that he was successful in terms of photography. Expanded the boundaries, strengthened the personal power of the emperor, created a huge treasury. It's true. It would seem that everything is correct! Laid stability, it would seem - restored. Nothing like this!
N. BASOVSKAYA: He needs to endlessly prove that he is quite fit and capable of the next conquests. Therefore, he died during the preparation of the next conquest expedition to Sicily, against the Arabs who captured this island, the eternal object of contention. The landing force was already boarding Byzantine ships when the emperor fell ill and died on December 15, 1025. His body did not rest. In 1204, during the fourth crusade, the armies of the Latins, knights from the West, robbed Constantinople for the sole purpose of booty. And they abused the body of Emperor Basil II. Many graves were desecrated. And in 1261, the soldiers of Michael the Eighth Poleologist [Mikhail VIII Paleolog (Greek Μιχαήλ Η΄ Παλαιολόγος) (1224/1225 - December 11, 1282) - the Byzantine emperor from 1261 (as the Nicene emperor - from 1259), the founder of the dynasty of Paleologs], when the Byzantine state was restored, the body of Basil II was found, as it is believed, I hope this is so, they believe that this is his body. It was possible according to the clothes. In a dilapidated temple, with a bagpipe in his hands, and this is an outrage, and a whistle inserted into his withered jaws. Outrage! mockery! We probably cannot restore the exact thoughts that they had in their heads at the same time, but it was some kind of challenge, probably to the highest prosperity, a challenge to the idea that the Byzantine emperor, under him, was above others and claimed to be to be Western rulers.
A. VENEDIKTOV: And the Byzantine historian Michael Psellos summed up his personality in this way: “He always showed disregard for his subjects. And in truth, he asserted his power more by fear than by mercy. Having become older and gained experience in all matters, he completely ceased to need wise people, he himself made all decisions, he himself disposed of the army, civil affairs, ruled not according to written laws, but according to the unwritten regulations of his unusually gifted soul by nature. It reminds us of something, doesn't it? By concept!
N. BASOVSKAYA: This is really an attempt to establish a super strong central one-man power. She looks so seductive, but, as always, the consequences are very sad. The throne after the death of Basil II passed to the very same brother Constantine, who from infancy was listed as emperor. Konstantin was already 68 years old, but he was a slave to his own pleasures. The old man indefatigably frolicked, feasted, handed out money and squandered what his brother, who conscientiously tried in this field, had amassed. The embarrassment began. For 66 years, 14 rulers have been on the throne. And it continued, this turmoil, until 1081 and the accession of the Komnenos dynasty.
A. VENEDIKTOV: Therefore, it is necessary to build institutions, and not to strengthen our own power and our own treasury.
N. BASOVSKAYA: How right you are, Alexei Alekseevich!
A. VENEDIKTOV: And this is the “Everything is so” program.

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Biography

Basil II ruled together with his brother Constantine VIII (who practically did not interfere in the affairs of state administration). He was considered co-emperor from childhood, but actually took the throne at the age of 17 or 18 after the death of John I Tzimiskes (January 976). In 985, he removed from power the previously all-powerful eunuch Basil Lecapinus, former first minister under several previous emperors.

Foreign policy

Known mainly for those wars that he had to wage to protect the empire with numerous enemies: Emperor Otto III, the Lombard dukes of Benevent and the Slavs, especially the Bulgarians. The fight against the latter was extremely stubborn and fierce, accompanied by atrocities on both sides.

In 986, the Bulgarians, led by Samuil, won a decisive battle at the Trajan's Gate. In the battle, almost the entire Byzantine army was destroyed, the entire convoy was lost, and the emperor himself miraculously escaped capture.

In dire need of ships for the rapid transfer of troops to various parts of the empire, Basil entered into negotiations with the Venetian Doge Orseolo. In 992, a large embassy of Venice arrived in Constantinople, which achieved a seven-fold reduction in customs duties. Basil issued a special chrysovul, which marked the beginning of the exclusive status of the Venetians in Constantinople. The alliance with Venice brought benefits to the empire: in the year 1000, a punitive raid was carried out against the pirates of Dalmatia. In 1002, the Venetian fleet, led by Orseolo, liberated the city of Bari from the siege by the troops of the Caliphate. Thus, Basil received a military foothold in southern Italy. reverse side was the growing dependence of Byzantium on the Venetian economy.

In 1014, in a bloody battle at Belasitsa (Strimon), Vasily defeated the Bulgarian army, and, having captured 15,000 Bulgarians, ordered all of them to be blinded and then set free, leaving one guide with one eye in each hundred. This and other victories, which earned him the nickname Bulgar Slayers, helped him conquer Bulgaria to the Danube after a struggle that lasted from 981 to 1018.

In 1021-1022, he waged war with the king of Iveria (western Georgia) George I and also defeated him. At the same time, Basil secured the Treaty of Trebizond from his ally, King Hovhannes-Smbat of Armenia, who was forced to bequeath his kingdom to Byzantium after his death. So, under Basil II, the Armenian lands were annexed to the Byzantine Empire, and the prerequisites for further annexation were created. He is credited with a posthumous order to Constantine VIII to take care of the Armenian people and their princes. According to Mateos Urhaetsi, Basil II himself adopted the Armenian religion and was recognized as the "Father of the Armenian country".

In Russian history, he is known as the brother-in-law of Prince Vladimir; under him, the baptism of Russia took place, which followed after Vasily agreed to marry his sister Anna to the Kyiv prince, subject to the adoption of Christianity by Russia and the provision of military support to the empire; 6,000 Russian soldiers were sent to Byzantium, where they formed the cadres of the Varangian allied corps, part of which was turned into the guards of the Greek emperors. Later, in 1016, the Byzantine troops of Andronicus united with the Tmutarakan prince Mstislav the Brave and defeated the last Khazar commander Georgy Tsulu in the Crimea.

Domestic politics

Under him, there were major uprisings of contenders for the imperial throne - Vardas Skliros, then Vardas Focas the Younger, which ended in the defeat of the rebels. During these wars, Russian troops provided assistance to the empire.

In order to replenish the treasury and weaken the large landowners, he introduced allelengy - tax liability for peasants unable to pay taxes and land abandoned by the owners.

succession to the throne

Vasily led the ascetic life of a warrior, caring about his army more than about everyday well-being. Unlike the vast majority of monarchs, especially medieval ones, Vasily, who lived a long life, remained a bachelor. Nothing is known about any extramarital affairs or children. Basil did not take care not only to start a family, but he never married any of his nieces, daughters of Constantine VIII. As a result, by the time of Uncle's death, Zoya and Theodora had already left childbearing age, and Evdokia even earlier took the vows of a nun. This led to the end of the Macedonian dynasty and to the beginning of a period of civil strife and instability in the empire.

Images

Miscellaneous

• Basil, the son of Roman II, for the ferocity shown in the wars with Bulgaria, nicknamed Bulgarokton or Bolgar Slayer, is the most significant emperor of the Macedonian dynasty. Under no ruler after him, Byzantium has reached such power - neither economic, nor military, nor territorial.

Bibliography

• Armenians are the creator of alien civilizations: 1000 famous Armenians in world history / S. Shirinyan.-Yer.: Auth. ed., 2014, p.47, ISBN 978-9939-0-1120-2
• Dashkov S. B. Emperors of Byzantium. - Moscow: Red Square Publishing House, 1997. - ISBN 5-87305-002-3
• Ryzhov K. V. All monarchs of the world. Ancient Greece. Ancient Rome. Byzantium. - Moscow: Veche, 1999. - 656 p. - ISBN 5-7838-0342-1
• Vasily II Bulgar Slayer // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg, 1890-1907
• Darrouzès J. Épistoliers byzantines du Xe siècle. P., 1960
• Abragi M. The Сelibacy of Basil II // Byzant. studies. 1975 Vol. 2. P. 41-45
• Poppe A. The Political Background to the Baptism of the Rus // DOP. 1976 Vol. 30. P. 196-244
• Felix W. Byzanz und die islamische Welt im früheren 11. Jh. W., 1981
• Cutler A. The Psalter of Basil II // Imagery and Ideology in Byzantine Art. Aldershot 1992
• Crostini B. The Emperor Basil II "s Cultural Life // Byz. 1994. Vol. 64. P. 53-80
• Kazhdan A.P., Litavrin G.G. Essays on the history of Byzantium and the southern Slavs. SPb., 1998
• Obolensky D. Byzantine Commonwealth of Nations. M., 1998
• Christianity in the countries of the East., South-East. and Center. Europe on the Threshold of the 2nd Millennium / Ed. B. N. Flory. M., 2002
• Arutyunova-Fidanyan V. A. Armenian medieval historians about the expansion of the Byzantine Empire to the East in the X-XI centuries. // Historical and Philological Journal. - 1978. - No. 2. - S. 191-206

Participation in wars: Civil wars. Bulgarian war. Wars in Italy, Asia Minor, Transcaucasia.
Participation in battles: At Avidos. At Strymon. Capture of Sirmium

(Basil II) Byzantine emperor of the Macedonian dynasty

Already in 2 year old At the age of Vasily, he was proclaimed emperor, but allowed to govern the state only in 976 after his death John Tzimisces. His co-ruler was a younger brother Konstantin. Taking the reins of power over byzantine empire, Vasily did not want to share his worries with any of those close to him or use outside advice. However, he also could not rely on himself at first, since he had no experience either in public administration or in command of the army. Therefore, he brought his relative closer to him parakimomen Vasily, distinguished by a considerable mind, and learned from him the art of governing. But getting older and gaining experience in all matters, he took power from him and sent him into exile. From now on, he himself made: all decisions, he himself commanded the army and himself conducted all civil affairs, ruling not according to written laws, but according to the unwritten rules of his unusually gifted soul. His reign was filled with heavy wars and uprisings. Already in 976 in Asia Minor he decided to rebel Varda Sklir, who in a short time mastered all Asian themes. Upon learning that all the heavily armed warriors flocked to Skleros, the emperor and his entourage at first decided that they had died, but then, having gathered their courage, they reasoned differently and called on the disgraced Skleros Vardu Fok nephew of the deceased emperor Nicephorus II, entrusted him with the remaining forces and sent against the rebels. In 978, Skleros was defeated, after which he was forced to flee to the Arabs. At first, the winner Fok was awarded considerable honors, making him one of the persons closest to the emperor, but then they began to show less and less to him. less attention, and he, realizing that he was threatened with a new disgrace, in 987 declared himself emperor and raised an uprising against Basil. The key battle with Phoca took place in April 988. at Avidos. Noticing Vasily, Foka rushed towards him with all his might, but suddenly fell off his horse, lay down on the ground and died. There were rumors that the butler bribed by the emperor poisoned him before the battle. Varda Sklir, who led the rebels, reconciled with the emperor in the same year.

Under the influence of all these events, Vasily has changed a lot. In his youth, he was prone to effeminacy and licentiousness, he frolicked without hesitation, often indulged in love pleasures and was excessively fond of friendly feasts. But the difficult trials and ruthless blows of fate forced him, according to Psellos, to set off at full sail away from pampered life and, over time, completely change his character. Over the years, he became a man gloomy, rude, quick-tempered and far from any luxury. He abandoned jewelry, no longer wore a tiara on his head, no necklaces around his neck, took off extra rings, threw off colorfully decorated dresses and was only concerned with how to put the affairs of his state in order. Having blocked all the channels through which the incoming finances flowed, he increased his treasury to two hundred thousand talents. He studied military affairs in detail and therefore accurately assigned knowledgeable and skillful assistants to all posts. He made campaigns against the barbarians in a completely different way, as was the custom with most emperors, who spoke in the middle of spring, and returned at the end of summer. He endured the summer heat, the winter cold, languishing with thirst, did not immediately rush to the source and was truly hard as flint, and resistant to all bodily deprivations. He did not like open battles and won more by cunning than. For 20 years, Vasily waged a stubborn struggle with

At the end of July 1014, the stocky and sloppy 56-year-old warrior Vasily II began to take cruel revenge on the Bulgarians, who had raged in his empire for more than two centuries.

The Bulgarians were descended from the warlike Turkic tribes of Central Asia, who appeared in the European steppes west of the Volga at the end of the 4th century. One of the tribes, or "horde", settled on the plain between the Danube and the Balkan mountains, and by the 7th century. the newcomers through marriages became related both with the native Vlachs and with the Slavs who had recently appeared there. In 811, Krum, Khan of Bulgaria (802-814), killed the Byzantine emperor Nicephorus I, and then besieged Constantinople. During the reign of Tsar Boris I (852-889), the Bulgarians converted to Christianity, which gave them a sense of deep cultural unity, but did not at all lessen their willingness to kill the Greeks and ravage the Byzantine lands to the south.

Military campaigns of Basil II in 1000-1004. have already returned to Byzantine control most of the Eastern Balkans from Thessaloniki to the Iron Gates on the Danube, the gorge separating Serbia from Romania. Now, in July 1014, he advanced as far as the Klidion cleft, which led into the valley of the Strumitsa River near the city of Seree, and found that the army of the Bulgarian king Samuil had occupied this passage and blocked the entrance with a wooden palisade. A Byzantine detachment was sent up the wooded slope of the hill to attack the Bulgarians from the rear, and the emperor himself led the troops directly to the palisade. The victory was complete. Basil captured 15 thousand prisoners and divided them into hundreds. Then he ordered everyone to be blinded in both eyes, but to leave in each hundred a leader who was blinded in only one eye, after which he sent this "army" to Tsar Samuel, who had escaped death.

By the time they reached the royal castle at Prespa, it was October. At the sight of their king, he had a stroke, and two days later he died without regaining consciousness. After another three and a half years of war, Vasily triumphantly entered the Bulgarian capital Ohrid (now in Macedonia). All the Balkans again belonged to Byzantium. From everywhere, the emperor received oath assurances of loyalty, earned the nickname Bulgaroctonus - "Bulgarian Slayer".

Early years and the reign of Nikephoros

Vasily received his first lessons in cruelty in early years. His father Roman II died in March 963, and his mother Theophano called on the general Nikephoros Phocas to protect her and her two sons, Basil and Constantine. This ascetic Anatolian aristocrat, who in 961 won the island of Crete for the empire, defeating the Saracens who captured it, at that time was encamped with his army near Caesarea in Cappadocia and was already heading back to Constantinople after the victories he won over the Arab emir Seif ad- Daula in the Syrian campaign of 961-962 As proof of his piety and valor, he carried the tattered tunic of St. John the Baptist captured in Aleppo. His army took the city in 944, after which they burned the emir's magnificent palace to the ground. This tunic was carried in front of Nicephorus when entering Constantinople and during the solemn procession to the hippodrome, where his triumph was officially celebrated. After the return of Nicephorus to Cappadocia, the soldiers, according to ancient Roman custom, raised him on shields and proclaimed him emperor. He was crowned on August 16 at Hagia Sophia, where the patriarch laid the emperor's crown on the head of Nicephorus II Phocas.

The new emperor became regent with two minor heirs to the throne, but the dynastic principle was violated, and the marriage of Nicephorus to Theophano further strengthened his position. In his role as emperor, however, he aroused the displeasure of powerful factions. The church was outraged by an edict forbidding it to accept donations of land to supplement its already extensive holdings. By giving away lands to those who offered the highest price for them, Nicephorus placed at a disadvantage those small proprietors who, by law, had previously had the first right to purchase neighboring lands. Taxes were greatly increased, and Nicephorus refused to pay an annual cash subsidy to the Bulgarians, whom he had been "feeding" since 927, considering Bulgaria a useful buffer state between Byzantium and Kievan Rus. This new force, which arose in the middle of the 9th century, quickly consolidated, and Nikephoros' decision to help with money the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav, who was at war with the Bulgarians, proved disastrous. At the head of an army consisting of Russians, Hungarians and Pechenegs, Svyatoslav defeated the Bulgarians and in the fall of 969 began to threaten Byzantium on its border with Thrace.

John Tzimiskes and the Assassination of the Emperor

On the morning of December 11, 969, Nicephorus was found dead: he was killed at night by John Tzimiskes, another Anatolian commander and Theophano's new lover. John went to the throne room of the palace, put on the purple imperial coats and, supported by Theophano, Basil and Constantine, was proclaimed the new emperor by the palace nobility. Theophano was sent into exile, and anti-church measures were cancelled. Barda Sklir, a relative of John, along with the former emperor's nephew Peter Focas (a eunuch and therefore no rival for the throne) led the army that defeated the invading Russian forces at the Battle of Arkadiopolis in the spring of 970. By 971, Svyatoslav admitted his defeat and began to retreat through Bulgaria, where he was killed by disgruntled Pechenegs, former allies, who made a cup out of his skull. John forced Tsar Boris to abdicate, and the Bulgarian crown was triumphantly placed on the altar of Hagia Sophia, which symbolized the country's loss of independence. In addition, he rebuffed the Egyptian Fatimid Caliphate, which in 971 attacked Antioch through the Sinai Peninsula. By 974, John's army had restored Byzantine control over Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine.

Basil takes the throne

After the sudden death of John, Basil took the throne in 976. Basil needed to consolidate dynastic power, and in 985 he expelled from the palace the manager of the court, known for his money-grubbing eunuch also named Basil, and confiscated his vast estates. Varda Sklir, who considered himself the true heir of John Tzimiskes and led the eastern troops, began a three-year civil war. At one time Vardas Focas, another nephew of Emperor Nicephorus, was sent into exile in Pontus on the Black Sea as punishment for his rebellion against John Tzimisces. Basil convinced him to take an oath of allegiance and lead a military campaign that ended with the flight of Skliros to Baghdad. In 987, Skleros nevertheless resumed his struggle for the imperial throne and concluded an alliance with Phocas. However, Phocas betrayed him and threw him into prison, after which he set off at the head of an army on a campaign through Asia Minor to attack Constantinople. Then the Bulgarian problem arose again. The recent war almost did not affect Western Bulgaria, and it was there that the new Bulgarian king Samuil appeared, who led popular uprising. In 986, the city of Larissa in Byzantine Thessaly fell under the blows of Samuel's army, and the Greeks were defeated.

Basil turned to the Kyiv prince Vladimir with a request for military assistance, and in December 988, 6 thousand Varangians arrived in Constantinople, playing not last role in the military successes of the Kievan state. The emperor was forced to agree to the demand of Vladimir to give him his sister Anna as a wife, if he accepts the Christian faith. The new Russian Church became part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and Orthodox culture took on a new breath.

The Varangians of Vladimir crossed the Hellespont in February 989 and defeated the forces of Phocas at the Battle of Chrysopolis. Following this, Foka died from massive heart attack, and the liberated Sklir, by this time almost blind, expressed his obedience to Basil and advised him to tax the Anatolian nobility and cut down their land holdings in order to keep her in obedience. Basil on January 1, 996 announced an edict that returned to the former owners all property acquired in sixty-one years, and no compensation was provided. Thus, he destroyed the economic base of such large landowners as Foka, strengthened the position of the small ones, who formed the backbone of the imperial army, and returned the lands to the possession of the emperor.

In April 995, Basil's well-trained army crossed Anatolia in just sixteen days, covering a distance of a thousand kilometers. And in front of the city walls of Aleppo, besieged by the Fatimids, 17 thousand soldiers appeared. Aleppo was saved, and with it Northern Syria was saved, while a ten-year truce concluded with the Egyptian Caliphate made it possible to secure the eastern Syrian border of Basil's empire. In the west, the Bulgarians, led by Samuil, invaded the Byzantine province of Hellas, went to Corinth and occupied the port of Dyrrhachium, and then moved through Dalmatia to Bosnia. In the same year 1000, Basil defended his western front by turning the coast of Dalmatia into a protectorate of Venice under Byzantine suzerainty.

In the same year, Prince David Kurapalat was killed in Georgia, which was very opportune, since the punishment of David for supporting Varda Foki meant the return of his lands to the property of the empire after the death of the owner. Among these lands were the vast possessions north of Lake Van, the rights to which Byzantium had previously transferred to David and which were added to his own hereditary lands.

Territorial expansion of Byzantium

Byzantine rule over Bulgaria was not too onerous, and taxes were low. The Bulgarian Empire became two parts of the Byzantine Empire, Bulgaria and Paristria, while in the west - in Croatia, Dioklea, Serbia and Bosnia - local princes ruled under the suzerainty of the empire. The archbishop of the Bulgarian church was appointed by Vasily, but otherwise the church retained its autonomy.

There was still enough military trouble. King George of Abkhazia annulled the agreement concluded by his father, and after the death of Bagrat in 1014, he occupied David's possessions by force. In 1021-1022. Basil restored his power over Georgia, after which, as a result of a diplomatic agreement, he also extended it to the Armenian region of Vaspurakan and part of Azerbaijan. Immediately before his death, he was preparing to invade Sicily, in 535 conquered for the empire by Belisarius, but from the end of the 9th century. occupied by the Arabs.

Basil fully identified himself with Byzantium, and during his reign the empire expanded as never before. However, he was not married and had no heir. Ahead was a defeat in the battle with the Seljuk Turks at Manzikert (1071), after which Byzantium lost Anatolia. Taking advantage of the Byzantine war with the Seljuks, the Bulgarians in 1185 raised a popular uprising, which ended in the birth of the Second Bulgarian kingdom. In the first half of the XIII century. it became the main force in the Balkans, after which it was conquered by the Tatar-Mongols, then by the Serbs, and at the end of the XIV century. conquered by the same force that destroyed Byzantium itself - the Ottoman Empire.

As a result of a military rebellion, he achieved power, married Theophano, and so on. became the stepfather and guardian of V. B. and Konstantin. In 969, after the assassination of Nicephorus Foki and the coming to power of the imp. John I Tzimisces, the position of the young emperors formally almost did not change. The independent rule of V. B. began in 976, after the death of Tzimisces, but for almost 10 years (until 985) the state. Vasily Nof, parakimomen, was in charge of affairs, castrated in childhood, the illegitimate son of the imp. Romanos I Lecapenus. Constantine VIII was formally considered co-ruler of V.B., but ceded all power to his brother and actually became emperor only after his death in 1025.

Civil wars

During the first 15 years, the government of V.B. was forced to focus on the fight against military rebellions within the empire and against uprisings on its outskirts. Already in the spring of 976, the strategist of Mesopotamia, Varda Sklir, who under Tzimiskes (his relative) occupied the highest military post in the empire, the domestic schols of the East, revolted. Enjoying great popularity among the troops and relying on his extensive possessions in Anatolia, he soon brought most of Asia Minor under his control and defeated government troops in a number of battles. Sklir managed to hold power over the central regions of M. Asia for 2 years, but his attempts to create a threat to the K-field were unsuccessful. In 978, another influential commander Varda Foka, the nephew of the imp. Nicephorus II (in 970 he tried to revolt against John Tzimiskes, for which he was imprisoned in a mon-re on the island of Lesbos). He was appointed domestic scholia of the East, gathered forces loyal to the emperor around him, and in March 979 defeated Skliros. The latter fled to the Muslims. possession and sought support from the Baghdad Sultan Khosrov (Adud al-Daula Buyid, 977-983). An embassy was sent from K-field to Baghdad with an appeal not to help the rebel; the sultan imprisoned both Skliros and his companions, and imp. ambassador.

After a major defeat by V. B. from Samuil of Bulgaria (986), a rebellion in the East was raised by Varda Foka (Aug. 987), who was soon joined by Varda Sklir, who returned from captivity. Foka placed almost all of Asia Minor under his control, took possession of part of the fleet, and prepared to capture the capital. However, V. B. concluded an agreement with the Kyiv prince. Vladimir Svyatoslavich and received military assistance from him. In the spring of 989, in the battles of Chrysopolis (a suburb of the K-field on the Asian side of the Bosphorus) and Avidos (a port in the Dardanelles), Rus. the squad defeated the army of Varda Foki, and he himself died in the last battle. After that, V. B. managed to negotiate with Varda Sklir, who, in exchange for his loyalty, was forgiven and received the title of curopalate.

Baptism of Russia

Bulgarian war

From the first years of the reign of V. B., anti-byzantine developed. movement in the Balkans, headed by the so-called. comitopules, the sons of comite Nikolai Shishman David, Aaron, Moses and Samuil - Bolg. a noble family that declared itself the heiress of the kings of Bulgaria. The uprising began in last years board of imp. John Tzimiskes, and after his death in 976, Peter, Boris and Roman, the sons of the late Bolg, were sent from the K-field to Bulgaria. Tsar Peter. Perhaps the government of V.B. hoped to oppose the rebels with the relatives of the legitimate king, but this plan failed. In the first years of his reign, due to mutinies in the East, V. B. was not able to fight the comitopules, and by the end. 70s 10th century under their control was already almost the entire app. part of the Balkan Peninsula (modern Western Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Northern Greece), and here the Western. Bulgarian state (980-1018) with capitals in Ohrid and Prespa. OK. 980 the power was concentrated in his hands by the youngest of the comitopoulos Samuil (crowned in 997). In the summer of 986, V. B. undertook the 1st campaign against the Bulgarians; his army unsuccessfully besieged Serdika (modern Sofia), and during the withdrawal was defeated in the Ihtiman Gorge. After that, for several years V. B. was again busy with the civil war, and the Byzantines undertook a new major campaign only in 991-994. Subsequently, the war was fought with varying success, was accompanied by heavy casualties among the civilian population and caused great economic damage to the region. Both sides organized mass migrations: the Slavs settled in the Greek. regions of the Balkans, the Greeks - in Macedonia and Epirus, the Slavs were evicted to Anatolia, and their lands were distributed to immigrants from the Caucasus - Armenians and Georgians. Since 1001, when peace was concluded in the East, all the forces of V.B. were directed to fight against the Bulgarians. For several For years, the largest fortresses of Preslav, Vidin, Skopje and others were occupied. In July 1014, V. B. inflicted a decisive defeat on the Bulgarians in the battle near Mount Belasitsa (Rhodopi). By order of the emperor, 14,000 Bulgarian prisoners were blinded. warriors. After the death of Tsar Samuil (October 1014), his heirs Gabriel Radomir and then John Vladislav were no longer able to offer significant resistance to V.B. Feb. 1018 the last Western Bolg. Tsar John Vladislav died during the siege of Dyrrhachium, his widow Maria renounced her rights to the Bolg. throne in favor of the emperor. Almost 40 years of war ended with the triumphal entry of V. B. into Ohrid.

Foreign policy in other directions

With the involvement of the main forces of the empire to fight against internal rebellions, and then to conquer Bulgaria, Italy, Zap. Europe Bl. The East and the Caucasus were considered by the K-Polish government as secondary areas of activity. In all these regions at the turn of the X-XI centuries. the Byzantines were limited mainly to the defense of their possessions.

The main principles of the policy of V. B. in Italy at that time were the protection of the south. parts of the peninsula (Apulia and Calabria, centered in Bari) from attacks by the Arabs, expanding influence among the local nobility. Despite regular trips to Italy, German. emperors from the Ottonian dynasty, the influence of the Germans here was not yet perceived as a direct threat to Byzantium. The relations of the two empires were more of an allied character, which was confirmed by the regular exchange of embassies; imp. Otto III (983-1002) was the son of a Byzantine ruling house Theophano, was preparing his marriage with the Byzantine. princess, which did not take place due to the death of the emperor. In addition, the Byzantines relied on an alliance with the major maritime trading cities of Venice and Pisa, on the support of part of the tribal aristocracy of Rome; in the beginning. 11th century the alliance with the Lombard princes of Capua and Benevent was strengthened. Byzant. The fortresses were regularly raided by the Muslims. Emir of Sicily Abu-l-Qasim. The fortresses of Gerace and Cosenza passed from hand to hand; in 988 and 1003-1004 Arabs besieged Bari. In the last years of the reign of V. B., the Byzantines moved to more active actions against the Arabs. In 1025, the expedition of catepan Vasily Bodzhoyan landed in Sicily and began the siege of Messina, but was soon returned due to the death of V.B.

During the reign of V. B., the Byzantines abandoned their former course of conquest on Bl. East. In 980, the emir Saad al-Daula suddenly captured Aleppo (Haleb) - one of the most important cities on the outskirts of Antioch. As a result of the siege of Aleppo, undertaken the next year by Varda Foka, Saad recognized vassal dependence on Byzantium, and later an alliance with the emirs of Aleppo operated for some time. The city was finally lost in 1016. Some of the activities of V.B. in the east intensified in the last years of the 10th century. In 995, V. B. undertook a campaign in Syria; forced the egypt. Fatimid troops abandon the siege of Aleppo. In 999, V. B. again moved to Syria, devastated her sowing. and the central regions, reached Damascus and undertook a demonstrative siege of Tripoli. Nevertheless, these events did not lead to c.-l. changes in general position in the region. In 1001, a truce was concluded between the empire and the Fatimid caliph al-Hakim, which lasted until 1016.

From the last years of the X century. the empire intensified its onslaught on the states of Transcaucasia. During the civil wars, the government of V. B. enjoyed the support of the ruler of Tao-Klarjeti (prov. East Georgia) David, who received the Byzantium. title of curopalate. However, during the rebellion of Varda Foki, David supported him, as a result of which he lost the confidence of the K-field. After the death of David in 1000, V. B. put forward claims to the inheritance of his possessions. In 1000-1001. he moved troops into Transcaucasia and captured the region. Tao. The local kings of Abkhazia, Kartli and Ani, as well as the Kurdish emir Marwan, recognized themselves as vassals of Byzantium and received high court titles. The 2nd campaign in Transcaucasia was organized in 1021-1022. By this time, a united Georgian kingdom had formed here from the regions of Abkhazia, Klarjeti, Kartli and Kakheti under the rule of King George I. He was defeated and recognized himself as a vassal of the empire; the king of Vaspurakan, Hovhannes Senakerib, transferred his possessions to the empire in exchange for estates in Cappadocia; King Ani Hovhannes Smbat (John Simvatius) concluded an agreement on the transfer of the empire's possessions after his death. Thus, the activities of V.B. in Transcaucasia made this region an object of Byzantine expansion, which continued later, in the 11th century.

Domestic politics

In the first 10 years of his reign, the power of V. B. was actually limited by the position of the influential parakimomen Vasily Nof, who was the uncle of V. B. imp. Roman II and acted as the head of the ruling clan of the Macedonian dynasty and the Lecapines. However, in 985, V.B. managed to remove his relative. From that time on, V.B., throughout his reign, strove for a gradual strengthening of the regime of personal power. According to the testimony of historians Michael Psellos and Yahya of Antioch, he delved into all affairs in the state, tried to keep everything under control. First of all, it concerned several the surnames of the most powerful military feudal lords (dinates), who owned vast lands mainly in Anatolia and already had personal armies of their vassals (Phocas, Sklirs, Maleins, Vurtsy, Uranians, etc.). In the 70-80s. 10th century anti-government movements of these families resulted in long civil wars. After the reconciliation, V. B. tried in every possible way to weaken these clans, to prevent the expansion of their possessions and resources. In 996, he published a short story, according to which the statute of limitations for the return of illegally acquired lands was canceled. All land holdings of the dinats that appeared after 927 were declared illegal. It is difficult to assess the extent to which this law was implemented, but it is likely that the land confiscations carried out contributed to the decline of the clans. Most of the powerful families in the next century are on the sidelines. V. B. managed to stop the growth of feudal landownership for several years. decades, and in the last years of his reign, the emperor had unlimited possibilities in all areas of government. The resources of the possible military opposition were incomparable with the state. V. B.’s machine, which is confirmed by the story of the failed rebellion of the strategists Nicephorus Xifia and Nicephorus Foki in 1022.

Church politics

at the turn of the X-XI centuries. was largely aimed at developing and consolidating success in the Baptism of Glory. peoples, as well as to support the Byzantines. rule in conquered Bulgaria. After the conquest, all Bolg. the lands (most of the interior regions of the Balkans) were included in the autocephalous Archdiocese of Ohrid, whose primates were appointed directly by the emperor, that is, they were actually removed from the jurisdiction of the K-Polish Patriarch. Under V. B., a Bulgarian was the archbishop, but then the empire followed the path of the Greekization of the Bulgarians. church hierarchy. A symbiosis of the Greek and Russian clergy in Kievan Rus: most of the higher hierarchs appointed in the K-field were Greeks, but at the same time the clergy gradually became Russified.

The so-called. indefinite decades in the relationship between the K-Polish and Roman Churches. In an effort to counteract the influence in Rome from the Roman-German Empire of the Ottons, Byzantium fought for the approval of its proteges on the Papal throne - with the support of a significant part of the Italians. nobility, especially the powerful Crescentius clan. During the reign of V. B., such was the antipope John XVI (John Philagat from Rossano in South Italy; 997-998). There is very little reliable information about direct contacts between the K-field and Rome at that time. It is possible that the K-Polish Patriarch Sisinius II (996-998) again issued the encyclical of Patriarch Photius, as evidenced by the Moscow list of his "Circumferential Message" demanding the abolition of the Filioque, but nothing is known about the reasons for this, nor about the reaction of Rome. It is also possible that Patriarch Sergius II (1001-1019) demanded from Rome the unification of the Creed. At the same time, according to the testimony of Patriarch Peter III of Antioch, at least in 1009, the name of the pope was commemorated at the liturgy in K-Polish churches (PG. 120. Col. 800). The chronicle of Radulf Glabr (mid-11th century) contains information that in 1024, at the request of V.B. Patriarchy to have the title "Ecumenical" and its primacy over the Churches of the East. Nothing is known of the Pope's response either.

Source: Leo Diaconus. history; Michel Psellos. Chronographie / Ed. E. Renault. P., 1926 (Russian translation: Mikhail Psell. Chronography / Translated by Ya. Lyubarsky. M., 1978); Chronicle of priest Duklyanin / Ed. F. Shishe. Beograd; Zagreb, 1928; Nic e tas St e thatos. Vie de Syméon le Nouveau Theologien / Ed. I. Hausherr. R., 1928. (OrChr.; 12); Yahya ibn Sa "id al-Antaki. Histoire / Ed. I. Kratchkovsky, A. Vasiliev // PO. 1932. T. 23. Fasc. 3; Rosen V. R. Emperor Basil the Bulgar Slayer: Extracted from the annals of Yahya of Antioch. SPb., 1883; PVL; Aristakes Lastiverci. Narration / Per. K. N. Yuzbashyan. M., 1968; Ioannis Skylitzae. Synopsis historiarum / Rec. I. Thurn. b.; N.Y., 1973; Leo, metropolitan of Synada. The Correspondence / Ed. M. P. Vinson. Wash., 1985; Kekavmen. Tips and stories / Prepared. text by G. Litavrin. SPb., 20032.

Lit.: Darrouz è s J. Épistoliers byzantines du Xe siècle. P., 1960; Abragi M. The Сelibacy of Basil II // Byzant. studies. 1975 Vol. 2. P. 41-45; Poppe A. The Political Background to the Baptism of the Rus // DOP. 1976 Vol. 30. P. 196-244; Felix W. Byzanz und die islamische Welt im früheren 11. Jh. W., 1981; Beck. Geschichte. S. 126-128, 132ff.; Cutler A. The Psalter of Basil II // Imagery and Ideology in Byzantine Art. Aldershot, 1992; Crostini B. The Emperor Basil II "s Cultural Life // Byz. 1994. Vol. 64. P. 53-80; Uspensky. History. T. 2. S. 397-453; Kazhdan A. P., Litavrin G. G. Essays on the history of Byzantium and the southern Slavs. SPb., 1998; Obolensky D. Byzantine Commonwealth of Nations. M., 1998; Christianity in the countries of the East., South-East. and Center. Europe on the Threshold of the 2nd Millennium / Ed. B. N. Flory. M., 2002.

I. N. Popov