Talk:Basil I

message: I attempted to add a paragraph genuinely discussing the historiographical debate over Basil I's sexuality. My sources include not just John Boswell (although I do reference it, because Boswell is historiographically significant, not least because an entire chapter of Claudia Rapp's 2016 book addresses it) "Michael III and Basil the Macedonian: just good friends?" by Shaun Tougher, which was published in the essay collection, "Desire and Denial in Byzantium", edited by Liz Smith. As I noted in my edits, Tougher rejects John Boswell's arguments. And yes, it is historically significant; if not important because it deals with the personal life of a major historical figure and it makes Basil an example of how alleged homosexuality was conceptualized and confronted by historical sources, then because Basil's sexual relationships may have been a major reason behind his remarkable rise to power.    — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:540:C601:440:49B6:90E4:E8F0:60EC (talk) 18:06, 22 January 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Apologies, I neglected to sign my comment. Also I made my comment less confrontational; I apologize for my earlier anger. Chadsdenton (talk) 18:25, 22 January 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: It is usual to add new topics to the bottom of a talk page, rather than the top, where they may be missed, as this one was by me. Please see below. Urselius (talk) 11:21, 23 January 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sexuality of Basil I 

message: I added/fixed Basil I's name in Armenian writing. Just letting people know, since it seems relevant that we include his Armenian name, since he was in fact of Armenian descent.
I find it very sad that many greeks feel it right to edit the true identity of Basil I's origins. I mean he was Armenian, and I have cited NUMEROUS references that point that out. The references that Antonios has cited are not able to be verified and are in greek, so that would lead one to think whether or not they are biased or even credible in any way. I have provided references that are not only from the Official Website on Constantinople from the Greek Government, but I also go ahead and cite references that are translated from the Greek into english. Basil I was Armenian, the entire dynasty was AT LEAST part Armenian. Kindly give the Armenians credit where credit is due. It is a WIDELY known fact that the Byzantine Empire was a Armeno-Greco Empire. If the nationalistic greeks cannot accept this, than they are NO DIFFERENT than the turks who deny the Armenian Genocide.
It is widely known that the Byzantine Empire was, as its predecessor the Roman Empire, a multicultural Empire in which the common element of the people was not, as it is in modern states, ethnicity, but the Christian (Orthodox) religion. Nonetheless one should acknowledge that the dominant ethnicity in the Empire was the Greek. This is clearly illustrated by the fact that Latin was replaced by Greek as the official language of the State during the reign of Heraclius. It would be an exaggeration to call Byzantium a Greek-Armenian Empire, since the Armenians is just one of the many ethnicities of the Empire whereas Greek is obviously the dominant one.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.144.6.39 (talk) 19:09, 10 October 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Armenian Name 

message: The following was just posted this to Slashdot:
:So while, say, the Robert Novak page is going to see a lot of dispute between now and whenever someone finally drives a stake through his heart, the page on the Byzantine Emperor Basil I (811-886 AD) probably isn't going to see a great number of worthwhile changes anytime soon. 
Someone will probably take this the wrong way. Something to look out for. Aaronrp 04:28, 6 August 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: /.

message: I cleaned up the article's contents. He is indesputably Armenian. Girlindajo tries to include a fringe point that has been dismissed by the scholarly community. On top, he has added original research by adding words as "grain of salt." If he continues this, I will report him to ANI.Hetoum I 04:58, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, we don't need edit wars and vandalism here. It's better to report NOW, because the part about Armenian origin of Basil I was reverted (reppaced with apparently incorrect info) more than once whithout providing sensible base for doing that. No offense to anyone, but we don't need pseudohistory here. Armatura 16:28, 30 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Girlindajo Original Research/Vandalism 

message: I added/fixed Basil I's name in Armenian writing. Just letting people know, since it seems relevant that we include his Armenian name, since he was in fact of Armenian descent.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.168.212.17 (talk) 02:29, 31 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Armenian Name 

message: According to the John Julius Norwich, the native language of Basil I was Armenian, whereas in Greek, he spoke with a strong accent. He wrote it in his book  A Short History of Byzantium (page 214). However, I could not add the reference normally, but added the sentence in the article. Can someone help me in this situation. M.Karelin (talk) 22:54, 4 September 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  His native language was Armenian 

message: At present the article reads:
"Claims have been made for an Armenian,[1] Slavic,[3][4] or indeed "Armeno-Slavonic"[2] origin for Basil I. The author of the only dedicated biography of Basil I in English has concluded that it is impossible to be certain what the ethnic origins of the emperor were, though Basil was definitely reliant on the support of Armenians in prominent positions within the Byzantine Empire.[5] During his 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.[6]"
I would propose that this is all that needs to be said concerning Basil's ethnicity, which cannot be proven beyond a considerable amount of doubt. 
Did Basil's ethnicity substantially affect his life or his policies as emperor? I think the answer to this is an emphatic no. In contemporary Byzantine society ethnic origins were insignificant compared to religion, any origin was acceptable if the person was an Orthodox Christian. Basil's invented ancestry included a number of persons and dynasties of high repute at the time, the Arsacids were of Armenian, though ultimately of Parthian, origins, but the same cannot be said of Constantine the Great, who was of Roman provincial origins from the Illyrian region. Even if Basil's ancestry was as was claimed for him, he was obviously admitting a mixed origin anyway.
Basil's ethnicity is only of importance to people pushing nationalistic/ethnic agendas -  be they Armenian nationalists, pan-slavicists, FYROM nationalists or whatever. I would submit that the present coverage of this subject, as quoted above, is quite adequate, and that the material removed, by myself and others, was extraneous. Urselius (talk) 09:02, 2 November 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: I have just discovered this: Brubaker, Leslie (1999) Vision and Meaning in Ninth-Century Byzantium: Image as Exegesis in the Homilies of Gregory of Nazianzus, Cambridge University Press, p, 161: Basil's mother claimed descent from not only Constantine the Great, but also Alexander. Obviously, Basil was not averse to acknowledging a very mixed, if exalted, ancestry. Considering the number of ethnicities in contemporary Byzantine Thrace people of mixed ethnic origin were probably numerous. Urselius (talk) 09:26, 2 November 2015 (UTC)
replies: text:  Just to pop in remind you all that this was 1,300 years ago. It's probably not something to get overly emotionally invested in by now. Herostratus (talk) 19:43, 10 September 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: No, I have zero investment in Basil 1st's ethnicity, what I am invested in is not having this article distorted by nationalistic cockwombles pushing agendas. Urselius (talk) 20:28, 10 September 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Ethnicity of Basil and its relative importance 

message: Could an admin link Constantine in the family section (one of the children of the first wife) to Constantine (son of Basil I)? Not very pressing but I'm planning on writing an article about him in the near future; he's one of the last formally declared heirs to not have an article, I believe. Iazyges Consermonor Opus meum 18:05, 21 September 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: as this page is no longer protected, it may be edited directly as appropriate. — xaosflux Talk 14:52, 1 October 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Protected edit request on 21 September 2021 

message: Would it be appropriate to add a mention that, around the same time Basil married Eudokia, Michael III also offered him his sister Thekla as lover or is this a trivial detail?
Sira Aspera (talk) 17:41, 19 September 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Thekla