Basil II

(noun)

The Byzantine emperor who encouraged Vladimir to convert to Christianity and offered a political marriage alliance with his sister, Anna.

Related Terms

Examples of Basil II in the following topics:

  • Vladimir I and Christianization

    • Another version of events claims that Basil II of Byzantine needed a military and political ally in the face of a local uprising near Constantinople.
    • In either version of events, Vladimir vied for the hand of Anna, the sister of the ruling Byzantine emperor, Basil II.
    • In order to marry her he was baptized in the Orthodox faith with the name Basil, a nod to his future brother-in-law.

  • The Macedonian Dynasty

    • Shortly after this extended controversy over iconoclasm, which more or less ended (at least in the East) with the regent Theodora reinstituting icon worship in 842 CE, Emperor Basil I founded a new dynasty, the Macedonian Dynasty, in 867 CE.
    • Basil was born a simple peasant in the Byzantine theme of Macedonia, he rose in the Imperial court, and usurped the Imperial throne from Emperor Michael III (r. 842–867).
    • For example, Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas (who ruled from 912 CE-969 CE) pursued an aggressive policy of expansion.
    • A depiction of Byzantine Emperor Basil I of the Macedonian Dynasty on horseback.

  • The Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars

    • In 971 John I Tzimiskes, the Byzantine emperor, subjugated much of the weakening Bulgarian Empire, facing wars with Russians, Pechenegs, Magyars and Croatians and by defeating Boris II and capturing Preslav, the Bulgarian capital.
    • Byzantine Emperor Basil II completely conquered Bulgaria in 1018 as a result of the 1014 Battle of Kleidion.
    • In 1186 the rebels suffered a defeat, but Isaac II Angelos failed to exploit his victory and returned to Constantinople.
    • When Isaac II Angelos penetrated into Moesia again in 1187 he failed to capture either Tărnovo or Loveč, and he signed a treaty effectively recognizing the Second Bulgarian Empire, but neither side had any intention of keeping the peace.

  • The Double Disasters

    • During the time that the Normans had conquered southern Italy, the Byzantine Empire was in a state of internal decay; the administration of the Empire had been wrecked, the efficient government institutions that provided Basil II with a quarter of a million troops and adequate resources by taxation had collapsed within a period of three decades.

  • Ivan the Terrible

  • The Justinian Code

    • It formed the basis of later Byzantine law, as expressed in the Basilika of Basil I and Leo VI the Wise.

  • Rise of the Gupta Empire

    • According to the Gupta records, Samudragupta nominated his son, Prince Chandragupta II, born of Queen Dattadevi, as his successor.
    • However, his eldest son, Ramagupta, may have been his immediate successor until he was dethroned by Chandragupta II in 380 CE.
    • After gaining power, Chandragupta II expanded the Gupta Empire through conquest and political marriages until the end of his reign in 413 CE.
    • The period of Gupta rule, especially the reign of Chandragupta II, is still remembered as the Golden Age of India.
    • The Iron Pillar of Delhi, India, erected by Chandragupta II to honor the Hindu god Vishnu, in the 4th century CE.

  • The Rise of the Macedon

    • Philip II’s conquests during the Third Sacred War cemented his power, as well as the influence of Macedon, throughout the Hellenic world.
    • Macedon’s rise is largely attributable to the policies during Philip II’s rule.
    • For many Macedonian rulers, the Achaemenid Empire in Persia was a major sociopolitical influence, and Philip II was no exception.

  • Danish Intervention

    • After the Bohemian Revolt was suppressed by Ferdinand II, the Danish King Christian IV, fearing that recent Catholic successes threatened his sovereignty as a Protestant nation, led troops against Ferdinand.
    • Frederick was forced to sign an armistice with Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II, thus ending the 'Palatine Phase' of the Thirty Years' War.
    • To fight Christian, Ferdinand II employed the military help of Albrecht von Wallenstein, a Bohemian nobleman who had made himself rich from the confiscated estates of his Protestant countrymen.
    • Wallenstein pledged his army, which numbered between 30,000 and 100,000 soldiers, to Ferdinand II in return for the right to plunder the captured territories.
    • At this point, the Catholic League persuaded Ferdinand II to take back the Lutheran holdings that were, according to the Peace of Augsburg, rightfully the possession of the Catholic Church.

  • Restoration of the Stuarts

    • Over a decade after Charles I's 1649 execution and Charles II's 1651 escape to mainland Europe, the Stuarts were restored to the English throne by Royalists in the aftermath of the slow fall of the Protectorate.  
    • On April 4, 1660, Charles II issued the Declaration of Breda, in which he made several promises in relation to the reclamation of the crown of England.
    • On May 8, it proclaimed that King Charles II had been the lawful monarch since the execution of Charles I on January 30, 1649.
    • Charles II of England by Peter Lely, 1675, Collection of Euston Hall, Suffolk
    • King Charles II, the first monarch to rule after the English Restoration.