Basil I, called the Macedonian, was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886.
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Basil I gained the favour of Michael III, whose mistress he married on the emperor's orders, and was proclaimed co-emperor in 866.
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Basil I ordered the assassination of Michael the next year.
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Basil I was born to peasant parents in late 811 at Chariopolis in the Byzantine theme of Macedonia .
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Basil I lived there until 836, when he and several others escaped to Byzantine-held territory in Thrace.
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Basil I was ultimately lucky enough to enter the service of Theophilitzes, a relative of the Caesar Bardas, as a groom.
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Basil I earned the notice of Michael III by his abilities as a horse tamer and in winning a victory over a Bulgarian champion in a wrestling match; he soon became the Byzantine Emperor's companion, confidant, and bodyguard .
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On Emperor Michael's orders, Basil I divorced his wife Maria and married Eudokia Ingerina, Michael's favourite mistress, in around 865.
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Basil I became an effective and respected monarch despite being a man with no formal education and little military or administrative experience.
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Once in power Basil I soon showed that he intended to rule effectively and as early as his coronation he displayed an overt religiosity by formally dedicating his crown to Christ.
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Basil I maintained a reputation for conventional piety and orthodoxy throughout his 19 year-long reign.
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Basil I personally oversaw the construction of the Nea Ekklesia cathedral and his palatine hall the Kainourgion.
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Basil I's spirits declined in 879, when his eldest and favorite son Constantine died.
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Basil I now raised his youngest son, Alexander, to the rank of co-emperor.
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Basil I disliked the bookish Leo, on occasion physically beating him; he probably suspected Leo of being the son of Michael III.
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Basil I was saved by an attendant who cut him loose with a knife, but he suspected the attendant of trying to assassinate him and had the man executed shortly before he himself died.
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