Landholding in Byzantium; The Rise of Basil II the Bulgar Slayer

Basil 2

• Sharing throne with Constantine 8, but Basil had  control

• Bardos’ revolt, wanted to keep Macedonian dynasty

• Basil the Bird exiled

• Balkans and Samuel

• Phokas saying he was emperor

• Vladimir: marrying Basil’s sister Anna?

• Defended peasant’s rights, but Macedonian land policy eventually failed

Different Views

• Russian Primary Chronicle: Russians searching for a religion, Hagia Sophia

• Psellos: Events made Basil more serious

Constantine 8

• Succession after Basil 2

• Made arrangements for daughter Zoe to marry Romanos Argyros

• Last Macedonian emperor

Anonymous Fiscal Treatise on Villages

• Population changes

• Villagers paying taxes

• Changing collective responsibility

Digenes Akritas, Border Warlord

• Epic about military leader

• Borderer Basil had glory and success

Romanus 1: Land Tenure Regulations Reform

• Laws to increase strength of empire

• Explaining how properties should be 

2nd Law of Romanus on Peasant Lands

• For the common folk

• Describes what to do in certain situations like people becoming monks

Law of Nicephorus 2: Property and Social Status

• Taking away restrictions for large landowners

• No favoritism

Law of Nicephorus 2: Military Men’s Land

• Selling land

• Soldiers recovering land

Basil 2 Protects Peasant Properties

• Aristocracy had rebelled

• Giving back land to them

Arab Ambassador in Constantinople

• Complex negotiations

• With eunuch Basil

Vladimir’s Road to Conversion

• Russians becoming Christian

• Deciding his people should be baptized

• Orthodoxy, not German Catholic or Islam

Soldier Farmers (Stratiotika Ktemata)

• Defense, had estates

• Taxes

Land in the 900s

• Small landowning

• Agricultural core: Asia Minor

  • Greeks, slavs, armenians

• All households paid kapnikon tax

  • People would live multigenerationally

• Slaveholding had gone down

• Peasants: more important

• Slaves were those who had lost in conflict, not ethnically

Village Life (Chorion)

• NE Village?

• Houses and fields for free peasants

• Common area surrounded by ↑

• Common meadows and woods

• Land was divided…could own in different areas

• Household food gardens

Groups and Land: Ktesis

• Midwest farm?

• Single group of land around home

• Farm and farmhouse

Groups and Land: Owning

• Common mills

• Fields and cows: wealth

• Intermingling of ktesis and villages → agros

• Rare: small private property rights

Great Estate (Prosasteion)

• Large chunk far from village

• Generational wealthy landowning

Relationships Between Owners

• Self-sufficient villages (food, etc)

• Merchant dependence for some things

  • Ex: Shoes, cooking materials

• Ktesis people could still be connected to villages

• Cooperation

Groups and Land: Taxes

• United owners, a lot

• Allelengyon: collective responsibilty to pick up slack

• Steady income for imperial treasury

• Exempting from allelengyon if it had been awhile

• Small land → large landowners or monasteries

• Unclaimed land? Redistributing or replacement family, not for government

• Idea of protection from dynatoy

• Disease → decimating villages

• Soldiers leaving

Emperors and Land

• Leo 6: led to dynatoy taking advantage

• Macedonian Dynasty: pro-peasantry

Danielus and Aristocracy

• Wealthy widow, 80 estates

• Women could have a ton of land

• Showed large takeover

• Government didn’t always make sure aristocracy was paying taxes

  • Monastery owning, even if arable lands

• Eventually no legal way for dynatoy to get peasant land

  • Emperors continued to uphold

Groups and Land: Dynatoy Opposition

• Didn’t like what Macedonians were doing

• Saw opportunity with new young emperors

Basil 2 and Bardas Wars: Bardas Skleros

• Basil the Bird and fleet

• Victorious ↑

Basil 2 and Bardas Wars: Bardas Phokas

• Set free from prison by Basil the Bird

• Told him to destroy Skleros on land

• Got help from Georgia

• Victorious with Basil 2 and Basil the Bird, Skleros in jail

Basil 2 and Bardas Wars: Basil the Bird’s End

• Jealousy?

• Basil 2 exiled him and he died

Basil 2 and Bardas Wars: Post-Wars

• Skleros came back and claimed to be emperor

• Basil 2 and Bardas Phokas had a falling out

• Bardases were enemies but tried to align against Basil 2

  • Didn’t do well

Basil 2 and Bardas Wars: Vladimir of Kiev

• Basil 2 allied for help

• Deal where his people would become Christian with old church slovanic

• Marriage alliance: Anna

  • Byzantine bribery/willingness to use what they have to get what they want

• Vladimir defeated Bardas Phokas in battle, died

• Basil 2 and Skleros: Interview got Skleros to leave public life

  • Psellus: tent, Skleros told Basil 2 to never allow dynatoy in government -- will betray

996 Decree: Vs Dynatoy

• Basil 2 against them

• Specific families/people called out

996 Decree: Terms

• All forgiven/leeway stolen land canceled

• Had to give everything back since 922

• Will seize land and force return → upheld, Basil 2 was committed

996 Decree: Death Penalty

• For dynatoy

• Many crimes

  • Treason: including not paying taxes

996 Decree: Edict of 1002

• Remaking allelengyon

• Unpaid taxes → bills would be sent to dynatoys

• Treason if you don’t pay

• #taxtherich

• Lowkey ngl what if we did this in the US :)

996 Decree: Results

• Imperial treasury was at its strongest

• Byzantium at its economic height

• Still a lot of wars

• “Basil is not a pleasant person” --Proctor

996 Decree: Domestic Reform at the Time

• Administrative clean-out

• Less nobility

• Based on only efficient bureaucrats

• VERY honest and effective leadership

• #Basil2028 :)

Constantine 8

• Heir, had been doing nothing

• Just wine and hippodrome

• 3 daughters

• Basil 2 did not prepare nieces for inheriting empire

Constantine 8: Treaty

• Muslims, peace

• Then peace ended

• Defending Antioch