Basil Lekapenos

Basil Lekapenos (Greek: Βασίλειος Λεκαπηνός; ca. 925 – ca. 985), also called Basil the Parakoimomenos or Basil the Nothos (Βασίλειος ο Νόθος, "Basil the Bastard"), was an illegitimate child of the Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos who served as the parakoimomenos and chief minister of the Byzantine Empire for most of the period 947–985, under emperors Constantine VII (his brother-in-law), Nikephoros II Phokas, John I Tzimiskes, and Basil II (his nephew).

Basil was the illegitimate son of the emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (ruled 920–944) by a concubine. It is reported that his mother was a slave woman of "Scythian" (possibly implying Slavic) origin, but according to Kathryn Ringrose " this may just be a pejorative topos". The exact date of his birth is unknown; the Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium suggests ca. 925, while the Dutch scholar W. G. Brokaar suggested sometime between 910 and 915. Later Byzantine chroniclers like John Skylitzes, Zonaras, and Kedrenos, claim that Basil was castrated as an adult, following the deposition of his father in 944; Michael Psellos however reports that this was done for political reasons during his infancy, a view supported by modern scholars like Brokaar and Ringrose, since castration of adults was considered dangerous and was rather rare.

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