Basilios 57 was the bishop of Crete (Gortyna); when the island fell to the Arabs, he left and was transferred to Thessalonike, apparently at a time when Photios 1 was patriarch of Constantinople and during the reign of the emperor Michael III (Michael 11) (therefore between 858 and 867) (τότε καὶ Βασίλειος ἐκε͂ινος ὁ πρότερον μὲν Κρήτης ἐπίσκοπος γενόμενος, διὰ δὲ τὴν τῶν Ἀγαρηνῶν ἔφοδον εἰς Θεσσαλονίκην μετατεθεὶς - εἰς αἰσχύνην καὶ τοῦτο τοῦ τῆς βασιλίδος προκαθεζομένου; the last phrase must refer to Photios 1 and appears from its position in the narrative to refer to the transfer of Basilios 57 to Thessalonike; this creates a problem of chronology (see below), and perhaps the phrase is best taken as referring forward to Basilios 57's protest to the emperor, where it has relevance; this is difficult, however, because of the structure of the sentence); in old age, Basilios 57 protested to Michael 11 at the mockery of church dignitaries in which Michael 11 and his friends (including Photios 1) indulged; the emperor was angry and struck him, dislodging some of his teeth, and then had him flogged on the back until he was nearly dead (ῥαπίσμασι μὲν ἰσχυροῖς τοῦ τιμίου γέροντος τοὺς ὁδόντας ἐξερρίζωσεν, οὕτω δὲ καὶ τὸν νῶτον κατῃκίσατο, ὡς ὀλίγου δεῖν αὐτὸν ταῖς βασάνοις ἐναποθανεῖν): Nicetas, Vita Ignatii 529D-532A. See also Kyrillos 1.\n

Basilios 57 was archbishop of Thessalonike; he is named in a letter written by pope Nicolas I (Nikolaos 28) to the emperor Michael III (Michael 11) as one of the supporters of the patriarch Ignatios (Ignatios 1): Nicolaus I, Ep. 86 (PL 119, 956B).

Crete fell to the Arabs in c. 827. Basilios 57 was apparently bishop of Gortyna in Crete, from which he fled in 827, going to Thessalonike, where (this is not clear but is implied) he was made archbishop; if this occurred in the time of Photios 1, it took place over thirty years after his flight. Basilios 57 was evidently in Constantinople when he made his protest to the emperor Michael 11.

See further PmbZ 941 (Band I, p. 310).

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