Also known as:
Greek: Basiliskos;
Latin: Basiliscus Augustus, Flavius Basiliscus
BASILISCUS, Usurper. - Brother-in-law of the Eastern emperor Leo I, consul in 465, he was in command of several military expeditions, among them the one against the Vandals (468), which ended with the destruction of the imperial fleet. Palace intrigues, favored by his sister Verina, widow of Leo I, brought him to the imperial throne on 9 Jan. 475; the emperor Zeno fled to his Isauria. B. became hateful to the people both because of his manner of governing and because of his religious policy, clearly favorable to the Monophysite party. Notorious in this regard is his Encyclical, drafted quite skillfully by Paul the Sophist, by which he condemned the Council of Chalcedon (451) and the Tome of Leo; this document was to be accepted under the gravest penalties by ecclesiastics and laymen alike. The Constantinopolitan patriarch Acacius (v.) opposed it energetically, assisted by the prestige of the stylite Daniel and sustained by popular favor. B., feeling his throne totter, sought to renounce his religious policy with an Anti-Encyclical, but in vain; the emperor Zeno, with the help of secret machinations, re-entered Constantinople in Sept. 476. B. and his family were captured and imprisoned in a fortress of Cappadocia, where they died of hunger.
Bibliography4 worksEvagrius, Hist. eccl., III, 3-7 (text of the Encyclical and of the Anti-Encyclical); L. Duchesne, Hist. ancienne de l'Eglise, III, Paris 191
BIBL.: Evagrius, Hist. eccl., III, 3-7 (text of the Encyclical and of the Anti-Encyclical); L. Duchesne, Hist. ancienne de l'Eglise, III, Paris 1910, p. 487 ff.; L. Bréhier, s. v. in DHG, VI, coll. 1237-1239; C. Bardy, in V. Filche and A. Martin, Storia della Chiesa, Italian trans., IV, Turin [1941], p. 280 ff.
Frutaz, Amato Pietro. “Basilisco, usurpatore.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. II, col. 981. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1949. https://azioneromana.com/article/basilisco-usurpatore.
MLA
Frutaz, Amato Pietro. “Basilisco, usurpatore.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. II, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1949, col. 981. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/basilisco-usurpatore.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec2_basilisco_usurpatore,
author = {Frutaz, Amato Pietro},
title = {Basilisco, usurpatore},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {II},
pages = {981},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1949},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/basilisco-usurpatore}
}
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