A brilliant strategist and an extraordinarily capable leader, Basil spent most of his reign in the saddle, fighting a
King Alfred the Great.
Boxed his ears. The next day, Alfred came in his royal clothes, attended by servants, to apologize to the woman.
In the struggle against the Danes,
Concepts: the militia, ancestor of citizen-soldier forces such as America's National Guard; and the first English navy. The latter was destined to become a powerful force in the nation's history through the twentieth century. Yet Alfred won peace with the Danes ultimately not through warfare, but through negotiation. He settled an agreement with a long-despised foe, the Dane's King Gutrum, whereby the northern part of England, the Danelaw, came under Danish control, while the Anglo-Saxons—with Alfred as their king—ruled the south.
With the Danish threat minimized, Alfred devoted much of his latter career to scholarship. He translated works of Boethius, Pope Gregory I (see entries), and the Venerable Bede (see entry on Historians) as well as the Bible, from Latin to the Old English spoken by the Anglo-
Alfred introduced two highly significant Saxons.
Number of conflicts. The first of these was an off-and-on conflict with two opposing men of influence, Bardas Sclerus and Bardas Phocas, each of whom intended to gain control over the empire. In line with its ancient Roman heritage, the Byzantine Empire did not recognize hereditary noblemen; but again like Rome itself, it had a powerful aristocratic class, to which both men belonged.
Each wanted to take the throne from Basil, and this conflict probably influenced his lifelong opposition to the Byzantine aristocracy. In 996, he would pass a law intended to simultaneously reduce the aristocrats' influence, gain the support of the poor, and fill the imperial coffers: according to this law, rich landlords were required to pay the taxes of the
Sundiata Keita
Like Basil II, Sundiata Keita (sun-JAH-tah kah-EE-tuh; died 1255), who was crippled at birth, came from unpromising beginnings. Yet he would grow up to establish the great empire of Mali, which would reach its height some years later under Mansa Musa (see entry).
Sundiata's family were rulers of a small West African kingdom called Kanga-ba, which they had controlled for about two centuries. They were constantly under threat from neighboring Kaniaga (kahn-ee-AH-guh), whose ruler in Sundiata's time was Sumanguru (su-mahng-GU-roo). Sumanguru killed eleven of Sundiata's brothers, but did not consider the crippled Sundiata worth killing.
The Sundiata story is steeped in legend, making it hard to pick out the facts, but it appears that he was "miraculously" cured in his twenties, and was suddenly able to walk without difficulty. He soon distinguished himself as a hunter, and attracted a following of other young hunter-warriors. Meanwhile another surviving brother had become vassal king of Kangaba, subject to Sumanguru, and he considered Sundiata a threat. Sundiata finally had to go into exile, taking refuge with a king in nearby Mema (MAY-mah).
Ultimately the people of Kangaba became increasingly unhappy with the cruel system imposed on them by Suman-guru, and they finally revolted, forcing
Local poor. In the meantime, during the late 980s, Basil found himself with his back against the wall, lacking support in his fight against the two would-be emperors. It was then that he hit on a brilliant idea.
Basil sent a message to the ruler of Kievan Russia, Vladimir (see box in St. Cyril and St. Methodius entry), informing him that if the Russians would provide him with six thousand soldiers, Basil would allow Vladimir to marry his sister. Marriage to a Byzantine princess, which would greatly improve his standing in the world, was exactly what Vladimir desired, and his support proved crucial to Basil's later victories. Bardas Phocas was defeated, and died in 989. Basil wisely allowed the blind and aging Bardas Sclerus to go free, and as a result gained the loyalty of the latter's many supporters.
Sundiata's brother to flee. Seeing his chance, Sundiata formed an alliance with Mema and other states, and won control of Kangaba in 1234. He marched against Sumanguru in 1235, winning a great victory at Kirina on the Niger River—a bloody battle in which the hated Sumanguru lost his life.
The people of surrounding lands viewed Sundiata as a liberator, and thus he was able to spur them on to wars of conquest that expanded his realm in all directions. This led to the creation of Mali, an empire whose name means simply "where the king lives." Sundiata established his capital at Niani (nee-AHN-ee), which became renowned as a center of learning and trade.
World History
