Basil of Parion

Basil of Parion (Basilio) was bishop of Parion in Mysia in Asia Minor in the time of iconoclasm, and is venerated as a saint by the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches on 12 April. The sources say he reposed in the year 735, but also that he took part in the dispute around the council of 754, so the dates are uncertain.

He was born in the 7th century in the Byzantine Empire and was elected bishop by the people of Parion themselves. His episcopate coincided with the reign of Emperor Leo III the Isaurian. He also served as confessor of his diocese. In 754, at the council convened by Emperor Constantine V, which abolished the veneration of icons in Byzantine churches, Basil was one of the few bishops who declared himself against it. For this he was beaten and accused of illegitimacy and heresy by the church and imperial authorities.

He was chained and scourged by his former colleagues for refusing to repudiate the holy icons, now forbidden by decree. When released, he shut himself in his see and refused entry to the other bishops and to his persecutors, isolating himself within his diocese. Parion was his bastion until he could no longer remain safe and fled. He wandered about the Mediterranean until death, which the source places in 735. That chronology does not agree with the council of 754, so the order of events remains uncertain.