Danelis

Danelis was a wealthy widow and patron of the future Byzantine Emperor Basil I (r. 867-886). She may have been of Slavic ancestry, her name is a Greek form of the Slavonic Danila.

Danelis was perhaps the wealthiest person in 9th century century Greece, in what had been a frontier zone the previous century. Her wealth, which was enormous, included vast estates and slaves in the region of Patras. Modern scholars have suggested that the source of her wealth lay in textile production, perhaps the weaving of silk, or of woolen goods.

Danelis and Basil met while he was on a mission for Theophilitzes, an official in the service of Emperor Michael III (r. 842-867). She was convinced by a monk that Basil would one day become emperor and she became his patron, while he became a spiritual brother to her son.