Dalmatia (theme)
Theme of Dalmatia Θέμα Δαλματίας | |
---|---|
Theme of the Byzantine Empire | |
c. 870 – 1060s | |
Map of the Balkans in 925 AD | |
Capital | Zadar |
Historical era | Middle Ages |
• Establishment as a theme. | c. 870 |
• Collapse of Byzantine control. | 1060s |
The Theme of Dalmatia (
Origins
Dalmatia first came under Byzantine control in the 530s, when the generals of Emperor
At the turn of the 8th to 9th century, Dalmatia was seized by Charlemagne (r. 768–814), but he returned it to the Byzantines in 812, after the so-called "Pax Nicephori". It is unclear whether the region was under actual rather than nominal Byzantine authority after that; the local Latin cities appear to have been virtually independent. Nevertheless, an archon of Dalmatia is mentioned in the 842/843 Taktikon Uspensky, and a seal of a "strategos of Dalmatia" dated to the first half of the century may indicate the existence of a Dalmatian theme, at least for a short time.[2]
History
The traditional date of the establishment of Dalmatia as a regular theme is placed in the early years of the reign of Emperor
Byzantium, the Roman Pope and the Franks vied for the support of the Slavs in Dalmatia; in 878 AD, Zdeslav of Croatia was a noted Byzantine vassal, who deposed and was in turn deposed in a power struggle involving these powers. With the fall of the Carolingian Empire, the Franks ceased to be a major power in the Adriatic, while the Republic of Venice grew in power in Dalmatia, beginning with Doge Pietro Tradonico. Since the time of duke Branimir of Croatia, Venetians had to pay taxes to Croatia and to the Narentines for their ships traveling along the eastern Adriatic coast, while the Dalmatian city-states paid 710 ducats of tribute to the Croatian ruler.[3][4][5]
Around 923 AD,
Croatia again had a period of control over the theme and Dalmatian city-states under
Southern Dalmatia
In the south of the Dalmatia Theme, the city of Ragusa, one of the main Dalmatian city-states but still under Byzantine control, started to grow in importance, and its Church diocese was elevated to an archbishopric in 998 AD.
In the early 11th century, Byzantine control over the eight Dalmatian city-states started to be contested by the Serb principality of
Except for Ragusium and the southern third of Dalmatia, Byzantine control collapsed in the 1060s.[1] Constantine Bodin pledged his support for Pope Urban II, which confirmed Bar's status as an archdiocese in 1089 AD, and resulted in a temporary demotion of the Ragusan diocese. By the end of the 11th century, the Kingdom of Hungary took the Kingdom of Croatia's place in controlling the northern Dalmatian hinterland. Duklja remained largely under Byzantine control, with a series of internal conflicts weakening its leaders.
Later
Byzantine predominance was restored under Emperor
Byzantine governors of Dalmatia were styled as dukes (pl. of Byzantine Greek "δούξ", doux), a title derived from Latin dux. In the 1170s, the duke was Constantine Doukas.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Kazhdan 1991, pp. 578–579.
- ^ a b Nesbitt & Oikonomides 1991, p. 46.
- Miroslav Krleža Lexicographical Institute, retrieved 25 January 2023
- Croatian Encyclopaedia(in Serbo-Croatian). 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
- ^ Brković, Milko (October 2001). "The Papal Letters of the second half of the IXth Century to addressees in Croatia". Radovi (in Croatian) (43). Institute for Historical Sciences of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zadar: 31–32. Retrieved 2012-07-27.
- ^ Miroslav Krleža Lexicographical Institute, retrieved 12 October 2023
- ^ ISBN 978-953-340-061-7.
- ^ a b c Zekan, Mate (1990). Kralj Zvonimir - dokumenti i spomenici [King Zvonimir - Documents and Monuments] (in Croatian and English). Zagreb: Muzej hrvatskih arheoloških spomenika Split, arheološki muzej Zagreb. p. 9–24.
Sources
- ISBN 0-472-08149-7.
- ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
- Nesbitt, John; ISBN 0-88402-194-7.
- Ostrogorsky, George (1956). History of the Byzantine State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
- ISBN 9788675585732.
- .