PART I
INTRODUCTION
1. Carolinian Italy [1]
Taking advantage of the problems created in Byzantine Italy by the iconoclastic policy of Emperor Leo III (717–711) and his son, Constantine V (711–777), the King of the Lombards, Aistull (745–756), attempted to conquer the parts of Italy that were not under his rule. After occupying Ravenna in 770/751, he began to threaten Rome. [2] In the wake of these events Pope Stephen II traveled to France in order to request assistance from the King of the Franks, Pippin III. In 754, the pontiff bestowed royal unction on the Frankish sovereign and his sons, thereby legitimizing Pippin III, who had deposed the previous king. With this gesture, Stephen II secured the intervention of the Franks against the Lombards. On two occasions Pippin III defeated Aistulf (754 and 756) and forced the return of all the territories the Lombards had conquered. [3] Yet the Frankish ruler could not intervene against Desideritis (757–774), the new Lombard king, who had once again invaded some of the former Byzantine territories. Desiderius’s position was strengthened by the disagreements between Pippin III’s heirs, Carloman and Charlemagne. The situation appeared to turn further in favor of the Lombard sovereign when Charlemagne, in need of an ally against his brother, married one of Desiderius’s daughters. [4] However, the death of Carloman at the end of 771 rendered this alliance unnecessary and Charlemagne repudiated his Lombard wife. The Lombard ruler welcomed Carloman’s wife and children who had been ousted from their paternal inheritance by Charlemagne. Meanwhile, at Rome, Hadrian, a supporter of an anti-Lombard policy, was elected pope. [5]
In 773, Desideritis look action, reaching the vicinity of Rome. Charlemagne then decided to answer the pontiff’s pressing request for aid, and, having easily bypassed the Lombard defenses in the Alps, effortlessly penetrated the Po valley, laying siege to Pavia where Desideritis had taken shelter. In June 774, the Lombard king surrendered and Charlemagne assumed his crown. [6] Since he was heavily engaged in a war against the Saxons,
1. The goal of this section is to provide the non-specialist with an overview of the main events mentioned in the texts.
2. Delogu, Lombard and Carolingian Italy, pp. 294-299; Noble, The Republic of St. Peter, pp. 29-60; Wickham, Early Medieval Italy, pp. 45-46.
3. Delogu, Lombard and Carolingian Italy, pp. 298-300; Noble, The Republic of St. Peter, pp. 74-94; Barbero. Charlemagne, pp. 18-20 and 24-25; Gasparri, Il passaggio dai Longobardi ai Carolingi, pp. 28-29.
4. Delogu, Lombard and Carolingian Italy, pp. 300-301; Gasparri, Il passaggio dai Longobardi ai Carolingi, pp. 29-30.
5. Delogu, Lombard and Carolingian Italy, pp. 300-301; Gasparri, Il passaggio dai Longobardi ai Carolingi, p. 30.
6. Delogu, Lombard and Carolingian Italy, pp. 301-303; Wickham, Earty Medieval Italy, p. 17; Barbero, Charlemagne, pp. 2b 22: Gasparri, Il passaggio dai Longobardi ai Carolingi, p. 30.
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the new sovereign initially chose not to replace all the members of the Lombard ruling class (above all those who, upon Charlemagne’s arrival, had immediately abandoned Desiderius), but to pursue a policy of continuity. Yet, in 775-776, when several Lombard dukes fomented a rebellion in north-eastern Italy, Charlemagne seized the opportunity to eliminate those Lombards who still opposed the Franks. In replacing such men with lords from beyond the Alps, the Frankish ruler increased the number of non-Lombards holding office in Italy. [7] Charlemagne kept the title of king of the Lombards, but he granted the Kingdom of Italy to his son Pippin who was obliged to cooperate with several tutors because of his young age. [8]
Like his father, Pippin exhibited notable military activity and sought to expand bis domains. Nevertheless, Pippin’s only relevant victory came during the campaign against the Avars who resided in an area corresponding approximately to present-day Hungary. [9] His attempts to seize the Italian territories left unconquered by his father [10] ended in failure. [11]
Pippin died in 810, and his son, Bernard, became king. [12] The new sovereign was not able to keep the title for long because Charlemagne’s death in 814 changed the political scenario. In 817, the new emperor, Louis the Pious, decreed that, on his own death, the Empire should be divided among his three sons: Lothar, Pippin, and Louis. [13] The Kingdom of Italy should have passed to Lothar who was appointed co-emperor as well; Bernard’s fate was not mentioned. It was probably a work in progress which aimed at excluding him, since he was not a direct heir of the new sovereign. Bernard, feeling himself excluded, rebelled. Louis the Pious immediately sent an army to Italy and Bernard was easily captured and taken to Francia, where he was blinded and died as a result of the wounds inflicted. [14]
Because Lothar was entangled in the struggles between his father and brothers over the division of the Empire, [15] he was frequently gone from Italy. With recourse to central power being unavailable, a rise in local aristocratic autonomy soon developed. [16] The Italian Kingdom had a "full time” ruler again only from 844 onwards, when Lothar, busy defending bis transalpine inheritance, sent his son Louis II to rule over Italy. Louis II, co-emperor in 850 and emperor on his father’s death in 855, did not embroil himself in conflicts over the division of the Carolingian Empire.
7. Krahwinkler, Friaul im Frühmittelaller Ceschichte einer Region, pp. 125–129; Wickham, Early Medieval Italy, pp. 47-48; Cammarosano, Nobili e re, pp. 102-103.
8. Manacorda, Ricerche sugli inizii della dominazione; Wickham, Early Medieval Italy, p. 49; Barbero, Charlemagne, p. 37.
9. Pohl, Die Awaren, pp. 312-323; Barbero, Charlemagne, pp. 67-73.
10. These areas were the former Lombard Duchy of Benevento, which had become an independent principality after the fall of the Lombard Kingdom, and the Venetian Duchy, that was theoretically a part of the Byzantine Empire, but it was, in practice, autonomous.
11. Bertolini, Carlomagno e Benevento, pp. 609-611; Gasparri, Il ducato e il principato di Benevento, pp. 110-112; Ortalli, Il ducato e la «civitas Rivoalti», pp. 725-731.
12. Wickham, Early Medieval Italy, p. 49; Albertoni, L’Italia carolingia, p. 33; Barbero, Charlemagne, p. 140.
13. Riché, The Carolingians, pp. 147-148.
14. Depreux, Das Königtum Bernhards von Italien, pp. 1-25; Cammarosano, Nobili e re, pp. 144-146.
15. Nelson, Charles the Bald, pp. 76-129; Boshof, Ludwig der Fromme, pp. 178-195.
16. Wickham, Early Medieval Italy, pp. 50-51; Delogu, Lombard and Carolingian Italy, p. 309.
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Instead, he dwelt permanently in Italy with the exception of a brief period when he went to Provence in order to inherit territory from his brother Charles who had died without an heir. Louis II managed, albeit with difficulty, to restore internal order. Following the example of his great-grandfather Charlemagne, who had held an itinerant court, he traveled his kingdom, seeking to remedy problems personally. His provisions, which aimed at ensuring that wrongdoers did not go unpunished, bear testimony to his strength and, at the same time, highlight the gravity of the previous state of affairs. [17]
Louis II made a concerted effort to defeat the Muslims in southern Italy as well. Not only did the Saracens undertake to seize Sicily from the Byzantines, but they also ventured throughout southern Italy with frequent incursions, reaching as far as Rome in 846 and sacking St. Peter’s. They took advantage of the continual struggles between the various magnates of southern Italy, fighting as mercenaries and establishing some dominions, such as the emirates of Bari and Taranto. [18] Because Louis II lacked southern Lombard support, his campaigns were ultimately unsuccessful. Moreover, he was believed to harbor hegemonic aims over southern Italy. [19] In 866, Louis II organized a large expedition against the Saracens and in 871, with the aide of a Byzantine fleet, succeeded in conquering the Emirate of Bari. This victory seemed to have paved the way for the complete expulsion of the Muslims from southern Italy.
The sovereign had not, however, considered the political situation of the area nor the Lombards’ overwhelming desire for independence. With the disappearance of the Emirate of Bari, the greatest enemy of the Lombards was, in fact, Louis II himself. The Prince of Benevento, Adelchis, imprisoned the emperor, releasing him only after having extracted the promise that he would no longer go to southern Italy on his own initiative. This episode proved to be a harsh blow to the prestige of the emperor, who, with the exception of an expedition to aid Salerno during a Saracens’ siege, was never able to interfere in the South again. [20] Louis II died in 875 without an heir which led to conflict amongst his relatives who wanted to take possession of the Kingdom of Italy and the prestige of the imperial title. The King of the western Franks, Charles the Bald, was eventually crowned emperor at the end of 875, but he died in 877 and the struggles for the control of the Italian crown consequently continued. [21]
17. Delogu, Strutture politiche, pp. 137 189; Wickham, Early Medieval Italy, pp. 60-62; Albertoni, L’Italia carolingia, pp. 42-51.
18. Musca, L’emirato di Bari; Gabrieli, Storia, cultura e civiltà, pp. 109-112; Kreutz, Before the Normans, pp. 19-20, 25-27, 38-40.
19. Gasparri, Il ducato e il principatu di Benevento, pp. 123-124; Musca, L’emirato di Bari, pp. 64 ff.
20. Musca, L’emiruto di Bari, pp. 117-120; Gasparri, Il ducato e il principatu di Benevento, pp. 125-126; Kreutz, Before the Normans, pp. 46-47, 55-57.
21. Nelson, Charles the Bald, pp. 230-235; Delogu, Lombard and Carolingian Italy, pp. 313-315; Cammarosano, Nobili e re, pp. 198-200.