Dalmatia (Byzantine theme)
The theme of Dalmatia ( Greek θέμα Δαλματίας / Δελματίας , thema Dalmatias / Delmatias ) was a Byzantine theme on the east coast of the Adriatic in southeastern Europe , the capital of which was Zadar .
history
Dalmatia first came under Eastern Roman control in the 530s when generals Justinian I (ruled 527-565) conquered it from the Ostrogoths in the Gothic War . The Avars and Slavs invasions in the 7th century destroyed the ancient Roman cities and devastated the province, so that Eastern Roman control was limited to a few coasts and islands. The city of Zara ( Zadar ) became a bishopric during this period and was administered by an archon .
At the beginning of the 9th century, Dalmatia was conquered by Charlemagne (ruled 768-814), but he gave the area back to the Byzantines in 812 after the so-called " Pax Nicephori ". After that, the cities of Dalmatia actually seem to have been independent from Byzantium. Even so, an Archon of Dalmatia is mentioned in the Taktikon Uspensky in 842/843 , and a seal of a " Strategos of Dalmatia" dated to the first half of the 9th century could suggest a short-lived theme from Dalmatia. The actual establishment of Dalmatia as a theme is attributed to the reign of Basil I (ruled 867-886) after the campaigns of Nicetas Oryphas .
In the late 10th and early 11th centuries, Byzantine rule over Dalmatia was challenged by Venice , Croatia , Serbia, and the Kingdom of Hungary . With the exception of Ragusa and the southern third of Dalmatia, Byzantium lost control of the subject in the 1060s. However, it was restored by Emperor Manuel I Komnenos (ruled 1143–1180), but disappeared again after his death and was replaced by the Venetian rule.
literature
- Alexander Petrovich Kazhdan : The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium . Oxford University Press, New York / Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-504652-8 .
- John W. Nesbitt, Nicolas Oikonomides: Catalog of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art . tape 1 : Italy, North of the Balkans, North of the Black Sea . Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washingtona 1991, ISBN 0-88402-194-7 ( books.google.de ).