Valentinus (fellow dog)

Valentinus († after 810 in Venice (?)) Was co-ruler of his eldest brother, the Venetian Doge Obelerius , up to the year 809 or 810 , as was their brother Beatus . The three doges got into the overarching conflict between the Franconian and the Byzantine empires , which lasted from 800 to 812, and which is known as the two emperor problem . While Obelerius was a representative of a reference to the Franconian Empire, the role of his younger brothers was interpreted extremely contradictory.

In 804, a group led by the Obelerius tribune succeeded in overthrowing his Byzantine-friendly predecessor Johannes Galbaius . The popular assembly in Malamocco raised his two brothers Beatus and Valentinus to co-rulers, so that three doges are mentioned. During this period, Constantinople underlined its claim to the Venice lagoon with three interventions . In the course of this conflict with Byzantium, an army led by Pippin , the King of Italy and one of the sons of Charlemagne , attacked the most important cities in the lagoon. Pippin was able to conquer all permanent places, with the exception of Rialto , which as a result of these events in 811 became the seat of the successor to the fallen brothers. Obelerius (“Willeri”) and Beatus denote the closest source in time, the Annales regni Francorum , indiscriminately as duces , so they do not recognize any difference in status between the two doges. The youngest brother Valentinus, however, is not even mentioned there. In the course of time, depending on the historian , this is raised as a mere appendage to the older brothers, simultaneously with them or later, by the brothers or the popular assembly. He is chased out of office with them, is allowed to stay in Venice because of his youth and even rules the lagoon for a short time. He even rose at times to defend against Pippin's attempt at conquest, and as the one who led the transfer of the capital from Malamocco to Rialto. A role as supervisor of the older brothers on Byzantine orders was also considered.

Surname

The later nickname Antenoreo , by which the main dog became known, should probably lead the brothers back to the Trojan king Antenor , the legendary founder of Padua, at the latest since the 14th century . This city in turn was considered the mother city of Venice. In the Cronica di Venexia 1362 it says expressly about the brothers Obelerio and "Biado": "i quali tuti doi funno prenomadi Antenori, in the per quelo che propriamente erano discexi li soi antixi del re Antenor hedifficador de Pathavia", that is to say, the Both of them were called Antenori because they were probably descendants of King Antenor, the builder of Padua '(f. 14 v – 15r). This interpretation prevailed in the historiography of the Republic of Venice .

Life and co-rule

Frankish conquests between 768 and 816; Venetian territory

With the imperial coronation of Charles I , King of the Franks, in 800, the Roman Empire had a second ruler of equal rank. However, the rulers in Constantinople saw themselves as the only legitimate successors to the Roman emperors . Therefore, there were disputes that lasted until the Peace of Aachen , i.e. until 812. At the local level, the two great powers tried to exert influence in the course of this conflict, while in the lagoon corresponding political factions unfolded their activities, the pro-Byzantine or acted pro-Franconian.

While the proponents of a continuation of Byzantine rule predominated in Eraclea , the old capital of the ducat on the mainland, Emperor Charles found support mainly in Malamocco , which was on the edge of the Venetian lagoon. This is where the ruling core had shifted for a few decades. During violent disputes, the Patriarch of Grado was murdered by the son and fellow doge Mauritius (II) on the orders of his father John in 802. Contrary to their hopes, the conflict was by no means over; on the contrary, it led to the overthrow of the Galbaii, who had made the first attempt to establish a Doge dynasty.

There were also conflicts between Eraclea and Iesolo , on the northern edge of the lagoon. The opponents of Doge Mauritius as well as his son Johannes and his grandson Mauritius (II.), Who all co-ruled, gathered their forces in Treviso on Franconian territory. There, after the overthrow of the three doges, they made the Obelerius tribune their leader. Like the Galbaii, he raised relatives to co-regents, but not from his descendants. Instead, he had his brother Beatus elected, who in turn was moderately Byzantine-friendly, even if only outwardly. The two older brothers forced Eraclea into submission, and their chiefs were made permanent hostages in Malamocco, as were Iesolo's. Patriarch Fortunatus resumed his seat in Grado , but despite similar political interests, he had to wait months before he was allowed to enter the lagoon because of the opposition of the Doge brothers.

Since the lagoon now seemed to be part of the Franconian sphere, Obelerius and Beatus appeared at the end of 805, as did the Patriarch, but also the Bishop of Zara as a representative of the Dalmatians at the court of Charlemagne in Diedenhofen . We learn nothing about Valentinus. Relations between Venice and the Carolingians were now regulated by an ordinatio de ducibus et populis tam Venetiae quam Dalmatiae , as stated in the Annales regni Francorum . However, the details have not been passed down. In short, Stefan Weinfurter says: "Charlemagne occupied the territories [ie Dalmatia and Veneto] in 805/806 ... In 808 Byzantium was again in control of the situation."

In fact, Nikephorus I , emperor since 802, sent a fleet to the northern Adriatic under the command of the patrician Nicetas. Since the Franks had no fleet at their disposal, the Greek fleet leader initially brought Dalmatia under his control without resistance. In connection with this coastline, later chronicles, such as the aforementioned Cronica di Venexia detta di Enrico Dandolo , claim that a Venetian fleet launched an attack from Malamocco to fight the Slavs there, who previously Eraclea down to the foundations (“fino a le foundations ") would have burned down. When the Byzantine fleet, coming from Dalmatia, appeared at the entrance to the lagoon, Fortunatus fled while Obelerius and Beatus submitted. Obelerius even received the title of Spatharius (sword-bearer), with which he was externally (again?) Subject to the Byzantine rule. Niketas managed to make an agreement with Pippin , King of Italy and son of Charles. The Byzantine fleet returned to Constantinople in the summer of 807, with Beatus sailing with them. He received the title of Hypathus ( Ipato ) in the capital, only to return to Venice.

The deal between Nicetas and Pippin, however, in the absence of a treaty between the empires, did not last long. In 809, Paul, Duca of Kephalonia , led a fleet into Venetian waters. Fights broke out with the Franks of Comacchio , as a result of which the Byzantines who had failed there tried to find a new agreement. The two older Doge brothers did not make a clear decision, so that Pippin prepared an invasion after the withdrawal of Paul's fleet.

The closest source in time after the Frankish imperial annals was written by Johannes Diaconus around the year 1000, but he paints a highly partisan picture. A relatively fixed version of the tradition had already been established in Venice from a distance of around two centuries. She put the blame for the outbreak of the conflict entirely on Pippin, who attacked the ducat in breach of the agreements. He was able to conquer the coastal centers quickly. Then he penetrated the southern lagoon, where he marched to Albiola near Pellestrina . From there he threatened Malamocco, but was defeated in the fight. The Reichsannals, on the other hand, provide a completely different version. Accordingly, an agreement between Constantinople and Pippin failed because of the machinations of the two doges. Valentinus, on the other hand, does not play a recognizable role here either. Only then did Pippin subdue the Venetians. In the end, the Greek fleet, which appeared in the upper Adriatic, forced the Franks to withdraw.

In the end the pro-Frankish party was defeated in any case. Obelerius and Beatus tried to secure their precarious rule by taking the side of the victors. Obelerius was eventually taken as a prisoner to Constantinople, Beatus to Zara, where he died the next year. Some historians claim that Valentinus was spared because of his youth, or even that he took over the rule for some time.

reception

For Venice at the time of Doge Andrea Dandolo , the interpretation that was attached to the rule of the three brothers was of great symbolic importance in several respects. The focus of the political leadership bodies, which had long been firmly established in the 14th century and which also controlled historiography, focused on the development of the constitution and the internal disputes between the possessores , i.e. the increasingly closed group of property owners who also held political power. The shifts in power within the Adriatic and the eastern Mediterranean as well as in Italy were also a central focus. Since the brothers stood for the attempt to maneuver between the great powers, their rule received great symbolic power for the failure of the "Malamocco faction", which sought to follow the empire of Charlemagne. The questions about the sovereignty between the overpowering empires, the law from its own roots, the demarcation from the militarily often far superior mainland powers, above all from the Roman-German Empire and the Franconian Empire, and thus the derivation and legitimation of their territorial claims, always stood in the centre. The explanation for the move of the Doge's seat from Malamocco to Rialto was given a compelling safety logic, because Rialto was safer after the experience with Pippin (and Nicetas) - hence the idea that the lagoon or the sea were the protective wall of Venice. About the dismissal of the three Doge brothers, Andrea Dandolo notes that Obelerius was banished to Constantinople and Beatus to Iadra, but Valentinus remained in Venice because of his youth, “juvenilem habens etatem”. As with the Galbaii who tried to establish a dynasty, the state-controlled historiography also condemned the attempt by the three brothers to push through such a constitutional change.

The oldest vernacular chronicle, the Cronica di Venexia detta di Enrico Dandolo from the 14th century, presents the motifs and events in detail on a largely personal level, and also establishes connections that ultimately did not prevail in Venetian historiography . But in contrast to his older brothers, Valentinus does not play any recognizable role.

History painting on Pippin's attack on Venice ( King Pippin's army tries to reach Venice ), oil on canvas, Andrea Vicentino (approx. 1542–1618), created at the end of the 16th century, Doge's Palace

It is different with Pietro Marcello , who in 1502 in his work later translated into Volgare under the title Vite de'prencipi di Vinegia , the three brothers in the section “OBELERIO ANTENORIO. DOGE VIII. ”. This classification as the 8th Doge comes from the fact that Marcello summarizes the three Galbaii as a single Doge. At the same time, the younger brothers were no longer accepted as doges. After Marcello, Pippin's military intervention took place because he had been ordered to do so by his father. Marcello, who gave Obelerius the family name “Anafesto”, and thus with the same name as the first Doge , reports how Beatus was showered with honors in Constantinople, but also that “Valentino” was used by the people alongside the Doges at this time "Per compagno" was collected. According to Marcellus, some believed that the fallen Obelerius was followed by his youngest brother Valentinus in office. Apparently the distribution of roles between the brothers was not yet historiographically fixed.

The chronicle of Gian Giacomo Caroldo , completed in 1532, reports somewhat more extensively. Caroldo, who says he relies on the chronicle of Andrea Dandolo, says Obelerius was elected Doge by the "esuli Venetiani" who stayed in Treviso and was dated People in Malamocco were received 'with honor' and with 'great joy' (p. 51). This raised his brother Beatus to a fellow doge ("tolse Beato suo fratello consorte nel Ducato"). With Caroldo it was Fortunatus II who turned the Frankish emperor against the Venetians because they supported Byzantium, which occupied Dalmatia and Istria in violation of the treaty, not Obelerius. Karl promised him to await a suitable opportunity for revenge. During this time the Franconian had united the Lombards with the Franks, according to Caroldo, and he had 'no small difference' (“non picciola differenza”) with Nikephoros, the eastern emperor. Heraclea, the birthplace of the evicted Doges, was also destroyed by the Venetians. Niketas was later sent to the Adriatic by the emperor, but his strength was insufficient, so that he had to seek help from the Venetians, which they allegedly granted him. Obelerius received the title of "Spatario" in the name of the emperor. "On the advice of the Venetians" ("con il consiglio di Venetiani") Beatus went to Constantinople - Caroldo does not provide an explanation for this. Beatus was awarded the "dignità e titolo d'ypato" and returned to Venice. After that, the two brothers wanted their brother Valentino to be elected by the people as “consorte nel Ducato”. Now, on the orders of his father, Pippin attacked Venice in the eighth year of his imperial rule (that would be 808/09) with a large army in order to 'subjugate' it ("subiugare"). He hoped that he could force the Venetians to “deditione” through hunger. But they threw bread and other food at him "con le machine" to show that hunger could not overcome them. The Venetians could not defend Malamocco against the Franks and therefore rallied on Rialto. On the advice of a “Vecchiarella” from Malamocco, Pippin had a bridge built out of barrels (“un porto sopra botte, incatenate di uimini [sic!] Et altri legami”). In contrast, the Venetians secretly (“nascosamente”) prepared many “barche”, which attacked the enemy when the water level was high and destroyed “li uimini [sic!] Et legami del ponte”. Of the many who perished, the canal in which this took place was still called "Canal Orfano" (orfano = orphan). Pippin, realizing that he could not conquer Rialto, had all the places on the "Lito" as far as Brondolo burned down. As some believe, Caroldo continues, Pippin left “la provincia di Venetia” to the Nicetas. An "Ebarsapio Imperial Secretario" decreed that the Doges would be deposed, with Obelerius going to Constantinople and Beatus to Zara. Valentinus was allowed to stay in Venice “per la giovenil età sua” because of his youth. Again some said, according to Caroldo, that Obelerius had gone to Karl because he was married to a noble Frankish woman, while the Venetians declared him unworthy of the Doge's office and banished him.

For the Frankfurt lawyer Heinrich Kellner , who made the Venetian chronicle known in the German-speaking world, where he largely followed Marcello, in his Chronica published in 1574, this is the actual and brief description of all the people living in Venice , "Obelerius Antenorius the eighth Hertzog" . This was also called "Anafestus". According to Kellner, Obelerius was “elected” to doge in 804, who in turn took “Beatum / his brother as assistant”. Beatus went to Constantinople to “visit the Keyser Nicephorum”, where he was “highly honored and adorned with several imperial coats of arms”. In his absence, according to Kellner, in Venice the younger Valentin was assigned to the Doge "Obelerio from the common to the journeyman" - with which Kellner differentiates between "assistants" and "journeyman". The author thinks that there are "some" "who say / that Obelerius was chased away by his brother Beatum deß Hertzogthumbs". Emperor Karl, to whom Obelerius had fled, Obelerius had "given his daughter to wife / because he had promised the king / to wire up the fatherland." Karl then conquered all the territory up to Malamocco. Since the city was empty, "and he took a little boat to get to Rialto / but there was a very big thunderstorm / through which he lost the greater part of his army / so / that he had to go uncomfortable." But waiter restricts : "How may a part / that not Carolus / but his Son Pipinus / have done this move". Pippin also attacked the Venetians a second time because the Venetians were in league with the Byzantine emperor, although it had been contractually agreed that they should remain neutral in the Frankish-Byzantine conflict. The author describes Pippin's attack in particular in detail. After Obelerius and Beatus had been overthrown and "Valentin ir brother rules the community", Pippin opened war by taking Malamocco, "Palestina" and Chioggia. Then he attacked the islands close to the mainland to cut off supplies. Valentinus “and what was at Malamocco” moved to Rialto with children and goods. Pippin had a bridge built from Albiola to Rialto - some had claimed on the advice of an old woman. Well, an assertion that runs through the entire chronicle, the Venetians would have decided "either to die for Vatterland / or to defend freedom". They attacked the Franks, who were not used to fighting on the water, who could no longer stand safely, "because the bridge sucks". Some of the attackers were killed by the sword, others were "drowned". As for the end of the three doges, Kellner reveals all the uncertainty of tradition. The author thinks that Obelerius and Beatus left with Pippin, who, however, still visited Venice for a peace treaty. He asked the Venetians to resume the Doges, which they "reluctantly" got involved with. After Pippin's departure they had “chopped up Obelerium into pieces / among whom there were some / who tore his heart with tears / and it is said / that his wife / who was born outside France / was killed with him”. And Kellner continues: “Quite a few others say / that / how Obelerius died / Beatus had the Hertzogthumb for a while / and others argue for / that Valentin / who was then younger / ruled the community. But as in wölle / so all three governments have not resisted for more than five years. "

Francesco Sansovino (1512–1586) also gave the family name "Anafesta" in his work Delle cose notabili della città di Venetia, Libri II , published in Venice in 1587 . According to Sansovino, a conspiracy (“congiura”) led by Obelerius and Fortunatus, the nephew of the murdered Patriarch of Grado, forced “the Doges” to flee in 804. The author also adopts a second brother named Valentinus, but casts doubt on his historicity ('as some say'). Since Obelerius had fought on the Frankish side, the two or three Doges were banished. In the edition of 1606 the anecdote about the wooden barrel bridge is described in detail (p. 103 f.).

In the translation of the Historia Veneta by Alessandro Maria Vianoli , which appeared in Nuremberg in 1686 under the title Der Venetianischen Herthaben Leben / Government, and Die Die / Von dem Ersten Paulutio Anafesto an / bis on the now-ruling Marcum Antonium Justiniani , the doge was already called "Obelerius Antenorius, the ninth Hertzog", was thus traced back to the Trojan. According to this account, "this prince / with his unstable and very defiant manner and nature / awoke nothing but war and war screams" (p. 70). The dispute between Eraclea and Iesolo, which was only poorly settled, was called / located "between Livenza and the Ruimondo ditch" through a border dispute over an area. After him, the Eracleans moved to Malamocco, the Jesolans to Rialto. This dispute is discussed by the author as a possible cause of Pippin's intervention, as is the betrayal of the expelled Obelerius, who tried to win the Frankish emperor over to his cause, but "the old scribes were of different opinion" (p. 75). The Venetians eventually decided to remain loyal to the Eastern Emperor, so Pippin prepared his invasion. To do this, he put together a fleet in Ravenna . At Brondolo this had penetrated, whereupon "Chiozza, Palestina and Albiola" fell, the population of Malamocco fled to Rialto. An embassy refused to submit, whereupon Pippin threatened complete annihilation. Only now did the Venetians decide to resist, attacked the fleet and held it off until it ran aground at low tide. The place of slaughter, the Canal Orfano, was named after the numerous widows and orphans who were left behind by those who died in large numbers in the battle (p. 81 f.).

In 1687 Jacob von Sandrart wrote in his work Kurtze and an enlarged description of the origin / recording / territories / and government of the world-famous republic of Venice also about "Obelerius, one of the first masters / who united against that / who two of his brothers Beatum and Valentinum, accepted into the government next to him ”. For von Sandrart, the expulsion of the predecessors resulted in the Nicetas fleet appearing in front of Venice, whereupon Beatus traveled to Constantinople to “settle the matter”. According to the author, Emperor Nikephoros and Pippin even allied with each other, and yet Pippin, now King of Italy, attacked Venice, "on pretext / the Hertzoge were more inclined to the Greeks than the Francs". When Beatus returned from Constantinople, he disempowered his brothers. The rise of Venice began with the death of Pippin, for an “alliance was established / that the Venetians should be free people / and have free trade in the whole of the Orient; In such a shape, the Republicq Venice got a whole new reputation [...] so that the city grew to its right size. "

In 1769, Johann Friedrich LeBret reported in his state history of the Republic of Venice , more precisely in his fifth chapter, of the "War with the King Pipin, of the Doge Obelerius and his brother Beatus" (p. 124). According to LeBret, Obelerius only came to Venice after he had learned of the Doge's flight in order to be raised to the rank of Doge by the people themselves. After that, the people willingly accepted his two brothers in the office of Doge. With the appearance of the Byzantine fleet it was also possible to drive the patriarch Fortunatus back into the Frankish empire, who had imprisoned his popularly chosen successor named Johannes to enforce his own candidate "Christoph" as Bishop of Olivolo, today's Castello . Johannes was able to flee, won Obelerius for his cause, and was installed as patriarch (p. 125). On the Franconian side there were now only Christoph and the tribune Felix. Obelerius and Beatus traveled to Karl's court in Diedenhofen in order to obtain recognition of their neutrality there, because Venice has always been part of the Eastern Empire. However, when the Byzantine fleet appeared in the lagoon, the Doges declared themselves openly in favor of the Eastern Emperor. “Nicetas” and Pipin agreed on a ceasefire until August, while Beatus took the Franconian supporters Christoph and Felix with him to Constantinople. In 807 he returned from the capital with the title of Hypatus (Senator). "The pride of these two brothers drove them to join the third brother in the regiment" (p. 127), is how LeBret justifies the raising of Valentine to a fellow doge, which was then carried out jointly by the two older brothers. In revenge, Pippin began his march of conquest by sacking Eraclea, followed by Iesolo, and then an attack from the south via Brondolo, Chioggia, Pelestrina and Albiola. In view of this situation, the author assumes that the brothers fell out and that Obelerius may have made a secret pact with the Franconian. As early as 809, however, the fleet of Paulus of Kephalonia attacked the city of Comacchio, but was repulsed by the then well-fortified island city; and in Venice, too, the two Doges resisted his negotiations with Pippin, so that he “went home out of anger at their defiance” (p. 130). When Pippin attacked Venice again, the Doges felt compelled to seek a peace treaty. The question raised by LeBret whether they did not consider the lagoon to be adequately protected or whether they feared for their lands on the mainland, he leaves open. Arsaphios, the envoy of the Eastern Emperor called in, found Pippin no longer alive. Negotiations with Karl finally led to peace. In Venice the Byzantine envoy convened the popular assembly. The three brothers were deposed, with Obelerius going to the Franks, Beatus to Zara, but Valentinus was allowed to stay in Venice, since he had the smallest share in the misfortune that the "triumvirate" had caused.

The share of Valentinus in the opaque intrigues of the three Doge brothers saw Johann Heinrich Zedler's Great Complete Universal Lexicon of All Sciences and Arts , Which up to now have been improved by human understanding and wit in the 46th volume, published in 1745, quite differently. There it says in the article Valentinus : "He took refuge in France with another expelled Hertzoge Obelerius, and both of them drove the king in Italy Pipinus to seize the Venetian islands". So here Valentinus was as much a traitor as his brother Obelerius. The encyclopedia also presented the roles of the other two brothers completely differently. In volume 25, Obelerius came from Trieste and joined forces with Fortunatus - who becomes Obelerio's brother here - to take revenge on the Galbaii for the murder of their cousin and patriarch Johannes . Obelerio had the homeland of the overthrown Galbaio doge Eraclea "completely destroyed" and took his brothers "as colleagues in the government". Soon, when Beatus realized that Obelerio was hated because of his alliance with Charlemagne, Beatus “helped” his brother “had to flee and leave the government to him alone”. "Obolerius" took refuge with the emperor, married one of his daughters, and Pippin finally went to Venice. According to this, Obelerius did not return to office as doge, but "was miserably executed by the mob in 823 [...]" because he had striven for power again; possibly he was also killed by the grandson of the Doge who was ruling at the time. According to this view, Beatus died in 809 as the last doge to reside in Malamocco.

Title page of August Daniel von Binzer's Venice in 1844

In popular representations, the central aspect of dynasty formation was repeatedly emphasized and interpreted as a failure that almost inevitably led to the overthrow. The Galbaii, but also the three brothers Obelerio, Beato and Valentino, proved this. Tersely says August Daniel of Binzer 1845: "Obelario took two of his brothers to co-regent; but all three were banished ”.

Samuele Romanin gave the three brothers a lot of space in his ten-volume opus Storia documentata di Venezia in 1853. The classification of Obelerius as the 9th Doge was now generally accepted, while Beatus was no longer one of the Doges. This was carried along by the Byzantine fleet under Nicetas to Constantinople, where he received an honorary title. After his return, Valentinus was raised to a fellow doge, because according to some chronicles, as Romanin writes, the people were so taken with what Beatus had achieved (p. 142). According to Romanin, Valentinus was disempowered because he was 'harmless', or as Romanin put it: “come uomo innocuo, tornò alla condizione privata” (p. 150).

August Friedrich Gfrörer († 1861) believed in his History of Venice, which was published posthumously in 1872, from its founding to 1084 , that in view of the marriage plans between the empires, "Sea Venetia would have been the debut of the trousseau". But these marriage plans failed when Empress Irene was overthrown in 802. Her successor had his ambassadors stretch out peace feelers at Karl's court, which is why the predecessors of Obelerio made no move to seek help in Constantinople. Gfrörer assumes that Obelerio had Malamocco destroyed as "the fire army and center of the Byzantine party". The attack on Byzantine Dalmatia was also carried out by the Doge on Karl's order, according to Gfrörer, and according to him it was even one of the conditions under which the Doge had received the “ducal chair”. At the request of the people - so Gfrörer - his brother Beatus was placed at the doge's side - "The measure will therefore have been enforced by the Greek-minded, at least by enemies of Frankish supremacy over Veneto" (p. 105). This also enforced the third doge to keep Obelerius and Beatus in check. Pippin's attack, which in the Frankish sources is only mentioned as a disguised defeat and which ends there with Pippin's death, according to Gfrörer, was probably preceded by a defeat in Dalmatia. The final defeat of Pippin's troops against the Venetians under the new Doge Agnellus is accordingly only mentioned in the Venetian sources.

In 1867, Emmanuele Antonio Cicogna, in the first volume of his Storia dei Dogi di Venezia, expressed the view that it was Obelerio that induced the Franks to extend their sphere of power to Venice. Accordingly, it was not the Doge who led the fleet against Pippin, but a "Vittore d'Eraclea". According to Cicogna, the Venetians had to promise the Franks a high annual tribute after the war ended. But after the withdrawal, they allegedly reduced the amount. That after the overthrow and banishment of the doge and traitor (“traditori”) Obelerio and his brother Beato were allowed to stay with their younger brother Valentino, the latter after Cicogna only owed his youth - as Andrea Dandolo had already speculated. This happened in the year in which Pippin died in Milan, namely 810.

The work of Edgcumbe Staley The Dogaressas of Venice (The Wives of the Doges) , which appeared in London in 1910 , proves to be completely uncritical of the contradictory “Venetian tradition”, as the state-controlled tradition of history, including the rampant additions, is often referred to . It simply lists everything that appears in any source. Staley claims that Beato intrigued against his brother and tried to get married to a princess named Cassandra with the Byzantine Emperor in order to oust Obelerio and Carola. For her part, Carola has now brought the attractive Valentino, the youngest of the three Doge brothers, together with the princess. But she has now also fallen in love with the youngest of the three brothers. When a Byzantine fleet appeared in front of Venice, Obelerio saw in it a support for his brother Beato, so he asked for help from the Franks. The Byzantines would have viewed this as a hostile act, so they should have destroyed several port cities. The two brothers with their wives Carola and Cassandra were then captured and taken to Constantinople, where all four died.

Heinrich Kretschmayr believed that "both Duces" - after him Beatus had been appointed "co-ruling Dux" by his brother - had already decided in 805 to "strictly submit to the Frankish Empire". Kretschmayr mentions another indicator for this development, because “in the law of partitioning the empire of February 6, 806 , Veneto, Istria and Dalmatia were assigned to King Pippin's shares” (p. 56). In 807, however, Byzantium lured the eldest of the brothers "by conferring the imperial title of Spatharius, the Greeks were clever enough to take the Beatus as a hostage" (p. 56). “Before that [ie autumn 807, the time of the truce between Nicetas and Pippin] Beatus returned to Veneto, trained in Constantinople in the interests of Greece and appointed Hypatos, and the two Duces now also accepted their third brother, Valentin, as co-regent "(P. 57). In Kretschmayr's case, Valentinus was not raised to be a fellow doge until the end of 807, through his brothers. Pippin, bound by his agreement with Byzantium until August 808, now attempted the well-known military counter-attack. According to Kretschmayr, the attitude of the two doge brothers changed again: "But probably in the belief that in the dispute between the two great powers they could give up the joyful third party and establish an independent state on the borders of the Greek-Germanic sphere of power [...] they thwarted the negotiations". But Pippin largely subjugated the islands within six months in order to "repay the Venetians for the apostasy of 807 and the malevolent hiccups of 809". The doges became Pippin's prisoners. In the end the Franconian failed only because of the resistance from Rialto (p. 57 f.). Valentinus does not play a significant role at Kretschmayr.

In his History of Venice , John Julius Norwich , who largely ignores the history of reception, emphasizes that the opposition gathered in Treviso under the alleged leadership of Obelerius. But after the fall of the Galbaii, fighting broke out within the lagoon, especially between Heraclea and Malamocco. The new regiment found itself in a similar situation as the Galbaii before. But now Fortunatus appeared, "fresh from the court of Charlemagne with an offer". His offer, in addition to the reinstatement of himself, was the recognition of Franconian sovereignty over the lagoon. In return, the two doges remained safely in office under Franconian protection. After Norwich, neither Obelerius nor his brother Beatus had any sympathy for the Franks, but the two brothers now had little choice. Therefore, at Christmas 805, they allegedly paid homage to the emperor in Aachen . Obelerius even went so far as to look for a wife for himself from the women of the court, who for Norwich was the “first Dogaressa known to history”. The author doesn't even mention Valentinus.

swell

• La cronaca veneziana del diacono Giovanni , in: Giovanni Monticolo (ed.): Cronache veneziane antichissime (= Fonti per la storia d'Italia [Medio Evo], IX), Rome 1890, pp. 59–171, here: p. 104 : "Deinde Obelierius et Beatus duces Valentinum, tercium illorum fratrem, in dignitate sui ducatus habere consortem voluerunt" ( digitized , PDF).
• Roberto Cessi (ed.): Origo civitatum Italiae seu Venetiarum (Chron. Altinate et Chron. Gradense) , Rome 1933, p. 29 f. In contrast to his brothers, Valentinus is not mentioned ( digitized version ).
• Alberto Limentani (ed.): Martin da Canal , Les estoires de Venise , Olschki, Florenz 1972, pp. 10 f., 14-17 (“mesire Beat et son frere furent dus”) ( text , ed. By Francesca Gambino in the Repertorio Informatizzato Antica Letteratura Franco-Italiana ).
• Ester Pastorello (Ed.): Andrea Dandolo, Chronica per extensum descripta aa. 460–1280 dC , (= Rerum Italicarum Scriptores XII, 1), Nicola Zanichelli, Bologna 1938, p. 132 (“Obelierio et Beatus ducibus anuentibus, Valentinus eorum germanus consors ducatus a populo laudatus est.” And “Valentinus terciusque frater, iuvenilem habens etatem, in propria remansit. "). ( Digital copy, p. 132 f. )
• Șerban V. Marin (Ed.): Gian Giacomo Caroldo. Istorii Veneţiene , Vol. I: De la originile Cetăţii la moartea dogelui Giacopo Tiepolo (1249) , Arhivele Naţionale ale României, Bucharest 2008, pp. 51–54, 57 (cf. Historie venete dal principio della città fino all'anno 1382 ) .

literature

• Marco Pozza:  Obelerio. In: Raffaele Romanelli (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 79:  Nursio – Ottolini Visconti. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2013, (forms the basis of the presentation part).
• Heinrich Kretschmayr : History of Venice , Vol. I, Gotha 1905, p. 56.

Remarks

1. ^ Roberto Pesce (Ed.): Cronica di Venexia detta di Enrico Dandolo. Origini - 1362 , Centro di Studi Medievali e Rinascimentali "Emmanuele Antonio Cicogna", Venice 2010, p. 20.
2. ↑ The presentation follows that of Obelerio by Marco Pozza in Dizionario biografico , vol. 79 ( online ).
3. ↑ Annales regni Francorum , ed. Friedrich Kurz , Monumenta Germaniae Historica , Scriptores rerum Germanicarum ad usum scholarum , Vol. VI, Hanover 1895, p. 120 f. ( Digitized version ).
4. ^ Stefan Weinfurter : Charlemagne. The holy barbarian , Piper, 2015, p. 239.
5. ^ Roberto Pesce (Ed.): Cronica di Venexia detta di Enrico Dandolo. Origini - 1362 , Centro di Studi Medievali e Rinascimentali "Emmanuele Antonio Cicogna", Venice 2010, p. 20.
6. ↑ Giovanni Monticolo (Ed.): Cronache veneziane antichissime , Vol. 1, Rome 1890, p. 104 f.
7. ^ Ester Pastorello (Ed.): Andrea Dandolo, Chronica per extensum descripta aa. 460-1280 dC , (= Rerum Italicarum Scriptores XII, 1), Nicola Zanichelli, Bologna 1938, p. 132.
8. ^ Roberto Pesce (Ed.): Cronica di Venexia detta di Enrico Dandolo. Origini - 1362 , Centro di Studi Medievali e Rinascimentali “Emmanuele Antonio Cicogna”, Venice 2010, pp. 20–29 / 30.
9. ↑ Pietro Marcello : Vite de'prencipi di Vinegia in the translation of Lodovico Domenichi, Marcolini, 1558, pp 10-14 ( digitized ).
10. ↑ There it says: “et questo si legge etiandio in alcune Chroniche antiche; tutta volta, io voglio quella seguire del Duce Dandolo ”(p. 51).
11. ↑ Șerban V. Marin (Ed.): Gian Giacomo Caroldo. Istorii Veneţiene , Vol. I: De la originile Cetăţii la moartea dogelui Giacopo Tiepolo (1249) , Arhivele Naţionale ale României, Bucharest 2008, pp. 51-53 ( online ).
12. ↑ Heinrich Kellner : Chronica that is Warhaffte actual and short description, all life in Venice , Frankfurt 1574, p. 4v – 5r ( digitized, p. 4v ).
13. ↑ Francesco Sansovino : Delle cose notabili della città di Venetia , Felice Valgrisio, Venice 1587, p. 87 ( digitized version ), then again printed at Salicato at the request of Girolamo Bardi , Venice 1606, p. 58 ( digitized version ).
14. ↑ Alessandro Maria Vianoli : Der Venetianischen Hertehmen Leben / Government, und dieback / From the First Paulutio Anafesto an / bit on the now-ruling Marcum Antonium Justiniani , Nuremberg 1686, pp. 70-83, translation ( digitized ).
15. ↑ Jacob von Sandrart : Kurtze and increased description of the origin / recording / areas / and government of the world famous Republick Venice , Nuremberg 1687, p. 15-17 ( digitized, p. 15 ).
16. ↑ Johann Friedrich LeBret : State history of the Republic of Venice, from its origin to our times, in which the text of the abbot L'Augier is the basis, but its errors are corrected, the incidents are presented in a certain and from real sources, and after a Ordered the correct time order, at the same time adding new additions to the spirit of the Venetian laws and secular and ecclesiastical affairs, to the internal state constitution, its systematic changes and the development of the aristocratic government from one century to another , 4 vols., Johann Friedrich Hartknoch , Riga and Leipzig 1769–1777, Vol. 1, Leipzig and Riga 1769 ( digitized version ).
17. ↑ Art. Valentinus , in: Large complete universal lexicon of all sciences and arts, which so far have been improved by human understanding and wit , vol. 46, Johann Heinrich Zedler , Leipzig and Halle 1745, col. 258 ( digitized ).
18. ↑ Art. Obolerio Antenoro, Obelerius, and Obelingerius Antenoreus , in: Great complete universal lexicon of all sciences and arts, which so far have been improved by human understanding and wit , Vol. 25, Johann Heinrich Zedler, Leipzig and Halle 1740, Sp. 232 f. ( Digitized version ).
19. ↑ August Daniel von Binzer : Venice in 1844 , Gustav Heckenast, Leipzig 1845, p. 406 ( digitized version ).
20. ↑ Samuele Romanin : Storia documentata di Venezia , 10 vols., Pietro Naratovich, Venice 1853–1861, 2nd edition 1912–1921, reprint Venice 1972, pp. 142, 150 ( digitized from vol. 1 , Venice 1853). The enormous historical work has a volume of about 4000 pages, the remarks on Obelerio alone range from pages 137 to 171.
21. ^ Samuele Romanin: Storia documentata di Venezia , vol. 1, Pietro Naratovich, Venice 1853, p. 137.
22. ↑ August Friedrich Gfrörer : History of Venice from its foundation to the year 1084. Edited from his estate, supplemented and continued by Dr. JB Weiß , Graz 1872, p. 99 ( digitized version ).
23. ^ Emmanuele Antonio Cicogna : Storia dei Dogi di Venezia , Vol. 1, Venice 1867, o. P.
24. ^ Edgcumbe Staley: The Dogaressas of Venice (The Wives of the Doges) , T. Werner Laurie, London 1910, pp. 315-317 ( digitized version ).
25. ^ Heinrich Kretschmayr : History of Venice , 3 vol., Vol. 1, Gotha 1905, p. 56.
26. ^ John Julius Norwich : A History of Venice , Penguin, London 2003.