6 - The Government of a Peripheral Area

Summary

North-east Italy (Friuli and Veneto), a key area in the late Lombard period, mantained its importance in the Carolingian period due primarily to military reasons, i.e. the defense of the border against Avars and Slavs. The consequences of the Frankish conquest in the north-east were far more devastating than in other areas of the kingdom, because the Friulian aristocracy was the only one to put up an armed resistance against the Frankish armies. Defeating the Friulians, Charlemagne made many efforts to extend Frankish influence over Venice and Istria, in competion with the Bizantine empire. The eastern regions of Italy remained at the forefront of Carolingian interests even after the Peace of Aachen in 812. The second reason why this area of the kingdom was of such strategic importance for the Carolingians was its commercial traffic. The volume of diplomas issued confirms that the Carolingians attributed great importance to regulating the commercial traffic travelling upriver from the Adriatic. In this frame, the pactum Lotharii of 840 reveals the profound link between the kingdom and the Venitian duchy.