Book contents
- After Charlemagne
- After Charlemagne
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Additional material
- 1 Italy after Charlemagne
- 2 A Brief Introduction to Italian Political History until 875
- Section I Was There a Carolingian Italy?
- Section II Organizing Italy
- Section III Carolingian Rulers
- Section IV Cities, Courts and Carolingians
- 12 A Byzantine Cuckoo in the Frankish Nest?
- 13 Urbanism as Politics in Ninth-Century Italy
- 14 Rome and the Others
- 15 Between the Palace, the School and the Forum
- Bibliography
- Index
12 - A Byzantine Cuckoo in the Frankish Nest?
The Exarchate of Ravenna and the Kingdom of Italy in the Long Ninth Century
from Section IV - Cities, Courts and Carolingians
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 December 2020
- After Charlemagne
- After Charlemagne
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Additional material
- 1 Italy after Charlemagne
- 2 A Brief Introduction to Italian Political History until 875
- Section I Was There a Carolingian Italy?
- Section II Organizing Italy
- Section III Carolingian Rulers
- Section IV Cities, Courts and Carolingians
- 12 A Byzantine Cuckoo in the Frankish Nest?
- 13 Urbanism as Politics in Ninth-Century Italy
- 14 Rome and the Others
- 15 Between the Palace, the School and the Forum
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The Exarchate of Ravenna has usually been seen as peripheral to Carolingian Italy because of its ’alien’ character, stemming from its position as a province of the eastern empire up to 751. This chapter first argues that, while the area retained many distinctive ‘Roman’ institutions that were quite distinct from the those of the old Lombard kingdom, it is unhelpful to regard these as ‘Byzantine’, and that enduring links with Constantinople were limited. The chapter goes on to argue that the area came to play an increasing role in the political and ecclesiastical life of Carolingian Italy, for a number of reasons, including the archbishops’ conflicts with the papacy and the attractiveness of Ravenna’s heritage to rulers keen to enhance their claims to imperial authority. Also, by the late ninth century various factors led to the settlement in the Exarchate of several powerful families of Lombard and Frankish descent.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- After CharlemagneCarolingian Italy and its Rulers, pp. 185 - 197Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020