The Duchy of Perugia was a
duchy
A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a Middle Ages, medieval country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition.
There once exis ...
(
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
: ''ducatus'') in the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
part of the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
. Its civil and military administration was overseen by a
duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
(''dux'') appointed by and under the authority originally of the
Praetorian Prefect of Italy
The praetorian prefecture of Italy ( la, Praefectura praetorio Italiae, in its full form (until 356) ) was one of four praetorian prefectures into which the Late Roman Empire was divided. It comprised the Italian peninsula, the Western Balkans, ...
(554–584) and later of the
Exarch of Ravenna
The Exarchate of Ravenna ( la, Exarchatus Ravennatis; el, Εξαρχάτο της Ραβέννας) or of Italy was a lordship of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) in Italy, from 584 to 751, when the last exarch was put to death by the ...
(584–751). Its chief city and namesake was
Perugia
Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia.
The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...
(''Perusia''), located at its centre. It was a band of territory connecting the
Duchy of the Pentapolis
In the Byzantine Empire, the Duchy of the Pentapolis was a duchy (Latin: ''ducatus''), a territory ruled by a duke (''dux'') appointed by and under the Exarch of Ravenna. The Pentapolis (from the Greek term ''πεντάπολις'', "five cities") ...
to its northeast with the
Duchy of Rome
The Duchy of Rome ( la, Ducatus Romanus) was a state within the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna. Like other Byzantine states in Italy, it was ruled by an imperial functionary with the title ''dux''. The duchy often came into conflict with the Papa ...
to its southwest, and separating the duchies of
Tuscia Tuscia is a historical region of Italy that comprised the territories under Etruscan influence and the name adopted for Etruria after the Roman conquest. While it later came to coincide with today's province of Viterbo, it was originally much lar ...
(to its northwest) and
Spoleto
Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome.
History
Spolet ...
(to its southeast), both parts of the
Lombard Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of the Lombards ( la, Regnum Langobardorum; it, Regno dei Longobardi; lmo, Regn di Lombard) also known as the Lombard Kingdom; later the Kingdom of (all) Italy ( la, Regnum totius Italiae), was an Early Middle Ages, early medieval ...
. It was of great strategic significance to the Byzantines since it provided communication between
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, the city of the
Popes
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
, and
Ravenna
Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...
, the capital of the Exarchate. Since it cut off the Duke of Spoleto from his nominal overlord, the king ruling from
Pavia
Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the capit ...
, it also disturbed the Lombard kingdom, which was a constant thorn in the Byzantines' side. This strategic importance meant that many Lombard and Byzantine armies passed through it.
Thomas Noble, an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
historian, has surmised that by 739–740, when
Pope Gregory III
Pope Gregory III ( la, Gregorius III; died 28 November 741) was the bishop of Rome from 11 February 731 to his death. His pontificate, like that of his predecessor, was disturbed by Byzantine iconoclasm and the advance of the Lombards, in which ...
was negotiating with
Charles Martel
Charles Martel ( – 22 October 741) was a Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death. He was a son of the Frankish statesma ...
,
Duke of the Franks
The title Duke of the Franks ( la, dux Francorum) has been used for three different offices, always with "duke" implying military command and "prince" implying something approaching sovereign or regalian rights. The term "Franks" may refer to an ...
, for assistance against the Lombards, the Pope already envisaged
an independent republic of his "peculiar people" (''peculiarem populum''), meaning the inhabitants of the duchies of Perugia and Rome who, so remote from either Ravenna or the Byzantine capital,
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
, depended upon the Pope for defence and for their foreign relations.
Hildeprand, the heir to the throne, and Peredeo,
Duke of Vicenza, united to take Ravenna, probably in 737–740. According to the contemporary Lombard historian
Paul the Deacon
Paul the Deacon ( 720s 13 April in 796, 797, 798, or 799 AD), also known as ''Paulus Diaconus'', ''Warnefridus'', ''Barnefridus'', or ''Winfridus'', and sometimes suffixed ''Cassinensis'' (''i.e.'' "of Monte Cassino"), was a Benedictine monk, s ...
, this occurred before "the Romans, swollen with their accustomed pride, assembled on every side under the leadership of Agatho, duke of the Perugians, and came to seize ''Bononia'' (
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
), where Walcari, Peredeo, and Rotcari were then staying in camp, but the latter rushed upon the Romans, made a great slaughter of them and compelled those who were left to seek flight." According to modern historians
Georg Waitz
Georg Waitz (9 October 1813 – 24 May 1886) was a German medieval historian and politician. Waitz is often spoken of as the leading disciple of Leopold von Ranke, though perhaps he had more affinity with Georg Heinrich Pertz or Friedrich Christo ...
, Jan Hallenbeck, and Paolo Delogu, this took place before the ephemeral conquest of Ravenna. The most common interpretation is that Agatho was trying to regain Bologna, which was a part of his duchy until it was conquered by
Liutprand around 727–730, and in so doing broke a truce between the Byzantines and Lombards, thus provoking an assault on Ravenna.
In 749, the Lombard king
Ratchis
RatchisAlso spelled ''Rachis'', ''Raditschs'', ''Radics'', ''Radiks''. (died after 757) was the Duke of Friuli (739–744) and then King of the Lombards (744–749).
Ratchis was the son of Duke Pemmo of Friuli and the nephew of the Lombard kin ...
invaded the duchies of Perugia and Pentapolis, besieging the capital city of the former.
Pope Zachary
Pope Zachary ( la, Zacharias; 679 – March 752) was the bishop of Rome from 28 November 741 to his death. He was the last pope of the Byzantine Papacy. Zachary built the original church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, forbade the traffic of slav ...
met the king at Perugia and convinced him to lift the siege and abdicate to a monastery. It has been suggested that Ratchis was forced to attack Byzantine Italy by a part of Lombard nationalists, or conversely that he attacked because Zachary had broken the terms of his predecessor's
Peace of Terni, a twenty-year truce.
[.] In any case, "all Italy was quiet" between Ratchis's accession in 745 and his attack on Perugia in 749, according to Zachary's biographer in the ''
Liber pontificalis
The ''Liber Pontificalis'' (Latin for 'pontifical book' or ''Book of the Popes'') is a book of biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the ''Liber Pontificalis'' stopped with Pope Adrian II (867 ...
''.
[
With the collapse of the exarchate and the capture of Ravenna by the Lombards in 751, the duchy of Perugia was left under ''de facto'' Papal authority by 752. In a passage of the '' Ludovicianum'' that can date no earlier than 774, the cities of the Roman duchy are listed from north to south, with the cities of the duchy of Perugia added to those of Roman Tuscany, indicating that by the time of conquest of the Lombard kingdom by the Franks, Perugia had been incorporated into the Papally-ruled duchy of Rome. In fact, the duchy of Perugia as a distinct political unit cannot be charted later than the 740s.][.]
References
Sources
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Further reading
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{{coord missing, Italy
Provinces of the Byzantine Empire
6th century in the Byzantine Empire
7th century in the Byzantine Empire
8th century in the Byzantine Empire
Exarchate of Ravenna