CHAPTER I

THE SITUATION IN THE TIME OF KING LIUTPRAND

 

The unity of Italy was first established by the Romans, who, in the second century before our era, conquered Cisalpina Gaul, and reached the barrier of the Alps. This unity really consisted in unfailing submission to the Romans and to the masters who were appointed by them. Next to the senate and the magistrates of the Republic carne the Italian and provincial emperors, and then the Gothic kings of Ravenna. These were replaced, in the middle of the sixth century, by a re-establishment of the imperial rule, under the auspices of the Emperor of Constantinople. All these revolutions had taken place without any parceling out of the land, for although there had been frequent change of authority, it had always been of the same nature. The last change resembled the close of a long and disastrous war. Now, however, people were beginning to forget not only the prosperous reigns of Theodoric and Amalasunta, but even the miseries of the Gothic war, and congratulated themselves on living peacefully under the distant though unmistakable rule of the Emperor Justinian.

This happy state of affairs was interrupted in 569 by the Lombard invasion. At the same time the unity of Italy received a mortal blow, from which it took many centuries to recover. Not that Alboin wished to harm it, for he would willingly have supported it could he have done so to his own advantage. But his people had neither military power, nor unity of purpose enough, to set themselves against the whole of Italy, nor could they hold the same position of authority as the Goths had done. Besides, the Byzantine Empire, suffering from the inroads of the Avars in the north, and the Persians and Arabs in the east, were no longer in a condition to live up to the high ideals of Justinian. The dilapidated state of its military and financial power enabled it to offer but a desultory opposition to the attacks of the German barbarians. Towards the close of the sixth century the Roman defence was represented by two effort’s not tending in the same direction. One—that of a boundless, unconquerable, but impotent hopefulness—was embodied in the person of the Exarch Romanus—a lieutenant of the Emperor Maurice. The other, that of local interests and practical claims, was led by the diplomatic Pope Gregory. This last effort was the only one which, under the circumstances, had any chance of success. It resulted in peace, but at the same time, in the loss of Italian unity, for the imperial rule was divided with the Lombards.

Henceforward there were two Italies—the Lombard and the Byzantine. The former was subject to the barbarian masters of Northern Tuscany and the Valley of the Po, and the latter to the Roman Emperor of the East. The Byzantine power in Italy was steadily declining, and, being driven from the interior, was with difficulty sustained on the coast of Genoa, the Venetian lagoons, and the Southern peninsulas. The two parties were never at peace for long together, and the Lombards did not at all agree with the Byzantines, who considered that they had yielded enough. The Lombard power became more and more firmly established in the conquered territory, and they finally found themselves in a position to accomplish issues for which the strength of Alboin and his followers had been inadequate. On all sides their plans of conquest were renewed, and they were rapidly gaining control of the coast. As early as the seventh century Rothari had annexed the Ligurian sea-coast as well as the remaining imperial territory at the end of the Adriatic. The duchy of Beneventum was rapidly increasing its power; it took possession of Salerno, the Lucanian coast and maritime Apulia, and, following in the wake of the retreating Byzantines, extended its sway as far as Otranto and Calabria. In the time of St. Gregory it was still possible to journey from the Venetian islands right down to the Straits of Messina without leaving imperial ground. But now things were changed. The Lombard power was making itself felt all along the line of Byzantine possession, attacking any undefended positions, and breaking up the imperial domain. The possessions that remained in the far south—Otranto, Gallipoli, and Reggio—looked to Sicily for help, and, thanks to the friendly sea, the promontories of Sorrento, Naples, and Gaeta held out with fair success. The island of Rialto, on which Venice was beginning to rise, became the center of the lagoons of the north. Rome and Ravenna, though but poorly equipped, were engaged in a painful struggle in mid-Italy. While Rome, on her side, enjoyed a religious deference inspired by her sanctuaries, Ravenna’s only protecting influence lay in the majesty of the frail and distant empire. Liutprand, evidently at deadly enmity with them both, was gaining great successes. Sutri, Narni, Sora, Cumes, Osimo, Ancona, Bologna, Cesena, and even Ravenna’s own port, Classis, all yielded to the Lombard king, or to the Dukes of Spoleto and Beneventum. Negotiations, and even strategical maneuvers were essayed, not always in vain. The Pope tried the effect of entreaties and offers of money, but in spite of an occasional success it was obvious that the country surrounding Rome and Ravenna would soon be completely subjugated, and that finally the cities themselves would be obliged to yield.

Affairs in Italy were already going badly enough, when the Byzantine government contrived to quarrel with the Holy See. They disagreed on the fiscal question, and, what was more important still, on religious matters. Pope Gregory II, as the defender of the Church’s patrimony, thought fit to protest against certain new impositions. This opposition had an adverse effect upon the emperor’s financial plans, for the Church of Rome owned valuable property in Sicily, Calabria, and the other Byzantine districts, and the Pope was the richest contributor in Italy. But the final blow was the quarrel about images, in which the government interfered with the services of the Church and tried to impose upon the Pope religious regulations which had not even been submitted to his approval, Gregory II, in alarm, protested, and all Italy, Romans and Lombards alike, rallied round him.

He was, however, always a faithful subject of the empire, and though he organized resistance, he did not for a moment intend it as an act of rebellion. It must be admitted that the Byzantine officials tried his loyalty severely, for, from their point of view, it was the Pope, and not the Lombards, against whom they had to fight. They were under orders to dispatch him, and if the worst came to the worst, they did not mean to stop short of assassination. The Exarch Paul even sent troops to Rome, which was on the side of the Pope. But the Lombards came to their assistance, and Paul had to retreat to Ravenna. There he soon found himself in an unpleasant position, for the Venetian and Pentapolitan troops refused to obey him, and even threatened to announce the fall of Leo the Isaurian, to proclaim another emperor, and to lead him to Constantinople. The Pope, however, managed to calm this undue enthusiasm.

The unfortunate Exarch perished at Ravenna, in a riot, brought about by the general discontent. Another, Eutychius by name, was sent by the emperor to take his place. He was the last of the Exarchs. Having been furnished with the same instructions as his predecessor, he at first adopted the same tactics; but the resistance which he encountered led him to try to break through the bond, which religious defence had established between the Pope and the Lombards. From the Byzantine point of view this alliance was most undesirable. There was no great harmony between the Lombards of the kingdom and those of the two duchies of Spoleto and Beneventum. These duchies had, from the first, enjoyed the privilege of self-government, a privilege which had only strengthened as time went on. They were, it is true, attached to the Lombard State, but with ties as loose as those which, on the other side of the Alps, bound the duchies of Aquitaine, Alamanny, and Bavaria to the Frankish kingdom. King Liutprand sought every opportunity of making his authority felt in these detached provinces. He responded to the overtures of the new Exarch, and they both united in an effort to restore Spoleto and Beneventum to the royal dominion, and Rome to that of the imperial representative.

This amiable alliance gave general satisfaction, though the result was hardly what the emperor would have desired. The king entered Spoleto and received the submission of the two dukes; then, accompanied by the Exarch, he went on to Rome, or rather to St. Peter’s, where they were received by Pope Gregory. Liutprand was a Christian prince, as well as an experienced politician, and he and the Pope agreed to sacrifice the aggressive policy of the emperor against the Holy See. There seems to have been much interchange of courtesies, and the king overwhelmed St. Peter’s with gifts. Then, to show that they harbored no ill-feeling towards the Emperor of Constantinople, the Romans, headed by the Exarch, set out under the imperial banner to put down a rival of Leo the Isaurian, who had seized a favorable opportunity to land in a corner of Roman Tuscia. This Petasius or Tiberius, as he was called, was killed at Monterano, and from that time the Exarch of Ravenna ceased his machinations against the Roman pontiff. The emperor, if not the empire, was practically ignored, and the administrative power was distributed in such a way as enabled them to arrange matters among themselves without asking the imperial opinion.

The situation soon became clear. As a result of the iconoclast dispute the patriarch Germanus of Constantinople (730) was compelled to resign. Gregory II not only refused to recognize his successor, but severely reprimanded the prince who was the cause of all these disturbances. The Pope died soon after (731), but his policy was continued by Gregory III, who came after him. He even added force to his convictions by sending ambassadors to Constantinople, but Leo, far from giving way, managed to rid himself of these unwelcome guests by means of bribery and intimidation. Most often they were stopped on their way by the cruisers of the Sicilian patrician. The property of the Holy See in Sicily and in the other Byzantine possessions in the south of Italy was seized, and the bishops of these districts were dispatched to Constantinople. Once there they could not go to Rome for consecration, and they were regarded as subject to the authority of the patriarch of the imperial city.

The Exarch’s reconciliation with the Pope did not tend to increase his popularity with his chiefs, and availed but little against the Lombard attacks. Gregory II had almost succeeded in protecting the roman territory against his enterprising neighbours. Liutprand had yielded to his claims upon Lutri, though Narni was still in the grip of the Duke of Spoleto. Round Ancona and Ravenna the imperial power was decreasing to such an extent that Ravenna herself succumbed to the Lombards, and the Exarch Eutychius was obliged to take refuge at Venice. In compliance with the wishes of Gregory III the Venetians soon sent him back to Ravenna, and the Exarchate continued for some years longer.

Just then the tranquility of the situation was almost upset by a political indiscretion. The Dukes of Spoleto and Beneventum reasserted themselves, and assumed an independent attitude towards King Liutprand. Their neighbours at Rome, who could no longer resist the temptation to take an active part in Italian affairs, were unfortunately inspired to interfere in the quarrels which ensued. The king invaded Spoleto, expelled Duke Trasimund, and installed another in his place. The outraged duke sought refuge at Rome, and when the Romans refused to give him up to Liutprand, the latter seized upon Ameria, Orte, Bomarzo, and Blera, four places in the north of the duchy. Being now at open enmity with the Romans, his followers organized a series of pillaging expeditions in their domains, pushing their depredations even to the very gates of Rome.

Their interference seemed likely to cost the Romans dear. Gregory III in this extremity besought Liutprand to restore the four towns that he had taken. This request being, not unnaturally, refused, the Pope had recourse to the extreme measure of imploring help from France. Relays of messengers, charged with eloquent letters and presents, and bearing the Keys of the Confession of St. Peter, were dispatched to Charles Martel. Special attention was called by them to the plundering of the Roman territory, which was exhausting the revenues of St. Peter to such an extent that the illumination of the apostolic sanctuary had to suffer curtailment. Charles received the Pope’s representatives with due respect, and even sent an embassy in return. The Romans, however, could expect but little help from this quarter, for the relations between Charles and Liutprand were too harmonious to be disturbed. Only a short time before, the young Frankish prince, Pepin (the future conqueror of Astolphus) had been sent by his father to have his head shorn by Liutprand, in token of military adoption. In the same year (739), the Lombard king had, in response to Charles’s appeal, united with him against their common enemies, the Saracens, who were invading Provence. Besides, the Franks were not ignorant of the state of affairs in Italy, and they realized that the Romans had themselves to blame, in some measure at least, for the position in which they found themselves. If they were in difficulties, they must get out of them as best they could, such was the Frankish opinion.

In time, the Romans succeeded in overcoming the difficulty, but not without bloodshed. With unwonted and commendable energy, they undertook to subjugate the duchy of Spoleto, not for themselves, but for their confederate, Trasimund. One division of the army fell upon Abruzzo, while the other devoted its attention to the despoiling of Rieti and Spoleto. An entry was easily secured, and Trasimund, after giving orders that Duke Frederic, Liutprand’s protégé, should have his throat cut, established himself in his place. This was in December 740.

After this, it seemed that the least he could do was to show his gratitude to the Romans by helping them to regain the places they had lost in supporting his cause. There were, however, difficulties in the way. Trasimund saw that he would have his work cut out to maintain authority in his duchy, and apparently he did not feel equal to engaging in operations so
far from home. Liutprand, meanwhile, was leisurely preparing to bear down upon his refractory vassal of Spoleto, his ally, the Duke of Beneventum, and their good friends of Rome. The year 741 was passed in expectation. The Romans in vain demanded their towns from the helpless Trasimund. In the midst of all this, in the month of December, the Pope died, just a year after the triumphal entry into Spoleto. The same year also witnessed the passing of the two great Princes of the East and West, Leo the Isaurian (June 18), and Charles of France (October 22).

The Romans were in sore need of a man of wisdom who would guide them with his counsel. Pope Zachary, who was immediately elected, had no difficulty in explaining to them their situation and prospects. Liutprand and his army were about to descend upon them, secure that no opposition was to be feared on that side of the Alps. Had not Spoleto and Beneventum already twice succumbed to the king of the Lombards, and was it probable that the Roman forces, though not to be despised, could hold out against him? There seemed every chance that they would be defeated, and it was hardly likely under the circumstances that the king would yield to the Pope’s petitions that Rome should be spared. Their best course would be to forsake their faithless ally, Trasimund, and enlist themselves on the stronger side. They might then have occasion to render the king some service, which would redound to their advantage.

So it was arranged. The king, being approached by the Pope, promised not to molest the duchy of Rome, and further, to restore to them their lost towns.

As soon as he drew near to Spoleto the roman army advanced to his assistance. Trasimund made an unconditional surrender, and the Pope, fearing that the king’s promises might be as easily broken as those of the Duke of Spoleto, sallied forth to remind him of them, and at the same time to come to an understanding with him on other matters, ecclesiastical as well as political. The interview, which took place at Terni, was most satisfactory. The king agreed to keep peace with the duchy of Rome for twenty years, and restored not only the four towns, but also the imperial prisoners and the estates of the Holy See which had been annexed in the foregoing years.

The Romans were not alone in experiencing the truth of the saying that persuasion is often more effective than force. The following year Liutprand, not content with Bologna and Imola, seized upon the town of Cesena and even upon part of the land belonging to Ravenna. In response to the terrified appeal of the Ravennese, Pope Zachary hastened to their help, leaving the government of Rome to Stephen, patrician and duke. On 29th June, 743, he interviewed Liutprand at Pavia, and once more the Lombard king yielded to the peaceful tactics of the Pope, and Ravenna, for the time being, remained under the Byzantine sway.

At the beginning of the next year, 744, the long and glorious reign of Liutprand came to an end. Impertinently enough, Zachary’s biographer attributes his death to the prayers of the Pope, who had had so much reason to be grateful to him. We must, however, for Zachary’s honor, look upon this as the slander of an unprincipled eulogist. Be this as it may, the new king, Ratchis, at first appeared as well disposed as his predecessor. Like him, he granted the Pope’s request for a twenty years’ peace. But this was only to affect the duchy of Rome, and the Lombard king soon resumed the war against the emperor, in the neighborhood of Pentapolis and Perugia. He was besieging the latter when he was surprised by the Pope. Once more was the king obliged to yield to his irresistible eloquence, and deliver up the prey that he had already grasped. Indeed, Zachary’s blandishments were so effectual that Ratchis not only abandoned the siege of Perugia but he actually abdicated the Lombard throne (749) and entered upon a religious career. He, with his whole family, withdrew to St. Peter’s at Rome, and finally settled at Monte Cassino.

Zachary’s ambition had overleapt itself. He might have been thankful at having to deal with such kings as Liutprand and Ratchis, instead of rejoicing at their deaths or driving them into convents. The new king, Astolphus, proved himself less amenable to the Pope’s influence, and matters began immediately to assume a threatening aspect. He began by settling the affairs of Ravenna and Pentapolis, and at Zachary’s death, in March 752, the imperial rule was definitely abolished in those regions. In fact, to the north of the Apennines, the lagoons of Venice alone acknowledged the dominion of the Byzantine emperor.