Chapter four
The inside of the Church of San Salvatore in Spoleto: a protochristian basilica renovated by the Lombards in the VIII century and since them remained unchanged till today.
Kormeisy during the last years of rule of Tervel was busy to fight the Serbian tribes in Moesia Superior without relevant progress; he knew of an agreement between the Khan and the Byzantines over claims to other territories, but at the time he didn’t give importance. Returned in Pliska after making a peace with the Serbians, and elected new Khan by the chieftains of the Bulgarian tribes, however he took interest over the agreement and envisioned it. However the only available copies of the treaty in possession of the Bulgarians were only in Greek (the Bulgarians didn’t adopted yet a written language), Kormeisy on the par of the father badly knew that language, so needing translators, and even with the documents traduced the comprehension was limited and quite vague.
As the historians of the time surmised, Maria proposed to Tervel a vague control over lands “in” Macedonia, Epirus and Moesia without entering in the specific, recognizing an eventual access to the Adriatic and the Aegean seas but not explaining at what height. Wanting however to reclaim his rights someway and somehow, he made the only reasonable choice possible, sending messengers to Constantinople to seek a new contact with Maria. He was however disappointed when those messengers returned explaining him the Dowager Express was still in Italy, and required a quite long voyage by sea only to deliver her the Khan’s request.
Kormeisy in the meanwhile developed another strategy, turned to seek support into the Constantinopolean court; the Khan was aware of his strength and that of his people as Northern shield for the Second Rome and was determined to make the necessary pressures to obtain what he wanted. However, Kormeisy didn’t have a large array of interlocutors at disposal, with part of the Imperial retinue in Italy, and the strong man of the Empire, Artavasdos, was busy in Anatolia, neither he seemed intentioned to negotiate directly with Kormeisy, not only to usurp Imperial prerogatives which could made appear him in suspicion of insurrection, but also, al least in the opinion of the historians of the time, like Maria he wasn’t intentioned to give permission to the Bulgarians to occupy lands de jure of the Empire, despite not de facto in truth.
In the end, Kormeisy was forced to seek a contact with the most prestigious person in Constantinople, the Patriarch Germanus I. Albeit elected in 715 after a quite agitated youth (he was even castrated), Germanus was to be considered one of the more involved people in the rise of the Isauric Dynasty. For the few he knew of Leo III, he was in cordial relations with him, albeit he was quite worried about his aniconic tendencies; he developed then a more deep cooperation with Maria after the death of the husband, starting from the early baptize of Constantine V; in theory the infant should have baptized for the 25th December in occurrence with the Nativity of Christ, but the situation of emergency convinced him the infant Emperor needed immediately to be recognized into the community of the Christians.
Germanus hadn’t reasons at the time to be hostile towards Maria, especially when she agreed to his suggestion to create a major distance with the Paulicians, accepting a more official Christian education for Constantine, instilling in her the doubts over eventually becoming a second Theodora (the wife of Justinian which supported the Monophysism). He naturally hoped to forge Constantine as a good Greek rite Christian, but the smallpox breakout of Constantinople convinced Maria to settle temporally in Greece. Then there was the campaign for Patras, and then the intervention in Sicily, and so on. It was quite not pleasant for the patriarch seeing how the Imperial family stayed so long in Italy, missing the opportunity to eventually contribute to the education of the child Emperor, but between the Arab pressures and the Lombard machinations, Maria was more than justified to cure the Italian affairs.
Still, Constantinople started to fall in a sort of apathy. It was still the main cultural and economical centre of Mediterranean and Europe, the capital of the Roman Empire, but the palatine activities without the Imperial presence to coordinate them started to slow considerably; naturally the administrative machine was still functional without the presence of an Emperor, in some ways it was also convenient for the Imperial coffins not forced to maintain the lavish court (and the reduced, itinerant retinue of Maria and Constantine was less expensive as well, living in various moments of the kindness of the Pope or of the noble families of Naples), but at the same time the city hosted also less religious celebrations (or not with the usual splendour) or chariot races in the Hippodrome. Constantinople started to cry the return of his Emperor, and in his absence he looked more towards his Patriarch.
Albeit Germanus couldn’t take personal decisions over the requests of Kormeisy, he offered instead as intermediate between him and Maria; which for the Patriarch, it was a great occasion to introduce to the Khan and his court cultural elements of Greek nature and at the same time consolidating the expanding Orthodox Church of Bulgaria under the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
The negotiations between Pliska and the mobile Imperial court lasted for another year, until Maria gave Kormeisy permission to reclaim formally for the Bulgarians the region of Macedonia, or to better say the Macedonian territories north of Thessalonica, as the Dowager Empress wanted for the Empire to restore a land connection between said city and Constantinople, at the time defecting. Maria remained instead more vague about the promised sea access to the Aegean Sea, which in her intention should have been west of Thessalonica; only that west of that city on the coast weren’t located relevant harbours, and were coastal areas quite near to Thessaly. For the modern historians, remaining vague over that particular claim later proved to be quite nefarious for the Empire, and so considered one of the main mistakes in Maria’s entire reign.
But Kormeisy was rather satisfied of the agreement reached, as Macedonia was considered by the Bulgarians an important territory to gain for Bulgaria, as it will be a crossroad between Moesia Inferior, Epirus, and Greece proper. Plus, to the same Khan was made soon present in Macedonia was present a minor Bulgarian presence: the so called “Bulgarians of Kuber”, from a nephew of Asparukh, which split from the main horde ending in those lands, remaining rather isolated from their people and attempting to coexist with the other Slavic tribes of the area. Those Bulgarians were also called Keramisians from the valley of Keramisia where they settled.
Tervel at the time of the war against the Arabs entered somehow in contact with them through the Byzantines, while Kormeisy wasn’t properly informed as busy to fight the Serbians: but now, the Khan had a more valid reason to conquest Macedonia, in order to unify the Bulgarian people. To reach Macedonia however he needed to conquest the valley of the Evros, where settled the tribe of the Dragovites which were the local power of the region. Kormeisy had various reasons to seek their submission, for first to secure the Bulgarian Southern borders, then to obtain a rather prosperous land such as the basin of the Evros, and the main settlement here located, the prestigious city of Philippoupolis. In the spring of 722, the Bulgarians, after receiving a denial from the Dragovites to become their vassals, started their campaign on the Evros valley; in that occasion, Gregorius arrived to bless the Khan and his troops in Adrianopolis, which the Empire agreed to concede the Bulgarians to transit it for their campaign. From that event (where Gregorius addressed Kormeisy as Caesar, which between the Bulgarians started to be contracted into “Tzar” or “Czar”), the relations between the rulers of Bulgaria and the Patriarchs of Constantinople grew exponentially.
Gregorius, which obtained great relevance with his role of mediator and of pacifier of the Bulgarians, however expected that Maria, after the liberation of Sardinia and Corsica, returned with Constantine in the Second Rome to conclude the negotiations with Kormeisy, but other events made so to keep the Isauric dynasty still in the Italian peninsula.
Between the Empire and the Lombard Kingdom remained opened some territorial contestations worsened by the fact Liutprand when hearing of the siege of Constantinople ordered the invasion of Central Italy: even the Duchies of Spoleto and Benevento attacked the Byzantine territories, but the Imperial reply was strong and not only keep the ground, but also repealed back the Lombards. Even if defeated, remained still some territories in Lombard hands the Duke of Spoleto especially, at the time Faroald II, wasn’t willing to return back, in part to not compromise the little he managed to gain and in part because albeit being a capable leader, Liutprand fatigued to impose his authority in Langobardia Minor. The prolonged separation deteriorated the ties between the two Lombard branches, and in the Southern Duchies slowly risen if not will of independence, at least of major autonomy, especially in economical nature: needed all the resources possible to ensure the necessary measures against the Byzantine, sending yearly tributes to Pavia, in a court which always failed so far to bring Italy under a single banner so relieving finally their stance of “perpetual siege” (towards them). Submission to Constantinople was unacceptable, but in Spoleto such as Benevento grew strong the belief if the pressures over the Byzantine corridor will cease, the Empire could eventually accept to normalize the relations with the Southern Lombards.
Liutprand was aware of the growing weariness of the Southern Duchies, considering that the one of Benevento was harshly expelled from Cuma by the Neapolitans, and as said before Spoleto wanted to enforce whatever gained so far, but between the occupation of Corsica and his forces still to recover from the conflict of 717, could only attempt to gain time: so he proposed eventually to Maria a marriage between his daughter and Constantine. But albeit the Pope was interested to promote the marriage to favour peace in Italy, Maria wasn’t convinced. It’s not that she wanted to use her dilatory tactics, but she heard news the girl in question had a frail health condition, and her mother wasn’t better. Liutprand didn’t have male sons and his heir was probably his brother, plus the Lombard ruler was in good conditions as well and probably could have outlasted his daughter.
About Liutprand, it wasn’t sure the exact reason why he wanted the marriage, but the main possible explanation was he wanted, even for some years, a friendly Empire to allow him to operate in Longobardia Minor and restore a royal authority which started to be more weak in the South. In fact, about Byzantine and Frank fonts of the period, the negotiations offered to the Imperial side the possibility to concede a paid and agreed transit of Lombard forces between the two Longobardias through the Imperial corridor.
The only opportunity about marry the daughter of the Lombard King for Constantine was her dowry, which to the Dowager’s intention was to be paid in money or lands; and considering the child was the only living one of Liutprand, it was expected a relevant payment in that sense. In that position, she was supported by the Dukes of Rome and Naples; they didn’t like the idea of a Lombard Roman Empress, but if it had to be then it was better to exploit the most possible from the deal; and if Liutprand in the end turned back in front of the Byzantine request, it was a good chance the already fragile cooperation between the two Italian sides could break in the end.
In fact, the more the Isauric dynasty remained in Italy, the better was with the local Duchies, as the court made so to drag resources from Anatolia to the peninsula to keep their standards and the force of the Imperial army at defence of the Emperor. It was still an Anatolian-Greek based force, but as Maria started to reorganize the Italian tagmata, slowly the numbers of Italian soldiers started to rise; while the officers of the Schola Palatina started to train native soldiers to let it enter in their elite division.
However, the more the Duchies of Rome and Naples started to regain authority and prestige, a sense of uncertainty was moving across the Esarchate of Ravenna. The latest Lombard raids proved the Pentapolis wasn’t the unconquerable wall as in the past (considering they arrived to Classes which practically was as the doors of Ravenna), the slow advance of the Po Delta was affecting the surroundings of the former Imperial capital weakening its natural defences, and above all the geopolitical centre of Italy was gradually shifting again to Rome. The Pentapolis of course remained loyal to the Empire but necessitated to be reassured by the Dowager Empress.
Maria finally accepted to travel to Ravenna in 722, being enough covered by the start of the negotiations with Liutprand over the marriage, and also because being in the main Adriatic harbour her correspondence with Constantinople will be a little more fasten; and considering there was also for her the pending issue with Artavasdos, she decided to remain with Constantine in Italy at least until his sixth birthday, so until 724: a news which didn’t see to be so largely appreciated in Constantinople. There were naturally concerns over the possible wedding with the daughter of Liutprand, considering it could be probably be arranged by the Pope of Rome so with the Latin rite, a move which certainly could be hardly be digested by the Orthodox Churches regardless of their positions over the issue of the icons. However Maria let it known she will respect in full the agreement between her dead husband and Artavasdos so he will marry in the end a member of the family, albeit it was still unclear it will be her or Anna.
That declaration reinforced the position of the Kouropalates, which by many was already seen as the apparent heir of Constantine. The Anatolian didn’t have so reasons to force still the hand, seeing how he was gaining support in the city; but his relations with Germanus remained rather correct, because the Patriarch was more wary of him especially when he entered in contact with various Bishops of Asia Minor and Paulician elements to discuss him about the issue of iconoclastism. Artavasdos wasn’t according to the fonts of the time aligned with one or another faction at the time, albeit if he was quite in contact with Leo III, he was probable to have a leaning stance against the icons.
However, as usual in the East the prolonged absence of the Imperial family was accepted, while the negotiations between Ravenna and Pavia (with the intermission of Rome) proceeded. The main point of debate remained the occupied lands still in hands of the Duchy of Spoleto, of which Maria requested the immediate return. Liutprand in the end caved in, sending an ultimatum to Faroald II to relinquish the contested lands.
The Duke caved as well, but his fold along with the Royal ultimatum eroded his popularity and prestige in his territory, giving to his son Thrasimund a chance to rise to power…
However, the Spoletine fold brought Lombards and Byzantines a reach an agreement of substance about the possible wedding to be held in Rome not until 728, when Constantine will be ten years old; Liutprand agreed to eventually cede some border areas, especially in the zone of the corridor, and both of the direction of Langobardia Maior and Minor: a decision which encountered further dissent in the Southern Lombard Duchies. But Liutprand didn’t have other available cards to play, especially when Maria started to open diplomatic channels with the most powerful man of the Kingdom of the Franks, the Major of the Palace Charles, son of Pepin of Herstal, who restored a fragmented Frank nation after a period of internal divisions and strife. Charles imposed over the Franks a child of Dagobert III, Theodoric IV, as King, but he was no more than a mere puppet on his hands.
Maria sent letters of congratulations towards Charles along with the official recognition of Theodoric as Frank King, along with the Pope as well. It was instead bad news for Theodoric, as a rejuvenated Frank Kingdom on his borders could put a relevant pressure on the Lombards especially if the Dowager Empress attempted to make a deal with him. But Maria didn’t have sufficient knowledge over the Franks in general, she had to rely mostly on the Papacy and the Latin Church in that direction, so at the time she didn’t push more than having cordial relations; and besides Charles wasn’t interested over the Italian affairs, looking more in direction of Germany at the time.
Anyway, with the deal sealed, Maria and Constantine returned to Rome to enjoy their supposed last months in Italy. But, during the first part of 724, things precipitated when Thrasimund of Spoleto deposed his father, reclaimed his title as second of his name, and then asked Liutprand to recognize his accession. The Lombard king refused enraged, as he couldn’t allow an usurpation in his lands, and consequently asked to Thrasimund to step down. The reply could be only negative from the other side, so the Duke of Spoleto started to rally his armies and to promote further a major autonomy from Pavia: not however independence, as there was a relevant part of Lombards which will never accept to break away from their northern brothers. Thrasimund appeased the internal opposition stating he didn’t want to break away from the Lombard Kingdom, but only to have a less tribute to pay and a major freedom in the internal activities of the Duchies. In the meanwhile, the Duchy of Benevento declared its neutrality in the growing crisis between Spoleto and the North; the Duke Romuald didn’t want to disregard the authority of his King, albeit he felt similar sentiment of autonomy from Pavia as well, but he feared sending an army in direction of the rebellious Duchy will left weakened border lands which could see a potential Byzantine aggression.
In all the growing mess into the Lombard domains, Maria postponed undefinitely eventual returns in Constantinople, and started to discuss of the current situation with the Dukes of Rome and Naples, and the Pope, the first ones wanting to immediately launch an assault against the Lombards, and Gregory II which wanted to promote a general pacification. As the respective sides started to heat against each other, in the end Maria opted for a general mobilization of the Imperial forces in Italy to protect its borders. The Empire will remain neutral in the quarrel between Liutprand and Thrasimund but it will not concede right of transit to both the Northern and the Southern Lombards, and any violation of that position from them will be regarded as an act of war.
Thrasimund was delighted to hear the Byzantine stance, because he believed to have secured his external front from Liutprand’s eventual attacks, so not only he deflected from his positions, but he started as emboldened to ask further concessions from his king.
Liutprand didn’t have much choices than to submit with the force the rebel vassal, even at cost to pass into Byzantine territory, so in the early Spring of 724 a Northern Lombard army, the king at its head, entered into the Imperial lands marching on the coast of the Trasimene Lake and pointing in direction of Perugia…