| Theme of Dalmatia Θέμα Δαλματίας | |
|---|---|
| Theme of theByzantine Empire | |
| c. 870 – 1060s | |
 Map of the Balkans in 925 AD | |
| Capital | Zadar |
| Historical era | Middle Ages |
• Establishment as a theme. | c. 870 |
• Collapse of Byzantine control. | 1 April 1060 |
TheTheme of Dalmatia (Greek:θέμα Δαλματίας/Δελματίας,thema Dalmatias/Delmatias) was aByzantinetheme (a military-civilian province) on the eastern coast of theAdriatic Sea inSoutheastern Europe, headquartered at Jadera (later called Zara, today'sZadar).
Dalmatia first came under Byzantine control in the 530s, when the generals of EmperorJustinian I (r. 527–565) seized it from theOstrogoths in theGothic War. The invasions of theAvars andSlavs in the 7th century destroyed the main cities and overran much of the hinterland, with Byzantine control limited to the islands and certain new coastal cities -with local autonomy and calledDalmatian city-states- such asSpalatum (Split) andRagusium (Dubrovnik), while Jadera (Zadar) became the local episcopal and administrative center, under anarchon.[1] These coastal cities were the refuge of the autochthonousDalmatian neolatins, who created the original eightDalmatian city-states: (Vecla (nowKrk), Crespa (nowCres), Arba (nowRab), Jadera, Tragurium (nowTrogir), Spalatum, Ragusium and Cattaro (nowKotor)).
At the turn of the 8th to 9th century, Dalmatia was seized byCharlemagne (r. 768–814), but he returned it to the Byzantines in 812, after the so-called "Pax Nicephori". It is unclear whether the region was under actual rather than nominal Byzantine authority after that; the local Latin cities appear to have been virtually independent. Nevertheless, anarchon of Dalmatia is mentioned in the 842/843Taktikon Uspensky, and a seal of a "strategos of Dalmatia" dated to the first half of the century may indicate the existence of a Dalmatiantheme, at least for a short time.[2]
The traditional date of the establishment of Dalmatia as a regular theme is placed in the early years of the reign of EmperorBasil I the Macedonian (r. 867–886), following theexpeditions ofNiketas Oryphas.[1][2]
Byzantium, the Roman Pope and the Franks vied for the support of the Slavs in Dalmatia; in 878 AD,Zdeslav of Croatia was a noted Byzantine vassal, who deposed and was in turn deposed in a power struggle involving these powers. With the fall of theCarolingian Empire, the Franks ceased to be a major power in the Adriatic, while theRepublic of Venice grew in power in Dalmatia, beginning with DogePietro Tradonico. Since the time of DukeBranimir of Croatia, Venetians had to pay taxes to Croatia and to theNarentines for their ships traveling along the eastern Adriatic coast, while the Dalmatian city-states paid 710 ducats of tribute to the Croatian ruler.[3][4][5]
Around 923 AD,Tomislav of Croatia, the Byzantine emperor and the two church patriarchs were involved a deal that transferred the control of the Byzantine Dalmatian cities to the newCroatian kingdom. This started a series of similar maneuvers and theCroatian–Bulgarian Wars, during which the Byzantine emperors of theMacedonian dynasty maintained varying degrees of control over the Dalmatian cities. The Church also endured an analogous internal conflict between the rival dioceses ofSpalatum andNin. Between 986 and 990, due to active alliance againstSamuil of Bulgaria who also attacked Dalmatia up toJadera, kingStephen Držislav was compensated and awarded by EmperorBasil II the titles ofpatriarch andeparch, which gave him formal authority over theTheme of Dalmatia (but some historians believe not over theDalmatian city-states).[6] According toThomas the Archdeacon, Stephen Držislav received royal insignia and the titles as an act of recognition from the Byzantine Emperor, becomingreges Dalmatie et Chroatie and his descendants having the same titles.[6] The Venetian maritime power was obstructed by theNarentines and the Croats untilPietro II Orseolo who successfully intervened in 998 and 1000, and arranged two important royal marriages with both the Croats and the Byzantines. UnderDomenico I Contarini, Venice retookJadera.
Croatia again had a period of control over the theme and Dalmatian city-states underPeter Krešimir IV. By 1069 he expanded the kingdom on land and on sea calling the Dalmatian sea and islands as "ours", had theByzantine Empire recognize him as supreme ruler of the theme, and consolidated his holdings as theregnum Dalmatiae et Chroatia.[7] The 1074 invasion of theNormans partly shifted the balance of power as countAmico of Giovinazzo invaded Dalmatia from southern Italy, on behalf of the Dalmatian cities and Byzantines. Amico also besieged Rab for almost a month (late April to early May).[7] He failed to take the island, but he manage to take island Cres and capture the Croatian king himself who died in Norman prison by November 1074.[7][8] In February 1075 the Venetians banished the Normans and secured the Dalmatian cities for themselves.[8] The dogeDomenico Selvo self-titled himself as the doge of "Venice, Dalmatia and Croatia" (later only of "Dalmatia"), but did not have nominal power over Dalmatia and Croatia. In October 1075 was crownedDemetrius Zvonimir as the king of "Croatia and Dalmatia" by theHoly See and his power was felt even on the island of Krk and Cres.[7][8] His death in 1089 caused succession crisis in Croatia and Dalmatia, but although dogeVitale I Michiel made withColoman, King of Hungary agreement of 1098—the so-calledConventio Amicitiae—determined the spheres of interest of each party by allotting the coastal regions of Croatia to Hungary and Dalmatia to the Republic of Venice, Coloman in 1105 successfully conquered coastal cities of Dalmatia.[7]
In the south of the Dalmatia Theme, the city ofRagusa, one of the main Dalmatian city-states but still under Byzantine control, started to grow in importance, andits Church diocese was elevated to an archbishopric in 998 AD.
In the early 11th century, Byzantine control over the eight Dalmatian city-states started to be contested by the Serb principality ofDioclea, whose rulerJovan Vladimir took control ofBar, near the border with theTheme of Dyrrhachium. His feats were repeated and bested byStefan Vojislav twenty years later, and in 1034 AD, theBar diocese was elevated to an archdiocese, but a war withTheophilos Erotikos soon followed. Stefan Vojislav's sonMihailo obtained papal support following theEast–West Schism of 1054, further weakening Byzantine influence in Dalmatia.
Except for Ragusium and the southern third of Dalmatia, Byzantine control collapsed in the 1060s.[1]Constantine Bodin pledged his support forPope Urban II, which confirmed Bar's status as an archdiocese in 1089 AD, and resulted in a temporary demotion of the Ragusan diocese. By the end of the 11th century, theKingdom of Hungary took the Kingdom of Croatia's place in controlling the northern Dalmatian hinterland. Duklja remained largely under Byzantine control, with a series of internal conflicts weakening its leaders.
Byzantine predominance was restored under EmperorManuel I Komnenos (r. 1143–1180), but vanished after his death and was replaced byVenetian control.[1] With the rise ofStefan Nemanja, theNemanjić dynasty took control of the lands in the south of coastal Dalmatia, while nearly all the Dalmatian islands and coastal north-central Dalmatia was under full Venetian control since the 15th century and remained an area of the VenetianStato da Mar until 1797 (seeVenetian Dalmatia).
Byzantine governors of Dalmatia were styled asdukes (pl. ofByzantine Greek "δούξ",doux), a title derived from Latindux. In the 1170s, the duke wasConstantine Doukas.
43°49′00″N16°13′00″E / 43.8167°N 16.2167°E /43.8167; 16.2167