Английская Википедия:Byzantine expedition to Calabria (788/789)

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In late 788 or early 789, the Byzantine Empire invaded southern Italy in an effort to detach the kingdom of the Lombards from the Frankish domination and restore the exiled king Adelchis. The expeditionary army, supported by the Sicilian theme, was defeated in a major battle by a combined force of Lombards and Franks under Duke Grimoald III of Benevento.

The cause of the war was the breakdown in 788 of the proposed marriage between the Emperor Constantine VI, still under the regency of his mother, Irene, and Rotrude, the daughter of the Frankish king Charlemagne. Following the war, relations between the two empires were not re-established until 797.

Date

In the words of the Royal Frankish Annals, "there was war between the Greeks and the Lombards" in 788.Шаблон:Sfn Theophanes the Confessor places the conflict under the year 6281 of the Byzantine calendar, which began on 1 September 788 and ended 31 August 789.Шаблон:Sfn Scholars generally date the invasion to 788 in accordance with the Annals.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn According to Tibor Živković, the expedition probably took place no earlier than December 788, since the definitive rupture in Franco-Byzantine relations occurred in October 788 and Constantine VI's marriage to Maria of Amnia in November, and no later than the spring of 789.Шаблон:Sfn Warren Treadgold believes the expedition landed in Italy in November 788, timed "to come just after" Constantine's marriage.Шаблон:Sfn Judith Herrin places it in 789.Шаблон:Sfn

Byzantine and Frankish sources agree that the cause of the war was the canceling of the engagement between Charlemagne's daughter Rotrude and Constantine VI. They disagree on the initiative for the cancelation, with Theophanes crediting Irene and the Royal Annals Charlemagne.Шаблон:Sfn The historian Roger Collins accepts the Frankish account, which makes the Byzantine expedition into retaliation for Charlemagne cancelling the marriage alliance.Шаблон:Sfn

Commanders and contingents

The Byzantine expeditionary force was under the command of the sakellarios John and the Lombard exile Adelchis.Шаблон:Sfn[1] John was a eunuch who had commanded the army against the Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor in 781.Шаблон:Sfn Adelchis, called Theodotos by Theophanes,Шаблон:Sfn had been co-king of the Lombards with his father Desiderius prior to Charlemagne's conquest of the kingdom in 774. He continued to be reognised as the legitimate king by the Byzantine government.Шаблон:Sfn Had the expedition been successful, he would have been restored to rule in Italy under a Byzantine protectorate.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Multiple image In the words of Theophanes, the purpose of the expedition was "to hold off Charles—if they could—and to detach some men from him."Шаблон:Sfn In addition to sending an expeditionary force, Irene ordered Theodore, the governor of Sicily, to provide support to the invasion.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Theophanes says that Theodore was "with them" at the battle.Шаблон:Sfn

The Lombards were led by Duke Grimoald III of Benevento and Duke Hildeprand of Spoleto. A contingent of Franks under Winigis was sent, in the words of the Annals, "to oversee everything they [the Lombards] did".Шаблон:Sfn The Frankish force was probably small. The actual commander was Grimoald.Шаблон:Sfn He had been a hostage of Charlemagne for the good behaviour of his father, Arechis II. His elder brother Romuald and his father died suddenly within weeks of each other in 788. Charlemagne released Grimoald on the promise that Frankish overlordship would be recognized in Benevento, including on charters and coins.Шаблон:Sfn

Battle and aftermath

The Byzantines landed in Calabria and marched towards the border with the Duchy of Benevento.Шаблон:Sfn The main battle took place in Calabria,Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn near the frontier.Шаблон:Sfn The Annals credits victory to the Franks and Lombards.Шаблон:Sfn Theophanes describes John as the commander "defeated by the Franks".Шаблон:Sfn He was captured in battle and "put to a cruel death".Шаблон:Sfn In a letter dated 790, Alcuin of York, Charlemagne's confidant, wrote to Colcu of Clonmacnoise that the Byzantines "fled to their ships" after their defeat, having lost 4,000 men killed and 1,000 captured.Шаблон:Sfn A substantial booty was also recovered.Шаблон:Sfn The ultimate fate of Adelchis is unknown. He disappears from the historical record after his defeat.Шаблон:Sfn

Following the battle, there is no recorded diplomatic contact between the two powers until Constantine VI sent the strategos of Sicily, Niketas, on an embassy to Aachen in 797. It probably dealt with the release of prisoners.Шаблон:Sfn One of these captives, not released at that time, was Sisinnios, elder brother of Patriarch Tarasios of Constantinople.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn According the Annals, in 798, after Constantine's death, Irene negotiated his release.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn

Notes

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Bibliography

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  1. ↑ Шаблон:Harvnb, and Шаблон:Harvnb, call John a logothete.
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