The Theme of Dyrrhachium or Dyrrhachion (Greek: θέμα Δυρραχίου; Albanian: Thema e Durrësit) was a Byzantine military-civilian province (theme), covering the Adriatic coast of modern Albania, and some coastal regions of modern Montenegro. It was established in the early 9th century and named after its capital, Dyrrhachium (Durrës).[1]
| Theme of Dyrrhachium Δυρράχιον, θέμα Δυρραχίου Thema e Durrësit | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theme of the Byzantine Empire | |||||||||
| early 9th century–1205 | |||||||||
 Byzantine themes and major settlements in the southern Balkans, Aegean Islands, and western Anatolia (c. 900 CE) | |||||||||
| Capital | Dyrrhachium | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Established | early 9th century | ||||||||
• Norman occupation end | 1084 | ||||||||
• Surrendered to Venetians | 1205 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Albania | ||||||||
History
editThe exact date of the theme's establishment is unclear; a strategos of Dyrrhachium is attested in the Taktikon Uspensky of c. 842, but several seals of strategoi dating from the previous decades survive. J.B. Bury proposed its creation alongside the themes of the Peloponnese and Cephallenia in the early 9th century, with the historian Jadran Ferluga putting the date of its establishment in the reign of Emperor Nikephoros I (r. 802–811).[2][3][4] Its boundaries are not very clear. To the north, it abutted the Theme of Dalmatia and the Serbian principality of Duklja, and the Theme of Nicopolis to the south. The theme covered the coast in between, but how far inland it extended is uncertain: according to Konstantin Jireček, it reached as far as Drivast (modern Drisht) and Pulati (modern Pult) in the north, and Bellegrada (modern Berat) in the centre, and bordered the Slav-inhabited lands of the Upper Devoll and Ohrid in the south.[5] During the Byzantine–Bulgarian wars of the late 10th and early 11th centuries, the city seems to have been autonomous or at times under Bulgarian suzerainty.[2]
From the mid-11th century on, its governor held the title of doux or katepano.[2] In 1040–1041, the troops of the theme, under their leader Tihomir, rebelled and joined the revolt of Peter Delyan.[6]
During the late 11th and the 12th centuries, the city of Dyrrhachium and its province were of great importance to the Byzantine Empire. The city was the main point of entry for trade but also for invaders from Italy, and was ideally placed to control the actions of the Slavic rulers of the western Balkans. Thus the doux of Dyrrhachium became the senior-most Byzantine authority throughout the western Balkan provinces. Two successive governors, Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder and Nikephoros Basilakes, used this post as a launchpad for their imperial ambitions in the late 1070s. The region also played a crucial role in the Byzantine–Norman Wars, being occupied by the Normans in 1081–1084. After its recovery, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos entrusted the command of the theme to some of his closest relatives.[3][7][8] Nevertheless, the city magnates (archontes) retained considerable influence and autonomy of action throughout, and it was they who in 1205, after the sack of Constantinople by the Fourth Crusade, surrendered the city to the Venetians.[9]
During the existence of the theme, Dyrrhachium was also the main ecclesiastical center in the region. As attested by the Notitiae Episcopatuum and other sources, local episcopal sees in the province were grouped under jurisdiction of the Metropolitanate of Dyrrhachium, that belonged to the Patriarchate of Constantinople.[10][11]
List of known governors
edit- Unnamed strategos of Dyrrhachium during Leo Choirosphaktes' embassy to Bulgaria (896/904)[12]
- Leo Rhabdouchos, protospatharios and strategos of Dyrrhachium in 917[13]
- Constantine, imperial spatharios and strategos of Dyrrhachium (8th/9th-century seal)[14]
- Niketas Pegonites, patrikios and strategos of Dyrrhachium until 1018[15]
- Eustathios Daphnomeles, strategos of Dyrrhachium from 1018[15]
- Basil Synadenos, strategos of Dyrrhachium until c. 1040[16]
- Michael Dermokaites, strategos of Dyrrhachium from c. 1040[16]
- Michael, patrikios and katepano of Dyrrhachium c. 1043[17]
- Perenos, doux of Dyrrhachium c. 1064[17]
- Michael Maurex, vestarches and katepano of Dyrrhachium (seal dated to the 1060s/early 1070s)[14]
- Nikephoros Bryennios the Elder, doux of Dyrrhachium in 1075–1077[18]
- Nikephoros Basilakes, protoproedros and doux of Dyrrhachium in 1078[19]
- George Monomachatos, doux of Dyrrhachium in 1078–1081[17]
- George Palaiologos, 1081
- John Doukas, doux of Dyrrhachium in 1085–1092[20]
- John Komnenos, sebastos and doux of Dyrrhachium in 1092–1106[21]
- Alexios Komnenos, 1106 – after 1108
- Pirogordus [Pyrrogeorgios?], doux of Dyrrhachium early in the reign of John II Komnenos and George I of Duklja[22][9]
- Alexios Kontostephanos, doux of Dyrrhachium in the second quarter of the 12th century, during the reign of John II Komnenos and George I of Duklja[22][9]
- Alexios Bryennios, doux of Dyrrhachium and Ohrid, probably sometime between 1148 and 1156 [23]
- Alexios Doukas, mid-12th century[9]
- Constantine Doukas, c. 1171[9]
- Unnamed doux of Dyrrhachium in 1203[14]
References
edit- ^ Ferluga 1964, p. 83-92.
- ^ a b c Nesbitt & Oikonomides 1991, p. 40.
- ^ a b ODB, "Dyrrachion", (T. E. Gregory), p. 668.
- ^ Pertusi 1952, p. 177.
- ^ Zakythinos 1941, p. 211.
- ^ Stephenson 2004, p. 130.
- ^ Angold 1997, pp. 129ff., 152.
- ^ Stephenson 2004, pp. 151–152, 159–160.
- ^ a b c d e Stephenson 2004, p. 184.
- ^ Darrouzès 1981, p. 7, 18-19, 112-114, 117, 143, 149, 153, 155.
- ^ Dragojlović 1990, p. 201-209.
- ^ Zakythinos 1941, p. 212.
- ^ Zakythinos 1941, pp. 212–213.
- ^ a b c Zakythinos 1941, p. 218.
- ^ a b Zakythinos 1941, p. 213.
- ^ a b Zakythinos 1941, pp. 213–214.
- ^ a b c Zakythinos 1941, p. 214.
- ^ Zakythinos 1941, pp. 214–215.
- ^ Zakythinos 1941, p. 215.
- ^ Zakythinos 1941, pp. 215–216.
- ^ Zakythinos 1941, pp. 216–217.
- ^ a b Zakythinos 1941, p. 217.
- ^ Zakythinos 1941, pp. 217–218.
Sources
edit- Angold, Michael (1997). The Byzantine Empire, 1025–1204: A Political History. New York and London: Longman. ISBN 0-582-29468-1.
- Dragojlović, Dragoljub (1990). "Dyrrachium et les Évéchés de Doclea jusqu'a la fondation de l'Archevéche de Bar". Balcanica. 21: 201–209.
- Darrouzès, Jean, ed. (1981). Notitiae Episcopatuum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae. Paris: Institut français d'études byzantines.
- Ducellier, Alain (1981). La façade maritime de l'Albanie au Moyen Age. Durazzo et Valona du ΧIe au XVe siècle [The Albanian Seaboard in the Middle Ages. Durazzo and Valona from the 11th to the 15th Century] (in French). Thessaloniki: Institute for Balkan Studies.
- Ferluga, Jadran (1964). "Sur la date de la création du thème de Dyrrachium". Actes du XIIe Congrès international d'études byzantines. Beograd: Naučno delo. pp. 83–92.
- Kazhdan, Alexander, ed. (1991). The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-504652-8.
- Moravcsik, Gyula, ed. (1967) [1949]. Constantine Porphyrogenitus: De Administrando Imperio (2. ed.). Washington: Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies.
- Nesbitt, John; Oikonomides, Nicolas, eds. (1991). Catalogue of Byzantine Seals at Dumbarton Oaks and in the Fogg Museum of Art, Volume 1: Italy, North of the Balkans, North of the Black Sea. Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. ISBN 0-88402-194-7.
- Pertusi, A. (1952). Constantino Porfirogenito: De Thematibus (in Italian). Rome: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.
- Stephenson, Paul (2004). Byzantium's Balkan Frontier: A Political Study of the Northern Balkans, 900–1204. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-77017-3.
- Zakythinos, Dionysios (1941). "Μελέται περὶ τῆς διοικητικῆς διαιρέσεως καὶ τῆς ἐπαρχιακῆς διοικήσεως ἐν τῷ Βυζαντινῷ κράτει" [Studies on the administrative division and provincial administration in the Byzantine state]. Ἐπετηρίς Ἐταιρείας Βυζαντινῶν Σπουδῶν (in Greek). 17: 208–274. hdl:11615/19494.