From 802 to 811, we encounter several diplomatic missions beween Byzantium and the Carolingians with the scope to secure or confirm peace, although in 798 such an agreement had been reached. The real target behind such negotiations was a recognition of the coronation and imperial title of Charlemagne since 800, denied by Byzantium for years. It was only in 810 that Nicephorus I yielded due to military/ political difficulties in Northern Italy with Pepin/pippin, son of Charlemagne, and against the Bulgarians. (...) A treaty defined spheres of interest and Byzantine representatives acclaimed Charlemagne as basileus in 812. The present article tries to clarify the different stages and elements of the whole process. When the power of the Carolingian state diminished in the ongoing 9th century, Byzantium step by step deviated from full recognition of the Western emperor, a process clearly visible during the joint venture against Arab Bari from 869 to 871. An appendix deals with the question, if Empress Eirene had offered a kind of junior-emperorship to Charlemagne in 798/799, as already Paul Speck proposed more than forty years ago, without finding much approval. Now it seems probable that he was right. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Millennium Jahrgang: 11 Heft: 1 Seiten: 237-260.

Between 806 and 811 three Byzantine fleets operated in the Venetian lagoon. We owe the informations about it to the Annales regni Francorum, which however manipulated the chronology and contents of the encounter with Pepin. The aim behind such doing was both, to present the Frankish actions in a favourable light and not to offend the Byzantines, since 811/12 on good terms with the Carolingians. The present contribution tries to re-establish the correct sequence of events.