We begin our Exarchate of Ravenna polity in 568 CE, the date of the last praetorian prefect in Italy, although the first ’exarch’ (essentially a governor with political and military authority) known by name dates to the last decades of the 6th century.
[1]
This year saw Lombard and Germanic tribes invade northern Italy, expelling the Byzantine influence in the area which the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (r. 527-565 CE) had established only about a decade earlier. The Exarchate of Ravenna together with most of central Italy and parts of the south were the only parts of the former Ostrogothic Kingdom to remain under Byzantine authority after this time. Shortly afterwards, perhaps around 575 CE or slightly later, the first exarch of Ravenna was created under the aegis of the Byzantine emperor.
[2]
The Exarchate period ended when the last exarch, Eutychius, was killed during the Lombard conquest of the territory in 751 CE. However, recognition of the nominal Byzantine authority in the region persisted until 781 CE, when the years of the emperor’s reign were no longer used for dating papal documents or on the coins minted in Rome.
[3]
Population and political organization
The Exarchate of Ravenna was essentially a special province of the East Roman Empire and the exarch owed nominal allegiance to the emperor in Constantinople. The Roman Senate was last known operating in 580 CE
[4]
and many of the senators moved to Constantinople ’to maintain access to court appointments’.
[4]
In Italy, Ravenna was the undisputed home and capital for the army and civil administration.
[5]
The exarch was a ruler who combined civil and military powers,
[6]
commanding over 50,000 square kilometres of land in Italy after a period of protracted warfare had destroyed the Roman-friendly Ostrogothic governmental system.
[4]
His duties included leading the army in Italy, publishing and enforcing laws and canons of church councils, and appointing most subordinate officials.
[1]
Exarchs were appointed by the East Roman Emperor from among the personnel of his palace administration in Constantinople ’and rarely had served in any capacity in Italy before being named exarch’.
[1]
The criteria for choosing exarchs is not entirely clear, nor is it certain how long they might have expected their official tenure to last.
[6]
What is clear is that the exarch retained a great deal of authority and autonomy in the region.
Under the exarch, dukes of provinces ruled from cities (e.g. Rome, Naples, Rimini, Venice) and tribunes governed in towns. Like the exarch himself, the role of dukes and tribunes combined both military and civic duties. However, these men, ’along with the lower-level officers and troops, administrators, clerks, and tax collectors were drawn primarily from the local population, including educated laymen, although on occasion an official might be sent from Constantinople’.
[7]
Ravenna was governed both directly by the exarchal administration
[7]
and, until the mid-7th century, a city council (curia) responsible for tax collection and certifying and storing legal documents.
[8]
Decentralization from 600 to 750 CE weakened the authority of the exarch,
[9]
and as government collapsed, the dukes in the provinces gained power.
[10]
The 7th century CE saw the development of an ’increasingly closed and hereditary land and officeholding aristocracy’.
[11]
Another important rival of the exarch’s authority was the archbishop of Ravenna. The exarch worked with the archbishop of Ravenna ’in legal cases, foreign affairs, papal relations, and other similar sorts of situations’,
[12]
but sometimes they clashed on ’doctrinal matters’.
[13]
The Church also financed public works projects, such as building churches and public baths.
[14]
Italy experienced a slight population expansion during this period, and had perhaps over one million inhabitants.
[15]
[1]: (Noble 1984, 4) Thomas F. X. Noble. 1984. The Republic of St. Peter: The Birth of the Papal State, 680-825. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
[2]: (Nicol 1988, 5) Donald M. Nicol. 1988. Byzantium and Venice: A Study in Diplomatic and Cultural Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[3]: (Grierson and Blackburn 2007, 259) P. Grierson and M. Blackburn. 2007. Medieval European Coinage, Volume 1: The Early Middle Ages (5th-10th Centuries). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[4]: (Deliyannis 2010, 207) Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[5]: (Deliyannis 2010, 207-10) Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[6]: (Deliyannis 2010, 208) Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[7]: (Deliyannis 2010, 286-87) Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[8]: (Deliyannis 2010, 208, 286-87) Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[9]: (Deliyannis 2010, 278) Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[10]: (Deliyannis 2010, 287) Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[11]: (Noble 1984, 7) Thomas F. X. Noble. 1984. The Republic of St. Peter: The Birth of the Papal State, 680-825. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
[12]: (Deliyannis 2010, 210, 287) Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[13]: (Brown 1979, 26) T. S. Brown. 1979. ’The Church of Ravenna and the Imperial Administration in the Seventh Century’. The English Historical Review 94 (370): 1-28.
[14]: (Deliyannis 2010, 201) Deborah Mauskopf Deliyannis. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[15]: (Noble 1984, 8) Thomas F. X. Noble. 1984. The Republic of St. Peter: The Birth of the Papal State, 680-825. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
| 33 T |
| Exarchate of Ravenna |
| Ravenna |
| Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna | |
| Byzantine Exarchate |
| nominal allegiance to [---] | |
| vassalage to [---] |
| Roman |
| Republic of St Peter |
| continuity |
| Preceding: East Roman Empire (tr_east_roman_emp) [continuity] | |
| Succeeding: Republic of St Peter I (it_st_peter_rep_1) [vassalage] |
| loose | |
| confederated state | |
| nominal |
| 30,000 people | 600 CE |
| [100,000 to 125,000] people | 700 CE |
| 50,000 km2 |
| 1,000,000 people | 600 CE |
| 1,250,000 people | 700 CE |
| inferred absent |
| present |
| absent |
| present |
| inferred absent |
| present |
| inferred absent |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| absent |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| inferred present |
| absent |
| present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| inferred present |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| absent |
| present |
| present |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| unknown |
| unknown |
| absent |
| unknown |
| present |
| unknown |
| absent |
| absent |
| unknown |
| present |
| unknown |
| absent |
| inferred present |
| inferred present |
| absent |
| inferred present |
| absent |
| present |
| present |
| present |
| unknown |
| present |
| present |
| unknown |
| present |
| present |
| unknown |
| Year Range | Exarchate of Ravenna (it_ravenna_exarchate) was in: |
|---|---|
| (568 CE 710 CE) | Latium |
Decentralization trend throughout period, as well as a power struggle between the Papacy in Rome and the Exarch of Ravenna, the nominal representative of the East Roman Emperor in Constantinople. The Byzantines appeared to abandon Liguria, the Lazial and Tuscan Maremma in the 640s CE.
[1]
[1]: Marazzi, 386
568 CE start date+ the reforms of the East Roman Empire which ended the Praetorian Prefect of Italy and created the Exarchate of Ravenna.
However, "The earliest document that remains to us in which we find definite mention of the exarch is the famous letter, dated October 4, 584, of Pope Pelagius II. to the deacon Gregory, his nuncio in Constantinople."
[1]
+Or 575 CE, "The new order was created at the end of the reign of Justin II. (565-578)",
[1]
when Baduarius commanded the imperial armies in Italy against the Lombards "he was supreme governor of the province. And it seems certain that it was to mark the amalgamation in him of the two offices, military and civil, that the new title of exarch was created."
[1]
Ended when the Exarchate was conquered by the Lombards 751 CE who killed Eutychius, the last Exarch. However, formal recognition of nominal Byzantine authority persisted until 781 CE when the years of the Byzantine Emperor’s reign were no longer used for dating Papal documents or on the minting of imperial coins in the mint of Rome.
[2]
[1]: (Hutton 1926)
[2]: (Grierson and Blackburn 2007, 259)
Nominal allegiance to the East Roman Emperor in Constantinople.
"By the year 600, the leader of Byzantine administration was a figure called the exarch."
[1]
"The exarchs were always sent from Constantinople, but we do not know the criteria by which such officials were chosen, or how long they might have expected their official tenure to last."
[1]
"The exarch was the emperor’s direct representative in Italy, and in theory he had a very narrow scope for personal inititive. Only on rare occasions did his term of office exceed six or seven years. His duty was to lead the exercitus Italicus, administer the province during the pleasure of his imperial master, publish laws and canons of church councils, and appoint most subordinate officials."
[2]
Under the Byzantines, Ravenna had status of provincial capital.
[3]
[1]: (Deliyannis 2010, 208) Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[2]: (Noble 1984, 4) Noble, Thomas F. X. 1984. The Republic of St. Peter. The Birth of the Papal State, 680-825. University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia.
[3]: (Deliyannis 2010, 210) Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Nominal allegiance to the East Roman Emperor in Constantinople.
"By the year 600, the leader of Byzantine administration was a figure called the exarch."
[1]
"The exarchs were always sent from Constantinople, but we do not know the criteria by which such officials were chosen, or how long they might have expected their official tenure to last."
[1]
"The exarch was the emperor’s direct representative in Italy, and in theory he had a very narrow scope for personal inititive. Only on rare occasions did his term of office exceed six or seven years. His duty was to lead the exercitus Italicus, administer the province during the pleasure of his imperial master, publish laws and canons of church councils, and appoint most subordinate officials."
[2]
Under the Byzantines, Ravenna had status of provincial capital.
[3]
[1]: (Deliyannis 2010, 208) Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[2]: (Noble 1984, 4) Noble, Thomas F. X. 1984. The Republic of St. Peter. The Birth of the Papal State, 680-825. University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia.
[3]: (Deliyannis 2010, 210) Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
This needs a bracket, to reflect the extraordinarily tentative hold the Byzantines had on Rome from the early eighth century on; by the beginning of the polity period, the papacy was effectively independent, or at least left to its own devices for defence, due to the Byzantine focus on defending Constantinople from Arab attacks, especially before the last Arab siege of Constantinople, in 717-718 CE. [1]
[1]: For this see Brown, 318-19.
Decentralization trend throughout period. In 727 CE there was a general rebellion against Byzantine officials, with the Exarchate joined by Venice. In Ravenna, the exarch was killed and cities elected their own Dukes. [1]
[1]: (Daly 1986)
Inhabitants. Estimate for Rome.
Ravenna
[9,000-10,000]: 600 CE; [7,000-7,500]: 700 CE. "S. Cosentino proposes a population for Ravenna in the eighth and ninth centuries of around 7,000-7,500 people, which would represent only a slight decrease from his estimate of 9,000-10,000 in the imperial period."
[1]
Rome
[100,000-125,000]: 700 CE.
[2]
30,000: 600 CE.
[3]
Is the figure for Rome accurate?
"the urban and rural populations of Italy were devestated by the bubonic plague which hit Italy beginning in 543 and returned in successive waves until the 740s. Mortality rates are almost impossible to deduce, but some scholars think that it must have been similar to the Black Death, killing 30 per cent or more of the population, at least in urban areas. Outbreaks of the disease are documented in Ravenna for the 560s, 591-2, and 600-2."
[4]
[1]: (Deliyannis 2010, 290) Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[2]: (Modelski 2003)
[3]: (Twine 1992 in Middle States Geographer, Vol 25. http://msaag.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/26_Twine.pdf)
[4]: (Deliyannis 2010, 203) Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Inhabitants. Estimate for Rome.
Ravenna
[9,000-10,000]: 600 CE; [7,000-7,500]: 700 CE. "S. Cosentino proposes a population for Ravenna in the eighth and ninth centuries of around 7,000-7,500 people, which would represent only a slight decrease from his estimate of 9,000-10,000 in the imperial period."
[1]
Rome
[100,000-125,000]: 700 CE.
[2]
30,000: 600 CE.
[3]
Is the figure for Rome accurate?
"the urban and rural populations of Italy were devestated by the bubonic plague which hit Italy beginning in 543 and returned in successive waves until the 740s. Mortality rates are almost impossible to deduce, but some scholars think that it must have been similar to the Black Death, killing 30 per cent or more of the population, at least in urban areas. Outbreaks of the disease are documented in Ravenna for the 560s, 591-2, and 600-2."
[4]
[1]: (Deliyannis 2010, 290) Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[2]: (Modelski 2003)
[3]: (Twine 1992 in Middle States Geographer, Vol 25. http://msaag.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/26_Twine.pdf)
[4]: (Deliyannis 2010, 203) Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
in squared kilometers. Estimate for whole polity/sub-polity area.
Exarchate of Ravenna refers to a region around the capital of this polity/sub-polity.
[1]
"Geographically the exarchate of Ravenna was bounded on the north by the Adige, the Tartaro, and the principal branch of the Po as far as its confluence with the Panaro. Hadria and Gabellum were its most northern towns in the hands of the imperialists. The western frontier is more difficult to determine with exactitude; it may be said to have run between Modena and Bologna. On the south the Marecchia divided the exarchate from the Dutchy of the Pentapolis whose capital was Rimini.
[1]
"diagonal strip of territory extending from north of Ravenna to south of Rome, the peninsula’s southern extremities, and various coastal enclaves."
[2]
[1]: (Hutton 1926)
[2]: (Ring 1994, 556) Ring, Trudy. Salkin, Robert M. La Boda, Sharon. 1994. International Dictionary of Historic Places: Southern Europe. Taylor & Francis.
People. Estimated from McEvedy and Jones "Italy" which had 3,500,000 in 600 CE and 3,750,000 in 700 CE.
[1]
Figures divided by three to roughly approximate population ruled by this polity.
Population recovery/expansion in the seventh century leading to abandoned sites to be reinhabited, new sites to be created and the countryside to be repopulated.
[2]
[1]: (McEvedy and Jones 1978, 107)
[2]: (Noble 1984, 8) Noble, Thomas F. X. 1984. The Republic of St. Peter. The Birth of the Papal State, 680-825. University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia.
People. Estimated from McEvedy and Jones "Italy" which had 3,500,000 in 600 CE and 3,750,000 in 700 CE.
[1]
Figures divided by three to roughly approximate population ruled by this polity.
Population recovery/expansion in the seventh century leading to abandoned sites to be reinhabited, new sites to be created and the countryside to be repopulated.
[2]
[1]: (McEvedy and Jones 1978, 107)
[2]: (Noble 1984, 8) Noble, Thomas F. X. 1984. The Republic of St. Peter. The Birth of the Papal State, 680-825. University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia.
levels.
"once the court moved to Ravenna, its bishops likewise rose in the hierarchy of the Italian church, eventually holding the rank of archbishop, ranking second after the pope and making periodic bids for autocephaly, or independence from the papal see."
[1]
1. Pope
Pope was the fifth patriach.
[2]
1. Exarch of Ravenna
701 CE Pope John VI was elected against approval of the Byzantine Exarch. He was the choice of the native Romans. The choice was enforced by the soldiers of the Papacy.
[3]
1. Bishop of a patriarchate
"The churches organized themselves along the lines laid down by the geography and political order of the empire. A city (civitas), along with its surrounding rural perimeter, the foundation of imperial organization, also formed the basic unit of ecclesiastical structure. Virtually every Roman city, many of them quite small, had its own bishop. He exercised his authority over a "diocese" that ordinarily coincided with the boundaries of the civitas. These dioceses were then grouped into provinces, over which a metropolitan, the bishop of a province’s principal city, held sway. Eventually, provinces themselves were organized into large "patriarchates," each lead by one of the five preeminent bishops of the church: those in Rome, Constantinople (called "New Rome," second in prestige to the Old), Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem."
[4]
2. Metropolitan, with authority over a province
3. Bishop in civitas, with authority over a diocese
4. Presbyters or priests (elders)"Evidence from the second century suggests that a wide variety of models for local clergy existed throughout the Roman Empire. Yet the one to prevail was a three-tiered, hierarchical. In this model, the bishop served as leader of the local community and was assisted by presbyters or priests (elders) and deacons. Again, this model was established in the Antioch of Ignatius, as he underscores emphatically the necessity of gathering for learning, ritual, and teaching around a single bishop. By the end of the century this three-tiered form of ministry had spread to most early Catholic communities throughout the empire, and it would soon become the sole authoritative manner of organizing local ecclesial communities."
[5]
5. Deacons
[1]: (Deliyannis 2010, 3) Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[2]: (Deliyannis 2010, 211) Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[3]: (Trevor, 1869, 113)
[4]: (Madigan 2015, 21)
[5]: (Madigan 2015, 14)
levels.
Military structure: "Beneath the exarch ... were dukes, who possessed military and civil authority in the duchies... and tribunes or counts, who led individual detachments of troops called numeri and who also had important civil functions in particular localities."
[1]
1. Exarch
The Exarch was the commander-in-chief
[2]
2. Dukes
3. Tribunes / counts
[1]: (Noble 1984, 5-6) Noble, Thomas F. X. 1984. The Republic of St. Peter. The Birth of the Papal State, 680-825. University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia.
[2]: (Hutton 1926)
levels.
1. Emperor in Constantinople (nominal)
1. Exarch of Ravenna
_Central government_
Note: from the time the Exarchate was created "the central government took on a new form"
[1]
2. Prefect of Italy"The new order was created at the end of the reign of Justin II. (565-578) under a new and supreme official. Without doing away with the prefect of Italy the emperor placed over him as supreme head of the new administration the exarch who was both the military commander-in-chief and the governor-general of Italy; and, since the chief need of Italy was defence, without entirely suppressing the civil administration, he placed at the head of each of the re-organised provinces a certain military officer - the duke."
[1]
3. In Rome, "The senate ceased to meet sometime after 603"
[2]
_Provincial government_
Note: from the time the Exarchate was created "the provincial administration was re-organised."
[1]
Reformed in response to Lombard invasion of Italy. "By the year 590, then, we see Italy thus divided into seven districts or governments: (1) the Dutchy of Istria, (2) the Duchy of Venetia, (3) the Exarchate to which Calabria is attached, (4) the Dutchy of Pentapolis, (5) the Dutchy of Rome, (6) the Dutchy of Naples, (7) Liguria."
[3]
2. Dutchy ruled by a DukeRegion of Ravenna "formed a new province under the direct authority of the governors-general of Italy, that is to say, the exarch of Ravenna."
[1]
"Beneath the exarch ... were dukes, who possessed military and civil authority in the duchies... and tribunes or counts, who led individual detachments of troops called numeri and who also had important civil functions in particular localities."
[4]
3. Tribunes / counts"Beneath the exarch ... were dukes, who possessed military and civil authority in the duchies... and tribunes or counts, who led individual detachments of troops called numeri and who also had important civil functions in particular localities."
[4]
3. CivitasDuring the preceding Ostrogothic period there was a "Prefect of the City": "A nobleman of the very highest rank, Consul, Patrician, and Prefect of the City, Cæcina Maurus Basilius Decius, successfully accomplished this work under the orders of his sovereign..."
[5]
4. Vicivillage
5. Pagirural settlements
[1]: (Hutton 1926)
[2]: (Burns 1991, 90)
[3]: Edward Hutton. 1913. Ravenna: A Study. J M Dent & Sons Ltd. London.
[4]: (Noble 1984, 5-6) Noble, Thomas F. X. 1984. The Republic of St. Peter. The Birth of the Papal State, 680-825. University of Pennsylvania Press. Philadelphia.
[5]: (Hodgkin 1897)
The commanders were Dukes.
Baths and water supply system still operational at time of Agnellus writing early 9th CE. [1] Water channels used for fresh water in Early Medieval Italy. However, not necessarily built by state. "From the fourth century onward, in fact, water evergetism in the peninsular survived by assuming new forms. Much as was the case in ninth-century Le Mans, in late antique Italy bishops replaced secular builders of aqueducts. Indeed, by Aldric’s day, Italy had developed a distinguished tradition of episcopal involvement in urban water supply. [2] At least until the barbarian invasions Ravenna had a "dense urban fabric that included public amenities such as theaters and baths, acqueducts and sewers, elaborate Roman-style houses for the elite, and evidence of long-distance trade." [3] "Ravenna was not, as far as we know, sacked in any of the invasions or wars that beset the Italian peninsular, perhaps testimony to its perceived invulnerability provided by the swamps of the Adriatic coast." [3]
[1]: (Deliyannis 2010, 297) Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[2]: (Squatriti 2002, 13) Paolo Squatriti. 2002. Water and Society in Early Medieval Italy, AD 400-1000. Cambridge University Press.
[3]: (Deliyannis 2010, 4) Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
Port known as Classis. [1] Ravenna had harbours and ports but the coastline and riverine network underwent major changes. [2]
[1]: (http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/ravenna.html)
[2]: (Deliyannis 2010, 288) Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
reference to "canals inside Ravenna". [1] Before late 9th century (aftert this polity’s period) the fossa Asconis was extended. [1] Fossa Augusta. Inland to coast, Ferrara-Padua. Was it still maintained?
[1]: (Deliyannis 2010, 288) Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
"A school of medical studies that was active from the early sixth century into the seventh produced translations of and commentaries on the works of Hippocrates and Galen, especially by a certain Angellus iatrosofista (’medical scholar,’ not the historian) who worked between 550 and 700." [1] Early 8th CE anonymous geographer "wrote a cosmography, or catalog of world geography, that includes regions, bodies of water, and an exhaustive list of cities from India to Britain." [2]
[1]: (Deliyannis 2010, 289) Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
[2]: (Deliyannis 2010, 290) Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
General reference for Western Europe 11th and 12th centuries CE: fortifications typically consisted of earth ramparts and timber palisades which were generally surrounded by dry ditches (rather than water-filled for a moat). In the early 12th century CE stone began to replace earth-and-timber defences for walls and for castles (previously often wooden). [1] "Prefect Longinus about 570 built a ’fence in the form of a wall’ to protect Caesarea, the region between Ravenna and Casse. This may have been a stake and ditch palisade, a type of fortification known elsewhere in Italy at the time, and is assumed to have been made in response to Lombard aggression." [2]
[1]: (Jones 1999, 171-172) Richard L C Jones. Fortifications and Sieges in Western Europe, c.800-1450. Maurice Keen. ed. 1999. Medieval Warfare: A History. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[2]: (Deliyannis 2010, 206) Deliyannis, Deborah Mauskopf. 2010. Ravenna in Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.
General reference for Western Europe 11th and 12th centuries CE: fortifications typically consisted of earth ramparts and timber palisades which were generally surrounded by dry ditches (rather than water-filled for a moat). In the early 12th century CE stone began to replace earth-and-timber defences for walls and for castles (previously often wooden). [1]
[1]: (Jones 1999, 171-172) Richard L C Jones. Fortifications and Sieges in Western Europe, c.800-1450. Maurice Keen. ed. 1999. Medieval Warfare: A History. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
General reference for Western Europe 11th and 12th centuries CE: fortifications typically consisted of earth ramparts and timber palisades which were generally surrounded by dry ditches (rather than water-filled for a moat). In the early 12th century CE stone began to replace earth-and-timber defences for walls and for castles (previously often wooden). [1]
[1]: (Jones 1999, 171-172) Richard L C Jones. Fortifications and Sieges in Western Europe, c.800-1450. Maurice Keen. ed. 1999. Medieval Warfare: A History. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
Certainly being used in the 15th CE but it is perhaps too long a time gap to infer presence at this time: “In the Papal States Spoleto had developed a considerable arms industry and supplied crossbow bolts, shields and lances to the army.” [1]
[1]: Michael Mallett (2009) Mercenaries and their Masters: Warfare in Renaissance Italy. Pen & Sword Military. Barnsley.