The Theme of Dalmatia (Greek: ΞΈΞΞΌΞ± ΞαλμαΟΞ―Ξ±Ο/ΞΡλμαΟΞ―Ξ±Ο, thema Dalmatias/Delmatias) was a Byzantine theme (a military-civilian province) on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea in Southeastern Europe, headquartered at Jadera (later called Zara, today's Zadar).
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π Dalmatia (theme) in the context of Dalmatia
Dalmatia (/dΓ¦lΛmeΙͺΚΙ, -tiΙ/ ; Croatian: Dalmacija [dΗlmatsija]; Italian: Dalmazia [dal'mattsja]) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. It is a narrow land belt stretching from the island of Rab in the north to the Bay of Kotor in the south. The Dalmatian Hinterland ranges in width from 50 kilometres in the north, to just a few kilometres in the south; it is mostly covered by the rugged Dinaric Alps. Seventy-nine islands (and about 500 islets) run parallel to the coast, the largest (in Dalmatia) being BraΔ, Pag, and Hvar. The largest city is Split, followed by Zadar, Ε ibenik, and Dubrovnik.
The name of the region stems from an Illyrian tribe called the Dalmatae, who lived in the area in classical antiquity. With the expansion of Rome, the province of Illyricum was established, and in the early 1st century it was reorganised into the province of Dalmatia, which stretched over a vast territory. Consequently, a Romance culture emerged, and the indigenous Illyrian population became romanised. Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the Migration Period, many different peoples passed through Dalmatia. While the local Illyro-Romans organized themselves around their city-states under Byzantine protection, the Croats arrived in the early 7th century and established the Duchy of Croatia, later becoming vassals of the Franks. With the Christianisation of the Croats, Slavic and Illyro-Roman elements began to intermingle in both language and culture. The Kingdom of Croatia was founded in 925, and it later incorporated the Theme of Dalmatia.
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Dalmatia (theme) in the context of Gothic War (535β554)
The Gothic War between the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Emperor Justinian I and the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy took place from 535 to 554 in the Italian peninsula, Dalmatia, Sardinia, Sicily, and Corsica. It was one of the last of the many Gothic wars against the Roman Empire. The war had its roots in the ambition of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I to recover the provinces of the former Western Roman Empire, which the Romans had lost to invading barbarian tribes in the previous century, during the Migration Period.
The war followed the Roman reconquest of the diocese of Africa from the Vandals. Historians commonly divide the war into two phases. The first phase lasts from 535 to the fall of the Ostrogothic capital Ravenna in 540, and the apparent reconquest of Italy by the Byzantines. The second phase from 540/541 to 553 featured a Gothic revival under Totila, which was suppressed only after a long struggle by the Roman general Narses, who also repelled an invasion in 554 by the Franks and Alamanni.
Dalmatia (theme) in the context of Kingdom of Croatia (925β1102)
The Kingdom of Croatia (Modern Croatian: Kraljevina Hrvatska, Hrvatsko Kraljevstvo; Latin: Regnum CroatiΓ¦), and since 1060 known as Kingdom of Croatia and Dalmatia (Latin: Regnum Croatiae et Dalmatiae), was a medieval kingdom in Southern Europe comprising most of what is today Croatia (without western Istria, some Dalmatian coastal cities, and the part of Dalmatia south of the Neretva River), as well as most of the modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Croatian Kingdom was ruled for part of its existence by ethnic dynasties, and the Kingdom existed as a sovereign state for nearly two centuries. Its existence was characterized by various conflicts and periods of peace or alliance with the Bulgarians, Byzantines, Hungarians, and competition with Venice for control over the eastern Adriatic coast. The goal of promoting the Croatian language in the religious service was initially introduced by the 10th century bishop Gregory of Nin, which resulted in a conflict with the Pope, later to be put down by him. In the second half of the 11th century Croatia managed to secure most coastal cities of Dalmatia with the collapse of Byzantine control over them. During this time the kingdom reached its peak under the rule of kings Peter KreΕ‘imir IV (1058β1074) and Demetrius Zvonimir (1075β1089).
The state was ruled mostly by the TrpimiroviΔ dynasty until 1091. At that point the realm experienced a succession crisis and after a decade of conflicts for the throne and the aftermath of the Battle of Gvozd Mountain, the crown passed to the ΓrpΓ‘d dynasty with the coronation of King Coloman of Hungary as "King of Croatia and Dalmatia" in Biograd in 1102, uniting the two kingdoms under one crown.