A Byzantine title in a post-Byzantine world: local aspirations and the theory of translatio imperii in the use of the exarchal title by the archbishops of Ravenna through the Middle Ages

Examining the relationship between the archbishops of Ravenna and the exarchal title can help to evaluate the nature and use of the Byzantine legacy in the region after the end of Byzantine rule in the middle of the eighth century as well as the position of the archbishops vis-a-vis the Holy Roman and Byzantine empires, the papacy and local powers. This paper discusses the evidence concerning the eighth century, suggesting that it did not refer only to the legacy of the Byzantine governors of Italy but also to issues concerning the status of the archbishops in the ecclesiastical hierarchy and the wider western empire. It also compares it with that concerning the short-lived resurrection of the title in the twelfth century, reassessing its links with Emperor Frederick Barbarossa's revival of imperial hegemony against the papacy and even against Byzantium itself, which at this time was engaged in a last attempt to revive its power in the Adriatic, and suggesting a connection with the theory of translatio imperii.