The “king of Francia” in De cerimoniis II, 48

Abstract

In what is known as the List of addresses to the foreign rulers of De cerimoniis aulae Byzantinae (II, 48) by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (913–959), there is an address to a ruler called “kingof Francia”.This paper is devoted to an attempt to find the answer to the question of who this “king of Francia” might have been. Judging from the fact that in that address both the Roman emperors and the ruler it concerns are given very exalted epithets, the address to the “king of Francia” designates a ruler who was, for various reasons, considered by the imperial chancery more distinguished and more important than other rulers of Western Europe. Current opinion holds that the ruler in question was Otto I and that the address reflects the then prevailing view in Constantinople of Otto as the most serious candidate for the crown of the Western Empire. According to the research of Constantine Zuckerman, the List of addresses, along with other “diplomatic chapters” of the Book of Ceremonies,was composed in 946. In September 944 the marriage was concluded between Romanus II,the son of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, and Bertha, natural daughter of Hugh,then kingof Italy. Describing that event, contemporary Byzantine writers refer to Hugh as the “king of Francia”. This paper examines the possibility of linking this “king of Francia” with the one in the List of addresses, on the basis of information concerning King Hugh in another work by emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus – De administrando imperio.