Smaragdus

Smaragdus was Exarch of Ravenna twice (585-589 and 603-611).

Smaragdus was known for his violence toward the adherents of the Three-Chapter Controversy. These included the Archbishop of Aquileia and his followers, then at Grado, whom he ordered to come to Ravenna to attend a synod. [Paul the Deacon (3.26) states Smaragdus "personally dragged him [the Archbishop] out of the church". "History of the Lombards", translated by William Dudley Foulke, 1907 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1974), p. 131] When the council failed to solve any major issues, he forced the archbishop to declare his loyalty to the Orthodox creed. His violence, combined with alleged charges of insanity, prompted his removal from office in 589. Other notable events during his first reign included the recovery of Classis from the Lombards in 588.

In 603 the Byzantine Emperor Phocas restored Smaragdus to his former position. [Paul the Deacon 4.25 ("History", p. 168)] Smaragdus inherited a war with the Lombards from his predecessor Callinicus, and refused to give up the daughter of the Lombard king Agilulf, as well as her husband, both of whom had been taken prisoner by the Byzantines in 601. By July 603, Cremona had fallen to the Lombards and the city walls were torn down; Agilulf entered Mantua 13 September, and Vulturina [Foulke reports Thomas Hodgkin located Vulturina "on the northern bank of the Po, not far from Panna, which is probably correct." However, Foulke also records another opinion that "a castle named Vulturena at the upper end of lake Como at the entrance of the Valtellina is intended." ("History", p. 171 n.3)] surrendered about the same time, leaving much of northern Italy in Lombard hands. Smaragdus was forced to release his hostages in April 605 in order to gain peace. [Paul the Deacon 4.28 ("History", pp. 170ff)] The peace with the Lombards held for the rest of his administration.

After Phocas was assassinated Smaragdus was replaced again, this time by John I Lemigius.

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