pon the people, even to the prohibition of fishing! The result
was great discontent, and at last, in 804, by the intervention of
Fortunatus, Patriarch of Grado, an inquiry was held at Risano, the acts
of which were embodied in the "placito" of Risano. The envoys of
Charlemagne restored the communal property and the jurisdiction over
foreigners, exempted freemen from servile tasks, suppressed arbitrary
imposts, and restored the tribunes and other Byzantine magistrates, whom
the people were allowed to select freely according to the ancient
custom. In 952 Istria became a German fief by gift of Otho I. of Germany
(who had conquered Italy the year before) in feud to his brother Henry,
duke of Bavaria, together with Verona and Friuli. Documents show the
presence of large numbers of persons of German origin during the tenth
century; but the maritime cities, depending upon commerce, were forced
into connection with Venice by the necessity of making arrangements for
mutual defence against Slav and Saracen Corsairs, and thus the
foundations were laid for the Republic's later supremacy.

Great part of the history of Istria relates to incursions by the
barbarians, either beaten off, or successful, with the destruction of
towns, and the carrying off of slaves and booty. The descent of the
Lombards was followed by a raid of the Avars in 599, but they were
beaten off. Three years later they came again in company with Slavs and
Lombards. In 611 the Huns or Slovens descended on Istria, in 670 they
were defeated near Cividale by Duke Vetturi, and in 718 were conquered
in three battles near Lauriana by Duke Pemmo. His son Ratchis copied the
bad example of the Huns, sacking and killing far into Carniola. Between
620 and 630 the Serbo-Croats descended from the Carpathians and crossed
the Danube by suggestion of Heraclius, driving the Avars from Dalmatia
and taking their place. The result of these constant barbarian raids was
the concentration of the population in the towns on the sea-coast.

The pirates in the Adriatic were first the Narentans and next the
Saracens, who devastated the coasts of Dalmatia in 840, fruitlessly
besieging Ragusa for fifteen months, and afterwards taking Taranto and
Bari. In 842 they defeated the Venetians at Taranto, and, on the octave
of Easter, took Ossero and burnt it. They then passed on to Ancona and
Adria, and as they returned captured a whole Venetian squadron. In 876
the Slavs of Croatia and Dalmatia raid