ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the Istrians denounce the duke's abolition of the tribunate and appointment of centarchs. Only two sources provide with direct information about the first fifteen years or so of Frankish rule in Istria from around 788 until 804. The first of these is a letter Charlemagne sent to his wife Fastrada in September 791. The second source attesting the Frankish presence in Istria is the famous Plea of Rž ana, from an assembly that was probably held in 804 in the Capodistrian hinterland. In fact, the pressure from the Franks triggered internal conflicts, culminating in a civil war which cost the lives of both the leading Avar princes, the khagan and the jugur. Byzantine to Frankish rule, which supposedly involved tighter supervision, is secured by 'feudal' oaths and other changes in Istrian society. When Istria fell under Frankish dominion, the patriarch of Grado found himself living once more under a different regime from that of his Istrian suffragans.
