History of the Lombards

In the scarcity of certain testimonies, the anonymous Origo gentis Langobardorum and, above all, the Historia Langobardorum by Paul the Deacon play a leading role. Written around 780 by one of the greatest intellectuals who lived at the court of Charlemagne, a Benedictine monk native of Cividale, it is often the only source capable of clearing up the darkness a bit. His narrative should be integrated by the classics Strabo, Tacitus, Velleius Paterculus, and the Byzantines Jordanes and Procopius of Caesarea, while more sparse but equally important references can be found in the Historia Francorum by Gregory of Tours and in the chronicles of Fredegario and Mario Aveticese. All these sources, however, are not enough to clarify the exact place of origin of the Lombards, which remains a mystery. Paul the Deacon and Origo claim that it was Scandinavia, but there is no evidence to prove it. From there, a third of them would have then moved south in search of lands and, in an area difficult to identify but probably between the Vistula and the Elbe, they would have clashed with the Vandals and on this occasion, according to legend, the Lombards would have taken their name.

The picture becomes clearer when they appear for the first time in ancient sources, that is, in the 1st century BC. They are already settled on the Elbe, near the mouth of the river and at the base of the Jutland peninsula. Around 488 they move to Rugiland, north of the Danube, taking the place of the Rugians who had just been annihilated by Odoacer after two military campaigns, and come into contact with the Byzantine world. In a crucial area like that of the northern Danube basin, they obtain the rank of foederati in an alliance that will prove farsighted in containing the expansion of the Franks and the Gepids. But it will bear fruit especially during the Greco-Gothic war (535-553): the Lombards, remunerated by Justinian with part of Pannonia (corresponding to modern Hungary) and Noricum (Austria and part of Slovenia), in exchange are asked to provide a contingent in Italy that will contribute decisively to the victory in the decisive battle of Gualdo Tadino (552). The Pannonian period can be considered, for the Lombards, the "training period", the result of contact with Byzantium but also with the other Germans and the people of the steppes. The Hungarian necropolises (Varpalota, Szentendre) yield imported artefacts (Roman glass, bronze basins) that prove active cultural and commercial exchanges with the Mediterranean; tombs differentiated by status are evidence of a more conscious social articulation; the Lombard men join with native women who are also buried according to the custom of the new arrivals; finally the use of the stirrup appears alongside weapons and ornaments of typically oriental use. In the Pannonian melting pot, therefore, the Lombards take on many of the traits that would from that moment on characterize them as a people.

After Justinian's death, with the policy of balance maintained by Byzantium with the populations of the Danubian area having failed, the Lombards allied themselves with the Avars and in 567 launched a joint attack against the Gepids, annihilating them. Their king, Cunimund, fell into the hands of the Lombard Alboin who killed him and married his daughter Rosmunda. at the same time preparing his men for a new decisive phase of conquest. The objective, Italy. At Easter 568 Alboin crossed the Alps from Emona and headed along the Natisone towards Forum Iulii (Cividale). Marching with him was an entire people, accompanied by vast herds of cattle, joined by Swabians, Thuringians, Gepids, Sarmatians and Saxons for a total of about 150,000 people. The Lombards were divided into fare, large groups that included men, women, elderly, children (and also slaves and livestock) with a strong military connotation: the founding nucleus, linked by family ties (Sippe, lineage or noble clan), was in fact integrated by the existence of a group of warriors united around a leader (Gefolgschaft), usually personified by a duke. The fara (from the common Germanic root of faran, to travel) was therefore a military unit on the march that in addition to fighting was able to move and occupy territories - given the presence alongside the warriors of those who did not carry weapons - with a fair numerical presence. Once settled - usually in already existing settlements - the fara took control of the territory to create progressively more stable structures. Having conquered Cividale, the Lombards organized the occupation of the territory. Alboin installed a man he trusted, his nephew Gisulfo: the aim was to cover his back from possible Byzantine and Avar attacks and to guarantee an outpost for a possible retreat. The conquest, however, was easier than expected due to the almost total lack of a counteroffensive. During 568, Vicenza, Verona and, above all, Aquileia, seat of the Patriarchate, fell one after the other, whose clergy took refuge on the nearby island of Grado protected by the lagoon. The offensive push continued in the following months. On 3 September 569, Alboin conquered Milan, putting the archbishop to flight, who took refuge in Genoa. Pavia, on the other hand, would fall in 572, after a siege lasting three years, while other contingents pushed as far as Tuscia and Umbria, then into the Marches and as far as Sannio, where in 570 Zottone took Benevento. The Byzantines, who had reconquered the peninsula less than twenty years before, had only a few outposts left in their hands: the Exarchate, the Pentapolis, Latium with Rome and the coasts.

What were the reasons for this overwhelming advance? The debate is still open. Certainly Italy, devastated by the very recent Greek-Gothic conflict, was unable to put up resistance, especially since the Byzantines themselves, after the surrender of the Goths, had withdrawn their troops, leaving the territory undefended. Given the recent events, finally, it is also likely that the Goths themselves still present on the peninsula did not do much to prevent being "conquered" by other Germans rather than remaining in Byzantine hands. In any case, what Alboin had to rationalize was a vast territorial group to be controlled with a few men. Thus the office of dux was introduced, with an evident Byzantine influence and a marked military value. One could be appointed duke by the king himself or become one through personal merit. The presence of dukes at the head of cities, castles and fortified centres on the one hand allowed for widespread military control of the territory, but on the other hand laid the foundations for the creation of territorial powers that could represent an element of weakness for the still fragile structure of the kingdom, encouraging centrifugal forces, plots and rebellions. Alboin himself paid the price, being killed during a conspiracy, and his successor Clefi, assassinated in August 574, perhaps at the instigation of the Byzantines. The two crimes were followed by ten years of complete anarchy: the dukes at the head of the conquered cities were free to fight, allying themselves, when necessary, even with Byzantium, which in turn exploited the chaos and divisions in the hope of reconquest. In this context, there were those, like Faroaldo, who knew how to take advantage of the changes in front to carve out a prominent role for themselves and found a duchy in Spoleto destined (like its "twin" of Benevento) to maintain in the future, with respect to the central power, an almost complete autonomy. The arrival of the Lombards radically changed the social scenario of Italy. The Roman ruling class of large landowners was replaced en masse by the conquerors: some possessores were physically eliminated, those who remained were forced to cede, according to the hospitalitas regime, a third of their properties: the bulk of the territories, however, were expropriated in a violent manner. During the interregnum, the feeling of chaos and precariousness became even more acute with the resumption of attacks by the Franks and the Byzantines: to deal with a situation that had become unsustainable, in 584 the dukes decided to reach an agreement and elected Autari, son of Clefi, king, devolving half of their assets to the crown to form the royal demesne. Thus refounded and endowed, the monarchy was able to begin a process of consolidation and expansion. The results were the conquest of the Comacina island, the last Byzantine military stronghold in the Alpine area, and the containment of the Frankish threat from Piedmont. With a view to general pacification - not by chance the king chose for himself the epithet of Flavius, which recalled the idea of ​​a stable and civil power in prestigious continuity with the Roman tradition - Autari also attempted a marriage alliance with the Franks, which however failed. To protect himself, he turned to their traditional enemies and on 5 May 589, in Verona, he married Theodolinda, daughter of the Duke of Bavaria Garibald: a choice that would prove to be a harbinger of important consequences. Autari's policy was also aimed at healing internal conflicts and reuniting his troops by leveraging the religious factor. The new offensive launched in 590 by the Franks and Byzantines led to the loss of Modena, Mantua and other cities in the Po Valley such as Piacenza, Parma and Reggio Emilia. Besieged in Pavia, the king was saved by the torrid summer and dysentery that forced the Franks to retreat beyond the Alps, starting an attempt at reconciliation. But on 5 September 590, while peace negotiations were underway, Autari died suddenly, perhaps poisoned.

Fearing that the kingdom could sink back into anarchy, Teodolinda was given the power - a first in Lombard history - to choose herself, and immediately, a new husband: the chosen one was the Duke of Turin, Agilulf. The royal couple governed, in continuity with what Autari had done, aiming at the further consolidation of the crown, signing peace treaties with the Franks and Avars and resuming hostilities against the Byzantines until the reconquest of Parma, Piacenza, Padua, Monselice, Este, Cremona and Mantua and the further expansion in the central south by the Dukes of Spoleto and Benevento. But the most important work was the rapprochement with the Church of Rome, made possible by the relationship of esteem and friendship woven by the queen, who was Catholic, with Pope Gregory the Great. The Lombard people were still largely pagan and a part had probably adhered to the Arian heresy. Under the influence of Theodolinda, the crown returned to the Catholic clergy the goods stolen during the conquest, allowed the bishops who had fled to return to their sees and founded churches and monasteries. However, it was also a political calculation: Agilulf had understood that maintaining good relations with the Papacy could avoid a fatal alliance between the Church and Byzantium. The monasteries, moreover, strengthened the crown as economic and power centers inextricably linked to it. With this in mind, in 612 the sovereigns granted the Irish missionary Columbanus protection and lands to found an abbey in Bobbio, in the Piacenza Apennines: the strategically important position could have proved to be a very useful bridgehead towards Liguria, still partially in the hands of the Byzantines. Agilulf also worked to heal religious conflicts, also attempting to mend the tricapitoline schism - a fracture that had arisen within the Catholic Church for theological reasons - which the royal couple had initially favored. The strengthening of the kingdom was also reflected in the institutional importance assumed by the duchies, no longer just military strongholds but centers of power governed by officials who governed in the name and on behalf of the king, custodians of public powers and supported by a network of minor officials: a kingdom, in short, that was finally becoming a state, governed by a sovereign who, in Agilulf's own intentions, was now to be rex totius Italiae, no longer just king of the victorious Lombards, but of all the people, including the subjugated Italics. The project of Agilulf and Theodolinda was ambitious and was, as expected, opposed by members of the traditionalist party: the opposition was between those who, like the crown, intended to promote the integration between the Lombards and the Romans into a single people and those who, like the nobility of the Northeast, aspired to keep the conflict with Byzantium open in an expansionist manner.

The situation worsened after the death of Agilulf (616), when power passed to his young son (baptized) Adaloald, who exercised it together with his mother. In 624 Arioald, leader of the rebels, rose up and the following year with a coup d'état deposed Adaloald taking his place. However, the restoration attempted by the Duke of Turin and his supporters did not have lasting success. His successor, the Duke of Brescia Rotari, understood that implementing a policy of relative integration would allow him to obtain the indispensable support to conquer the last territories (part of Liguria and Emilia, while the attack on the Exarchate failed) still in Byzantine hands. Aribert I continued his father's work aimed at obtaining Catholic support against Byzantium. When he died, in 661, he divided the kingdom between his two sons, Godepert and Pertarito, who settled in Milan and Pavia respectively. The division of the kingdom, unusual for the Lombards, led to a new conflict that also involved the Duke of Benevento Grimoald, called into question by Godepert himself. Originally from Friuli, he belonged to the ancient lineage of Alboin: he had fled to the south of the peninsula to escape the destruction of Cividale, perpetrated in 610 by the Avars. After treacherously killing Godepert, and forcing Perctarit to flee beyond the Alps, Grimoald took power in Pavia in 662 and ruled until his death (671) fighting against the Byzantines - from whom he tore a good part of Puglia -, reorganizing his Friuli to face the Avar threats and even managing to keep the semi-independent duchies of Spoleto and Benevento under control. Upon his death - again suspicious in this case - the Catholic Perctarit returned to the throne. His greatest success was the perpetual peace with Byzantium, which resigned itself to the loss of a large part of the peninsula in exchange for the Lombards renouncing any further expansion. But his cowardly policy once again irritated the never-quieted traditionalists who, led by the Duke of Trento Alachis, turned against Perctarit and his son Cunipert (whom he associated with the throne). In 688, shortly after Perctarit's death, the decisive clash between the two factions took place in Cornate d'Adda (today in the province of Monza and Brianza) which ended with the definitive defeat of the rebels.

The last century of the Lombard kingdom was characterized by the progressive overcoming of internal conflicts. After a decade of dynastic struggles following the death (700) of Cunipert, power was taken in 712 by Liutprando. Under him - the epithet of piissimus rex is eloquent - Christianization received a new impetus. Much attention was paid to the Church, starting with the famous donation - in 728 - "to the apostles Peter and Paul" of the village and castles of Sutri: the first nucleus of the future papal territorial power. In this period, the ecclesiastical organization of the territory spread by pievi, parish churches on which other churches or minor temples depended. But Liutprando also took up the legislative work of Rotari and perfected it by introducing new rules in 713 for the protection of the poor, women and children; he also formally allowed marriages between free Lombard women and free Roman women (which were forbidden by Rotari), equalizing the rights of the two peoples. He improved the organization of the kingdom and the bureaucracy, increasing control over officials, starting with the dukes and the gastalds (iudices), responsible for a city that was a bishop's seat and for the surrounding rural territory (iudiciaria), who depended directly on the king. The deans and the saltarii, who administered the smaller rural centers, were subordinate to the gastalds, and on whom the sculdascio, who was responsible for the individual village, depended in turn. The iron control that the king intended to maintain over his subordinates was proportional to his ambitions of domination over the whole of Italy, aims opposed by the Byzantines and also irritating for the Pope. Liutprand sought a rapprochement with the Franks and achieved it by defeating the Saracens who infested Provence. Despite attempts to stabilize the state, upon his death the situation once again fell into chaos, a precursor to the end of the kingdom. After a brief interlude, in 749 his successor Rachis was removed from power by Astolfo who forcefully resumed an aggressive expansionist policy, managing to occupy Ravenna and the Exarchate and even threatening Rome itself. Pope Stephen II asked for the intervention of the Franks, who, commanded by their king Pepin the Short, defeated the Lombard sovereign and forced him to return the assets stolen from the Church and to renounce any further expansion. After Astolfo's death, in 756, Rachis left the convent in which he had been locked up, but was dethroned again by the Duke of Tuscia Desiderio, supported this time by the Papacy. Having now understood the extent of the threat from beyond the Alps, Desiderius attempted, through a far-sighted dynastic policy, to obtain an alliance with the Franks by marrying his daughters to the sons of Pepin, Charles (later Charlemagne) and Carloman. But when the latter died, Charles - now head of the entire Kingdom - repudiated his wife and marched against the Lombards to subdue them. And with the help of Pope Adrian I he succeeded in the enterprise: in 774 Pavia was conquered, Desiderius and his wife were captured and Charles obtained to unite the crown of the king of the Franks with that of the Lombards. With the exile of the king in a French monastery and the ephemeral resistance attempted by Adelchi, who had taken refuge with the Byzantines, the great adventure of the descendants of Alboin in Italy ended.