View source for Lombards

{{Short description|Historical ethnic group of the Italian Peninsula of Germanic origin}}
{{Distinguish|text=the modern inhabitants of the region of [[Lombardy]] in Italy or the [[Lombard language]]}}

[[File:Italien zur Langobardenzeit.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Lombard possessions in Italy: the Lombard Kingdom ''([[Neustria (Lombard)|Neustria]], [[Austria (Lombard)|Austria]] and [[Duchy of Tuscia|Tuscia]])'' and the Lombard Duchies of Spoleto and Benevento]]

The '''Lombards''', '''Longobards''' or '''Langobards''' ({{langx|la|Langobardi}}) were a [[Germanic peoples|Germanic people]] who conquered most of the [[Italian Peninsula]] between 568 and 774 AD. They had previously settled in the [[Middle Danube]] in the 5th century, near what is now [[Austria]], [[Slovenia]] and [[Hungary]]. Their previous homeland was in the north, near present day [[Hamburg]]. Roman-era historians in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD mention the Lombards as one of the [[Suebi]]an peoples, and report them living on the [[Lower Elbe]] already in the early 1st century. Their legacy is apparent in [[Lombardy]], northern Italy, the region deriving its name from them.

There are no contemporary accounts of the Lombards in the 3rd or 4th century, or for most of the 5th century, which is when they reappear, near the [[Danube]] river far to the south. Legendary accounts of the Lombard migration are found in several early medieval texts, the oldest being the ''[[Origo Gentis Langobardorum]]'' (''Origin of the Lombard People''). There are two other notable later adaptions, the ''[[Historia Langobardorum codicis Gothani|Chronicon Gothanum]]'' and the more scholarly ''[[History of the Lombards]]'' by [[Paul the Deacon]], written between 787 and 796 AD, which contain more information. All three describe the Lombards as a people who moved to the Danube from somewhere near the [[North Sea]]. The details, however, differ until they enter "Rugiland" soon after [[Odoacer]]'s defeat in 487/488 AD of the [[Rugii]], who had a kingdom near what is now [[Vienna]].

In the Danube region, the Lombards  came into conflict with other small kingdoms, starting with the [[Heruls]], neighbours of the Rugii, and culminating with their defeat of the [[Gepids]]. The Lombard king [[Audoin]] defeated the Gepid leader [[Thurisind]] in 551 or 552 AD, and Audoin's successor [[Alboin]] eventually destroyed the Gepids in 567 AD. The Lombards also settled further south in [[Pannonia]], in modern-day Hungary. Near [[Szólád]], archaeologists have unearthed burial sites of Lombard men and women being buried together as families, unusual among Germanic peoples at the time. Contemporary traces have also been discovered of Mediterranean Greeks and a possible migrant from France.

Following Alboin's victory over the Gepids, he led his people into [[northeastern Italy]], which had become severely depopulated and devastated by the long [[Gothic War (535–554)]] between the [[Byzantine Empire]] and the [[Ostrogothic Kingdom]]. The Lombards were joined by numerous [[Saxons]], [[Heruli|Heruls]], [[Gepids]], [[Bulgars]], [[Thuringians]] and [[Ostrogoths]], and their invasion of Italy was almost unopposed. By late 569 AD, they had conquered all of northern Italy and the principal cities north of the [[Po River]] except [[Pavia]], which fell in 572 AD. At the same time, they occupied areas in central and southern Italy. They established a [[Kingdom of the Lombards|Lombard Kingdom]] in north and central Italy, which reached its zenith under the 8th century ruler [[Liutprand, King of the Lombards|Liutprand]]. In 774 AD, the kingdom was conquered by the [[Franks|Frankish]] king [[Charlemagne]] and integrated into the [[Frankish Empire]]. Lombard nobles, however, continued to rule the southern parts of the [[Italian peninsula]] well into the 11th century, when they were [[Norman conquest of southern Italy|conquered]] by the [[Normans]] and added to the [[County of Sicily]]. During this period, the southern part of Italy still under Lombard control was known to the Norse as Langbarðaland or 'land of the Lombards', as inscribed in Norse [[Italy runestones|runestones]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lansmuseum.a.se/runriket/taby.html |title=2. Runriket – Täby Kyrka |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604203505/http://www.lansmuseum.a.se/runriket/taby.html |archive-date=4 June 2008 |website=Stockholm County Museum |access-date=1 July 2007}}</ref>

==Name==
The classical Latin and Greek forms of the name ({{langx|la|Langobardi}} and {{langx|grc|Λαγκόβαρδοι}}) were first recorded by [[Strabo]] and [[Velleius Paterculus]].<ref>{{harvnb|Nedoma|2001}} citing Strabo (VII,1,3) and Velleius Paterculus (II,106,2)</ref> 

The standard explanation derives the name from {{langx|gem-x-proto|[[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/langaz|lang-]]}} "long" and {{lang|gem-x-proto|[[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/bardaz|bard-]]}} "beard," meaning "the Long-beards".{{sfn|Nedoma|2001}} [[Isidore of Seville]] stated in the 7th century that it was commonly said that the Langobards got their name because they never cut their beards.<ref name=isid/> The origin stories in the ''Origo'' and the ''History'' of Paul the Deacon connect this name to a special trick played by the ancestors of the Langobards. The ''Chronicon Gothanum'', on the other hand, skips this episode and says the name of the Langobards simply arose "by the voice of the common people" ({{lang|la|ad vulgorum vocem}}), because of their long and uncut beards.<ref name="HLcG2"/> Scholars generally accept this "long-beard" interpretation as linguistically and semantically sound. Other explanations — such as deriving ''-bard-'' from a weapon (''barta'' "axe"), or as a synonym for "fighters" parallel to the alternate ethnonym Winnili ("the fighters") — are less convincing. It is possible that ''Winnili'' was the name the tribe used internally, while Langobardi began as a name used by outsiders.{{sfn|Nedoma|2001}}

Later sources sometimes also used a rare shortened form ''Bardi''.<ref>{{harvnb|Nedoma|2001}} citing Paul the Deacon III,19 and Adam of Bremen ''Gesta'' II,43</ref> Place-names like [[Bardengau]] and [[Bardowick]] in northern Germany, near the first known homeland of the Langobardi, possibly preserve this same element.{{sfn|Nedoma|2001}} On the other hand, scholars have also noted that this type of ''Bard'' placename is common throughout northern Germany, and apparently associated with wet or muddy areas.{{sfn|Udolph|2001}}

==Legendary origins==
{{multiple image
| direction         = vertical
| width             = 240
| footer            =
| image1            = Wodan Frea Himmelsfenster by Emil Doepler.jpg
| alt1              =
| caption1          = [[Wodan]] (Godan) and [[Frigg]] (Frea) looking out of a window in the heavens...
| image2            = Wodan Frea Himmelsfenster II by Emil Doepler.jpg
| alt2              =
| caption2          = ...and spotting the Lombard women with their long hair tied as to appear as beards
}}
[[File:PaulusDiaconus Plut.65.35.jpg|left|thumb|304x304px|[[Paul the Deacon]], historian of the Lombards, circa 720–799]]

All three of the legendary accounts state that the Langobards were originally called Winnili, and they begin with the Winnili being ruled by two brothers, Ibor and Aio (or Agio), whose mother and advisor is named Gambara.

The ''Origo'' and the ''History'' of Paul the Deacon have them first living an island in the far north which the various manuscripts of these works spell in different ways: ''Scadan, Scandanan, Scadanan, or Scadinavia''. This appears to be an imitation of the 6th-century origin of the [[Goths]] written by [[Jordanes]].{{sfn|Christensen|2002}} The 7th-century writer Fredegar similarly says that the Langobardi came from ''Scathanavia'', but only says this is "between the Danube and the Ocean."{{sfn|Reichert|2004}}

The ''Codex Gothanus'' was written later than the other two records, but it appears to preserve some older material. It says that the Lombards set out from a river called Vindilicus at the far edge of [[Gaul]], then moved to "Scatenauga", which was a place on the lower Elbe.{{sfn|Reichert|2004|p=631}}

In the oldest of the three versions, the ''Origo'' then reports a war between the Winnili and the [[Vandals]], who were attempting to force other peoples to pay tribute. The Winnili did not move from their home island until after they won this war, and changed their name to the Langobardi. The ''Origo'' gives no reason for leaving. Paul the Deacon's ''History'' says that one third of the Winnili needed to move because of over-population and a low-lying coast. The war with the Vandals then happened in the new homeland called ''Scoringa'', which is not mentioned in the other two sources. It was here that they fought the Vandals and changed their tribal name according to Paul, but afterwards they decided to move again, this time because of famine. ''Scoringa'' was perhaps on the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] coast<ref>{{harvnb|Priester|2004|p=16}}</ref> or the [[Bardengau]] on the banks of the [[Elbe]].<ref name="Hammerstein-Loxten56">{{harvnb|Von Hammerstein-Loxten|1869|p=56}}</ref> Scoringa's etymology is uncertain, but it probably refers to a coastal shoreline region.{{sfn|Reichert|2004}}

In the Vandal war reported by the ''Origo'' and ''History'', the Winnili were young and brave and refused to pay tribute, saying "It is better to maintain liberty by arms than to stain it by the payment of tribute."<ref name="PD, VII">PD, VII.</ref> The Vandals prepared for war and consulted Godan (the god [[Odin]]<ref name="dick">{{cite book|last1=Harrison |first1=D. |last2=Svensson |first2=K. |date=2007 |title=Vikingaliv |publisher=Fälth & Hässler |location=Värnamo |isbn=978-91-27-35725-9 |page=74}}</ref>), who answered that he would give victory to those whom he would see first at sunrise.<ref name="PD, VIII">PD, VIII.</ref> The Winnili were fewer in number<ref name="PD, VII"/> and Gambara sought help from Frea (the goddess [[Frigg]]<ref name="dick"/>), who advised that all Winnili women should tie their hair in front of their faces like beards and march in line with their husbands. At sunrise, Frea turned her husband's bed so that he was facing east, and woke him. So Godan spotted the Winnili first and asked, "Who are these long-beards?," and Frea replied, "My lord, thou hast given them the name, now give them also the victory."<ref>OGL, appendix 11.</ref> From that moment onwards, the Winnili were known as the ''Longbeards'' (Latinised as ''Langobardi'', Italianised as ''Longobardi'', and Anglicized as ''Langobards'' or ''Lombards'').

In contrast, the ''Chronicon'' has the Winnili living first on a similarly named river, the ''Vindilicus'', near the furthest borders of [[Gaul]]. Once they started moving, their new dwellings were on the banks of the Elbe at a place called ''Stananauge''.<ref name="HLcG2">''Historia Langobardorum codicis Gothani'', [https://www.dmgh.de/mgh_ll_4/index.htm#page/642/mode/1up 2]</ref> The ''Vindilicus'' had in fact been mentioned in the earlier collection of etymologies by [[Isidore of Seville]], as a river where the Vandals supposedly originated. This sentence however comes immediately after a comment about the etymology of the name of the Langobards.<ref name=isid>Isidore of Seville, ''Etymologies'', [https://books.google.be/books?id=3ep502syZv8C&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&lpg=PA197&dq=Vindilicus&pg=PA197#v=onepage&q=Vindilicus&f=false 9.2.95]</ref> The ''Chronicon'' therefore apparently combined two distinct entries of Isidore.{{sfn|Reichert|2004}} The ''Chronicon'' does not mention the places on the migration route described by Paul and the ''Origo'' (see below), but it surprisingly says that after living on the Elbe, the Langobardi lived in Saxony at ''Patespruna'', which is probably intended to be [[Paderborn]]. The ''Chronicon'' says that the new tribal name was a result of the common people's voice (''vulgorum vocem'').<ref name="HLcG2"/>

When Paul the Deacon wrote the ''Historia'' between 787 and 796 he was a [[Catholic]] monk and devoted [[Christianity|Christian]]. He thought the [[Paganism|pagan]] stories of his people "silly" and "laughable".<ref name="PD, VIII"/><ref name="Priester 2004 17">{{harvnb|Priester|2004|p=17}}</ref> Paul explained that the name "Langobard" came from the length of their beards.<ref>PD, I, 9.</ref> A modern theory suggests that the name "Langobard" comes from ''Langbarðr'', a [[List of names of Odin|name of Odin]].<ref>Nedoma, Robert (2005).''[https://www.academia.edu/36246147/Der_altisländische_Odinsname_Langbarðr_Langbart_und_die_Langobarden Der altisländische Odinsname Langbarðr: 'Langbart' und die Langobarden]''. In Pohl, Walter and Erhart, Peter, eds. ''Die Langobarden. Herrschaft und Identität''. Wien. pp. 439–444</ref> Priester states that when the Winnili changed their name to "Lombards", they also changed their old agricultural [[fertility cult]] to a cult of Odin, thus creating a conscious tribal tradition.<ref name="Priester 2004 17"/> Fröhlich inverts the order of events in Priester and states that with the Odin cult, the Lombards grew their beards in resemblance of the Odin of tradition and their new name reflected this.<ref>{{harvnb|Fröhlich|1980|p=19}}</ref>

==History==
===First century: Lower Elbe===
[[File:Long555.PNG|thumb|Distribution of Langobardic burial fields at the [[Unterelbe|Lower Elbe]] Lands (according to W. Wegewitz)]]

The first mention of the Lombards in a near contemporary record occurred between AD 9 and 16, by the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] court historian [[Velleius Paterculus]], who accompanied a Roman expedition as prefect of the cavalry.<ref name="Menghin, 15">{{harvnb|Menghin|1985|p=15}}</ref> Paterculus says that under [[Tiberius]] the "power of the Langobardi was broken, a race ({{lang|la|gens}}) surpassing even the Germans in savagery".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Velleius_Paterculus/2D*.html#ref:Langobardi |title=Velleius, Hist. Rom. II, 106. Schmidt, 5.}}</ref> [[Strabo]], writing in about 20 AD, treats them as a branch of the [[Suebi]], and indicates that they had previously lived west of the [[Elbe]], but were now forced by Romans to stay on the eastern side.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0198:book=7:chapter=1&highlight=langobardi |title=Strabo, VII, 1, 3.}}</ref> 

[[Tacitus]], writing in about 100 AD in his ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]'', emphasized that the Langobardi were a distinctively small [[Suebi]]an people, in terms of numbers, but surrounded by the most powerful peoples. They kept safe, according to him, "by daring the perils of war". Beyond the Langobardi were the [[Nerthus]]-worshipping tribes whose land of rivers and forest stretched to the sea and the remote parts of ''Germania''.<ref>Tacitus, ''Germania'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0083%3Achapter%3D40 40]</ref>

In his ''[[Annals (Tacitus)|Annals]]'', Tacitus also noted the involvement of the Langobardi in the conflicts of the time. 9 AD when [[Arminius]] and his allies won the [[Battle of Teutoburg Forest]], the Lombards and Semnones were part of the kingdom of [[Marbod|Marobod]], the King of the [[Marcomanni]], who was allied with Rome. However, after the outbreak of war between Arminius and Marobod in 17 AD the Lombards and Semnones switched to the alliance of Arminius. They detested Marobod's title of king, and saw Arminius as a champion of freedom.<ref name="Tacitus, Ann. II, 45">Tacitus, Annals, II, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0078:book=2:chapter=45&highlight=langobardi 45]</ref> In the battle the two sides eventually fought, Tacitus believed that the Cherusci and Langobardi were fighting for ancient renown or newly-won freedom, while the other side for the increase of their dominion. Arminius died in 21 AD.<ref name="Tacitus, Ann. II, 46">Tacitus, Annals, II, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0078:book=2:chapter=46&highlight=langobardi 46]</ref> In 47 AD, the [[Cherusci]] were assigned a new leader by Rome, [[Italicus (chieftain)|Italicus]], and this was controversial. Both his supporters and detractors appealed to neighbouring tribe. When he was eventually dethroned, the Langobardi restored him.<ref>Tacitus, ''Annals'', book 11, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0078:book=11:chapter=17&highlight=langobardi 17].</ref>

The lands of the lower Elbe fall into the zone of the [[Jastorf Culture]] and became [[Elbe-Germans|Elbe-Germanic]], differing from the lands between [[Rhine]], [[Weser]], and the [[North Sea]].<ref>{{harvnb|Menghin|1985|p=18}}</ref> Archaeologists have identified the probable core region of the Langobard settlements in zone south of Hamburg, separated from the coastal [[Chauci]] to the west by the [[moorland]]s of the [[Oste]] river, and to the south was the sparsely populated [[Lüneburg Heath]]. To the east their borders are hard to define, though they may have reached as far as the [[Ilmenau]], or [[Drawehn]], or even [[Höhbeck]]. On the north of the Elbe, cemeteries in the districts of [[Hagenow]], [[Ludwigslust]], and the fringe of the district of Schwerin up to [[Lake Schwerin]] are considered Langobardic. This whole area was continuously inhabited until the late early Roman period, when parts of the population began to shift.{{sfn|Eger|2001}} The German archaeologist Willi Wegewitz defined several [[Iron Age]] burial sites at the [[Unterelbe|Lower Elbe]] as ''Langobardic''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wegewitz |chapter=Das langobardische Brandgräberfeld von Putensen, Kreis Harburg |publication-date=1972 |pages=1–29 |title=Problemi della civilita e dell'economia Longobarda |location=Milan |date=1964}}</ref>{{rp|19}} The burial sites are crematorial and are usually dated from the sixth century BC through the third century AD, so a settlement breakoff seems unlikely.<ref name="Menghin, 17">{{harvnb|Menghin|1985|p=17}}</ref> Archaeological finds show that the Lombards were an agricultural people.<ref>{{harvnb|Priester|2004|p=18}}</ref>

===Second century===
[[File:Suebi.png|thumb|400px|Approximate positions of some major Suebi peoples in the early 2nd century, in purple]]
Far to the south of the Lower Elbe, in 166 AD [[Cassius Dio]] reported that just before the [[Marcomannic Wars]], 6,000 Lombards and Obii (sometimes thought to be [[Ubii]]) crossed the [[Danube]] and invaded [[Pannonia]].<ref>Cassius Dio, 71, 3, 1.</ref><ref name="Menghin, 16">{{harvnb|Menghin|1985|p=16}}</ref> The two tribes were defeated, but the non-Roman nations of the region were concerned about the possible Roman reaction. They sent Ballomar, King of the [[Marcomanni]], as ambassador to [[Aelius Bassus]], who was then administering Pannonia. Peace was made and the two tribes returned to their homes.<ref>{{harvnb|Priester|2004|p=21}}</ref><ref name="Zeuss471">{{harvnb|Zeuss|2012|p=471}}</ref><ref name="Wiese38">{{harvnb|Wiese|1877|p=38}}</ref><ref name="Schmidt35">{{harvnb|Schmidt|2018|pp=35–36}}</ref> However, this was seen as a foretaste of the great war which subsequently broke out.

In the mid-second century, surviving descriptions of Europe based on the work of geographer [[Claudius Ptolemy]] appears to describe the Langobardi in two distinct places, probably because the text is partly based upon several different earlier sources.
*The "Suebi Langobardi" ({{lang|grc|Σύηβοι οἱ Λαγγοβάρδοι); }} were described as living east of the Rhine - south of the [[Bructeri]] and [[Sugambri]], north of the [[Tencteri]]. To their east stretching northwards to the central Elbe are the Suebi [[Angili]].<ref name="Menghin, 15"/><ref>Ptolemy, Geogr. II, 11, 9.</ref> 
*The "Laccobardi" ({{lang|grk|Λακκοβάρδοι}}) are however west of the Lower Elbe, as one of the three tribes between the [[Chauci]] on the coast. The other two are the [[Angrivarii]] and the [[Dulgubnii]].<ref name="Menghin, 15"/><ref>Ptolemy, Geogr. II, 11, 17.</ref> 
This double mention has been interpreted as an editorial error by Gudmund Schütte, in his analysis of Ptolemy.<ref>{{cite book|last=Schütte |title=Ptolemy's Maps of Northern Europe |pages=[https://archive.org/stream/ptolemysmapsofno00schrich#page/34/mode/2up/search/angles 34], and [https://archive.org/stream/ptolemysmapsofno00schrich#page/118/mode/2up/search/angles 118]}}</ref> 

Difficult to evaluate, the ''Historia Langobardorum codicis Gothani'' mentions ''Patespruna'' in [[Saxony]], probably [[Paderborn]], as one of the places the early Langobardi lived.<ref name="HLcG2"/>

From the second century onwards, many of the Germanic tribes recorded as active during the [[Principate]] started to unite into bigger tribal unions, such as the [[Franks]], [[Alamanni]], [[Bavarii]], and [[Saxons]].<ref name="Menghin, 16"/><ref name="Priester, 14">{{harvnb|Priester|2004|p=14}}</ref> The Lombards are not mentioned at first, perhaps because they were not initially on the border of Rome, or perhaps because they were subjected to a larger tribal union, like the Saxons.<ref name="Menghin, 16"/><ref name="Priester, 14"/> It is, however, highly probable that, when the bulk of the Lombards migrated, a considerable part remained behind and afterwards became absorbed by the Saxon tribes in the Elbe region, while the emigrants alone retained the name of Lombards.<ref>{{harvnb|Hartmann|2011|loc=II, pt I|p=5}}</ref> However, the ''Historia Langobardorum codicis Gothani'' states that the Lombards were subjected by the Saxons around 300 but rose up against them under their first king, Agelmund, who ruled for 30 years.<ref name="HLcG2"/><ref>{{harvnb|Menghin|1985|pp=17–19}}</ref> In the second half of the fourth century, the Lombards left their homes, probably due to bad harvests, and embarked on their migration.<ref name=Zeuss471/><ref name=Wiese38/><ref name=Schmidt35/><ref>{{harvnb|Priester|2004|pp=21–22}}</ref>

===Migration===
The only account of how the Langobards moved from the Lower Elbe to the Danube is found in the ''Origo Gentis Langobardorum'', and the ''History'' of Paul the Deacon. The end of their journey was "[[Rugiland]]", where they arrived after 387 when [[Odoacer]] defeated the kingdom of the [[Rugii]]. They stopped in several places: ''Scoringa'' and ''Mauringa'' are only mentioned by Paul the Deacon; ''Golanda'', ''Anthaib'', ''Banthaib'', and ''Vurgundaib'' (''Burgundaib'') are mentioned in both texts.<ref name=Hammerstein-Loxten56/> According to the [[Ravenna Cosmography]], Mauringa was the land east of the Elbe.<ref>Cosmographer of Ravenna, I, 11.</ref>

The crossing into Mauringa was very difficult. The Assipitti (possibly the [[Usipetes]]) denied them passage through their lands and a fight was arranged for the strongest man of each tribe. The Lombard was victorious, passage was granted, and the Lombards reached Mauringa.<ref>{{harvnb|Hodgkin|2012|loc=Ch. V|p=92}}</ref>

The Lombards departed from Mauringa and reached Golanda. Scholar Ludwig Schmidt thinks this was further east, perhaps on the right bank of the [[Oder]].<ref>{{harvnb|Schmidt|2018|p=49}}</ref> Schmidt considers the name the equivalent of [[Gotland]], meaning simply "good land".<ref>{{harvnb|Hodgkin|2012|loc=Ch. V|p=143}}</ref> This theory is highly plausible; [[Paul the Deacon]] mentions the Lombards crossing a river, and they could have reached ''Rugiland'' from the Upper Oder area via the [[Moravian Gate]].<ref>Menghin, ''Das Reich an der Donau'', 21.</ref>

Moving out of Golanda, the Lombards passed through Anthaib and Banthaib until they reached Vurgundaib, believed to be the old lands of the [[Burgundes]].<ref>{{harvnb|Priester|2004|p=22}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Bluhme|1868|loc=Ch. XIII}}</ref> In Vurgundaib, the Lombards were stormed in camp by "[[Bulgars]]" (probably [[Huns]])<ref>{{harvnb|Menghin|1985|p=14}}</ref> and were defeated; King Agelmund was killed and Laimicho was made king. He was in his youth and desired to avenge the slaughter of Agelmund.<ref>Hist. gentis Lang., Ch. XVII</ref> The Lombards themselves were probably made subjects of the Huns after the defeat but rose up and defeated them with great slaughter,<ref>Hist. gentis Lang., Ch. XVII.</ref> gaining great booty and confidence as they "became bolder in undertaking the toils of war."<ref>PD, XVII.</ref> 

===Middle Danube===

During the reign of [[Claffo|King Claffo]], the Langobards occupied parts of modern-day [[Upper Austria|Upper]] and [[Lower Austria]] and converted to [[Arian Christianity]]. In 505 the [[Heruli]]ans attacked and defeated them, obliging them to pay tax and withdraw to Northern [[Bohemia]]. In 508, [[Rodulf, Herule king|King Rodulf]] sent his brother to the Lombard court to collect tribute and extend the truce; however, he was stabbed by Rometrud, sister of [[Tato|King Tato]]. Rodulf personally led his forces against Tato, but was ambushed and killed from a hill.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Márki |first=Sándor |url=http://real-eod.mtak.hu/5753/1/000911018.pdf |title=A longobárdok hazánkban |publisher=Ajtai Kovách Albert Magyar Polgár Könyvnyomdája |year=1899 |location=Kolozsvár ([[Cluj-Napoca]]) |language=hu |trans-title=The Langobards in our homeland}}</ref>

In the 540s, [[Audoin]] (ruled 546–560) led the Lombards across the Danube once more into [[Pannonia]]. [[Thurisind]], King of the [[Gepids]] attempted to expel them, and both peoples asked for help from the Byzantines. [[Justinian I]] sent his army against the Gepids; however, it was routed on the way by the [[Heruli]]ans and the sides signed a two-year truce. Revenging what he felt as a betrayal, Thurisind made an alliance with the [[Kutrigurs]] who devastated [[Moesia]] before end of the armistice. The Langobard and Roman army joined together and defeated the Gepids in 551. In the battle, [[Audoin]]'s son, [[Alboin]] killed [[Thurisind]]'s son, [[Turismod]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Borovszky |first=Samu |url=http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01267/html/index.htm |title=Nagy Képes Világtörténet |publisher=Franklin Társulat Magyar Irodalmi Intézet és Könyvnyomda Rt. |editor-last=Marczali |editor-first=Henrik |location=Budapest |language=hu |trans-title=Great Illuminated World History |chapter=A népvándorlás kora |trans-chapter=The Migration Period |chapter-url=http://mek.oszk.hu/01200/01267/html/04kotet/ind04kot.htm}}</ref>

In 552, the Byzantines, aided by a large contingent of [[Foederati]], notably Lombards, Heruls and Bulgars, defeated the last Ostrogoths led by [[Teia]] in the [[Battle of Taginae]].<ref name="HFH">{{cite book|title=Battles The World's History: Central and northern Europe |first=Hans Ferdinand |last=Helmolt |year=1907 |place=London}}</ref>

In approximately 560, Audoin was succeeded by his son [[Alboin]], a young and energetic leader who defeated the neighboring [[Gepidae]] and made them his subjects; in 566, he married [[Rosamund (queen)|Rosamund]], daughter of the Gepid king [[Cunimund]]. In the same year, he made a pact with [[Bayan I|Khagan Bayan]]. Next year the Lombards and the [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]] destroyed the Gepid kingdom in the [[Lombard–Gepid War (567)|Lombard–Gepid War]], the allies halved the [[prize of war]] and the nomads settled in [[Transylvania]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Kiss |first=Attila |year=2020 |title=A langobardok pannóniai kivonulása |trans-title=The withdrawal of the Langobards from Pannonia |url=https://mki.gov.hu/hu/hirek-hu/minden-hir-hu/innen-aprilis-havaban-koltoztek-ki-a-szent-husvetra-kovetkezo-napon-a-langobardok-pannoniai-kivonulasa |website=[[Institute of Hungarian Research|Magyarságkutató Intézet]] |language=hu}}</ref>

===Kingdom of the Lombards in Italy, 568–774===
{{anchor|Invasion of Italy}}{{Main|Kingdom of the Lombards}}

[[File:Lombard Conquest of Italy.png|thumb|right|Phases of the conquest of Italy]]
{{Hatnote|"Lombard invasion of Italy" redirects here.}}
[[File:Pietro della Vecchia - Rosamund forced to drink from the skull of her father.jpg|thumb|''Rosamund forced to drink from the skull of her father'' by [[Pietro della Vecchia]]. According to [[Samu Szádeczky-Kardoss]], the cup could be a gift from [[Bayan I|Bayan]], as it was a nomad habit to make cups from the enemy's skulls.]]

In the spring of 568, Alboin, now fearing the aggressive Avars, led the Lombard migration into [[Italy (Roman Empire)|Italy]],<ref name="HGL">Peters</ref> which he planned for years.<ref name=":1"/> According to the ''History of the Lombards,'' "Then the Langobards, having left [[Pannonia]], hastened to take possession of [[Italy (Roman Empire)|Italy]] with their wives and children and all their goods."<ref>Peters, 2.7.</ref> The Avars have agreed to shelter them if they wish to come back.<ref name=":1"/>

Various other peoples who either voluntarily joined or were subjects of [[Alboin|King Alboin]] were also part of the migration.<ref name="HGL"/> <blockquote>Whence, even until today, we call the villages in which they dwell [[Gepids|Gepidan]], [[Bulgars|Bulgarian]], [[Sarmatian]], [[Pannonians|Pannonian]], [[Suebi|Suabian]], [[Taurisci|Norican]], or by other names of this kind."<ref>Peters, 2.26.</ref></blockquote> At least 20,000 Saxon warriors, old allies of the Lombards, and their families joined them in their new migration.<ref>Paolo Diacono, Historia Langobardorum, FV, II, 4, 6, 7.</ref>

The first important city to fall was ''Forum Iulii'' ([[Cividale del Friuli]]) in [[northeastern Italy]], in 569. There, Alboin created the first Lombard duchy, which he entrusted to his nephew [[Gisulf II of Friuli|Gisulf]]. Soon [[Vicenza]], [[Verona]] and [[Brescia]] fell into Germanic hands. In the summer of 569, the Lombards conquered the main Roman centre of [[northern Italy]], [[Milan]]. The area was then recovering from the terrible [[Gothic War (535–554)|Gothic Wars]], and the small [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] army left for its defence could do almost nothing. Longinus, the [[Exarch]] sent to Italy by Emperor [[Justin II]], could only defend coastal cities that could be supplied by the powerful Byzantine fleet. [[Pavia]] fell after a siege of three years, in 572, becoming the first capital city of the new Lombard kingdom of Italy.[[File:0815 - Museo archeologico di Milano - Corredo longobardico (sec. VI-VII) - Foto Giovanni Dall'Orto, 13-mar-2012.jpg|thumb|Lombard grave goods (sixth to seventh century), [[Milan]], [[Lombardy]]]]In the following years, the Lombards penetrated further south, conquering [[Tuscany]] and establishing two duchies, [[Duchy of Spoleto|Spoleto]] and [[Duchy of Benevento|Benevento]] under [[Zotto]], which soon became semi-independent and even outlasted the northern kingdom, surviving well into the twelfth century. Wherever they went, they were joined by the Ostrogothic population, which was allowed to live peacefully in Italy with their [[Rugii|Rugian]] allies under Roman sovereignty.<ref>De Bello Gothico IV 32, pp. 241–245</ref> The [[Byzantine]]s managed to retain control of the area of Ravenna and Rome, linked by a thin corridor running through [[Perugia]].

When they entered Italy, some Lombards retained their native form of [[Germanic paganism|paganism]], while some were [[Arianism|Arian]] Christians. Hence they did not enjoy good relations with the [[Early Christian Church]]. Gradually, they adopted Roman or Romanized titles, names, and traditions, and partially converted to orthodoxy (in the seventh century), though not without a long series of religious and ethnic conflicts. By the time [[Paul the Deacon]] was writing, the Lombard language, dress and even hairstyles had nearly all disappeared ''[[in toto]]''.<ref>"The New Cambridge Medieval History: c. 500–c. 700" by Paul Fouracre and [[Rosamond McKitterick]] (p. 8)</ref>
[[File:Musei civici (Pavia)29.jpg|thumb|[[Plutei of Theodota]], mid-eighth century, [[Pavia Civic Museums|Civic Museums of Pavia]].]]

The whole Lombard territory was divided into 36 duchies, whose leaders settled in the main cities. The king ruled over them and administered the land through emissaries called ''gastaldi''. This subdivision, however, together with the independent indocility of the duchies, deprived the kingdom of unity, making it weak even when compared to the Byzantines, especially since these had begun to recover from the initial invasion. This weakness became even more evident when the Lombards had to face the increasing power of the Franks. In response, the kings tried to centralize power over time, but they definitively lost control over [[Spoleto]] and [[Benevento]] in the attempt.

==== Langobardia major ====
{{div col|colwidth=18em}}
* [[Duchy of Friuli]]
* [[Duchy of Tridentum]]
* [[Duchy of Persiceta]]
* Duchy of Pavia
* [[Duchy of Tuscia]]
{{div col end}}

==== Langobardia minor ====
* [[Duchy of Spoleto]] and [[Duke of Spoleto]]
* [[Duchy of Benevento]] and [[List of dukes and princes of Benevento]]

====Arian monarchy====
{{Unreferenced section|date=October 2018}}
[[File:Chlothar II.jpg|thumb|The Frankish [[Merovingian]] King [[Chlothar II]] in combat with the Lombards]]
In 572, Alboin was murdered in Verona in a plot led by his wife, Rosamund, who later fled to [[Ravenna]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mark |first=Joshua J. |date=15 December 2014 |title=Alboin |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Alboin/ |access-date=2025-06-22 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref> His successor, [[Cleph]], was also assassinated, after a ruthless reign of 18 months. His death began an interregnum of years (the "[[Rule of the Dukes]]") during which the [[Duke (Lombard)|duke]]s did not elect any king, a period regarded as a time of violence and disorder. In 586, threatened by a Frankish invasion, the dukes elected Cleph's son, [[Authari]], as king. In 589, he married [[Theodelinda]], daughter of [[Garibald I of Bavaria]], the Duke of [[Duchy of Bavaria|Bavaria]]. The Catholic Theodelinda was a friend of [[Pope Gregory I]] and pushed for Christianization. In the meantime, Authari embarked on a policy of internal reconciliation and tried to reorganize royal administration. The dukes yielded half their estates for the maintenance of the king and his court in Pavia. On the foreign affairs side, Authari managed to thwart the dangerous alliance between the Byzantines and the Franks.

Authari died in 591 and was succeeded by [[Agilulf]], the duke of [[Duchy of Turin|Turin]], who also married Theodelinda in the same year. Agilulf successfully fought the rebel dukes of northern Italy, conquering [[Padua]] in 601, [[Cremona]] and [[Mantua]] in 603, and forcing the [[Exarch of Ravenna]] to pay tribute. Agilulf died in 616; Theodelinda reigned alone until 628 when she was succeeded by [[Adaloald]]. [[Arioald]], the head of the Arian opposition who had married Theodelinda's daughter Gundeperga, later deposed Adaloald.

Arioald was succeeded by [[Rothari]], regarded by many authorities as the most energetic of all Lombard kings. He extended his dominions, conquering [[Liguria]] in 643 and the remaining part of the Byzantine territories of inner [[Veneto]], including the Roman city of ''Opitergium'' ([[Oderzo]]). Rothari also made the famous edict bearing his name, the ''[[Edictum Rothari]]'', which established the laws and the customs of his people in [[Latin]]: the edict did not apply to the tributaries of the Lombards, who could retain their own laws. Rothari's son [[Rodoald]] succeeded him in 652, still very young, and was killed by his opponents.

At the death of King [[Aripert I]] in 661, the kingdom was split between his children [[Perctarit]], who set his capital in Milan, and [[Godepert]], who reigned from [[Pavia]] ([[Ticinum]]). Perctarit was overthrown by [[Grimoald I of Benevento|Grimoald]], son of Gisulf, duke of [[Duchy of Friuli|Friuli]] and [[Duchy of Benevento|Benevento]] since 647. Perctarit fled to the [[Avars (Carpathians)|Avars]] and then to the Franks. Grimoald managed to regain control over the duchies and deflected the late attempt of the [[Byzantine emperor]] [[Constans II (Byzantine Empire)|Constans II]] to conquer southern Italy. He also defeated the Franks. At Grimoald's death in 671 [[Perctarit]] returned and promoted tolerance between Arians and Catholics, but he could not defeat the Arian party, led by Arachi, duke of [[Duchy of Tridentum|Trento]], who submitted only to his son, the philo-Catholic [[Cunincpert]].

The Lombards engaged in fierce battles with [[Slavic peoples]] during these years: from 623 to 626 the Lombards unsuccessfully attacked the [[Carantania]]ns, and, in 663–64, the Slavs raided the [[Vipava Valley]] and the [[Friuli]].

====Catholic monarchy====
[[File:Luitprand tremissis 661673.jpg|thumb|right|[[Liutprand, King of the Lombards|King Liutprand]] (712–744) "was a zealous Catholic, generous and a great founder of monasteries".<ref name=FEL>{{cite book|title=The End of the Ancient World and the Beginnings of the Middle Ages |first=Ferdinand |last=Lot |year=1931 |place=London}}</ref>]]
Religious strife and the Slavic raids remained a source of struggle in the following years. In 705, the Friuli Lombards were defeated and lost the land to the west of the [[Soča]] River, namely the [[Gorizia Hills]] and the [[Venetian Slovenia]].<ref name="VidmarSolkan"/> A new ethnic border was established that has lasted for over 1200 years up until the present time.<ref name="VidmarSolkan">{{cite web |url=http://www.solkan.si/o-solkanu/od-kod-prihajajo-in-kdo-so-solkanski-langobardi |title=Od kod prihajajo in kdo so solkanski Langobardi |language=sl |trans-title=From Where Come and Who Are the Solkan Lombards |first=Jernej |last=Vidmar |access-date=30 July 2012 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304113612/http://www.solkan.si/o-solkanu/od-kod-prihajajo-in-kdo-so-solkanski-langobardi }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=A Slovene history: society – politics – culture |first1=Peter |last1=Štih |first2=Vasko |last2=Simoniti |first3=Peter |last3=Vodopivec |editor-first=Žarko |editor-last=Lazarević |publisher=Institute of Modern History |place=Ljubljana |year=2008 |isbn=978-961-6386-19-7 |chapter=The Settlement of the Slavs |page=22}}</ref>

The Lombard reign began to recover only with [[Liutprand the Lombard]] (king from 712), son of [[Ansprand]] and successor of the brutal [[Aripert II]]. He managed to regain a certain control over [[Spoleto]] and Benevento, and, taking advantage of the disagreements between the Pope and [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantium]] concerning the [[Byzantine Iconoclasm|reverence of icons]], he annexed the Exarchate of Ravenna and the duchy of [[Rome]]. He also helped the Frankish marshal [[Charles Martel]] drive back the [[Arabs]]. The Slavs were defeated in the [[Battle of Lavariano]], when they tried to conquer the [[Friulian Plain]] in 720.<ref name="VidmarSolkan"/> Liutprand's successor [[Aistulf]] conquered Ravenna for the Lombards for the first time but had to relinquish it when he was subsequently defeated by the king of the Franks, [[Pippin III]], who was called by the Pope.

After the death of Aistulf, [[Ratchis]] attempted to become king of Lombardy, but he was deposed by [[Desiderius]], duke of [[March of Tuscany|Tuscany]], the last Lombard to rule as king. Desiderius managed to take Ravenna definitively, ending the Byzantine presence in northern Italy. He decided to reopen struggles against the Pope, who was supporting the dukes of Spoleto and Benevento against him, and entered Rome in 772, the first Lombard king to do so. But when [[Pope Hadrian I]] called for help from the powerful Frankish king [[Charlemagne]], Desiderius was defeated at [[Susa, Italy|Susa]] and besieged in [[Pavia]], while his son [[Adalgis|Adelchis]] was forced to open the gates of Verona to Frankish troops. Desiderius surrendered in 774, and Charlemagne, in an utterly novel decision, took the title "King of the Lombards". Before then the Germanic kingdoms had frequently conquered each other, but none had adopted the title of King of another people. Charlemagne took part of the Lombard territory to create the [[Papal States]].

The [[Lombardy]] region in Italy, which includes the cities of Brescia, Bergamo, Milan, and the old capital Pavia, is a reminder of the presence of the Lombards.

===Later history===
====Falling to the Franks and the Duchy of Benevento, 774–849====
[[File:Duchy of Benevento It.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Lombard [[Duchy of Benevento]] in the eighth century]]

Though the kingdom centred on Pavia in the north fell to Charlemagne and the [[Franks]] in 774, the Lombard-controlled territory to the south of the Papal States was never subjugated by Charlemagne or his descendants. In 774, Duke [[Arechis II of Benevento]], whose duchy had only nominally been under royal authority, though certain kings had been effective at making their power known in the south, claimed that Benevento was the [[successor state]] of the kingdom. He tried to turn Benevento into a ''secundum Ticinum'': a second Pavia. He tried to claim the kingship, but with no support and no chance of a coronation in Pavia.

Charlemagne came down with an army, and his son [[Louis the Pious]] sent men, to force the Beneventan duke to submit, but his submission and promises were never kept and Arechis and his successors were ''de facto'' independent. The Beneventan dukes took the title ''prínceps'' (prince) instead of that of king.

The Lombards of southern Italy were thereafter in the anomalous position of holding land claimed by two empires: the [[Carolingian Empire]] to the north and west and the [[Byzantine Empire]] to the east. They typically made pledges and promises of tribute to the Carolingians, but effectively remained outside Frankish control. Benevento meanwhile grew to its greatest extent yet when it imposed a tribute on the [[Duchy of Naples]], which was tenuously loyal to Byzantium and even conquered the Neapolitan city of [[Amalfi]] in 838. At one point in the reign of [[Sicard of Benevento|Sicard]], Lombard control covered most of southern Italy save the very south of [[Apulia]] and [[Calabria]] and [[Naples]], with its nominally attached cities. It was during the ninth century that a strong Lombard presence became entrenched in formerly Greek Apulia. However, Sicard had opened up the south to the invasive actions of the [[Saracen]]s in his war with [[Andrew II of Naples]] and when he was assassinated in 839, Amalfi declared independence and two factions fought for power in Benevento, crippling the principality and making it susceptible to external enemies.

The civil war lasted ten years and ended with a peace treaty imposed in 849 by [[Emperor Louis II]], the only Frankish king to exercise actual sovereignty over the Lombard states. The treaty divided the kingdom into two states: the Principality of Benevento and the [[Principality of Salerno]], with its capital at [[Salerno]] on the [[Tyrrhenian Sea]].

====Southern Italy and the Arabs, 836–915====
{{Main|History of Islam in southern Italy}}

Andrew II of Naples hired Islamic mercenaries and formed a Muslim-Christian alliance for his war with Sicard of Benevento in 836; Sicard responded with other Muslim mercenaries. The Saracens initially concentrated their attacks on [[Sicily]] and Byzantine Italy, but soon [[Radelchis I of Benevento]] called in more mercenaries, who destroyed [[Capua]] in 841. [[Landulf I of Capua|Landulf the Old]] founded the present-day Capua, "New Capua", on a nearby hill. In general, the Lombard princes were less inclined to ally with the Saracens than with their Greek neighbours of Amalfi, Gaeta, Naples, and Sorrento. [[Guaifer of Salerno]], however, briefly put himself under Muslim suzerainty.

In 847 a large Muslim force seized [[Bari]], until then a Lombard [[gastald]]ate under the control of [[Pandenulf of Bari|Pandenulf]]. Saracen incursions proceeded northwards until [[Adelchis of Benevento]] sought the help of his suzerain, Louis II, who allied with the Byzantine emperor [[Basil I]] to [[Louis II's campaign against Bari (866–871)|expel the Arabs from Bari in 869]]. An Arab landing force was defeated by the emperor in 871. Adelchis and Louis remained at war until the death of Louis in 875. Adelchis regarded himself as the true successor of the Lombard kings, and in that capacity he amended the ''[[Edictum Rothari]]'', the last Lombard ruler to do so.

After the death of Louis, [[Landulf II of Capua]] briefly flirted with a Saracen alliance, but [[Pope John VIII]] convinced him to break it off. [[Guaimar I of Salerno]] fought the Saracens with Byzantine troops. Throughout this period the Lombard princes swung in allegiance from one party to another. Finally, towards 915, [[Pope John X]] managed to unite the Christian princes of southern Italy against the Saracen establishments on the [[Garigliano]] river. The Saracens were ousted from Italy in the [[Battle of the Garigliano]] in 915.

====Lombard principalities in the tenth century====
[[File:Italy 1000 AD.svg|thumb|right|250px|Italy around the turn of the millennium, showing the Lombard states in the south on the eve of the arrival of the Normans.]]
The independent state of Salerno inspired the [[List of princes of Capua|gastalds of Capua]] to move towards independence, and by the end of the century they were styling themselves "princes" and as a third Lombard state. The Capuan and Beneventan states were united by [[Atenulf I of Capua]] in 900. He subsequently declared them to be in perpetual union, and they were separated only in 982, on the death of [[Pandulf Ironhead]]. With all of the Lombard south under his control, except Salerno, Atenulf felt safe to use the title ''Princeps Gentis Langobardorum'' ("prince of the Lombard people"), which Arechis II had begun using in 774. Among Atenulf's successors the principality was ruled jointly by fathers, sons, brothers, cousins, and uncles for the greater part of the century.

Meanwhile, the prince [[Gisulf I of Salerno]] began using the title ''Langobardorum Gentis Princeps'' around mid-century, but the ideal of a united Lombard principality was realised only in December 977, when Gisulf died and his domains were inherited by Pandulf Ironhead, who temporarily held almost all Italy south of Rome and brought the Lombards into an alliance with the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. His territories were divided upon his death.
[[File:South Italy AD 1039-1047-es.svg|300px|thumb|left|The Principate of Salerno under [[Guaimar IV]] (1027-1052) controlled all southern continental Italy (includind Naples as a "vassal" duchy)]]
[[Landulf II of Benevento|Landulf the Red]] of Benevento and Capua tried to conquer the principality of Salerno with the help of [[John III of Naples]], but with the aid of [[Mastalus I of Amalfi]], Gisulf repulsed him. The rulers of Benevento and Capua made several attempts on [[Catapanate of Italy|Byzantine Apulia]] at this time, but late in the century, the Byzantines, under the stiff rule of [[Basil II]], gained ground on the Lombards.

According to the ''Catalogum Principum Salerni'', the Prince of "langobard Salerno" [[Guaimar IV]] ruled for 34 years and 17 days. He conquered and was: [[Duke of Amalfi]] (1039&ndash;1052), [[Duke of Gaeta]] (1040&ndash;1041), and [[Prince of Capua]] (1038&ndash;1047) in [[Southern Italy]] over the period from 1027 to 1052.  He was an important figure in the final phase of [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] authority in the [[Mezzogiorno]] and [[Norman conquest of southern Italy|the commencement of Norman power]]. Guaimar's legacy includes his dominion, either by conquest or otherwise, over Salerno, Amalfi, Gaeta, Naples, Sorrento, Apulia, Calabria, and Capua at one time or another. He was the last great Lombard prince of the south, but perhaps he is best known for his character, which the [[John Julius Norwich|Lord Norwich]] sums up this way: "...without once breaking a promise or betraying a trust. Up to the day he died his honour and good faith had never once been called in question.".<ref>Norwich, 88.</ref> Salerno in these decades was the main and more rich city (called "Opulenta Salernum") in southern Italy, even because of the "Schola Medica Salernitana" (the first "university" of medicine in Europe).

After the assassination of Guaimar IV the Principality of Salerno started to be dominated more and more by the Normans: in 1077 ended the history of the Langobards in Italy when this Principality was conquered by the Norman [[Robert Guiscard]].

The principal source for the history of the Lombard principalities in this period is the ''[[Chronicon Salernitanum]]'', composed late in the tenth century at Salerno.

====Norman conquest, 1017–1078====
{{Main|Norman conquest of southern Italy}}

The diminished Beneventan principality soon lost its independence to the [[papacy]] and declined in importance until it fell in the [[Norman conquest of southern Italy]]. The Normans, first called in by the Lombards to fight the Byzantines for control of [[Apulia]] and [[Calabria]] (under the likes of [[Melus of Bari]] and [[Arduin the Lombard|Arduin]], among others), had become rivals for hegemony in the south. The Salernitan principality experienced a golden age under [[Guaimar III of Salerno|Guaimar III]] and [[Guaimar IV of Salerno|Guaimar IV]], but under [[Gisulf II of Salerno|Gisulf II]], the principality shrank to insignificance and fell in 1078 to [[Robert Guiscard]], who had married Gisulf's sister [[Sichelgaita]]. The Capua principality was hotly contested during the reign of the hated [[Pandulf IV of Capua|Pandulf IV]], the ''Wolf of the Abruzzi'', and, under his son, it fell, almost without contest, to the Norman [[Richard I of Aversa|Richard Drengot]] (1058). The Capuans revolted against Norman rule in 1091, expelling Richard's grandson [[Richard II of Capua|Richard II]] and setting up one [[Lando IV of Capua|Lando IV]].

Capua was again put under Norman rule after the [[Siege of Capua]] of 1098 and the city quickly declined in importance under a series of ineffective Norman rulers. The independent status of these Lombard states is in general attested by the ability of their rulers to switch suzerains at will. Often the legal vassal of the pope or the emperor (either Byzantine or [[Holy Roman Emperor|Holy Roman]]), they were the real power-brokers in the south until their erstwhile allies the Normans rose to preeminence.

==Genetics==

A genetic study published in ''[[Nature Communications]]'' in September 2018 found strong genetic similarities between Lombards of Italy and earlier Lombards of Central Europe. Lombard males were primarily carriers of subclades of [[haplogroup R1b]] and [[Haplogroup I-M438#I2a2a|I2a2a1]], both of which are common among Germanic peoples. Lombard males were found to be more genetically homogeneous than Lombard females. The evidence suggested that the Lombards originated in Central/Northern Europe, and were a patriarchal people who settled Central Europe and then later Italy through a migration from the north.<ref>{{harvnb|Amorim|2018}}. "[B]iological relationships played an important role in these early medieval societies... Finally, our data are consistent with the proposed long-distance migration from Pannonia to Northern Italy."</ref>

A genetic study published in ''[[Science Advances]]'' in September 2018 examined the remains of a Lombard male buried at an [[Alemanni]]c graveyard. He was found to be a carrier of the paternal haplogroup [[Haplogroup R-M269#R1b1a1a2a1a1 (R-U106)|R1b1a2a1a1c2b2b]] and the maternal haplogroup [[Haplogroup H (mtDNA)#H2, H6 and H8|H65a]]. The graveyard also included the remains of a [[Franks|Frankish]] and a [[Byzantine]] male, both of whom were also carriers of subclades of the paternal haplogroup R1b1a2a1a1. The Lombard, Frankish and Byzantine males were all found to be closely related, and displayed close genetic links to [[Northern Europe]], particularly [[Lithuania]] and [[Iceland]].<ref>{{harvnb|O'Sullivan|2018}}. "Niederstotzingen North individuals are closely related to northern and eastern European populations, particularly from Lithuania and Iceland."</ref>

A genetic study published in the ''[[European Journal of Human Genetics]]'' in January 2019 examined the mtDNA of a large number of [[Early Middle Ages|early-medieval]] Lombard remains from Central Europe and Italy. These individuals were found to be closely related and displayed strong genetic links to Central Europe. The evidence suggested that the Lombard settlement of Italy was the result of a migration from the north involving both males and females.<ref name="Vai_2019">{{harvnb|Vai|2019}}. "[T]he presence in this cluster of haplogroups that reach high frequency in Northern European populations, suggests a possible link between this core group of individuals and the proposed homeland of different ancient barbarian Germanic groups... This supports the view that the spread of Longobards into Italy actually involved movements of people, who gave a substantial contribution to the gene pool of the resulting populations...This is even more remarkable thinking that, in many studied cases, military invasions are movements of males, and hence do not have consequences at the mtDNA level. Here, instead, we have evidence of maternally linked genetic similarities between LC in Hungary and Italy, supporting the view that immigration from Central Europe involved females as well as males."</ref>

A 2024 paper found that the Lombards of Italy were best modelled by a Jutlandic Iron Age source, consistent with an origin in Jutland or northern Germany.<ref>{{cite bioRxiv |date=2024-03-04 |first1=Torbjörn |last1=Ahlström |first2=Sofie Laurine |last2=Albris |first3=Morten E. |last3=Allentoft |first4=Isin |last4=Altinkaya |first5=William |last5=Barrie Andrés |first6=Biyaslan |last6=Atabiev |first7=Pernille |last7=Bangsgaard |first8=Peter |last8=de Barros Damgaard |first9=Maria |last9=Giovanna Belcastro |first10=Sophie |last10=Bergerbrant |first11=Stig |last11=Bergmann Møller |first12=Jialu |last12=Cao |first13=Nick Card Philippe |last13=Charlier |first14=Bruno |last14=Chaume |first15=Elizaveta |last15=Chernykh |first16=Torben |last16=Trier Christiansen |first17=Alfredo |last17=Coppa |first18=Maura |last18=De Coster |first19=Fabrice |last19=Demeter |first20=Jean-Paul |last20=Demoule |first21=Mads |last21=Dengsø Jessen |first22=Sean Dexter |last22=Denham |first23=Sophie |last23=Desenne |first24=Jane |last24=Downes |first25=Hanne M. |last25=Ellegård |first26=Per |last26=Ethelberg |first27=Anders |last27=Fischer |first28=Karin Margarita |last28=Frei |first29=Ralph |last29=Fyfe |first30=Olivér |last30=Gábor |first31=Marie-José |last31=Gaillard |first32=Johan Zakarias |last32=Gårdsvoll |first33=Charleen |last33=Gaunitz |first34=Jesper |last34=Hansen |first35=Ruslan |last35=Khaskhanov |first36=Katrine |last36=Kjær |first37=Lotte |last37=Hedeager |first38=Stijn |last38=Heeren |first39=Bjarne |last39=Henning Nielsen |first40=Merete |last40=Henriksen |first41=Rasmus Amund |last41=Henriksen |first42=Volker |last42=Heyd |first43=Mette |last43=Høj |first44=Evan K. |last44=Irving-Pease |first45=Rimantas |last45=Jankauskas |first46=Henrik |last46=Janson |first47=Johannsen Torkel |last47=Johansen |first48=Marie Louise S. |last48=Jørkov |first49=Mads |last49=Kähler Holst |first50=Anton |last50=Kern |first51=Vladimir |last51=Kolosov |first52=Lisette M. |last52=Kootker |first53=Kristian |last53=Kristiansen |first54=Guus |last54=Kroonen |first55=Anne Christine |last55=Larsen |first56=Thierry |last56=Lejars |first57=Mette |last57=Løvschal |first58=Niels |last58=Lynnerup |first59=Yvonne |last59=Magnusson |first60=Kristiina |last60=Mannermaa |first61=Vyacheslav |last61=Masyakin |first62=Hugh |last62=McColl |first63=Anne Lene |last63=Melheim |first64=Inga |last64=Merkyte |first65=Vyacheslav |last65=Moiseyev |first66=Erika |last66=Molnár |first67=J. Víctor |last67=Moreno-Mayar |first68=Larsen |last68=Morten |first69=Fischer |last69=Mortensen |first70=Nadja |last70=Mortensen |first71=Eileen |last71=Murphy |first72=Rasmus |last72=Nielsen |first73=Line |last73=Olsen |first74=Doris |last74=Pany-Kucera |first75=Thomaz |last75=Pinotti |first76=Marcia S. |last76=Ponce de León |first77=Abigail |last77=Ramsøe |first78=Håkon |last78=Reiersen |first79=Walter |last79=Reinhard |first80=Ingason Anders |last80=Rosengren |first81=Serena |last81=Sabatini |first82=Antti |last82=Sajantila |first83=Thorfinn |last83=Sand Korneliussen |first84=Gabriele |last84=Scorrano |first85=Bettina |last85=Schulz Paulsson |first86=Birgitte |last86=Skar |first87=Vladimir |last87=Slavchev |first88=Václav |last88=Smrčka |first89=Jacqueline |last89=Staring |first90=Jesper |last90=Stenderup |first91=Martin |last91=Sikora |first92=Søren M. |last92=Sindbæk |first93=Lasse |last93=Sørensen |first94=Ole |last94=Thirup Kastholm |first95=Georg |last95=Tiefengraber |first96=Zanette |last96=Tsigaridas Glørstad |first97=Otto Christian |last97=Uldum |first98=Frederik |last98=Valeur Seersholm |first99=Andrew |last99=Vaughn |first100=Jorge |last100=Vega |first101=Tharsika |last101=Vimala |first102=Lasse |last102=Vinner |first103=Daniele |last103=Vitali |first104=Alexey |last104=Voloshinov |first105=Sidsel |last105=Wåhlin |first106=Holger |last106=Wendling |first107=Thomas |last107=Werge |first108=Anna |last108=Wessman |first109=Eske |last109=Willerslev |first110=Jens |last110=Winther |first111=Helene |last111=Wilhelmson |first112=Karin |last112=Wiltschke |first113=Fulya Eylem |last113=Yediay |first114=João |last114=Zilhao |first115=Christoph P. E. |last115=Zollikofer |title=Steppe Ancestry in western Eurasia and the spread of the Germanic Languages |biorxiv=10.1101/2024.03.13.584607}}</ref>

==Culture==
===Language===
{{Main|Lombardic language}}

[[File:West germanic languages c 500.png|thumb|500px|The West-Germanic languages around the sixth century CE]]
Unless [[Cimbrian language|Cimbrian]] and [[Mòcheno language|Mòcheno]] represent surviving dialects, the [[Lombardic language]] is extinct.<ref name=BKM>{{cite book|title=The Languages and Linguistics of Europe |volume=II |first= Bernd |last=Kortmann |year=2011 |place=Berlin}}</ref> It declined beginning in the seventh century, but may have been in scattered use until as late as about the year 1000. Only fragments of the language have survived, the main evidence being individual words quoted in [[Latin]] texts. In the absence of Lombardic texts, it is not possible to draw any conclusions about the language's [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphology]] and syntax. The genetic classification of the language depends entirely on phonology. Since there is evidence that Lombardic participated in, and indeed shows some of the earliest evidence for, the [[High German consonant shift]], it is usually classified as an [[Upper German]] dialect descended from [[Elbe Germanic]].<ref>Marcello Meli, ''Le lingue germaniche'', p. 95.</ref>
[[File:Pforzen Inschrift.JPG|thumb|upright=1.35|The runic inscription from the [[Pforzen buckle]] may be the earliest written example of Lombardic language]]

Lombardic fragments are preserved in [[rune|runic]] inscriptions. Primary source texts include short inscriptions in the [[Elder Futhark]], among them the "bronze capsule of [[Schretzheim]]" (c. 600) and the silver belt buckle found in [[Pforzen]], [[Ostallgäu]] ([[Schwaben]]). A number of Latin texts include Lombardic names, and Lombardic legal texts contain terms taken from the legal vocabulary of the vernacular. In 2005, Emilia Denčeva argued that the inscription of the [[Pernik sword]] may be Lombardic.<ref>Emilia Denčeva (2006). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110206095949/http://germanistik.gradina.net/wp-content/blogs/16/uploads/Grosse.Schwert.pdf "Langobardische (?) Inschrift auf einem Schwert aus dem 8. Jahrhundert in bulgarischem Boden"] (PDF). ''[[Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur]]''. '''128''' (1): 1–11. {{doi|10.1515/BGSL.2006.1}}</ref>

Paul the Deacon, writing about 790 AD, mentioned that in his time the Bavarians and Saxons, and "other peoples of the same language {{lang|la|lingua}}", were still singing songs about King Alboin (died 572 AD).<ref>Paul the Deacon, ''History'', [https://archive.org/details/historyoflangoba00pauluoft/page/52 1.27]</ref> This indicates that at least for the use of such songs, there was still a shared language connecting at least the Saxons and Bavarians, and possibly also the Langobardi.{{sfn|Scardigli|2001|p=53}}

The Italian language preserves a large number of Lombardic words, although it is not always easy to distinguish them from other Germanic borrowings such as those from [[Gothic language|Gothic]] or from [[Frankish language|Frankish]]. They often bear some resemblance to English words, as Lombardic was akin to [[Old Saxon]].{{sfn|Hutterer|1999|page=339}} For instance, ''guardia'' from ''wardan'' (warden), ''guerra'' from ''werra'' (war), ''ricco'' from ''rikki'' (rich), and ''guadare'' from ''wadjan'' (to wade).

The ''Codice diplomatico longobardo'', a collection of legal documents, makes reference to many terms of Germanic origin, some of them still in use in the Italian language:

''marchio'' (mark), ''maniscalco'' (blacksmith), ''braida'' (suburban meadow), ''borgo'' (burg, village), ''fara'' (fundamental unity of Lombard social and military organization, presently used as toponym), ''sala'' (hall, room, also used as toponym), ''staffa'' (stirrup), ''stalla'' (stable), ''sculdascio'', ''faida'' (feud), ''manigoldo'' (scoundrel), ''sgherro'' (henchman); ''fanone'' (baleen), ''stamberga'' (hovel); ''anca'' (hip), ''guancia'' (cheek), ''nocca'' (knuckle), ''schiena'' (back); ''gazza'' (magpie), ''martora'' (marten); ''gualdo'' (wood, presently used as toponym); verbs like ''bussare'' (to knock), ''russare'' (to snore).<!-- Some of these terms are not properly of Langobardic, but of Frankish, Gothic, German, or indiscriminate Germanic origin.-->

===Social structure===

====Migration Period society====
During their stay at the mouth of the Elbe, the Lombards came into contact with other western Germanic populations, such as the Saxons and the [[Frisians]]. From these populations, which had long been in contact with the [[Celts]] (especially the Saxons), they adopted a rigid social organization into castes, rarely present in other Germanic peoples.<ref>{{harvnb|Cardini|2019|p=82}}</ref>

The Lombard kings can be traced back as early as c. 380 and thus to the beginning of the [[Migration Period|Great Migration]]. Kingship developed among the Germanic peoples when the unity of a single military command was found necessary. Schmidt believed that the Germanic tribes were divided into [[canton (country subdivision)|cantons]] and that the earliest government was a general assembly that selected canton chiefs and war leaders in times of conflict. All such figures were probably selected from a caste of nobility. As a result of the wars of their wanderings, royal power developed such that the king became the representative of the people, but the influence of the people on the government did not fully disappear.<ref>{{harvnb|Schmidt|2018|pp=76–77}}</ref> Paul the Deacon gives an account of the Lombard tribal structure during the migration:
<blockquote>
... in order that they might increase the number of their warriors, [the Lombards] confer liberty upon many whom they deliver from the yoke of bondage, and that the freedom of these may be regarded as established, they confirm it in their accustomed way by an arrow, uttering certain words of their country in confirmation of the fact.
</blockquote>
Complete emancipation appears to have been granted only among the Franks and the Lombards.<ref>{{harvnb|Schmidt|2018|p=47}}</ref>

====Society of the Catholic kingdom====
{{See also|Duke (Lombard)}}
Lombard society was divided into classes comparable to those found in the other Germanic successor states of Rome, [[Frankish Empire|Frankish Gaul]] and [[Hispania|Spain]] under the [[Visigoths]]. There was a noble class, a class of free persons beneath them, a class of unfree non-slaves (serfs), and finally slaves. The aristocracy itself was poorer, more urbanised, and less landed than elsewhere. Aside from the richest and most powerful of the dukes and the king himself, Lombard noblemen tended to live in cities (unlike their Frankish counterparts) and hold little more than twice as much in land as the merchant class (a far cry from provincial Frankish aristocrats who held vast swathes of land, hundreds of times larger than those beneath his status). The aristocracy by the eighth century was highly dependent on the king for means of income related especially to judicial duties: many Lombard nobles are referred to in contemporary documents as ''iudices'' (judges) even when their offices had important military and legislative functions as well.

The freemen of the Lombard kingdom were far more numerous than in Frankish lands, especially in the eighth century, when they are almost invisible in surviving documentary evidence. Smallholders, owner-cultivators, and rentiers are the most numerous types of person in surviving diplomata for the Lombard kingdom. They may have owned more than half of the land in Lombard Italy. The freemen were ''exercitales'' and ''viri devoti'', that is, soldiers and "devoted men" (a military term like "retainers"); they formed the [[Conscription#Medieval levies|levy]] of the Lombard army, and they were sometimes, if infrequently, called to serve, though this seems not to have been their preference. The small landed class, however, lacked the political influence necessary with the king (and the dukes) to control the politics and legislation of the kingdom. The aristocracy was more thoroughly powerful politically if not economically in Italy than in contemporary Gaul and Spain.
[[File:BRONZETTO.jpg|thumb|Lombard warrior, bronze statue, eighth century, [[Pavia Civic Museums]]]]

The urbanisation of Lombard Italy was characterised by the {{lang|it|città ad isole}} (or "city as islands"). It appears from archaeology that the great cities of Lombard Italy—[[Pavia]], [[Lucca]], [[Siena]], [[Arezzo]], [[Milan]]—were themselves formed of small urban cores within the old Roman city walls. The cities of the Roman Empire had been partially destroyed in the series of wars of the fifth and sixth centuries. Many sectors were left in ruins and ancient monuments became fields of grass used as pastures for animals, thus the [[Roman Forum]] became the ''Campo Vaccino'', the field of cows. The portions of the cities that remained intact were small, modest, contained a cathedral or major church (often sumptuously decorated), and a few public buildings and townhouses of the aristocracy. Few buildings of importance were stone, most were wood. In the end, the inhabited parts of the cities were separated from one another by stretches of pasture even within the city walls.

====Lombard states====
* Lombard state on the Carpathians (sixth century)
* Lombard state in Pannonia (sixth century)
* [[Kingdom of Italy (Lombard)|Kingdom of Italy]] and [[List of kings of the Lombards]]
* [[Principality of Benevento]] and [[List of dukes and princes of Benevento]]
* [[Principality of Salerno]] and [[List of princes of Salerno]]
* [[Principality of Capua]] and [[List of princes of Capua]]

===Religious history===

The legend from Origo may hint that initially, before the passage from Scandinavia to the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, the Lombards worshiped the [[Vanir]]. Later, in contact with other Germanic populations, they adopted the worship of the [[Æsir]]: an evolution that marked the passage from the adoration of deities related to fertility and the earth to the cult of warlike gods.<ref>{{harvnb|Rovagnati|2003|p=99}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Karl |last=Hauk |title=Lebensnormen und Kultmythen in germanischen Sammes- und Herrscher genealogien |language=de |trans-title=Norms of life and cult myths in Germanic collection and ruler genealogies}}</ref>

In chapter 40 of his ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]'', Roman historian [[Tacitus]], discussing the Suebian tribes of Germania, writes that the Lombards were one of the Suebian tribes united in worship of the deity Nerthus, who is often identified with the [[Norse mythology|Norse]] goddess [[Freyja]]. The other tribes were the [[Reudigni]], [[Aviones]], [[Anglii]], [[Varini]], [[Eudoses]], [[Suarines]] and [[Nuitones]].<ref>Tacitus', ''Germania'', [[wikisource:Germania#XL|40]], Medieval Source Book. Code and format by Northvegr.[http://www.northvegr.org/lore/tacitus/009.php] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080404105305/http://www.northvegr.org/lore/tacitus/009.php|date=2008-04-04}}</ref>

[[Barbatus of Benevento|St. Barbatus]] of [[Benevento]] observed many pagan rituals and traditions among the Lombards authorised by the [[Romuald I of Benevento|Duke Romuald]], son of [[Grimoald, King of the Lombards|King Grimoald]]:<ref name=RAB>{{cite book|title=The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints: Vol. I |first=Alban |last=Rev. Butler |year=1866 |place=London}}</ref>

{{blockquote|They expressed a religious veneration to a golden viper, and prostrated themselves before it: they paid also a superstitious honour to a tree, on which they hung the skin of a wild beast, and these ceremonies were closed by public games, in which the skin served for a mark at which bowmen shot arrows over their shoulder.}}

====Christianisation====
The Lombards first adopted Christianity while still in Pannonia, but their conversion and Christianisation was largely nominal and far from complete. During the reign of [[Wacho]], they were Orthodox Catholics allied with the [[Byzantine Empire]], but [[Alboin]] converted to [[Arianism]] as an ally of the [[Ostrogoths]] and invaded Italy. All these Christian conversions primarily affected the aristocracy, while the common people remained pagan.<ref name="Jarnut 2002 51">{{harvnb|Jarnut|2002|p=51}}</ref>

In Italy, the Lombards were intensively Christianised, and the pressure to convert to Orthodox Catholicism was great. With the [[Baiuvarii|Bavarian]] queen [[Theodelinda]], an Orthodox Catholic, the monarchy was brought under heavy Catholic influence. After initial support for the anti-Rome party in the [[Schism of the Three Chapters]], Theodelinda remained a close contact and supporter of [[Pope Gregory I]].<ref name="Jarnut 2002 51"/> In 603, [[Adaloald]], the heir to the throne, received Orthodox Catholic baptism.<ref>{{cite book |last=Waitz |first=Georg |title=Scriptores rerum Langobardicarum et Italicarum saec. VI–IX |date=1964 |publisher=Hahn |location=Hannover |pages=12–219}}</ref> However, the lack of spiritual involvement of most of the Lombards in religious disputes remained constant, so much so that the opposition between Orthodox Catholics, on the one hand, and pagans, Arians and schismatics, on the other, soon took on political significance. The supporters of Roman orthodoxy, led by the [[Bavarian dynasty]], were politically the proponents of greater integration with the Romans, accompanied by a strategy of preserving the status quo with the Byzantines. Arians, pagans and schismatics, rooted above all in the northeastern regions of the kingdom ([[Austria (Lombard)|Austria]]), were instead interpreters of the preservation of the warlike and aggressive spirit of the people. Thus, to the "pro-Catholic" phase of [[Agilulf]], Theodolinda and Adaloald followed, from 626 ([[Arioald]]'s accession to the throne) to 690 (definitive defeat of the rebel [[Alahis]]), a long phase of the revival of Arianism, embodied by militarily aggressive kings like [[Rothari]] and [[Grimoald, King of the Lombards|Grimoald]]. However, tolerance towards Orthodox Catholics was never questioned by the various kings, also safeguarded by the influential contribution of the respective queens (largely chosen, for reasons of dynastic legitimacy, among the Orthodox Catholic princesses of the Bavarian dynasty).<ref>{{harvnb|Jarnut|2002|pp=61–62}}</ref>

In the seventh century, the nominally Christian aristocracy of Benevento was still practising pagan rituals such as sacrifices in "sacred" woods.<ref>{{harvnb|Rovagnati|2003|p=101}}</ref> By the end of the reign of [[Cunipert|Cunincpert]], however, the Lombards were more or less completely Catholicised. Under [[Liutprand, King of the Lombards|Liutprand]] Orthodox Catholicism became tangible as the king sought to justify his title ''rex totius Italiae'' by uniting the south of the peninsula with the north, thereby bringing together his Italo-Roman and Germanic subjects into one Catholic State.<ref>{{harvnb|Rovagnati|2003|p=64}}</ref>

====Beneventan Christianity====
[[File:Beneventan.jpeg|thumb|The [[Rule of Saint Benedict]] in Beneventan (i.e. Lombard) script]]

The Duchy and eventually Principality of Benevento in southern Italy developed a unique Christian [[Christian liturgy|rite]] in the seventh and eighth centuries. The [[Beneventan rite]] is more closely related to the liturgy of the [[Ambrosian rite]] than to the [[Roman rite]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Approfondimenti – Il canto beneventano – Scuola di Canto Gregoriano |url=https://www.scuoladicantogregoriano.it/ |access-date=2022-09-06 |website=www.scuoladicantogregoriano.it}}</ref> The Beneventan rite has not survived in its complete form, although most of the principal feasts and several feasts of local significance are extant. The Beneventan rite appears to have been less complete, less systematic, and more liturgically flexible than the Roman rite.

Characteristic of this rite was the [[Beneventan chant]], a Lombard-influenced<ref name=":0"/> chant that bore similarities to the [[Ambrosian chant]] of Milan. The Beneventan chant is largely defined by its role in the liturgy of the Beneventan rite; many Beneventan chants were assigned multiple roles when inserted into Gregorian chantbooks, appearing variously as antiphons, offertories, and communions, for example. It was eventually supplanted by the [[Gregorian chant]] in the eleventh century.

The chief centre of the Beneventan chant was [[Montecassino]], one of the first and greatest abbeys of [[Western monasticism]]. [[Gisulf II of Benevento]] had donated a large swathe of land to Montecassino in 744, and that became the basis for an important state, the ''[[Terra Sancti Benedicti]]'', which was a subject only to Rome. The Cassinese influence on Christianity in southern Italy was immense.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Montecassino nell'Enciclopedia Treccani |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/montecassino |access-date=2022-09-06 |website=www.treccani.it |language=it-IT}}</ref> Montecassino was also the starting point for another characteristic of Beneventan monasticism, the use of the distinct [[Beneventan script]], a clear, angular script derived from the [[Roman cursive]] as used by the Lombards.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-02-20 |title=Rivive dopo mille anni uno scriptorium di Scrittura Beneventana, Benevento Longobarda affila le 'penne' |url=https://beneventolongobarda.it/rivive-dopo-mille-anni-uno-scriptorium-di-scrittura-beneventana-benevento-longobarda-affila-le-penne/ |access-date=2022-09-06 |website=Benevento Longobarda |language=it-IT}}</ref>

===Art===
During their nomadic phase, the Lombards primarily created art that was easily carried with them, like arms and jewellery. Though relatively little of this has survived, it bears resemblance to the similar endeavours of other Germanic tribes of central Europe from the same era.

The first major modifications to the Germanic style of the Lombards came in Pannonia and especially in Italy, under the influence of local, [[Byzantine art and architecture|Byzantine]], and [[early Christian art and architecture|Christian]] styles. The conversions from nomadism and paganism to settlement and Christianity also opened up new arenas of artistic expressions, such as architecture (especially churches) and its accompanying decorative arts (such as frescoes).
<gallery>
Langobard Shield Boss 7th Century.jpg|Lombard [[shield boss]]<br />northern Italy, seventh century, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Langobardic - Fibula - Walters 542440.jpg|Lombard [[Fibula (brooch)|S-shaped fibula]]
Arte longobarda, da sutri, bicchiere a forma di corno, fine VI-inizio VII sec.JPG|A glass [[drinking horn]] from Castel Trosino
Langobardic - Shroud Cross - Walters 571773.jpg|Lombard ''Goldblattkreuz''
Cividale fibula1.jpg|Lombard [[Fibula (brooch)|fibulae]]
Cividale Ratchis1.JPG|Altar of [[Ratchis]]
Cividale Tempietto Longobardo - Westwand Märtyrerinnen 1.jpg|Eighth-century Lombard sculpture depicting female martyrs, based on a Byzantine model. ''Tempietto Longobardo'', [[Cividale del Friuli]]
Interno della cripta.jpg|[[Crypt of Sant'Eusebio]], [[Pavia]].
</gallery>

====Architecture====
{{main|Lombard architecture|Longobards in Italy, Places of Power (568-774 A.D.)}}

[[File:Chiesa di santa sofia, benevento.jpg|thumb|Church of [[Santa Sofia, Benevento]]|alt=Chiesa di santa sofia, benevento.jpg]]

Few Lombard buildings have survived. Most have been lost, rebuilt, or renovated at some point, so they preserve little of their original Lombard structure. Lombard architecture was well-studied in the twentieth century, and the four-volume ''Lombard Architecture'' (1919) by [[Arthur Kingsley Porter]] is a "monument of illustrated history".

The small [[Oratorio di Santa Maria in Valle]] in [[Cividale del Friuli]] is probably one of the oldest preserved examples of Lombard architecture, as Cividale was the first Lombard city in Italy. Parts of Lombard constructions have been preserved in [[Pavia]] ([[San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro]], [[crypt of Sant'Eusebio|crypts of Sant'Eusebio]] and San Giovanni Domnarum) and [[Monza]] ([[Cathedral of Monza|cathedral]]). The ''Basilic autariana'' in [[Fara Gera d'Adda]] near [[Bergamo]] and the church of San Salvatore in [[Brescia]] also have Lombard elements. All these buildings are in northern Italy (Langobardia major), but by far the best-preserved Lombard structure is in southern Italy (Langobardia minor). The [[Santa Sofia, Benevento|Church of Santa Sofia]] in [[Benevento]] was erected in 760 by [[Arechis II of Benevento|Duke Arechis II]], and it preserves Lombard frescoes on the walls and even Lombard capitals on the columns.

Lombard architecture flourished under the impulse provided by the Catholic monarchs like [[Theodelinda]], [[Liutprand the Lombard|Liutprand]], and [[Desiderius]] to the foundation of monasteries to further their political control. [[Bobbio Abbey]] was founded during this time.

Some of the late Lombard structures of the ninth and tenth centuries have been found to contain elements of style associated with [[Romanesque architecture]] and so have been dubbed "[[first Romanesque]]". These edifices are considered, along with some similar buildings in [[southern France]] and [[Catalonia]], to mark a transitory phase between the [[Pre-Romanesque art and architecture|Pre-Romanesque]] and full-fledged Romanesque.

==List of rulers==
{{Main|List of kings of the Lombards}}

==Notes and sources==
===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book |last=Cardini |first=Franco |title=Storia medievale |year=2019 |publisher=Le Monnier Università |location=Florence |isbn=978-88-00-74815-5 |language=it}}
* {{cite journal |last=Amorim |first=Carlos Eduardo G. |date=11 September 2018 |title=Understanding 6th-century barbarian social organization and migration through paleogenomics |journal=[[Nature Communications]] |publisher=[[Nature Research]] |volume=9 |issue=3547 |page=3547 |doi=10.1038/s41467-018-06024-4 |pmc=6134036 |pmid=30206220 |bibcode=2018NatCo...9.3547A |doi-access=free |biorxiv=10.1101/268250}}
* {{cite book |last=Bluhme |first=Friedrich |author-link=:de:Friedrich Bluhme |year=1868 |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008235861 |title=Die Gens Langobardorum und ihre Herkunft, ...und ihre Sprache |language=de |trans-title=The Gens Langobardorum and their origin, ...and their language |location=Bonn |publisher=A.Marcus}}
* {{cite book |last=Brown |first=Thomas S. |year=2005 |chapter=Lombards |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195046526.001.0001/acref-9780195046526-e-3191? |editor-last=Kazhdan |editor-first=Alexander P. |editor-link1=Alexander Kazhdan |title=[[The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-518792-2 |access-date=26 January 2020}}
* {{cite journal |last=Bruckner |first=Wilhelm |year=1895 |url=https://archive.org/details/quellenundforsc03unkngoog/page/n453 |title=Die Sprache der Langobarden |language=de |trans-title=The language of the Lombards |journal=Quellen und Forschungen zur Sprach- und Culturgeschichte der germanischen Völker |volume=75 |location=Strassburg |publisher=Karl J. Trübner}}
* {{cite book |last=Chadwick Oman |first=Charles William |title=The Dark Ages 476–918 |year=2016 |publisher=Palala Press |isbn=978-1-358-37856-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.86389/page/n5/mode/2up}}
* {{cite book |first=Neil |last=Christie |author-link1=Neil Christie |year=2018a |chapter=Lombards |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-2847 |editor-last=Nicholson |editor-first=Oliver |title=[[The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=920–922 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-174445-7 |access-date=March 13, 2020}}
* {{cite book |first=Neil |last=Christie |author-link1=Neil Christie |year=2018b |chapter=Lombard Invasion Of Italy |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-2845 |editor1-last=Nicholson |editor1-first=Oliver |title=[[The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=919–920 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-174445-7 |access-date=March 13, 2020}}
* {{cite book |first=Neil |last=Christie |author-link1=Neil Christie |year=1995 |title=The Lombards |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xNuGQgAACAAJ |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |isbn=0-631-18238-1}}
* {{cite book |last1=Christensen |first1=Arne Søby |author-link1=Arne Søby Christensen |year=2002 |title=Cassiodorus, Jordanes and the History of the Goths |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AcLDHOqOt4cC |publisher=[[Museum Tusculanum Press]] |isbn=978-87-7289-710-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Daim |first=Falko |chapter=The Longobards in Pannonia |title=Prima e dopo Alboino: sulle tracce dei Longobardi |language=it |trans-title=Before and after Alboino: on the trail of the Lombards |year=2019 |location=Napoli |publisher=Guida |pages=221–241 |url=https://www.academia.edu/42431017}}
* {{cite book |last=Darvill |first=Timothy |author-link=Timothy Darvill |year=2009 |chapter=Lombards |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199534043.001.0001/acref-9780199534043-e-2297? |title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199534043.001.0001/acref-9780199534043 |edition=3 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199534043.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-172713-9 |access-date=25 January 2020}}
*{{citation|first=Christoph |last=Eger |title=III. Archäologisches §10-§11 | encyclopedia= Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde| volume=18| edition=2| editor1-first=Heinrich |editor1-last=Beck |editor2-first=Dieter |editor2-last= Geuenich |editor3-first=Heiko |editor3-last=Steuer |publisher=De Gruyter |year=2001 |isbn=978-3-11-016950-8 |pages=69-77}}
* {{cite book |last=Everett |first=Nicholas |title=Literacy in Lombard Italy, c. 568–774 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-521-81905-3 |location=Cambridge}}
* {{cite book |translator-last=Fischer Drew |translator-first=Katherine |others=foreword by Edward Peters |title=The Lombard Laws |location=Philadelphia |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]] |year=1973 |isbn=0-8122-1055-7}}
* {{cite book |last=Fock |first=Gustav |title=Älteste Geschichte der Langobarden. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Völkerwanderung |year=1884 |publisher=Universität |location=Leipzig |language=de}}
* {{cite book |last=Fröhlich |first=Hermann |year=1980 |title=Studien zur langobardischen Thronfolge |language=de |trans-title=Studies on the Longobard succession}} In two volumes. Diss. Eberhard-Karls-Universität zu Tübingen.
* {{cite book |last=Fröhlich |first=Hermann |year=1976 |url=https://www.perspectivia.net/publikationen/qfiab/55-56-1976 |chapter=Zur Herkunft der Langobarden |language=de |trans-chapter=On the origin of the Lombards |title=Quellen und Forschungen aus italienischen Archiven und Bibliotheken (QFIAB) 55/56 |trans-title=Sources and Research from Italian Archives and Libraries (QFIAB) 55/56 |location=Tübingen |publisher=Max Niemeyer |pages=1–21}}
* {{cite journal |last=Giess |first=Hildegard |jstor=3047841 |title=The Sculpture of the Cloister of Santa Sofia in Benevento |journal=The Art Bulletin |volume=41 |number=3 |date=September 1959 |pages=249–256 |doi=10.1080/00043079.1959.11407988}}
* {{cite book |last=Grimm |first=Jacob |title=Deutsche Mythologie |publisher=Marix |year=2003 |isbn=3-932412-24-9 |language=de}}
* {{cite journal |last=Hallenbeck |first=Jan T. |year=1982 |title=Pavia and Rome: The Lombard Monarchy and the Papacy in the Eighth Century |journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society |volume=74 |series=New Series |issue=4 |location=Philadelphia}}
* {{cite book |last=Hartmann |first=Ludwig Moritz |title=Geschichte Italiens Im Mittelalter |year=2011 |publisher=Nabu Press |isbn=978-1-247-55184-5 |language=de}}
* {{cite book |last=Hutterer |first=Claus Jürgen |title=Die Germanischen Sprachen |language=de |trans-title=The Germanic Languages |chapter=Langobardisch |trans-chapter=Lombardish |pages=336–341 |year=1999 |publisher=Albus |location=Wiesbaden |isbn=3-928127-57-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Hodgkin |first=Thomas |title=Italy and her invaders |year=2012 |publisher=Ulan Press}}
* {{cite book |last=Jarnut |first=Jörg |title=Storia dei Longobardi |location=Turin |publisher=[[Einaudi]] |year=2002 |isbn=88-06-16182-2}}
* {{cite journal |last=Leonardi |first=Michela |date=September 6, 2018 |title=Storia dei Longobardi |journal=[[American Journal of Physical Anthropology]] |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |volume=167 |issue=3 |pages=497–506 |biorxiv=10.1101/268250 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.23679 |pmid=30187463 |s2cid=52161000}}
* {{cite book |last=Menghin |first=Wilifred |title=Die Langobarden / Geschichte und Archäologie |location=Stuttgart |publisher=[[Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft|Theiss]] |year=1985 |isbn=3-926642-23-8 |language=de}}
*{{citation|last=Nedoma|first=Robert|title= Langobarden I. Philologisches § 1. Ethnonym|encyclopedia= Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde| volume=18| edition=2| editor1-first=Heinrich |editor1-last=Beck |editor2-first=Dieter |editor2-last= Geuenich |editor3-first=Heiko |editor3-last=Steuer |publisher=De Gruyter |year=2001 |isbn=978-3-11-016950-8 |pages=50-52}}
* {{cite journal |last=O'Sullivan |first=Niall |date=September 9, 2018 |title=Ancient genome-wide analyses infer kinship structure in an Early Medieval Alemannic graveyard |journal=[[Science Advances]] |publisher=[[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] |volume=4 |issue=9 |article-number=eaao1262 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.aao1262 |pmc=6124919 |pmid=30191172 |bibcode=2018SciA....4.1262O}}
* {{cite book|title=History of the Lombards: Translated by William Dudley Foulke |first=Edward |last=Peters |year=2003 |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]]}}
* {{cite book |last=Pohl |first=Walter |title=Die Langobarden Herrschaft und Identität |date=2024 |location=Wien |isbn=978-3-7001-3400-8 |language=de}}
* {{cite book |last=Priester |first=Karin |title=Die Geschichte der Langobarden: Gesellschaft – Kultur – Alltagsleben |year=2004 |publisher=Theiss |location=Stuttgart |isbn=3-8062-1848-X}}
*{{citation|encyclopedia=Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde| first=Hermann  | last= Reichert| title= Scoringa|volume=27|edition=2| editor1-first=Heinrich |editor1-last=Beck |editor2-first=Dieter |editor2-last= Geuenich |editor3-first=Heiko |editor3-last=Steuer |publisher=De Gruyter | year=2004|isbn=978-3-11-018116-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Rovagnati |first=Sergio |title=I Longobardi |location=Milan |publisher=Xenia |year=2003 |isbn=88-7273-484-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Santosuosso |first=Antonio |title=Barbarians, Marauders, and Infidels: The Ways of Medieval Warfare |year=2004 |publisher=Basic Books |isbn=0-8133-9153-9}}
*{{citation|last=Scardigli|first=Piergiuseppe |title= Langobarden I. Philologisches § 2-|encyclopedia= Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde| volume=18| edition=2| editor1-first=Heinrich |editor1-last=Beck |editor2-first=Dieter |editor2-last= Geuenich |editor3-first=Heiko |editor3-last=Steuer |publisher=De Gruyter |year=2001 |isbn=978-3-11-016950-8 |pages=50-57}}
* {{cite book |last=Schmidt |first=Ludwig |title=Zur Geschichte der Langobarden |location=Leipzig |publisher=Forgotten Books |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-267-05957-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/zurgeschichtede08schmgoog/page/n5 |language=de}}
* {{cite book |last=Taviani-Carozzi |first=Huguette |year=2005 |chapter=Lombards |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780227679319.001.0001/acref-9780227679319-e-1700 |editor1-last=Vauchez |editor1-first=André |editor1-link=André Vauchez |title=Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780227679319.001.0001/acref-9780227679319 |publisher=[[The Lutterworth Press|James Clarke & Co]] |doi=10.1093/acref/9780227679319.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-518817-2 |access-date=26 January 2020}}
* {{cite book |last=Todd |first=Malcolm |author-link1=Malcolm Todd (archaeologist) |year=2004 |title=The Early Germans |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZxXltwAACAAJ |publisher=[[Wiley (publisher)|Wiley]] |isbn=978-1-4051-1714-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Troya |first=Carlo |title=Codice Diplomatico Longobardo Dal DLXVIII Al DCCLXXIV: Con Note Storiche, Volume 1 |year=2010 |publisher=Nabu Press |isbn=978-1-144-25627-0}}
*{{citation|last=Udolph|first=Jürgen|title= Langobarden I. Philologisches § 5. Bardowick|encyclopedia= Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde| volume=18| edition=2| editor1-first=Heinrich |editor1-last=Beck |editor2-first=Dieter |editor2-last= Geuenich |editor3-first=Heiko |editor3-last=Steuer |publisher=De Gruyter |year=2001 |isbn=978-3-11-016950-8 |pages=629-632}}
* {{cite journal |last=Vai |first=Stefania |date=19 January 2019 |title=A genetic perspective on Longobard-Era migrations |journal=[[European Journal of Human Genetics]] |publisher=[[Nature Research]] |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=647–656 |doi=10.1038/s41431-018-0319-8 |pmc=6460631 |pmid=30651584}}
* {{cite book |last=Von Hammerstein-Loxten |first=Wilhelm C |title=Der Bardengau: e. histor. Unters. über dessen Verhältnisse u. über d. Güterbesitz d. Billunger |date=1869 |publisher=Hahn |location=Hannover |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_3vlSAAAAcAAJ/page/n3/mode/2up |language=de}}
* {{cite book |last=Wegwitz |first=Willie |title=Das langobardische Brandgräberfeld von Putensen |year=1972 |publisher=Hildesheim |location=Harburg |language=de}}
* {{cite book |last=Whitby |first=L. Michael |author-link1=Michael Whitby |year=2012 |chapter=Lombards |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001/acref-9780199545568-e-3764? |editor-last1=Hornblower |editor-first1=Simon |editor-link1=Simon Hornblower |editor-last2=Spawforth |editor-first2=Antony |editor-last3=Eidinow |editor-first3=Esther |editor-link3=Esther Eidinow |title=[[The Oxford Classical Dictionary]] |edition=4th |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=857 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-173525-7 |access-date=25 January 2020}}
* {{cite book |last=Whitney |first=J. P. |title=''[[The Cambridge Medieval History]]: Volume II – The Rise of the Saracens and the Foundations of the Western Empire'' |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1913}}
* {{Cite book |first=Christopher |last=Wickham |author-link=Chris Wickham |editor-last1=Goffart |editor-first1=Walter A. |editor-link=Walter Goffart |editor-last2=Murray |editor-first2=Alexander C. |contribution=Aristocratic Power in Eighth-Century Lombard Italy |title=After Rome's Fall: Narrators and Sources of Early Medieval History, Essays presented to Walter Goffart |year=1998 |pages=153–170 |place=Toronto |publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]] |isbn=0-8020-0779-1}}.
* {{cite book |last=Wiese |first=Robert |title=Die älteste Geschichte der Langobarden bis zum Untergange des Reiches der Heruler |year=1877 |publisher=Ratz, Jena |language=de}}
* {{cite book |last=Zeuss |first=Johann Kaspar |title=Deutschen und die Nachbarstämme |year=2012 |publisher=Nabu Press |isbn=978-1-278-74705-7 |language=de}}

{{Refend}}

==Ancient sources==
{{Refbegin}}
* ''[[Cosmographer of Ravenna]]''
* ''[[Historia Langobardorum codicis Gothani]]''
* ''[[Historia Langobardorum]]''
* ''[[Origo Gentis Langobardorum]]''
* [[Tacitus]]. ''Annals''
* Tacitus. ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]''
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Lombards}}
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Lombards |first1=Frederick George Meeson |last1=Beck |first2=Richard William |last2=Church |author2link=Richard William Church |short=x}}

{{Germanic peoples}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Lombards| ]]
[[Category:Early Germanic peoples]]
[[Category:Migration Period]]
[[Category:Suebi]]