6th century Founding of the kingdom In the 6th century
Byzantine Emperor Justinian attempted to reassert imperial authority in the territories of the
Western Roman Empire. In the resulting
Gothic War (535–554) waged against the
Ostrogothic Kingdom, Byzantine hopes of an early and easy triumph evolved into a long
war of attrition that resulted in mass dislocation of population and destruction of property. Problems were further exacerbated by
volcanic winter (536), causing widespread famine (538–542) and a devastating
plague pandemic (541–542). Although the Byzantine Empire eventually prevailed, the triumph proved to be a
pyrrhic victory, as all these factors caused the population of the
Italian Peninsula to crash, leaving the conquered territories severely underpopulated and impoverished. Although an invasion attempt by the
Franks, then allies of the
Ostrogoths, late in the war was successfully repelled, a large migration by the
Lombards, a Germanic people that had been previously allied with the Byzantine Empire, ensued. In the spring of 568 the Lombards, led by King
Alboin, moved from
Pannonia and quickly overwhelmed the small Byzantine army left by
Narses to guard Italy. The Lombard arrival broke the political unity of the Italian Peninsula for the first time since the
Roman conquest (between the 3rd and 2nd century BC). The peninsula was now torn between territories ruled by the Lombards and the Byzantines, with boundaries that changed over time. The newly arrived Lombards were divided into two main areas in Italy: the
Langobardia Maior, which comprised northern Italy gravitating around the capital of the Lombard kingdom,
Ticinum (the modern-day city of Pavia in the Italian region of
Lombardy); and
Langobardia Minor, which included the Lombard duchies of
Spoleto and Benevento in southern Italy. The territories which remained under Byzantine control were called "Romania" (today's Italian region of
Romagna) in northeastern Italy and had its stronghold in the
Exarchate of Ravenna. (572) Arriving in Italy, King Alboin gave control of the
Eastern Alps to one of his most trusted lieutenants,
Gisulf, who became the first
Duke of Friuli in 568. The duchy, established in the Roman town of Forum Iulii (modern-day
Cividale del Friuli), constantly fought with the Slavic population across the
Gorizia border. Justified by its exceptional military needs, the Duchy of Friuli thus had greater autonomy compared to other duchies of Langobardia Maior until the reign of
Liutprand (712–744). Over time, other
Lombard duchies were created in major cities of the kingdom. This was dictated primarily by immediate military needs as dukes were primarily military commanders, tasked to secure control of territory and guard it against possible counter-attacks. However, the resulting collection of duchies also contributed to political fragmentation and sowed the seeds of the structural weakness of the Lombard royal power. In 572, after the capitulation of Pavia and its elevation to the royal capital, King Alboin was assassinated in a conspiracy in
Verona plotted by his wife
Rosamund and her lover, the noble
Helmichis, in league with some
Gepid and Lombard warriors. Helmichis and Rosamund's attempt to usurp power in place of the assassinated Alboin, however, gained little support from Lombard duchies, and they were forced to flee together to the Byzantine territory before getting married in
Ravenna.
Cleph and the Rule of the Dukes Later in 572, the thirty-five dukes assembled in Pavia to hail king
Cleph. The new monarch extended the boundaries of the kingdom, completing the conquest of
Tuscia and laying siege to Ravenna. Cleph tried to pursue the policy of Alboin consistently, which aimed to break the legal-administrative institutions firmly established during Ostrogoth and Byzantine rule. He achieved this by eliminating much of the Latin aristocracy, through occupying their lands and acquiring their assets. However, he too, fell victim to regicide in 574, slain by a man in his entourage who perhaps colluded with the Byzantines. Following Cleph's assassination another king was not appointed, and for a decade
dukes ruled as absolute monarchs in their
duchies. At this stage, the occupation of the dukes was simply the heads of the various fara (families) of the Lombard people. Not yet firmly associated with the cities, they simply acted independently, also because they were under pressure from the warriors nominally under their authority to allow them to loot. This unstable situation, which persisted over time, led to the final collapse of the Roman-Italic political-administrative structure, which was almost maintained up to the invasion, so that the same Roman-Italic aristocracy had retained responsibility for civil administration (as exemplified by the likes of
Cassiodorus). In Italy, the Lombards then imposed themselves at first as the dominant caste in place of the former lineages, who were subsequently extinguished or exiled. The products of the land were allocated to his
Roman subjects that worked it, giving to the Lombards a third (
tertia) of crops. The proceeds were not given to individuals but to the family, which administered them in the halls (a term still used in the Italian
toponymy). The economic system of
late antiquity, which focused on large
estates worked by peasants in semi-servile condition, was not revolutionized, but modified only to benefit the new rulers.
Final settlement: Autari, Agilulf and Theudelinda in a fresco by
Zavattari After ten years of interregnum, the need for a strong centralised monarchy was clear even to the most independent of the dukes; Franks and Byzantines pressed and the Lombards could no longer afford so fluid a power structure, useful only to make forays in search of plunder. In 584 the dukes agreed to crown King Cleph's son,
Autari, and delivered to the new monarch half of their property (and then probably getting even with a new crackdown against the surviving Roman property land). Autari was then able to reorganise the Lombards and stabilise their settlement in Italy. He assumed, like the
Ostrogoth Kings, the title of
Flavio, with which he intended to proclaim himself also protector of all Romans in Lombard territory: it was a clear call, with anti-Byzantine overtones, to the heritage of the Western Roman Empire. From the military point of view, Autari defeated both the Byzantines and Franks and broke the coalition, thereby fulfilling the mandate with which the dukes had entrusted him at the time of his election. In 585 he drove the Franks into modern
Piedmont and led the Byzantines to ask, for the first time since the Lombards had entered Italy, for a truce. At the end, he occupied the last Byzantine stronghold in northern Italy:
Isola Comacina in
Lake Como. To ensure a stable peace with the Franks, Autari attempted to marry a Frankish princess, but the project failed. Then the king, in a move that would influence the fate of the kingdom for more than a century, turned to the traditional enemies of the Franks, the
Bavarii, to marry a princess,
Theodelinda, from the
Lethings dynasty. This allowed the monarchy to trace a line of descent from
Wacho, king of the Lombards between 510 and 540, a figure surrounded by an aura of legend, and a member of a respected royal line. The alliance with the Bavarii led to a rapprochement between Franks and Byzantines, but Autari managed (in 588 and again, despite some severe early setbacks, in the 590s) to repel the resulting Frankish attacks. The period of Autari marked, according to
Paul the Deacon, the attainment of the first internal stability in the Lombard kingdom: Autari died in 590, probably due to poisoning in a palace
plot and, according to the legend recorded by Paul the Deacon, the succession to the throne was decided in a novel fashion. It was the young widow Theodelinda who chose the heir to the throne and her new husband: the
Duke of Turin,
Agilulf. The following year (591) Agilulf received the official investiture from the
Assembly of the Lombards, held in
Milan. The influence of the queen over Agilulf's policies was remarkable and major decisions are attributed to both. After a rebellion among some dukes in 594 was preempted, Agilulf and Theodelinda developed a policy of strengthening their hold on Italian territory, while securing their borders through peace treaties with France and the
Avars. The truce with the Byzantines was systematically violated and the decade up to 603 was marked by a notable recovery of the Lombard advance. In northern Italy Agilulf occupied, among other cities,
Parma,
Piacenza,
Padua,
Monselice,
Este,
Cremona and
Mantua, but also to the south the duchies of Spoleto and Benevento, extending the Lombards' domains.
Istria was attacked and invaded by the Lombards on several occasions, although the degree of their occupation of the peninsula and its subordination to the Lombard kings is unclear. Even when Istria was part of the Exarchate of Ravenna, a Lombard,
Gulfaris, rose to power in the region, styling himself as
dux Istriae. The strengthening of royal powers, started by Autari and continued by Agilulf, also marked the transition to a new concept based on stable territorial division of the kingdom into
duchies. Each duchy was led by a duke, not just the head of a fara but also a royal official, the depository of public powers. The locations of the duchies were established in strategically important centers, thus furthering the development of many urban centers placed along the main communication routes of the time
(Cividale del Friuli:
Treviso,
Trento,
Turin, Verona,
Bergamo,
Brescia,
Ivrea,
Lucca). In the management of public power dukes were joined by minor officials, these the
sculdahis and the
gastald. The new organisation of power, less linked to race and
clan relations and more to land management, marked a milestone in the consolidation of the Lombard kingdom in Italy, which gradually lost the character of a pure military occupation and approached a more proper state model. Moves in this direction also included strong pressure, particularly from Theodelinda, to convert the Lombards, who until then were still largely pagan or Arians, to Catholicism. The rulers also endeavored to heal the
Three Chapter schism (where the
Patriarch of Aquileia had broken communion with Rome), maintained a direct relationship with
Gregory the Great (preserved in correspondence between him and Theodelinda) and promote the establishment of monasteries, like the one founded by
Saint Columbanus in
Bobbio. Even art enjoyed, under Agilulf and Theodelinda, a flourishing season. In architecture Theodelinda founded the
Basilica of St. John (also known as the Duomo of Monza) and the Royal Palace of Monza, while some masterpieces in
gold were created such as the
Agilulf Cross, the
Hen with seven chicks, the
Theodelinda Gospels and the famous
Iron Crown (all resident in the
Duomo of Monza treasury).
7th century Revival of the Arians: Arioald, Rothari After the death of Agilulf in 616, the throne passed to his son Adaloald, a minor. The regency (which continued even after the king passed into majority) was exercised by the Queen Mother,
Theodelinda, who gave command of the military to Duke Sundarit. Theodelinda continued Agilulf's pro-Catholic policy and maintained the peace with the Byzantines, which generated ever-stronger opposition from the warriors and Arians among the Lombards. A civil war broke out in 624, led by
Arioald, Duke of Turin and Adaloald's brother-in-law (through his marriage to Adaloald's sister
Gundeperga). Adaloald was deposed in 625 and Arioald became king. This ''coup d'état'' against the
Bavarian dynasty of Adaloald and Theodelinda intensified the rivalry between the Arian and Catholic factions. The conflict had political overtones, as the Arians also opposed peace with Byzantium and the
Papacy and integration with the Romans, opting instead for a more aggressive and expansionist policy. Arioald (r. 626–636), who brought the capital back to Pavia, was troubled by these conflicts, as well as external threats; the King was able to withstand an attack of the Avars in
Friuli, but could not limit the growing influence of the Franks in the kingdom. At his death, the legend says that, using the same procedure as that followed by his mother Theodelinda, Queen Gundeperga had the privilege to choose her new husband and king. The choice fell on Rothari, the duke of Brescia and an Arian. Rothari reigned from 636 to 652 and led numerous military campaigns, which brought almost all of northern Italy under the rule of the Lombard kingdom. He conquered Liguria (643), including the capital
Genoa,
Luni, and
Oderzo; however, not even a total victory over the
Byzantine Exarch of Ravenna, defeated and killed along with his eight thousand men at the River
Panaro, succeeded in forcing the
Exarchate to submit to the Lombards. Internally, Rothari strengthened the central power at the expense of the duchies of Langobardia Maior, while in the south the Duke of Benevento,
Arechi I (who in turn was expanding Lombard domains), also recognized the authority of the King of Pavia. The memory of Rothari is linked to his famous edict, promulgated in 643 in
Pavia by a
gairethinx, an assembly of the army, and written in
Latin. The Edict consolidated and codified
Germanic rules and customs, but also introduced significant innovations, a sign of the progress of Latin influence on the Lombards. The edict tried to discourage the
feud (private revenge) by increasing the
weregild (financial compensation) for injuries/murders and also contained drastic restrictions on the use of the
death penalty.
Bavarian dynasty (688-700), king of the Lombards, minted in
Milan After the short reign of the son of Rothari and his son
Rodoald (652–653), the dukes elected
Aripert I, Duke of Asti and grandson of Theodolinda, as the new king. The Bavarian dynasty returned to the throne, and the Catholic Aripert duly suppressed Arianism. At Aripert's death in 661, his will divided the kingdom between his two sons,
Perctarit and
Godepert. This method of succession was known from the Romans and Franks, but was a unique case among the Lombards. Perhaps because of this, a conflict broke out between Perctarit, who was based in Milan, and Godepert, who remained in Pavia. The Duke of Benevento,
Grimoald, intervened with a substantial military force to support Godepert, but, as soon as he arrived in Pavia, he killed Godepert and took his place. Perctarit, clearly in danger, fled to the Avars. Grimoald was invested by the Lombard nobles, but still had to deal with the legitimate faction, which tried international alliances to return the throne to Perctarit. Grimoald, however, persuaded the Avars to return the deposed ruler. Perctarit, as soon as he returned to Italy, had to make an act of submission to the usurper before he could escape to the Franks of
Neustria, who attacked Grimoald in 663. The new king, hated by Neustria because he was allied with the Franks of
Austrasia, repulsed them at
Refrancore, near
Asti. Grimoald, who in 663 had also defeated an attempt to reconquer Italy by the
Byzantine Emperor Constans II, exercised his sovereign powers with a fullness never attained by his predecessors. He entrusted the Duchy of Benevento to his son
Romuald, and assured the loyalty of the duchies of Spoleto and Friuli, by appointing their dukes. He favoured the integration of the different components of the kingdom, presenting an image modeled on that of his predecessor Rotari—wise legislator in adding new laws to the Edict,
patron (building a church in Pavia dedicated to
Saint Ambrose), and valiant warrior. With Grimoald's death in 671, his minor son
Garibald assumed the throne, but Perctarit returned from exile and swiftly deposed him. He immediately came to an agreement with Grimoald's other son, Romualdo I of Benevento, who pledged loyalty in exchange for recognition of the autonomy of his duchy. Perctarit developed a policy in line with the tradition of his dynasty and supported the
Catholic Church against Arianism and the chapters anathematized in the
Three-Chapter Controversy. He sought and achieved peace with the Byzantines, who acknowledged Lombard sovereignty over most of Italy, and repressed the rebellion of the
Duke of Trent,
Alahis, although at the cost of hard territorial concessions to Alahis (including the Duchy of Brescia). Alahis rebelled again later, joining with the political opponents of the pro-Catholic Bavarian policy at Perctarit's death in 688. His son and successor
Cunipert was initially defeated and forced to take refuge on the Isola Comacina - only in 689 did he manage to quash the rebellion, defeating and killing Alahis in the
Battle of Coronate at the
Adda. ,
Pavia Civic Museums The crisis resulted from the divergence between the two regions of Langobardia Maior:
Neustria, to the west, was loyal to the Bavarian rulers, pro-Catholic and supporters of the policy of reconciliation with Rome and Byzantium; on the other hand,
Austria, to the east, identified with the traditional Lombard adherence to paganism and Arianism, and favored a more warlike policy. The dukes of Austria challenged the increasing "latinization" of customs, court practices, law and religion, which they believed accelerated the disintegration and loss of the Germanic identity of the Lombard people. He died while trying to escape to the realm of the Franks, and drowned in the
Ticino, dragged to the bottom by the weight of the gold that he brought with him. Thanks to these qualities Liutprand survived two attempts on his life (one organized by one of his relatives, Rotari), and he displayed no inferior qualities in the conduct of the many wars of his long reign. These values are typical of Liutprand: Germanic descent, king of a nation now overwhelmingly Catholic, joined by those of a
piissimus rex ("loving king") (despite having tried several times to take control of Rome). On two occasions, in
Sardinia and in the region of
Arles (where he had been called by his ally
Charles Martel) he successfully fought
Saracen pirates, enhancing his reputation as a Christian king. His alliance with the Franks, crowned by a symbolic
adoption of the young
Pepin the Short, and with the Avars, on the eastern borders, allowed him to keep his hand relatively free in the Italian theater, but he soon clashed with the Byzantines and with the Papacy. A first attempt to take advantage of an
Arab offensive against
Constantinople in 717 achieved few results. Closer relations with the papacy therefore had to wait for the outbreak of tensions caused by the worsening of the Byzantine tax, and the expedition in 724 conducted by the
Exarch of Ravenna against
Pope Gregory II. Later on he exploited the disputes between the pope and Constantinople over
iconoclasm (after the decree of Emperor
Leo III the Isaurian of 726) to take possession of many cities of the Exarchate and of the
Pentapolis, posing as the protector of Catholics. In order not to antagonize the Pope, he gave up the occupation of the village of
Sutri; however, Liutprand gave the city not to the emperor, but to "the apostles Peter and Paul", as Paul the Deacon related in his
Historia Langobardorum. This donation, known as the
Donation of Sutri, provided the legal basis for attributing a
temporal power to the papacy, which finally produced the
Papal States. In the following years, Liutprand entered into an alliance with the Exarch against the pope, without giving up the old one with the Pope against the Exarch; he crowned this classic double play with an offensive that led to placing the duchies of Spoleto and Benevento under his authority, eventually arriving to negotiate a peace between the pope and Exarch beneficial to the Lombards. No Lombard king had ever obtained similar results in wars with other powers in Italy. In 732 his nephew
Hildeprand, who succeeded him on the throne, briefly took possession of Ravenna, but he was driven away by the
Venetians, who had allied with the new pope,
Gregory III. Liutprand was the last of the Lombard kings to rule over a unified kingdom; later kings would face substantial internal opposition, which eventually contributed to the kingdom's downfall. The strength of his power was based not only on personal charisma, but also on the reorganization of the kingdom which he had undertaken since the beginning of his reign. He strengthened the
chancellery of the royal palace of Pavia and defined in an organic way the territorial competencies (legal and administrative) of sculdasci, gastalds and dukes. He was also very active in the legislative field: the twelve volumes of laws enacted by him introduced legal reforms inspired by Roman law, improved the efficiency of the courts, changed the
wergild and, above all, protected the weaker sectors of society, including minors, women, debtors, and slaves. The socio-economic structure of the kingdom had been progressively changing since the 7th century. Population growth led to fragmentation of funds, which increased the number of Lombards who fell below the poverty line, as evidenced by the laws aimed at alleviating their difficulties. By contrast, some Romans began to ascend the social ladder, becoming rich through commerce, crafts, the professions or the acquisition of lands that the Lombards had not been able to manage profitably. Liutprand also intervened in this process by reforming the administrative structure of the kingdom and freeing the poorest Lombards from military obligations.,
Pavia,
San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro Last kings Hildeprand's reign lasted only a few months, before he was overthrown by Duke Ratchis. The details of the episode are not clear, since the crucial testimony of Paul the Deacon ended with a
eulogy on the death of Liutprand. Hildeprand had been anointed king in 737, during a serious illness suffered by Liutprand (who did not like the choice of king at all: "
Non aequo animo accepit" wrote Paul the Deacon, although, once recovered, he accepted the choice). The new king, then, at least initially enjoyed the support of most of the aristocracy, if not that of the great monarch. Ratchis, the Duke of Friuli, came from a family with a long tradition of rebellion against the monarchy and rivalry with the royal family, but on the other hand, he owed his life and the ducal title to Liutprand, who had forgiven him after discovering a conspiracy headed by his father,
Pemmo of Friuli. Ratchis was a weak ruler: on one side he had to concede greater freedom of action to the other dukes, on the other extreme he had to take care not to exacerbate the Franks and, above all, the
mayor of the palace and
de facto king Pepin the Short, the adopted son of the king whose nephew he had dethroned. Not being able to trust the traditional structures of support for the Lombard monarchy, he sought support among the gasindii, the gentry bound to the king by treaties of protection, and especially among the Romans, the non-Lombard subjects. The adoption of ancient customs, along with public pro-Latin attitudes—he married a Roman woman, Tassia, and with Roman rite, and adopted the title of
princeps instead of the traditional
rex Langobardorum—increasingly alienated the Lombard base, which forced him to adopt a diametrically opposed policy, with a sudden attack on the cities of the
Pentapolis. The pope, however, convinced him to abandon the siege of
Perugia. After this failure, the prestige of Ratchis collapsed and the dukes elected as the new king his brother
Aistulf, who had already succeeded him as duke in Cividale and now, after a short struggle, forced him to flee to Rome and finally to become a monk in
Monte Cassino.
Aistulf Aistulf expressed the more aggressive stance of the dukes, who refused an active role for the Roman population. For his expansionist policy, however, he had to reorganize the army to include, albeit in the subordinate position of
light infantry, all ethnic groups in the kingdom. All free men of the kingdom, both those of Roman and Lombard origin, were obliged to serve in the military. The military standards promulgated by Aistulf mention the merchants several times, a sign of how that class had now become relevant. (751) Initially, Aistulf achieved some notable successes, culminating in the conquest of Ravenna (751). Here the king, residing in the Palace of the
Exarch, and coining money in Byzantine style, presented his program: to collect under Lombard power all the Romans until then subject to the emperor, without necessarily merging them with the Lombards. The Exarchate was not homologous to other Lombard possessions in Italy (that is it was not converted into a
duchy), but retained its specificity as
sedes imperii; in this way Aistulf proclaimed himself heir in the eyes of Italian Romans of both the Byzantine Emperor and the Exarch, the Emperor's representative. His campaigns led the Lombards to a near-complete domination of Italy, with the occupation also of
Istria,
Ferrara,
Comacchio, and all territories south of Ravenna up to Perugia, from 750 to 751. With the occupation of the stronghold of
Ceccano, he was putting further pressure on the territories controlled by
Pope Stephen II, while in Langobardia Minor he was able to impose his power on Spoleto and, indirectly, on Benevento. Just when it seemed Aistulf was able to defeat all opposition on Italian soil, Pepin the Short, the old enemy of the usurpers of Liutprand's family, finally managed to overthrow the
Merovingian dynasty in
Gaul, deposing
Childeric III and becoming king
de jure as well as
de facto. The support Pepin enjoyed from the papacy was decisive, although negotiations were also underway between Aistulf and the pope (which soon failed), and an attempt was made to weaken Pepin by turning his brother
Carloman against him. Because of the threat this move represented for the new king of the Franks, an agreement between Pepin and Stephen II settled, in exchange for the formal royal anointing, the descent of the Franks in Italy. In 754, the Lombard army, deployed in defence of the
Locks in
Val di Susa, was defeated by the Franks. Aistulf, perched in Pavia, had to accept a treaty that required the delivery of hostages and territorial concessions, but two years later resumed the war against the pope, who in turn called on the Franks. Defeated again, Aistulf had to accept much harsher conditions: Ravenna was returned not to the Byzantines, but to the pope, increasing the core area of the Patrimony of St. Peter; Aistulf had to accept a sort of Frankish protectorate, the loss of territorial continuity of his domains, and payment of substantial compensation. The duchies of Spoleto and Benevento were quick to ally themselves with the victors. Aistulf died in 756, shortly after this severe humiliation. Aistulf's brother Ratchis left the monastery and attempted, initially with some success, to return to the throne. He opposed
Desiderius, who was put in charge of the
Duchy of Tuscia by Aistulf and based in Lucca; he did not belong to the dynasty of Friuli, frowned upon by the pope and the Franks, and managed to get their support. The Lombards surrendered to him to avoid another Frankish invasion, and Rachis was persuaded by the Pope to return to Monte Cassino. Desiderius, with a clever and discreet policy, gradually reasserted Lombard control over the territory by gaining favor with the Romans again, creating a network of monasteries ruled by Lombard aristocrats (his daughter Anselperga was named abbess of San Salvatore in Brescia), dealing with Pope Stephen II's successor,
Pope Paul I, and recognizing the nominal domain on many areas truly in his power, such as reclaimed southern duchies. He also implemented a casual marriage policy, marrying his daughter Liutperga to the
Duke of Bavaria,
Tassilo (763), historical adversary of the Franks and, at the death of Pepin the Short, by marrying the other daughter Desiderata (who was immortalised in the tragedy
Adelchi by
Alessandro Manzoni as
Ermengarde) to the future
Charlemagne, offering him a useful support in the fight against his brother
Carloman. Despite the changing fortunes of central political power, the 8th century represented the apogee of the reign, also a period of economic prosperity. The ancient society of warriors and subjects had been transformed into a vivid articulation of classes with landowners, artisans, farmers, merchants, lawyers; the era saw great development, including
abbeys, notably
Benedictine, and expanded monetary economics, resulting in the creation of a banking class. After an initial period during which
Lombard coinage only imitated
Byzantine coins, the kings of Pavia developed an independent gold and silver coinage. The Duchy of Benevento, the most independent of the duchies, also had its own independent currency.
Fall of the kingdom , defeated by
Charlemagne, opts for exile. In 771, Desiderius managed to convince the new pope,
Stephen III, to accept his protection. The death of Carloman left Charlemagne, now firmly on the throne after repudiating the daughter of Desiderius, freehanded. The following year a new pope,
Adrian I, of the opposite party of Desiderius, reversed the delicate game of alliances, demanding the surrender of the area never ceded by Desiderius and thus causing him to resume the war against the cities of Romagna. Charlemagne, though he had just begun his campaign against the
Saxons, came to the aid of the pope. He feared the capture of Rome by the Lombards and the consequent loss of prestige that would follow. Between 773 and 774 he invaded Italy. Once again the defence of the
Locks was ineffective, the fault of the divisions among the Lombards. ==List of monarchs==