Lombards

Lombard possessions in Italy: the Lombard Kingdom (Neustria, Austria and Tuscia) and the Lombard Duchies of Spoleto and Benevento

Distribution of Langobardic burial fields at the Lower Elbe Lands (according to W. Wegewitz)

Lombard grave goods (6th-7th century), Milan, Lombardy

Plutei of Theodota, mid 8th century, Civic Museums of Pavia.

The Frankish Merovingian King Chlothar II in combat with the Lombards

King Liutprand (712-744) "was a zealous Catholic, generous and a great founder of monasteries"

Lombard Duchy of Benevento in the eighth century

Italy around the turn of the millennium, showing the Lombard states in the south on the eve of the arrival of the Normans.

The West-Germanic languages around the sixth century CE

The runic inscription from the Pforzen buckle may be the earliest written example of Lombardic language

Lombard warrior, bronze statue, 8th century, Pavia Civic Museums.

The Rule of Saint Benedict in Beneventan (i.e. Lombard) script

Lombard shield boss<BR>northern Italy, 7th century, Metropolitan Museum of Art

A glass drinking horn from Castel Trosino

8th-century Lombard sculpture depicting female martyrs, based on a Byzantine model. Tempietto Longobardo, Cividale del Friuli

The Lombards or Langobards (Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774, with origins near the Elbe in northern Germany and Scania in southern Sweden before the Migration Period.

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History of the Lombards

Chief work by Paul the Deacon, written in the late 8th century.

The history covers the story of the Lombards from their mythical origins to the death of King Liutprand in 743, and contains much information about the Eastern Roman empire, the Franks, and others.

Heruli

Early Germanic people.

Map of Scandza based upon one interpretation of Jordanes, with the Herulian homeland located in the south of Sweden or on the Danish isles.

The shield pattern of the Heruli seniores, a Late Roman military unit composed of Heruli.

Approximate territory under Hunnic control in 450 AD

Polities in southeastern Europe c.500 AD before the Lombard destruction of the Herulian kingdom

By 454, after the death of Attila, they established their own kingdom on the Middle Danube, and Heruli also participated in successive conquests of Italy by Odoacer, Theoderic the Great, Narses and probably also the Longobards.

Kingdom of the Lombards

The Lombard possessions in Italy:
The Lombard Kingdom (Neustria, Austria and Tuscia) and the Lombard Duchies of Spoleto and Benevento

Lombard rule at the death of Alboin (572)

The Lombard Kingdom with its three main areas: Neustria, Austria and Tuscia

The Lombard rule at the death of Rothari (652)

A coin of Cunipert (688-700), king of the Lombards, minted in Milan.

Gravestone of Cunipert, Pavia Civic Museums.

Lombard's Domains at Liutprand's death (744).

Gravestone of Liutprand, Pavia, San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro.

Lombards domains after the conquests of Aistulf (751)

Adalgis, defeated by Charlemagne, opts for exile.

Alessandro Manzoni in a portrait by Francesco Hayez

The Kingdom of the Lombards (Regnum Langobardorum; Regno dei Longobardi; Regn dei Lombards) also known as the Lombard Kingdom; later the Kingdom of (all) Italy (Regnum totius Italiae), was an early medieval state established by the Lombards, a Germanic people, on the Italian Peninsula in the latter part of the 6th century.

Alboin

A modern rendering of Alboin's entrance into Ticinum

The fatal banquet as painted by Peter Paul Rubens in 1615

Alboin is killed by Peredeo while Rosamund steals his sword, in a 19th-century painting by Charles Landseer

Lombard and Byzantine territories at Alboin's death (572)

Alboin (530s – 28 June 572) was king of the Lombards from about 560 until 572.

Migration Period

Period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes.

Migration of early Slavs in Europe between the 5th–10th centuries.

Migration and settlement of the Bulgars during the 6th–7th centuries AD

Slavic fibula brooch made of copper dating back to the Migration Period, c. 600-650 AD

The first migrations of peoples were made by Germanic tribes such as the Goths (including the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths), the Vandals, the Anglo-Saxons, the Lombards, the Suebi, the Frisii, the Jutes, the Burgundians, the Alemanni, the Sciri and the Franks; they were later pushed westward by the Huns, the Avars, the Slavs and the Bulgars.

Norman conquest of southern Italy

The Norman conquest of southern Italy lasted from 999 to 1139, involving many battles and independent conquerors.

The Kingdom of Sicily (in green) in 1154, representing the extent of the Norman conquest in southern Italy over several decades of activity by independent adventurers

Map of Italy at the arrival of the Normans, who eventually conquered Sicily and all the territory on the mainland south of the Holy Roman Empire (the bold line), southern regions of the Papal States and the Duchy of Spoleto

The imprisonment of Pandulf IV of Capua, after Emperor Henry II's 1022 campaign

The stone castle at Melfi was constructed by the Normans where no fortress had previously stood. The present castle includes additions to a simple, rectangular Norman keep.

Battle plan of Civitate: Normans in red, papal coalition in blue

Roger I of Sicily at the 1063 battle of Cerami, victorious over 35,000 Saracens according to Goffredo Malaterra.

Roger I receiving the keys of Palermo in 1071

The Palazzo dei Normanni was a 9th-century Arab palace in Sicily, converted by the Normans into their governing castle.

Norman progress in Sicily during Robert's expeditions to the Balkans: Capua, Apulia, Calabria, and the County of Sicily are Norman. The Emirate of Sicily, the Duchy of Naples and lands in the Abruzzo (in the southern Duchy of Spoleto) are not yet conquered.

Woodcut illustration of Constance of Sicily, her husband Emperor Henry VI and her son Frederick II

Itinerant Norman forces arrived in southern Italy as mercenaries in the service of Lombard and Byzantine factions, communicating news swiftly back home about opportunities in the Mediterranean.

Charlemagne

King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy Roman Emperor from 800.

The Bust of Charlemagne, an idealised portrayal and reliquary said to contain Charlemagne's skull cap, is located at Aachen Cathedral Treasury, and can be regarded as the most famous depiction of the ruler.

Roman road connecting Tongeren to the Herstal region. Jupille and Herstal, near Liege, are located in the lower right corner

Charlemagne (left) and Pepin the Hunchback (10th-century copy of 9th-century original)

Charlemagne instructing his son Louis the Pious

The Frankish king Charlemagne was a devout Catholic and maintained a close relationship with the papacy throughout his life. In 772, when Pope Adrian I was threatened by invaders, the king rushed to Rome to provide assistance. Shown here, the pope asks Charlemagne for help at a meeting near Rome.

Harun al-Rashid receiving a delegation of Charlemagne in Baghdad, by Julius Köckert (1864)

Charlemagne's additions to the Frankish Kingdom

Charlemagne receiving the submission of Widukind at Paderborn in 785, painted c. 1840 by Ary Scheffer

Equestrian statue of Charlemagne by Agostino Cornacchini (1725), St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City.

Imperial Coronation of Charlemagne, by Friedrich Kaulbach, 1861

Pope Leo III, crowning Charlemagne from Chroniques de France ou de Saint Denis, vol. 1; France, second quarter of 14th century.

The Throne of Charlemagne and the subsequent German Kings in Aachen Cathedral, Germany

Coronation of Charlemagne, drawing by Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld

Coronation of an idealised king, depicted in the Sacramentary of Charles the Bald (about 870)

The Coronation of Charlemagne, by assistants of Raphael, c. 1516–1517

Europe at the death of the Charlemagne 814.

Proserpina sarcophagus of Charlemagne in the Aachen Cathedral Treasury

A portion of the 814 death shroud of Charlemagne. It represents a quadriga and was manufactured in Constantinople. Musée de Cluny, Paris.

Frederick II's gold and silver casket for Charlemagne, the Karlsschrein

Monogram of Charlemagne, including signum manus, from the subscription of a royal diploma: Signum (monogr.: KAROLVS) Karoli gloriosissimi regis

Denier from the era of Charlemagne, Tours, 793–812

The privileges of Charlemagne at the Modena Cathedral (containing the monogram of Charlemagne), dated 782

Charlemagne's chapel at Aachen Cathedral

Page from the Lorsch Gospels of Charlemagne's reign

13th-century stained glass depiction of Charlemagne, Strasbourg Cathedral

The Carolingian-era equestrian statuette thought to represent Charlemagne (from Metz Cathedral, now in the Louvre)

Later depiction of Charlemagne in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France

One of a chain of Middle Welsh legends about Charlemagne: Ystorya de Carolo Magno from the Red Book of Hergest (Jesus College, Oxford, MS 111), 14th century

Emperor Charlemagne, by Albrecht Dürer, 1511–1513, Germanisches Nationalmuseum

As sole ruler, he continued his father's policy towards protection of the papacy and became its sole defender, removing the Lombards from power in northern Italy and leading an incursion into Muslim Spain.

Ostrogoths

The Ostrogoths (Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people.

The Mausoleum of Theodoric in Ravenna, Italy

Ostrogothic bow-fibulae (c. 500) from Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Map of the Gothic migrations and kingdoms

Routes taken by Germanic invaders during the Migration Period

Barbarian kingdoms and tribes after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476

Mosaic depicting the palace of Theodoric the Great in his palace chapel of San Apollinare Nuovo

Coin of Theodahad (534-536), minted in Rome – he wears the barbaric moustache.

Totila razes the walls of Florence: illumination from the Chigi manuscript of Villani's Cronica

Ostrogoth ear jewels, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Possible map of Scandza based on Jordanes' work

Any remaining Ostrogoths in Italy were absorbed into the Lombards, who established a kingdom in Italy in 568.

Lombardy

One of the twenty administrative regions of Italy.

Pizzo Coca is the highest peak in the Bergamasque Alps (3,050 m)

The Adda, the longest river within the region and tributary of the Po

The Rock Drawings in Valcamonica are among the largest collections of prehistoric petroglyphs in the world.

For centuries, the Iron Crown of Lombardy was used in the Coronation of the King of Italy.

Member cities of the first and second Lombard League

The Consulta of the République cisalpine receives the First Consul on 26 January 1802

A view over the business district of Milan: with a metropolitan area of 7.4m people, it is Italy's most important industrial, commercial and financial center.

Palazzo Lombardia, the main seat of the government of Lombardy.

The provinces/metropolitan cities of Lombardy

The Last Supper, Convent of Sta. Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy (1499), by Leonardo da Vinci

The Floating Piers by Christo and Jeanne-Claude on Lake Iseo (2016)

Gorgonzola cheese takes its name from the homonymous city near Milan

The auditorium of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

Dolce & Gabbana is headquartered in Milan.

Provolone Valpadana (pasta filata cheese)

During the early Middle Ages, "Lombardy" referred to the Kingdom of the Lombards (Regnum Langobardorum), a kingdom ruled by the Germanic Lombards who had controlled most of Italy since their invasion of Byzantine Italy in 568.

Odin

Widely revered god in Germanic mythology.

Woðinz (read from right to left), a probably authentic attestation of a pre-Viking Age form of Odin, on the Strängnäs stone.

One of the Torslunda plates. The figure to the left was cast with both eyes, but afterwards the right eye was removed.

The Old English rune ós, which is described in the Old English rune poem

Wodan and Frea look down from their window in the heavens to the Winnili women in an illustration by Emil Doepler, 1905

Winnili women with their hair tied as beards look up at Godan and Frea in an illustration by Emil Doepler, 1905

Wodan Heals Balder's Horse by Emil Doepler, 1905

A 16th-century depiction of Norse gods by Olaus Magnus: from left to right, Frigg, Odin, and Thor

The trio of gods giving life to the first humans, Ask and Embla, by Robert Engels, 1919

Odin sacrificing himself upon Yggdrasil as depicted by Lorenz Frølich, 1895

After being put to sleep by Odin and being awoken by the hero Sigurd, the valkyrie Sigrífa says a pagan prayer; illustration (1911) by Arthur Rackham

Óðinn throws his spear at the Vanir host in an illustration by Lorenz Frølich (1895)

Odin sits atop his steed Sleipnir, his ravens Huginn and Muninn and wolves Geri and Freki nearby (1895) by Lorenz Frølich

A C-type bracteate (DR BR42) featuring a figure above a horse flanked by a bird

A plate from a Swedish Vendel era helmet featuring a figure riding a horse, accompanied by two ravens, holding a spear and shield, and confronted by a serpent

The Ledberg stone at Ledberg Church, Östergötland, Sweden

Wotan takes leave of Brunhild (1892) by Konrad Dielitz

In Old English texts, Odin holds a particular place as a euhemerized ancestral figure among royalty, and he is frequently referred to as a founding figure among various other Germanic peoples, such as the Langobards, while some Old Norse sources depict him as an enthroned ruler of the gods.