Europe · The migration period
Lombards
568–774
The Lombards (Langobardi, "long-beards") were a Germanic people who, after migrating from the lower Elbe through Pannonia — where they destroyed the Gepids (see entry 38) in 567 in alliance with the Avars — invaded Italy. In 568, King Alboin (r. c. 560/565–572) led the Lombards, reinforced by Saxons and other groups, across the Julian Alps into Byzantine Italy, exploiting the exhaustion left by Justinian's Gothic War.
- Existed
- 568–774
- Shown on the map
- AD 480–586
- Peak area
- 203k km²
- Region
- Europe
Overview
The Lombards (Langobardi, "long-beards") were a Germanic people who, after migrating from the lower Elbe through Pannonia — where they destroyed the Gepids (see entry 38) in 567 in alliance with the Avars — invaded Italy. In 568, King Alboin (r. c. 560/565–572) led the Lombards, reinforced by Saxons and other groups, across the Julian Alps into Byzantine Italy, exploiting the exhaustion left by Justinian's Gothic War. They rapidly overran the north, founding the Duchy of Friuli and taking Cividale, Verona, Milan, and — after a three-year siege ending c. 572 — Pavia, which became their capital.
History
The Lombard realm was a feudal, elective monarchy with a strongly autonomous ducal structure: the great Duchies of Spoleto and Benevento in central and southern Italy were often nearly independent. After Alboin's assassination (572, plotted by his Gepid wife Rosamund) and the "Rule of the Dukes" interregnum (574–584), kingship was restored under Authari and Agilulf. The Lombards were initially Arian and pagan but converted over time to Catholicism (Queen Theodelinda was an important Catholic influence; Catholicism became official under Aripert I, c. 653).
Decline and legacy
King Rothari issued the Edict of Rothari (Edictum Rothari) on 22 November 643, the first written codification of Lombard law — 388 chapters of Germanic customary law emphasising wergild (compensation scaled by status; e.g. 1,200 solidi for killing a free Lombard man). The kingdom reached its height under Liutprand (r. 712–744). Its aggression against the papacy and the Exarchate of Ravenna prompted papal appeals to the Franks: Charlemagne invaded, besieged Pavia, and in 774 deposed the last king, Desiderius, assuming the title Rex Langobardorum and annexing the kingdom to Francia — though the southern Duchy of Benevento persisted. Our chief narrative source is Paul the Deacon's History of the Lombards.
Common questions
- What were the Lombards?
- The Lombards (Langobardi, "long-beards") were a Germanic people who, after migrating from the lower Elbe through Pannonia — where they destroyed the Gepids (see entry 38) in 567 in alliance with the Avars — invaded Italy. In 568, King Alboin (r. c. 560/565–572) led the Lombards, reinforced by Saxons and other groups, across the Julian Alps into Byzantine Italy, exploiting the exhaustion left by Justinian's Gothic War.
- When did the Lombards exist?
- The Lombards existed 568–774. On this map they are drawn AD 480–586.
- How large were the Lombards?
- At their greatest extent drawn on this map, the Lombards covered about 203,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives them across the years they are drawn, not necessarily their greatest extent in history.
- Who ruled the Lombards?
- The Lombard realm was a feudal, elective monarchy with a strongly autonomous ducal structure: the great Duchies of Spoleto and Benevento in central and southern Italy were often nearly independent. After Alboin's assassination (572, plotted by his Gepid wife Rosamund) and the "Rule of the Dukes" interregnum (574–584), kingship was restored under Authari and Agilulf.
- How did the Lombards end?
- King Rothari issued the Edict of Rothari (Edictum Rothari) on 22 November 643, the first written codification of Lombard law — 388 chapters of Germanic customary law emphasising wergild (compensation scaled by status; e.g. 1,200 solidi for killing a free Lombard man). The kingdom reached its height under Liutprand (r. 712–744).
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each territory and its key figures as the primary basis, with Encyclopædia Britannica, the World History Encyclopedia, and academic and primary sources — Jordanes, Procopius, Gregory of Tours, Bede, Ammianus and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, read through the secondary literature. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Lombards en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lombards
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
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