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Lombard Kingdom

Kingdom of the Lombards
Regnum Langobardorum
Regnum totius Italiae
568–774
The Lombard Kingdom (blue) at its greatest extent, under King Aistulf (749–756)
Capital Pavia
Languages Vulgar Latin
Religion Paganism
Christianity
Government Monarchy
Historical era Middle Ages
 •  Lombard migration 568
 •  Frankish invasion June 774
Currency Tremissis
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Simple Labarum.svg Byzantine Empire
Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)
Principality of Benevento Image missing
Papal States CoA Pontifical States 02.svg

The Kingdom of the Lombards (Latin: Regnum Langobardorum) also known as the Lombard Kingdom; later the Kingdom of (all) Italy (Latin: Regnum totius Italiae), was an early medieval state established by the Lombards, a Germanic-speaking people, on the Italian Peninsula in the latter part of the 6th century. The king was traditionally elected by the highest-ranking aristocrats, the dukes, as several attempts to establish a hereditary dynasty failed. The kingdom was subdivided into a varying number of duchies, ruled by semi-autonomous dukes, which were in turn subdivided into gastaldates at the municipal level. The capital of the kingdom and the center of its political life was Pavia in the modern northern Italian region of Lombardy.

The Lombard invasion of Italy was opposed by the Byzantine Empire, which retained control of much of the peninsula until the mid-8th century. For most of the kingdom's history, the Byzantine-ruled Exarchate of Ravenna and Duchy of Rome separated the northern Lombard duchies, collectively known as Langobardia Maior, from the two large southern duchies of Spoleto and Benevento, which constituted Langobardia Minor. Because of this division, the southern duchies were considerably more autonomous than the smaller northern duchies.

Over time, the Lombards gradually adopted Roman titles, names, and traditions. By the time Paul the Deacon was writing in the late 8th century, the Lombardic language, dress and hairstyles had all disappeared. Initially the Lombards were Arianist Christians, at odds with the Papacy both religiously and politically. However, by the end of the 7th century, their conversion to Catholicism was all but complete. Nevertheless, their conflict with the Papacy continued and was responsible for their gradual loss of power in the face of the Franks, who conquered the kingdom in 774. Charlemagne, the king of the Franks, adopted the title "King of the Lombards", although he never managed to gain control of Benevento, the southernmost Lombard duchy.


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