Ansprand was king of the Lombards

Lombards

The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...

 briefly in 712. Before that he was the duke of Asti

Asti

Asti is a city and comune of about 75,000 inhabitants located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River...

 and regent

Regent

A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...

 during the minority of Liutpert

Liutpert

Liutpert was the Lombard king of Italy from 700 and to 702, with interruption. Upon succeeding his father, King Cunincpert, at a young age, he ruled together with his tutor, Ansprand, the duke of Asti...

 (700–701). He was defeated at Novara

Novara

Novara is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With c. 105,000 inhabitants, it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is an important crossroads for commercial traffic along the routes from Milan to Turin...

 by Raginpert

Raginpert

Raginpert was the Duke of Turin and then King of the Lombards briefly in 701. He was the son of Godepert and grandson of Aripert I. He usurped the throne in 701 and removed Liutpert, his grandnephew, putting his son Aripert in line for the succession...

 and exiled during the subsequent war over the succession, fleeing to the court of Theudebert, duke of Bavaria, in 702.

In 711, he returned with a large army from the duke. Many Austrians (the men of Venetia and the east) joined the returning regent and battle ensued near Pavia

Pavia

Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...

, between his forces and those of King Aripert II

Aripert II

Aripert II was the king of the Lombards from 701 to 712. Duke of Turin and son of King Raginpert, and thus a scion of the Bavarian Dynasty, he was associated with the throne as early as 700. He was removed by Liutpert, who reigned from 700 to 702, with the exception of the year 701, when...

, who had usurped the throne. The king fled to his capital when the tide went against him, but he horded the treasures and tried to cross over into Gaul by night. He drowned in the Ticino River

Ticino River

The river Ticino is a left-bank tributary of the Po River. It has given its name to the Swiss canton through which its upper portion flows.-The course:...

 and Ansprand was acclaimed sovereign.

He ascended the throne in March and died in June, leaving his only surviving son, Liutprand, the kingdom.