Austria (Lombard)
Encyclopedia
Austria was, according to the early medieval geographical classification, the eastern portion of Langobardia Major
, the north-central part of the Lombard Kingdom, extended from the Adda
to Friuli
and opposite to Neustria
. The partition had not only are territorial, but also implies significant cultural and political differences.
. Here survived longer than in other places the old pagan
cults and among the converts to Christianity, many were adherents of Arianism
or the partisans of the anti-Roman, but Orthodox, party in the Three Chapter schism. The Dukes of Austria pressed repeatedly on the king to take initiative, coming in several times to hatch conspiracies to overthrow the legitimate sovereign. This was the case in 662
of Grimoald
(duke of Benevento
, but a son of a Duke of Friuli
), who managed to usurp the throne of Godepert
and Perctarit
despite the opposition of the Neustrians dukes of Asti
and Turin
; of Alahis
, Duke of Trent, who in 688
-689
was able to seize the throne of Pavia
before being defeated by Cunipert
; of Ansfrid
of Friuli, who, having usurped the Duchy of Friuli
, in turn attempted to seize the throne of Cunipert (who defeated and killed him in 698
); of Rotarit
, Duke of Bergamo, who after the death of Cunipert objected unsuccessfully to Raginpert
first and then Aripert II
(700
-702
). In the 8th century, however, the widespread conversion of the Lombards to Catholicism
smoothed the opposition between Austria and Neustria, thanks to a revived expansion at the expense of the Byzantine Empire
with the Catholic and Neustrian Liutprand
(king from 712
).
After the fall of the Lombard kingdom in 774
, the Langobardia Maior fell entirely under the dominion of the Franks
. Its political-administrative structure was not disrupted, however, instead of the dukes, Frank but also Lombard count
s were settled.
Langobardia Major
Langobardia Major was the name that, in the Early Middle Ages, was given to the domains of the Lombard Kingdom in Northern Italy. It comprised Lombardy proper with its capital Pavia, the Duchies of Friuli and Trent as well as the Tuscany region. In the south it was confined by the Patrimonium...
, the north-central part of the Lombard Kingdom, extended from the Adda
Adda
Adda can refer to:*Adda in Italy.*River Adda in Wales.*Adda , a concept/slang in South Asia, especial Bengal, also Addabazi.*Adda , an archaeological site in Nigeria.*Adda Corporation, a Taiwanese fan manufacturer....
to Friuli
Friuli
Friuli is an area of northeastern Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, i.e. the province of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, excluding Trieste...
and opposite to Neustria
Neustria (Lombard)
Neustria was, according to the early medieval geographical classification, the western portion of Langobardia Major, the north-central part of the Lombard Kingdom, extended from the Adda to the Western Alps and opposed to Austria...
. The partition had not only are territorial, but also implies significant cultural and political differences.
Territory
Austria included the duchies of the north-eastern Lombard Kingdom, among them a prominent role was covered by:- Duchy of FriuliDuchy of FriuliThe Duchy of Friuli was one of the great territorial Lombard duchies, the first to be established. It was an important buffer between the Lombard kingdom of Italy and the Slavs...
- Duchy of Verona
- Duchy of Trent
- Duchy of Brescia
- Duchy of Bergamo
History
The duchies of Austria presented themselves as the defenders of the warrior and conqueror spirit of the LombardsLombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
. Here survived longer than in other places the old pagan
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
cults and among the converts to Christianity, many were adherents of Arianism
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
or the partisans of the anti-Roman, but Orthodox, party in the Three Chapter schism. The Dukes of Austria pressed repeatedly on the king to take initiative, coming in several times to hatch conspiracies to overthrow the legitimate sovereign. This was the case in 662
662
Year 662 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 662 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* The regent Grimuald usurps the kingship of...
of Grimoald
Grimoald I of Benevento
Grimoald I was duke of Benevento and king of the Lombards .Born probably before 610 to Duke Gisulf II of Friuli and the Bavarian princess Ramhilde, daughter of Duke Garibald I of Bavaria, he succeeded his brother Radoald as duke of Benevento...
(duke of Benevento
Duchy of Benevento
The Duchy and later Principality of Benevento was the southernmost Lombard duchy in medieval Italy, centred on Benevento, a city central in the Mezzogiorno. Owing to the Ducatus Romanus of the popes, which cut it off from the rest of Lombard Italy, Benevento was from the first practically...
, but a son of a Duke of Friuli
Duchy of Friuli
The Duchy of Friuli was one of the great territorial Lombard duchies, the first to be established. It was an important buffer between the Lombard kingdom of Italy and the Slavs...
), who managed to usurp the throne of Godepert
Godepert
Godepert was king of the Lombards , eldest son and successor of Aripert I. He was an Arian who governed from the ancient capital, Pavia, while his brother, Perctarit, a Roman Catholic, governed from Milan...
and Perctarit
Perctarit
Perctarit was king of the Lombards from 661 to 662 the first time and later from 671 to 688. He was the son and successor of Aripert I. He shared power with his brother Godepert. He was a Catholic, Godepert an Arian. He ruled from Milan, Godepert from Pavia...
despite the opposition of the Neustrians dukes 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 Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
; of Alahis
Alahis
Alahis was the Arian duke of Trent and Brescia before becoming king of the Lombards after his successful rebellion in 688. He did not rule long, however....
, Duke of Trent, who in 688
688
Year 688 was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 688 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Emperor Justinian II of the Byzantine...
-689
689
Year 689 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 689 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Battle of Coronate: The army of Cunincpert,...
was able to seize the throne of 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...
before being defeated by Cunipert
Cunipert
Cunipert was king of the Lombards from 688 to 700. He succeeded his father Perctarit, though he was associated with the throne from 678....
; of Ansfrid
Ansfrid
Ansfrid may refer to:*Ansfrid of Friuli, duke*Ansfrid of Nonantola, abbot*Ansfrid of Utrecht , bishop...
of Friuli, who, having usurped the Duchy of Friuli
Duchy of Friuli
The Duchy of Friuli was one of the great territorial Lombard duchies, the first to be established. It was an important buffer between the Lombard kingdom of Italy and the Slavs...
, in turn attempted to seize the throne of Cunipert (who defeated and killed him in 698
698
Year 698 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 698 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Byzantine Empire :* Spring–summer –...
); of Rotarit
Rotarit
Rotarit was a Lombard duke, the last Duke of Bergamo.In 700, fighting broke out over the succession of the just disappeared king, Cunipert , Rotarit stood in favor of his son, Liutpert, who was still underage, and his tutor Ansprand...
, Duke of Bergamo, who after the death of Cunipert objected unsuccessfully to 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...
first and then 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...
(700
700
Year 700 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 700 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- North America :* The Mount Edziza volcanic complex...
-702
702
Year 702 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 702 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Franconian Duke Hetan II completes the...
). In the 8th century, however, the widespread conversion of the Lombards to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
smoothed the opposition between Austria and Neustria, thanks to a revived expansion at the expense of the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
with the Catholic and Neustrian Liutprand
Liutprand, King of the Lombards
Liutprand was the King of the Lombards from 712 to 744 and is chiefly remembered for his Donation of Sutri, in 728, and his long reign, which brought him into a series of conflicts, mostly successful, with most of Italy. He profited by Byzantine weakness to enlarge his domains in Emilia and the...
(king from 712
712
Year 712 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 712 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Ansprand succeeds Aripert as king of the...
).
After the fall of the Lombard kingdom in 774
774
Year 774 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 774 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Charlemagne conquers the kingdom of the...
, the Langobardia Maior fell entirely under the dominion of the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
. Its political-administrative structure was not disrupted, however, instead of the dukes, Frank but also Lombard count
Count
A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...
s were settled.
Primarie sources
- Origo gentis LangobardorumOrigo Gentis LangobardorumThe Origo Gentis Langobardorum is a short 7th century account offering a founding myth of the Lombard people. The first part visions the origin and naming of the Lombards, and the following text more resembles a king-list, up until the rule of Perctarit , which helps date the original writing of...
, ed. Georg WaitzGeorg WaitzGeorg Waitz was a German historian and politician.He was born at Flensburg, in the duchy of Schleswig and educated at the Flensburg gymnasium and the universities of Kiel and Berlin...
in Monumenta Germaniae HistoricaMonumenta Germaniae HistoricaThe Monumenta Germaniae Historica is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published sources for the study of German history from the end of the Roman Empire to 1500.The society sponsoring the series was established by the Prussian reformer Heinrich Friedrich Karl Freiherr vom...
SS rer. Lang. - Paul DeaconPaul DeaconPaul Deacon is a retired rugby league footballer. He previously played for Bradford Bulls from 1998 until joining his hometown club Wigan Warriors in 2010...
, Historia Langobardorum (Storia dei Longobardi, cura e commento di Lidia Capo, Lorenzo Valla/Mondadori, Milan 1992).
Storiographic literature
- Lidia Capo. Comment to
See also
- Langobardia MajorLangobardia MajorLangobardia Major was the name that, in the Early Middle Ages, was given to the domains of the Lombard Kingdom in Northern Italy. It comprised Lombardy proper with its capital Pavia, the Duchies of Friuli and Trent as well as the Tuscany region. In the south it was confined by the Patrimonium...
- Langobardia MinorLangobardia MinorLangobardia Minor was the name that, in early Middle Ages, was given to the Lombard dominion in central-southern Italy, corresponding to the duchies of Spoleto and Benevento...
- Neustria (Lombard)Neustria (Lombard)Neustria was, according to the early medieval geographical classification, the western portion of Langobardia Major, the north-central part of the Lombard Kingdom, extended from the Adda to the Western Alps and opposed to Austria...
- Lombard Kingdom