Rotarit (died 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...

, 702) was a Lombard

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...

 duke

Duke (Lombard)

Among the Lombards, the duke or dux was the man who act as political and military commander of a set of "military families" , irrespective of any territorial appropriation.-Etymology:...

, the last Duke of Bergamo.

In 700, fighting broke out over the succession of the just disappeared king, 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....

 (to which was faithful), Rotarit stood in favor of his son, 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...

, who was still underage, and his tutor Ansprand

Ansprand

Ansprand was king of the Lombards briefly in 712. Before that he was the duke of Asti and regent during the minority of Liutpert . He was defeated at Novara by Raginpert and exiled during the subsequent war over the succession, fleeing to the court of Theudebert, duke of Bavaria, in 702.In 711,...

. Opposing him was the Duke of Turin 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...

, the son 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 therefore an exponent of the ruling Bavarian dynasty

Bavarian Dynasty

The Bavarian dynasty was those kings of the Lombards who were descended from Garibald I, the Agilolfing duke of Bavaria. They came to rule the Lombards through Garibald's daughter Theodelinda, who married the Lombard king Authari in 588...

. The fighting ended with a battle fought 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...

 in early 701

701

Year 701 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 701 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 :* Wittiza succeeds his grandfather Ergica as...

, during which Rotarit and his ally Ansprand succumbed. 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...

, supported by the Lombards of 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 Northwest region of the kingdom) ascended to the throne and immediately associated his son, the future 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...

.

With the death of Raginpert, which occurred a few months after the battle of Novara, Rotarit and Ansprand imprisoned Aripert II and restored 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...

 to the throne. Aripert II, however, managed to escape and the following year (702) defeated the protectors of Liutpert at Pavia, deposed and imprisoned the young king, and crowned himself in his place. Rotarit, back in Bergamo

Bergamo

Bergamo is a town and comune in Lombardy, Italy, about 40 km northeast of Milan. The comune is home to over 120,000 inhabitants. It is served by the Orio al Serio Airport, which also serves the Province of Bergamo, and to a lesser extent the metropolitan area of Milan...

, proclaimed himself king but was defeated after a bloody siege by Aripert. After forcing Rotarit to shave his beard and his head as a sign of great dishonor, Aripert moved him to 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...

where he killed him in 702.