Theodelinda, queen 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...

, (c. 570-628) was the daughter of duke Garibald I

Garibald I of Bavaria

Garibald I was Duke of Bavaria from 555 until 591. He stands at the head of the Agilolfings and the Bavarian Dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of the Lombards....

 of Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

.

She was married first in 588 to Authari

Authari

Authari also known as Agilolf, was king of the Lombards from 584 to his death. After his father, Cleph, died in 574, the Lombardic nobility refused to appoint a successor, resulting in ten years interregnum known as the Rule of the Dukes.In 574 and 575 the Lombards made the blunder of invading...

, king of the Lombards, son of king Cleph

Cleph

Cleph was king of the Lombards from 572 or 573 to 574 or 575.He succeeded Alboin, to whom he was not related by blood. He was a violent and terrifying figure to the Romans and Byzantines struggling to maintain control of the peninsula...

. Authari died in 590. Theodelinda was allowed to pick Agilulf

Agilulf

Agilulf called the Thuringian, was a duke of Turin and king of the Lombards from 591 until his death.-Biography:A relative of his predecessor Authari, he was selected king on the advice of the Christian queen and widow of Authari, Theodelinda, whom he then married...

 as her next husband and Authari's successor in 591. She thereafter exerted much influence in restoring Nicene Christianity (the mainstream, in 1054 split by the East-West Schism

East-West Schism

The East–West Schism of 1054, sometimes known as the Great Schism, formally divided the State church of the Roman Empire into Eastern and Western branches, which later became known as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, respectively...

 in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy) to a position of primacy in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 against its rival, Arian Christianity

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...

.

After the conversion of Agilulf to the Catholic faith, she started building churches in Lombardy

Lombardy

Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

 and Tuscany

Tuscany

Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....

, among them the cathedral of Monza and the first Baptistery

Battistero di San Giovanni (Florence)

The Florence Baptistry or Battistero di San Giovanni is a religious building in Florence , Italy, which has the status of a minor basilica....

 of Florence. They were all dedicated to Saint John the Baptist.

The famous treasure of Monza contains the Iron Crown of Lombardy

Iron Crown of Lombardy

The Iron Crown of Lombardy is both a reliquary and one of the most ancient royal insignia of Europe. The crown became one of the symbols of the Kingdom of Lombards and later of the medieval Kingdom of Italy...

 and the theca persica, enclosing a text from the Gospel of John

Gospel of John

The Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...

, sent by Pope Gregory I

Pope Gregory I

Pope Gregory I , better known in English as Gregory the Great, was pope from 3 September 590 until his death...

 (590-604) to her for her son Adaloald

Adaloald

Adaloald was the Lombard king of Italy from 616 to 626. Son and heir of King Agilulf and his Catholic queen Theodelinda, he was baptised shortly after his birth in 602. He was an associate king, raised on the shield by the warriors at his father's request, when still young...

. Another of the gifts of this pope to the Lombard queen was a cruciform encolpion

Encolpion

Encolpion, from the Greek: ἐγκόλπιον, "on the chest", is the name given in early Christian times to a species of reliquary worn round the neck, in which were enclosed relics such as fragments of cloth stained with the blood of a martyr, small pieces of parchment with texts from the Holy...

 (reliquary) containing a portion of the True Cross

True Cross

The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.According to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a...

.

Arts

The history of the queen and her connection with the famous Iron Crown of Lombardy

Iron Crown of Lombardy

The Iron Crown of Lombardy is both a reliquary and one of the most ancient royal insignia of Europe. The crown became one of the symbols of the Kingdom of Lombards and later of the medieval Kingdom of Italy...

 are narrated in the frescoes painted in the Theodelinda Chapel in the Cathedral of Monza

Monza Cathedral

The Duomo of Monza often known in English as Monza Cathedral is the main religious building of Monza, near Milan, in northern Italy...

, work by Ambrogio and Gregorio Zavattari

Zavattari

The Zavattari were a family of Italian painters active in Lombardy from the 14th to the 16th century.Cristoforo and Franceschino Zavattari are known as collaborators to the decoration of the Duomo of Milan in the early 15th century...

(1444).