LOMBARDS. 



Lombard chiefs, was unanimoufly defied as liis fuccefTor : 

 his reign was terminated before the expiration of eighteen 

 months by the hand of an affaflln, and during the minority 

 of his fon Autharis, Italy was divided and opprefTed by a 

 ducal ariftocracy of 30 tyrants. After an interval of 

 dillraftion, which lailed 10 years, Autharis attained the 

 ftrength and reputation of a warrior. Under the ftandard ef 

 their new king, the conquerors of Italy withftood their fuc- 

 ceffive invaiions ; and the viftorious Autharis aflerted his 

 claim to the dominion of Italy. However, he allowed the 

 dukes, who for 10 years had exercifed abfjlute authority 

 itj their refpeftive dukedoms, to continue in their govern- 

 ments ; but he obliged them to contribute one moie'.y of 

 their revenue to the maintenance and fupport of his royaj 

 dignity- He aifo bound them, by an oath, to alTill him in 

 time of war to the utmoft of their power. Ashe did not 

 deprive them of their dukedoms, except in cafes of treafon, 

 he did not transfer them to others, but when their male 

 i!Tue failed i and this was the origin of fiefs in Italy. Some, 

 indeed, have imagined that liefs were firft introduced by the 

 Lombards, and from them adopted by other nations. But 

 it appears, that fiefs had been introduced into Gaul by the 

 Fra'.^ks fome years before the reign of Autharis, who firft 

 eftabl'.fhed'them in Italy. All the cuftoms and laws which 

 were afterwards introduced and publiflicd conceriiing fiefs, 

 are owing to the Lombards, who gave them a certain and 

 regular form ; fo^ that, among all other nations, fiiccefiions, 

 acquifitions, inveilitures, and every thing elfe relating to 

 lleis, were regulated by the cuftoms and laws of the Lom- 

 bards. Hereupon a new body of laws fprung up, which 

 Were called feudal laws, and which continued in fome pro- 

 vinces of Italy, and particularly in the kingdom of Naples, 

 to be the chief part of the jurifprudence. 



Autharis, having fettled matters with the dukes in the 

 manner now mentioned, enafted feveral reafonable and fa- 

 ititary laws againft theft, 'apiie, murder, adultery, and other 

 crimes which at that time prevailed among his fubjefts. He 

 was alfo the firft of the Lombard kings, who, renouncing 

 Paganifm, embraced the Chriftia-. religion, and his example 

 was followed by moft of his lubjefts. 



."^t the foot of the Rhaetian Alps, Autharis fubdued tl^e re- 

 ffftance, and rifled the hidden treafures of a fequelVred idand 

 in the lake of Comum ; and at the extreme point cf Calabria, 

 he touched with his fpear a column on the fea-fi^.ore of Rhe- 

 gium, proclaiming tha' ancient landmark to ftand the im- 

 moveable boundary of his kingdom. Autharis clofed his life 

 and reign at I^via, A.D. 590. Agilulf, his fucccflbr, re- 

 nounced the opinions of Arius, which had been countenanced 

 By Autharis, and embraced the Catholic faith. Agilulf was 

 fncceeded A.D. 615, by his fon Adaluald, who being de- 

 pofed, had for his fucceflor Ariovald, under whofe govern- 

 ment the Lombards enjoyed tranquillity both at home and 

 abroad. Upon his death, A.D. 636, Rotharis afcended 

 *he throne, who is the firft who gave written laws to the 

 Lombards. From the year 638 to the reign of Luitprand, 

 •o afls of hoftility occurred between the exarchs and the 

 fcmgs of the Lombards 1 the latter being fatisfied with their 

 new conqutfts, and the former being glad to enjoy unmo- 

 lefted the territories that remained ur.der the dominion of 

 the enriperor. Luitprand, who afcended the throne A D. 

 71 1, may be accounted, next to Rotharis, the chief law- 

 giver of the Lombards : but infljenctd by ambition he 

 iwdertook to drive the Romans out of Italy, and this en- 

 terprife occaiioned the ruin of the kingdom of the Lom- 

 bards in that country. Luitprard invaded the exarchate, 

 and reduced Ravenna, and fcvwal other cities of the exar- 

 chate, whicKiie formed into a dukedom. Ravenna was. af- 



terwards recovered by the exarchate : but taken again by 

 Aftulphus, who changed it into a dukedom. The popes had 

 been alarmed, and made application to Pepin, king of 

 France, for alTiftance and protection. Accordingly Pepin 

 was pcrfuadcd to make war upon t!ie Lombards : and, in 

 the year 754, entered Italy, and befieged Aftulphus in his 

 metropolis. Rome was twice refcued from the attacks of 

 the Lombards, A.D. 754. At length the paftes of the 

 Alps, and the walls of Pavia, were their only defence : the 

 former were furprifed, and the latter were inverted by 

 Charlemagne, the fon of Pepin ; and af;er a ^ilockade of 

 two years, Defiderius, the laft of their native ()rinces, furren- 

 dered his fceptre and his capital, A.D. 774. Thus ended 

 the kingdom of the Lombards in Italy, after they had 

 poftefTpd that country for 206 years. Under the dominion 

 of a foreign king, but in the pofleflion of their national laws^ 

 the Lombards becarne the brethren, rather than the fubjefts, 

 of the Franks ; who derived their blood, and manners and 

 language, from the fame Germanic origin. Anc. Univ. Hift. 

 vol 7. Gibbon. 



During a period of 200 years Italy was unequally divided' 

 between the kingdom of the I^nmbards and the exarchate of 

 Ravei.na. (See £.x.\RCll.) From Pavia, the royal feat, the 

 kingdom of the Lombardswas extended to the eaft,'the north, 

 and the weft, as far as the confines of the .A vari,the Bavarians,, 

 and the Franks of Auftrafia and Burgundy. In the language 

 of modern geography it is now reprefented by the Terra 

 firma of the Venetian republic, Tyrol, the Mihnefe, Pied-- 

 mont, the coaft of Genoa, Mantua,. Parma, and Modena, 

 the grand duchy of Tufcany, and a large portion of tlie ec- 

 cleiialHcal ftate from Perugia to the Adriatic. The dukes, 

 and at length the princes of Beneventum, furvived the mo- 

 narchy and propagated the name of the Lombards. From 

 Gapua to Tarentum, they reigned near 500 years over the 

 greateft part of the prefent kingdom of Naples. In pro- 

 cefs of titr.e, the difpoiition and manners of the Lombards ■ 

 underwent a very important change. So i;apid, indeed, was 

 the influence of climate and example, that the Lombards 

 of the fourth generation furveyed with curiofity and affright 

 the portraits of their favage forefathers. The government ; 

 of the Lombards was an elefiive monarchy : and the public 

 revenues arofs from the produce of land and the pronts of 

 juftice. The Lombards vrcre at firil a cruel and barbarous 

 people ; but divefting themfelvcs, by degrees, of their na- 

 tive ferocity and barbarity, efpecially after they had em- 

 braced the Chriftian religion, they governed with fuch 

 equity and mildnefs, that moft other nations envied the 

 happinefs of thofe who lived under their adminiftration. 



As they had no other kmi.^dom, nor dominions, Italy be- 

 came their own country ; whence the natives efteemed theii^ 

 kings as their natural princes, net thinking them.ielves go. 

 verned, much lefs kept in flavery, by a foreign nation, as it 

 happened to them afterwards, when, by trVquent changes, . 

 they groaned under the heavy yoke, fometiiiies of one na- 

 tion, and fometimes of another. Under the government of 

 the I.,ombards, fays Paulus Diaconus, no violence was com- 

 mitted, no one unjuftly difpofTefTed of his property, none ■ 

 opprefl'cd with taxes ; theft, robberies, murder, and adul- 

 tery, were feldom heard of ; every one went, without the 

 leaft apprehenf.on of danger, whither he pleafed : and in- 

 deed their many wholefomc laws, reilraining and feverely 

 punifhing all lorts of crimes ; the magriticent churches, 

 and rich monafteries, with which they filled that part of 

 Italy which was fiibjeft to them ; the many bifhoprica 

 which they erefted ; the towns and cities which they either 

 built, or repaired, in moft provinces of Italy ; thvir gencro- 

 fity even 10 the biihop of B.ome, their avowed eaemy : and, 



Scallj/ 



