42 
LOMB 
nian to fettle in Pannonia ; and here they made war a fe- 
cond time with the Gepidas. Alboinus, the Lombard 
king, killed the king of the Gepidre with his own hand, 
put his army to the rout, and cut fuch numbers of them 
in pieces, that they ceafed from that time to be a nation. 
Having caufed the deceafed king’s head to be cut off, 
he made a cup of his Ikull, which he made ufe of in all 
public entertainments. However, having taken, among 
many other captives of great diftintftion, the late king’s 
daughter, by name Rofamunda, he married her after the 
death of his former wife Clodifvinta, the daughter of CIo- 
taire king of France. 
By this victory Alboinus gained fuch reputation, that 
his friendlhip was courted by Juftinian ; and, in confe- 
quence of the emperor’s application, a body of 6000 Lom¬ 
bards were fent to the affiftance of Narfes againft the 
Goths. The fuccefs of the Romans in this expedition 
has been detailed in the hiltory of the Goths, voi. viii. 
p. 736, 7. and the invafion of Italy by the Lombards, and 
their fuccefles in that country, under Italy, vol. xi. 
p. 4.53. At lad Alboinus, having made himfelf mailer of 
Venetia, Liguria, Asmilia, Hetruria, and Umbria, was flain 
by the treachery of his wife, in the year 575, the fourth 
of his reign. This princefs was the daughter of the king 
of the Gepklfe, whom Alboinus had killed in battle, and 
made a cup of his Ikull, as above related. As he was 
one day feafting at Verona, with his chief favourites and 
principal officers, in the height of his mirth he fent for 
the queen, and, filling the detefted cup, commanded her 
to drink merrily with her father. Rofamund, ftruck with 
horror, hurried out of the room ; and, highly incenfed 
againft: her hufband for thus barbaroufly triumphing over 
the misfortunes of her family, refolved, at all events, to 
make him pay dear for fuch an inhuman and affronting 
conduit. Accordingly, Hie difcovered her intention to 
Helmichild the king’s fhield-bearer, a youth of great bold- 
nefs and intrepidity. Helmichild peremptorily refufed to 
imbrue his hands in the blood of his fovereign, or to be 
tiny way acceffory to his death ; and in this refolution he 
perfifted, till he was, by a fhameful ftratagem, forced by 
the queen to a compliance : for the, knowing that he car¬ 
ried on an intrigue with one of her ladies, placed herfelf 
one night in her bed, and, receiving the youth, indulged 
him as if the had been his own mi ft refs in his amorous de¬ 
fires ; which fire had no fooner done, than, difcovering her- 
felf to the deceived lover, the told him that he mult now 
either put the king to death, or be put to death by him. 
Helmichild, well apprifed, that, after what had happened, 
his fafety depended upon the death of the king, engaged 
in the treafon which he otherwife abhorred. One day, 
therefore, while Alboinus was repofing in his chamber af¬ 
ter dinner, Helmichild, with fome others whom he had 
made privy to his defign, breaking in unexpectedly, fell 
upon the king with their daggers. Alboinus, ftarting up 
at their fir ft coming in, laid hold of his fword, which he 
had always by him ; but having in vain attempted to draw 
it, as the queen had before-hand fattened it in the fcab- 
bard, he defended himfelf for fome time with a footftool ; 
but was in the end overpowered, and difpatched with many 
wounds. 
Rofamund had promifed to Helmichild, that, as foon.as 
he had difpatched the king*, fhe would marry him, and, 
with her perfon, bellow upon him the kingdom of the 
Lombards. The firit part of her promife the immediately 
performed ; but was fo far'from being able to bellow the 
crown upon him, that both of them were obliged to fave 
themfelves by flight. They - fled to Longinus the exarch 
of Ravenna, taking with them all the jewels and treafure 
of the late king. Longinus received her with the greateft 
marks of friendlhip and kindnefs, and allured her of his 
protection. She had not been long in Ravenna, however. 
imparted his defign to her, and declared his intention to 
marry her, provided* by fome means or other, fhe dif- 
A R D S. 
patched Helmichild, Rofamund, highly pleafed with the 
propcfal, refolved to fatisfy her ambition by getting rid 
of the perfon whom fne had married in order to gratify 
her revenge. Accordingly, having prepared a ftrong poi- 
fon, Ihe mixed it with wine, and gave it to her hulband 
as he came out of the bath, and called for drink, accord¬ 
ing to his cuftom. Helmichild had not half emptied the 
cup, when, by the fudden and ftrange operation which he 
felt in his frame, he concluded what it was ; and, with 
his fword pointed at the queen’s brea/t, compelled her to 
drink the reft. The poifon had the lame eft'efl on both ; 
for they died in a few hours. Longinus, on the death of 
the queen, laid aflde all thoughts of making himfelf king 
of Italy, and fent the king’s treafure to Conftantinople, 
together with Albifoinda, the daughter of Alboinus by 
Rofamund, whom fhe had brought with her. 
After the death of Alboinus, the Lombards chofe Cle- 
phis, one of the nobility, for their king. He was mur¬ 
dered after a Ihort reign of eighteen months ; upon which 
enfued an interregnum of ten years. During this time, 
they extended their conquelts in Italy; but at lad the Ro¬ 
mans, jealous of their progrefs, refolved to put a flop to 
their victories; and, if polfible, to drive them quite out. 
For this purpofe, they deligned not only to employ their 
own force, but entered into alliance with the Franks; 
which fo alarmed the Lombards, that they re-eftabli(hed 
the monarchical form of government among themfelves, 
and chofe Autharis, the fon of Clephis, for their king. 
This monarch, confidering that the power of the dukes , 
who had governed Lombardy for the fpace of ten years, 
was during that length of time very much eftablilhed, and 
that they would not probably be willing to part with the 
authority' which they had fo t long enjoyed, allowed them 
to continue in their government; but obliged them to 
contribute one moiety of their revenues towards the main¬ 
tenance and fupport of his royal dignity, buffering them 
to difpofe of the other as they thought proper. He re- 
ferved to himfelf the fupreme dominion and authority ; 
and took an oath of the dukes, that, in time of war, 
they would afiilt him to the utmoft of their power. 
Though he could remove the dukes at pleafure, yet he 
deprived none of them of their dukedoms, except in cafes 
of treafon ; nor gave them to others, except when their 
male iffue failed : and this was the origin of fiefs in Italy. 
Some, indeed, have imagined that fiefs were firit intro¬ 
duced by the Lombards, and from them adopted by other 
nations; but it appears that fiefs had been introduced 
into Gaul by the Franks fome years before the reign of 
Autharis, who firit eftablilhed them in Italy. All the 
cuftoms and laws which were afterwards introduced and 
puhlilhed concerning fiefs, are owing to the Lombards, 
who gave them a certain and regular form; fo that, 
among all other nations, fucceflions, acquilitions, invefti- 
tures, and every thing elfe relating to fiefs, were regulated 
by the cuftoms and laws of the Lombards. Hereupon a 
new body of laws fprang up, which were called feudal 
laws, and which continued in fome provinces of Italy, and 
particularly in the kingdom of Naples, to be the chief 
part of the jurifprudence. Autharis, having fettled mat¬ 
ters with the dukes in the manner now mentioned, enact¬ 
ed feveral reafonable and falutary laws againft theft, ra¬ 
pine, murder, adultery, and other crimes which at that 
time prevailed among his fubjefts. Fie was alfo the firft 
of the Lombard kings, who, renouncing Paganifm, em¬ 
braced the Chriftian religion ; and.his example was fol¬ 
lowed by moll of his fubjeits. 
Autharis attained the ftrength and reputation of a war¬ 
rior, as well as of alegiilator. Under the ftandard of their 
new king, the Lombards withflood three fuccelfive inva- 
fions, one of which was led by Chiidebert, the laof the 
Merovingian race who defeended from the Alps. The 
firft expedition was defeated by the jealous animofit.y of 
the Franks and Alemanni. In the lecond they were van- 
quifhed in a bloody battle, with more lofs and diftionour 
than they had fuftained fmee the foundation of their mo¬ 
narchy. 
