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Authari

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Authari
King of the Lombards
Woodcut vignette of Authari in the 1493Nuremberg Chronicle
Reign584 – 590
PredecessorRule of the Dukes
SuccessorAgilulf
Bornc. 550
Died5 September 590
Pavia,Neustria
Lombard Kingdom
SpouseTheodelinda
FatherCleph
ReligionArianism

Authari(c. 550 – 5 September 590) was king of theLombardsfrom 584 to his death. He was considered as the first Lombard king to have adopted some level ofRomanitas(Roman-ness) and introduced policies that led to drastic changes, particularly in the treatment of theRomansand greater tolerance for theChristian faith.[1]

Rule

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Authari was the son ofCleph,King of the Lombards, and duke of an unknown city.[2]When the latter was murdered in 574, the Lombard nobility refused to appoint a successor, resulting in a ten-years-long interregnum known as theRule of the Dukes,represented by leading regional oligarchs who held sway.[3]

In 574 and 575 the Lombards invadedProvence,then part of thekingdom of Burgundyof theMerovingianGuntram,but Burgundian counteroffensives pushed them across the Alps and into northern Italy, where they occupied the Susa and Aosia valleys.[3]Meanwhile, the Merovingian kingdom allied itself with theByzantinesand counter-attacked; the combined Frankish and Byzantine armies marched through theTyrolvalley of the Etsch intoMeranand up to the gates ofTrent.[4]While successful at first, the Lombard Duke of Trent,Euin,was able to repulse their assaults and crushed the invaders nearSalurn.[4]Not only was Euin able to score victory but increased the Lombards' regional ties by marrying the daughter ofGaribald I,duke ofBavariain 578.[4][a]

Under pressure from the Franks, who—under Byzantine employ—invaded Italy again in 584, the Lombards elected Duke Authari as their king, who defeated the intruders.[4]When the next Frankish imposition occurred in 588, it proved a fiasco for the invading forces since both Authari's Lombards and Garibald's Bavarian forces were allied and defeated them accordingly.[4]Additional imperial tactics of paying one barbarian group to fight another came into play when the Alemannic mercenary commanderDroctulfwas persuaded to abandon the Lombards and join the imperial forces in assailing his former confederates.[5]However, Authari overcame Droctulf's forces—Authari was later celebrated for retakingClassisfrom the Lombards—and Droctulf retreated toBresciaandRavenna.[6]

Then in 590, the Frankish envoy Grippo led another combined imperial and Frankish army against the Lombards. Their intention to drive them from Italy, but after capturingModena,Mantua,andAltino,had to stop at the Lombard capital atPaviaupon learning that the Frankish leader Cedinus had signed a ten-month truce with King Authari, which forced them to return to Gaul.[7]As a result of this and other debacles across the empire, Constantinople and the reestablished imperial west at Ravenna were required to come to terms with the permanent presence of the Lombards in Italy.[7]

Religion and marriage

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Despite his conversion to Arian Christianity[b]and the toleration for the religion not permitted by his predecessors, Authari forbade the sons of Lombards from being baptized as Catholics, since he viewed it as an "instrument of the Empire" that would sap "the warrior vitality" from them.[10]

Authari marriedTheodelinda,daughter of theBavariandukeGaribald I,on 15 May 589 at Verona. A detailed account of the courtship by the eighth-century historianPaul the Deaconrevealed that the marriage was also a political alliance designed to provide additional sanction to Authari's royal position.[11]In addition, Theodelinda was also chosen due to the long-standing ties between the Lombards and the Bavarians as well as their mutual hostility toward the Franks.[12]She also claimed descent from the ancient Lombard royal line.[12]

Legacy

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When Authari died inPaviain 590, possibly bypoison,he was succeeded as king byAgilulf,duke ofTurin,on the advice, sought by the dukes, of Theodelinda, who married the new king.[13][c]He was buried in theChurch of Santi Gervasio e ProtasioinPavia.[16]

In the wake of Authari's death, Theodelinda increased her cooperation with Pope Gregory the Great in what came to mark a "high-point in Lombard history" from a religious perspective, according to historian Shami Ghosh.[17]

Throughout the 7th century, Authari's successors continued to strengthen the Lombard monarchy and bolster their ethnic identity, while at the same time expanding the Lombard control of Italy.[18]These successors (like Agilulf) not only extended the reach of the Lombards but also instituted important changes in the religion and governmental structure of the Lombards.[19]

References

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Notes

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  1. ^The Bavarian duke was incidentally betrothed to Walderada, a Lombard, which further secured their reciprocal links.[4]
  2. ^Paul the Deacon expressly suppressed this fact in his text.[8]This must have been deliberate since Pope Gregory the Great had even condemned Authari for his Arian heresy.[9]
  3. ^During the year Agilulf assumed the Lombard throne, Pope Pelagius II had died andGregory the Greatbecame pontiff.[14]The deceased king's wife was so esteemed that she not only wed his successor but allegedly helped choose him as king.[15]

Citations

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  1. ^Ghosh 2015,p. 145.
  2. ^Wolfram 1997,p. 294.
  3. ^abWolfram 1997,p. 293.
  4. ^abcdefWolfram 1997,p. 295.
  5. ^Herrin 2020,p. 207.
  6. ^Herrin 2020,pp. 207–208.
  7. ^abHerrin 2020,p. 221.
  8. ^Ghosh 2015,p. 145 fn115.
  9. ^Ghosh 2015,p. 147.
  10. ^Christie 1998,p. 185.
  11. ^Paul the Deacon 2011,p. 140.
  12. ^abFrassetto 2013,p. 525.
  13. ^Hartmann 1913,p. 201.
  14. ^Bauer 2010,p. 256.
  15. ^Frassetto 2003,p. 341.
  16. ^Majocchi 2010,pp. 12–14.
  17. ^Ghosh 2015,p. 146.
  18. ^Frassetto 2003,pp. 246–247.
  19. ^Frassetto 2003,p. 247.

Bibliography

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  • Bauer, Susan Wise (2010).The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade.New York: W. W. Norton & Company.ISBN978-0-39305-975-5.
  • Christie, Neil (1998).The Lombards: The Ancient Longobards.Malden, MA: Blackwell.ISBN0-631-18238-1.
  • Frassetto, Michael (2003).Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation.Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.ISBN978-1-57607-263-9.
  • Frassetto, Michael (2013).The Early Medieval World: From the Fall of Rome to the Time of Charlemagne [2 Volumes].Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, LLC.ISBN978-1-59884-995-0.
  • Ghosh, Shami(2015).Writing the Barbarian Past: Studies in Early Medieval Historical Narrative.Leiden: Brill.ISBN978-9-00430-522-9.
  • Hartmann, L.M. (1913). "Italy under the Lombards". In H.M. Gwatkin; J.P. Whitney (eds.).The Cambridge Medieval History.Vol. III [The Rise of the Saracens and the Foundations of the Western Empire]. New York: Macmillan & Co.
  • Herrin, Judith (2020).Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe.Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press.ISBN978-0-69115-343-8.
  • Majocchi, Piero (2010)."Le sepolture regie nell'alto medioevo (secoli VI-X)".Reti Medievali Rivista.9:12–14.ISSN1593-2214.Retrieved20 August2023.
  • Paul the Deacon (2011). Edward Peters (ed.).History of the Lombards.Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.ISBN978-0812210798.
  • Wolfram, Herwig (1997).The Roman Empire and its Germanic Peoples.Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.ISBN0-520-08511-6.

Further reading

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  • Jarnut, Jörg (1992).Geschichte der Langobarden.Stuttgart.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Regnal titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Cleph 		King of the Lombards
584–590 		Succeeded by
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