History of Italy

Kingdom of the Lombards
Kingdom of the Lombards ©Angus McBride
568 Jan 1 - 774

Kingdom of the Lombards

Pavia, Province of Pavia, Ital

The Kingdom of the Lombards, later the Kingdom of Italy, was an early medieval state established by the Lombards, a Germanic people, on the Italian Peninsula in the latter part of the 6th century. The capital of the kingdom and the center of its political life was Pavia in the modern northern Italian region of Lombardy.


The Lombard invasion of Italy was opposed by the Byzantine Empire, which retained control of much of the peninsula until the mid-8th century. For most of the kingdom's history, the Byzantine-ruled Exarchate of Ravenna and Duchy of Rome separated the northern Lombard duchies, collectively known as Langobardia Maior, from the two large southern duchies of Spoleto and Benevento, which constituted Langobardia Minor. Because of this division, the southern duchies were considerably more autonomous than the smaller northern duchies.


Over time, the Lombards gradually adopted Roman titles, names, and traditions. By the time Paul the Deacon was writing in the late 8th century, the Lombardic language, dress and hairstyles had all disappeared. Initially the Lombards were Arian Christians or pagans, which put them at odds with the Roman population as well as the Byzantine Empire and the Pope. However, by the end of the 7th century, their conversion to Catholicism was all but complete. Nevertheless, their conflict with the Pope continued and was responsible for their gradual loss of power to the Franks, who conquered the kingdom in 774. The Kingdom of the Lombards at the time of its demise was the last minor Germanic kingdom in Europe.

Last Updated: Wed Sep 28 2022

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