Liutprand, King of the Lombards
| Liutprand | |
|---|---|
King of the Lombards | |
 A tremissis of Liutprand's, showing the kings' effigy | |
| Reign | 712–744 |
| Predecessor | Ansprand |
| Successor | Hildeprand |
| Born | c. 680 |
| Died | 744 Pavia, Italy |
| Burial | |
| Religion | Chalcedonian Christianity |
Liutprand was the
Early life
Liutprand's life began inauspiciously. His father was driven to exile among the Bavarians, his older brother Sigipert was blinded by
Reign
The reign of Liutprand occurred in the wake of his overthrow of Aripert II, and officially began just before his father Ansprand's death.[4] Liutprand ruled for thirty-one years and was seen as an aggressive leader, who immediately upon ascension to the throne, moved against the Byzantine exarchate; he likewise attacked Ravenna, destroyed Classe, occupied forts in Bologna as well as Osimo, and captured Sutri.[5] Strategic considerations in mind, Liutprand maintained an alliance with the more "powerfully organized" nation of the Franks.[6]
Through his assertive actions, Liutprand greatly expanded the boundaries of the Lombard kingdom, as he attempted to bring the entirety of the Italian Peninsula under his control in much the way Charles Martel had.[7] He enjoyed success against the Byzantines and the papacy alike.[8] His improvements to the royal bureaucracy, more effective administration of justice across the Lombard realm, military actions, and competent rule left an important legacy for the Lombards.[9]
Relations with the Agilolfings of Bavaria
Due to their location just north of Italy, the Bavarians made valuable allies for the Lombards.
Byzantine wars
Prior to Liutprand's reign, the Byzantines had made "the political borders within Italy definitive" via a treaty in c.680.[14] However, the peace the Lombards had otherwise enjoyed came to an end during his rule, when Byzantines encountered a crisis of their authority inside Italy and began challenging Lombard legitimacy.[15]
Liutprand did not at first attack the
Liutprand chose this time of division between the Roman power-brokers to strike the Byzantine possessions in
Donation of Sutri and Papal acquiescence
In 727, Liutprand entered
After handing over Sutri and participating in symbolic motions, Liutprand "effected a surprising diplomatic revolution" by accepting gifts and money from
Following these events, Liutprand and Eutychius led a combined campaign to the gates of Rome but once there, the Lombard king had a change of heart and submitted to Pope Gregory II. He subsequently convinced the pontiff he meant no harm and persuaded both Eutychius and Gregory II to "dwell" in harmony with one another.[27] Hallenbeck explains the ramifications of this development for Liutprand and the papacy alike:
...the new Lombard kingdom and the Roman political entity were to coexist in harmony as separate and independent states. But Liutprand evidently went further, trying to indicate that he still supported the papacy against Byzantium. That seems to have been the meaning of the king's successful effort to achieve some form of reconciliation of Exarch Eutychius and Gregory. Liutprand not only refrained from aiding Eutychius against the pope as he had promised but also sponsored the reconciliation, which obviously benefited Gregory in that it eased the deep papal-imperial division and, since it involved no papal submission to the empire, suggested a measure of imperial acquiescence in Rome's separation from Byzantium and emergent autonomy in Rome and the duchy. In sum, far from threatening the papacy, Liutprand was clearly promoting conditions which offered positive benefits and peace with the new Lombard Kingdom of Italy.[28]
Sardinia and the remains of Augustine
When the Saracens invaded Sardinia, Liutprand had the relics of Augustine brought to the northern Italian city of Pavia.[29][c]
Papal negotiations
Pope Gregory II died in 731 and was succeeded by Pope Gregory III.[31] Relations between the new pope and Liutprand were peaceful at first, but Gregory III soon changed course and made agreements with Duke Ursus of Venetia and the Patriarch Antoninus of Grado, who then expelled the Lombards from Ravenna and restored the seat for Eutychius.[32] A partial breakdown of peace across Italy was the result and Liutprand's power receded to only the "customary Lombard realm of the north and the newer royal districts of the exarchate and the Pentapolis".[33] Hostilities ensued between various ducal powers aligned with the pope and the Lombards; when things appeared especially perilous for the papacy, Gregory III appealed to Charles Martel for help, but the pope's appeals fell on deaf ears since the Frankish king and Liutprand remained in close contact and amicable with one another as kinsmen.[34][d] Just as the Lombard ruler prepared to make an assault on Rome again, Pope Gregory III died.[36]
Soon after the death of Pope Gregory III (741), Liutprand was once again at Rome's doorstep, and neither the Byzantines nor the Franks "seemed likely to send forces to relieve the city".[37] The new pontiff, Zachary, began negotiations with the Lombard king and signed a twenty-year peace.[38] Zachary attained a diplomatic success, re-acquiring four towns recently captured by the Lombards simply by agreeing to Liutprand's demand not to align with the dukes of Spoleto or Benevento.[39] Through his arrangement with Liutprand, Pope Zachary had seized some of the territories that would later become the Papal States.[40] Sometime later, Pope Zachary again met with Liutprand and was ceded additional land around Ravenna and two-third of Cesena adjacent to the Apennine Mountains.[41]
Lawmaking
Along with Rothari, Liutprand is the other major Lombard figure whose legal legacy is recognized today. Liutprand's laws (Liutprandi Leges) show a greater degree of Roman influence than do the laws of his predecessors.[42] To this end, Liutprand was known for establishing commonsense laws and during his kingship—at least nominally speaking, according to historian Chris Wickham—he did his best to ensure that the application of law was conducted "in the presence of the whole people, in common counsel with us".[43] Many of the laws promulgated by Liutprand “depict the model of an ideal state, based on political ideas” in keeping with Germanic ideals of the people participating in governing their nation, so claims historian Paolo Delogu.[44]
Such governance centered around the notion of free Lombards in solidarity with the king and included the incorporation of judges from across the entire Lombard kingdom.[44][e] Delogu adds that military service to the state and representation in its defense “was considered as the most complete and honourable form of freedom, whereby the free-born cooperated in maintaining both order and justice within the kingdom, and its independence or superiority with respect to other peoples.”[44] Thereby, solidarity to and with the king was “reinforced” by a sworn personal oath of fidelity.[46] Justice itself was administered for all Lombards under the subordination and authority of king Liuprand.[47]
Liutprand's legislation did not depend upon the prior models of Germanic tradition, whereby clienteles around powerful regional persons exercised public functional authority, but centered instead around the king's reign.[48] Such changes do not imply a simplification of Lombard legal codices, as Liutprand's lawmaking was quite detailed. For example, one code took into consideration things like penalties for a man taking a woman's clothes while she bathed, making the perpetrator pay a full wirigild as if he had killed somebody.[49] Some of Liutprand's laws make it clear that Romans and Lombards lived in relative harmony, since one statute (Liutprand 127) mandated that Lombard women who married Romans were obligated to obey Roman laws.[50] Additional legislation covering various charters, wills, forgeries, property sales, and inheritance disputes were commonplace.[51] His pragmatic law-making proved so effective that after 774, the Franks borrowed many of their legal procedures from them.[49]
Death and legacy
According to historian Chris Wickham, Liutprand was "the most powerful Lombard king" and by the time of his death in 744, he possessed "hegemonic" power across the "entire peninsula".
Possible archaeological remains of Liutprand
In 2018, the bones of king Liutprand were the subject of a bio-archaeological and genetic investigation. The analyses showed that the bones belonged to three upper-class individuals, with strong muscles and who ate proteins, mainly from meat and fish, to a greater extent than the rest of the population, as evidenced by the comparisons with the bone findings coming from some necropolis of the Lombard age found in northern Italy. Of these three individuals, two (a middle-aged man and a younger man) date back to the 6th century, while the third subject, who died around 40/50 years old, was a contemporary of Liutprand: it is therefore possible that the bones of the third individual may belong to the Lombard king.[57]
Sources
The main source for the career of Liutprand is the
References
Informational notes
- ^ Also see: "Liutprand, King of the Lombards", The British Museum
- ^ While there was no permanent occupation of Ravenna, it seems possible that the city was at least temporarily under the Lombard king's control in 728, according to historian Judith Herrin.[20] During the mid-730s, Liutprand again more certainly occupied Ravenna, if only for a brief period.[21]
- ^ According to Paul the Deacon, Liutprand rescued the relics stationed on the island with great haste as well as with great expense.[30] Augustine's remains were enshrined in the Church of Saint Peter there. See the following website: http://www.augnet.org/en/history/places/4236-italy-pavia/
- ^ Liutprand and Charles Martel kept friendly relations—to the degree that the Lombard monarch adopted the Frankish king's son, Pepin the Short.[35]
- ^ Using Liutprand as an example, historian Chris Wickham likewise explains that legitimacy for these early medieval Germanic kings rested on their "links with the entire free (male) people of their kingdoms."[45]
Citations
- ^ a b Paul the Deacon 2003, pp. 265–266, XXII.
- ^ Balzaretti 2005, pp. 361–382.
- ^ Paul the Deacon 2003, p. 266, XXII.
- ^ Heath 2021, p. 81.
- ^ Christie 1998, p. 102.
- ^ Christie 1998, p. 103.
- ^ Riché 1993, p. 47.
- ^ Frassetto 2003, p. 243.
- ^ Frassetto 2003, p. 244.
- ^ Collins 1999, pp. 208–209.
- ^ Collins 1999, p. 208.
- ^ Riché 1993, p. 32.
- ^ Nelson 2019, p. 55.
- ^ Christie 1998, pp. 101, 187.
- ^ a b Delogu 2006, p. 294.
- ^ Kaldellis 2024, p. 447.
- ^ Kaldellis 2024, pp. 447, 449.
- ^ a b c Hallenbeck 1982, p. 24.
- ^ Hallenbeck 1982, p. 23.
- ^ a b Herrin 2020, p. 322.
- ^ Herrin 2020, p. 336.
- ^ Hallenbeck 1982, pp. 24–25.
- ^ Hallenbeck 1982, pp. 25–26.
- ^ Herrin 2020, pp. 322–323.
- ^ a b Hallenbeck 1982, p. 27.
- ^ Hallenbeck 1982, p. 28.
- ^ Hallenbeck 1982, p. 29.
- ^ Hallenbeck 1982, p. 30.
- ^ McKitterick 2004, p. 55.
- ^ Palmer 2015, pp. 111–112.
- ^ Bauer 2010, p. 361.
- ^ Hallenbeck 1982, p. 32.
- ^ Hallenbeck 1982, p. 33.
- ^ Hallenbeck 1982, pp. 35–36.
- ^ Riché 1993, p. 49.
- ^ Hallenbeck 1982, p. 36.
- ^ Herrin 1989, p. 353.
- ^ Herrin 1989, pp. 353–354.
- ^ Herrin 1989, p. 354.
- ^ Herrin 2020, p. 337.
- ^ Herrin 2020, p. 338.
- ^ Sommar 2020, p. 139.
- ^ Wickham 2016, p. 34.
- ^ a b c Delogu 2006, p. 290.
- ^ Wickham 2009, p. 213.
- ^ Delogu 2006, pp. 290–291.
- ^ Delogu 2006, p. 291.
- ^ Delogu 2006, p. 293.
- ^ a b Wickham 2016, p. 42.
- ^ Christie 1998, p. 120.
- ^ Christie 1998, p. 125.
- ^ Wickham 2009, p. 143.
- ^ Wickham 2009, pp. 143–144.
- ^ Herrin 2020, p. 339.
- ^ Herrin 2020, pp. 339–340.
- ^ a b Wolfram 1997, p. 300.
- ^ Gaetal et al. 2020, pp. 1–7.
- ^ Ghosh 2015, pp. 115–121.
Bibliography
- Balzaretti, Ross (2005). "Masculine Authority and State Identity in Liutprandic Italy". In Pohl, Walter; Erhart, Peter (eds.). Die Langobarden: Herrschaft und Identität. Austrian Academy of the Sciences. pp. 361–382. ISBN 978-3-70013-400-8.
- 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. ISBN 978-0-39305-975-5.
- Christie, Neil (1998). The Lombards: The Ancient Longobards. Malden, MA: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-18238-1.
- Collins, Roger (1999). Early Medieval Europe, 300–1000. New York: St. Martin’s Press. ISBN 978-0-31221-885-0.
- Delogu, Paolo (2006). "Lombard and Carolingian Italy". In Rosamond MicKitterick (ed.). The New Cambridge Medieval History. Vol. II [c.700–c.900]. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 290–319. ISBN 978-0-52136-292-4.
- Everett, Nicholas (2000). "Literacy and the Law in Lombard Government". Early Medieval Europe. 9 (1): 93–127. .
- Frassetto, Michael (2003). Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-57607-263-9.
- Gaetal, Raffaele; Minozzil, Simona; Fornaciaril, Antonio; Giuffral, Valentina; Riccomil, Giulia; Lubritto, Carmine; Fornaciari, Gino (2020). "Exhumation and Anthropological Study of the Skeletal Remains Attributed to Liutprand, King of the Lombards (c. 690-744 AD)". Medicina Historica. 4 (2): 1–7.
- Ghosh, Shami (2015). Writing the Barbarian Past: Studies in Early Medieval Historical Narrative. Brill. ISBN 978-9-00430-522-9.
- Hallenbeck, Jan T. (1982). "Pavia and Rome: The Lombard Monarchy and the Papacy in the Eighth Century". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 72 (4): 1–186. doi:10.2307/1006429.
- Heath, Christopher (2021). "Morbidity and Murder. Lombard Kingship's Violent Uncertainties 568–774". In Christopher Heath; Robert Houghton (eds.). Conflict and Violence in Medieval Italy, 568–1154. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. pp. 63–86. ISBN 978-9-04853-620-7.
- Herrin, Judith (1989). The Formation of Christendom. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-00831-0.
- Herrin, Judith (2020). Ravenna: Capital of Empire, Crucible of Europe. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-69115-343-8.
- Kaldellis, Anthony (2024). The New Roman Empire: A History of Byzantium. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19754-932-2.
- McKitterick, Rosamond (2004). History and Memory in the Carolingian World. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-52182-717-1.
- Nelson, Janet (2019). King and Emperor: A New Life of Charlemagne. Oakland: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-52031-420-7.
- Palmer, James (2015). The Apocalypse in the Early Middle Ages. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 1107085446.
- Paul the Deacon (2003). History of the Lombards. Translated by William Dudley Foulke. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0-8122-1079-4.
- Riché, Pierre (1993). The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe. Translated by Michael Idomir Allen. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 978-0-81221-342-3.
- Sommar, Mary E. (2020). The Slaves of the Churches: A History. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19007-328-2.
- Wickham, Chris (2009). The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages, 400–1000. Viking. ISBN 978-0-67002-098-0.
- Wickham, Chris (2016). Medieval Europe. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-30020-834-4.
- Wolfram, Herwig (1997). The Roman Empire and its Germanic Peoples. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-08511-6.
Further reading
- Everett, Nicholas. “How territorial was Lombard law?”, in W. Pohl and P. Erhart (eds.). Die Langobarden. Herrschaft und Identität. Forschungen zur Geschichte des Mittelalters, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Vienna, 2004), pp. 347–360.
- Everett, Nicholas. "Liutprandic letters amongst the Lombards", in K. Forsyth, J. Higgitt, and D. Parsons (eds.), Roman, Runes and Ogham. Medieval Inscriptions in the Insular World and on the Continent. Papers of the International Conference on medieval Epigraphy. St Hilda’s College, Oxford, UK. July 16–17, 1996. Paul Watkins Publishers (Stamford, 2000), pp. 175–189.
- Everett, Nicholas. Literacy in Lombard Italy. Cambridge University Press 2003.
- La Rocca, Cristina (ed.), Italy in the Early Middle Ages. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
- Lexikon des Mittelalters
External links
- Catholic Encyclopedia: "States of the Church"