LOMBARD KINGS
david hughes
legend: the Lombards (also called Langobards) (originally called the
Winnili tribe) migrated from Scandinavia to the European Continent
under the brothers Ibor (Ebbe) and Agjo (Agio), the two sons of
Gausus, who gave the Gungingi Dynasty its name. Agjo was the father of
Agila, aka
01. AEgelmund, "1st" King of Lombards. The name of his wife and queen
is recorded to have been Gambara. They were childless. Here enters the
story that a prostitute gave birth to a boy and threw him into a pond
to drown, when King AEgelmund and Queen Gambara happened to ride by
and rescued the boy and adopted the abandoned infant, whose name was
02. Lamicho (Lamissio), who succeeded his adoptive father as King of
the Lombards. His dynasty ended in an heiress, who married the Balthae
Prince Letho (Lethu), from whom his descendants were called the
Lethinge Dynasty. The Balthae Prince Letho may also be identified with
King Chlodio of France.
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03. Letho, Balthae Prince, King of the Lombards [founder of the
Lethinge Dynasty of Italy]; identified with King Chlodio of France
=1 the Frankish heiress [her 2nd =]; he =2 the Lombard heiress
issue of 1st wife:
a. Lotric (Clodric) (d451), who warred with half-bro Merovee [same
mother] over the Frankish throne
b. Hildeoc [4], id. with King Childric I of France & Lombardy
c. Gudeoc [5], id. with Guntheric of Burgundy & Lombardy
issue of 2nd wife:
d. Claffo [6], King of Lombards
e. Utfora, prince, had issue
04. Claffo, [6th] King of Lombards
issue:
a. Tato, 7th Lombard King
b. Winta (Winichis) (Zuchilo), Prince (below)
c. Pero, Prince
05. Winta (Winichis) (Zuchilo), Prince (above)
issue:
a. Pissa, poss. id. with Cissa of Sussex (below)
b. Waccho, 8th Lombard King (d540) (below)
c. Vecta, poss. id. with Wecta of Kent
---------------------------------------------------------------
06 Pissa, poss. id. with Cissa of Sussex (above)
= Menia [or Adela]
issue:
a. Audoin, 10th Lombard King (below)
--------------------------------------------------------------
07 Audoin, 10th Lombard King (above) (d565)
=1 Rodelinde, dau of Ermenfrit of Thuringia & Amalaberga, the dau of
Amalafreya, the sis of Theodoric "The Great", Ostro-Goth King of Italy
=2 Visigarde, his cousin, wdw of King Thibert I of France, &, dau of
[his father's bro] Waccho, 8th Lombard King (see)
issue of 1st wife:
a. Alboin, reckoned "1st" Lombard King of Italy 572 (below)
b. Masane (dau)
= Cleph (Cleophis) (Klef), 2nd Lombard King of Italy 572-574 [son of
Beleo], & begot Autharic, 3rd Lombard King of Italy 584-590
c. [name] (dau)
= Zottone, Duke of Forum Iulii, bec "1st" Duke of Benevento 571
d. [name] (dau)
note: if the Lombard Prince Pissa is identified with Cissa of Sussex
then this daughter would be the Sussex heiress Alhilda, who, married
to a native British regional-king, remained in Britain in 541 when her
"barbarian" family was expelled from Britain by the British
Celto-Romans
-------------------------------------------------------------------
08 Alboin, reckoned "1st" Lombard King of Italy 572 (above)
=1 Clotsinde of France; =2 Rosamunde (Rosalinte), a Gepidae pss
issue of 1st wife:
a. Alpsuinda (dau)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
06.Waccho, 8th Lombard King (d540) (above)
=1 Ranigund, a Thurgingian pss; =2 Austrisa (Austrigusa), a Gepidae
pss; =3 Salinga, a Heruli pss
issue of 1st wife:
a. Visigarde (dau)
=1 Thibert I, King of France (d548); =2 Audoin, 10th Lombard King [his
2nd = too]
issue of 2nd wife:
b. Valdarada (Walderade) (dau) (below)
issue of 3rd wife:
c. Waltari, 9th Lombard King (d546)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
07.Valdarada (Walderade) (above)
=1 Thibaut, King of France; =2 Clothaire I, King of France; =3
Garibald I, King of Bavaria
issue of 1st husband:
a. Theudelinde (Theodelinda) (Thilinda) (dau) (d625/7) (below)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
08: Theudelinde (Theodelinda) (Thilinda) (dau) (d625/7) (above)
=1 Autharic, 3rd Lombard King of Italy 584-590, son of Cleph (Klef)
(Cleophis), 2nd Lombard King of Italy, &, wife, Masane, sis of Albion,
"1st" Lombard King of Italy
=2 Agilulfo, 4th Lombard King of Italy 590-615
issue of 2nd husband:
a. Adaloald, 5th Lombard King of Italy 615-624 abd (d626), begot a
single son [Faroaldo] (d611)
b. Gundiperg (dau) (below)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
09: Gundiperg (dau) (above)
=1 Arioaldo, 6th Lombard King of Italy 624-636; =2 Rothari, 7th
Lombard King of Italy 636-652
issue of 1st husband:
a. Gundoald, Duke of Asti (d641), father of Ariperto I, 9th Lombard
King of Italy 653-661
issue of 2nd husband:
b. Rodoald, 8th Lombard King of Italy 652-653
---------------------------------------------------------
10. Gundoald, Duke of Asti (d641)
11. Ariperto I, 9th Lombard King of Italy 653-661
issue:
a. Perctarit, 10-A & 13th Lombard King (below)
b. Godeperto, 10-B, co-king 661(below)
c. dau
= Grimoaldo, 11th Lombard King 661-671[his 2nd =], father of
Garibaldo, 12th Lombard King 671-674
-----------------------------------------------
12. Perctarit, 10-A & 13th Lombard King 661 & 674-686/8 (above)
= Rodelinde
issue:
a. Cuincpert, 14th Lombard King 686/6-690 dep (d700), who, of his
wife, Hermelinde of England, begot Liutperto, 15th Lombard King 700
dep (d702)
b. Vigilinda (dau)
= Grimoaldo [II], Duke of Benevento
--------------------------------------------------
12. Godeperto, 10-B, co-king 661 (above)
= Ragnatrude of East Anglia
issue:
a. Ragimpert, 16th Lombard King
b. Regintrude (dau) (below)
= Theodo II, King of Bavaria
-----------------------------------------------------------------
13. Ragimpert, 16th Lombard King 700-1
14. Ariperto II, 17th Lombard King 701-712 dep
issue:
a,b,c. 3 sons
d. Ratberg (dau) (below)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Ratberg (Redburh), dau of King Ariperto II (above)
= Pemmo, son of Billo, a Lombard duke
issue:
a. Astolfo, 22nd Lombard King; [also] reckoned "1st" King of Italy
b. Ratchis, 21st & 23rd Lombard King
---------------------------------------------
16. Astolfo, 22nd Lombard King 749-756; reckoned "1st" King of Italy
752 upon his abolishment of the Byzantine Exarchate
= Giseltrude, sis of Eutychius, last Exarch of Ravenna 728-752 deposed
issue:
a-e:_five_daus_[all_nuns]
-------------------------------------------------------
16. Ratchis, 21st & 23rd Lombard King 744-749 abd & 756
= Tasia, sis of Ildeprand (Hiltiprand), 20th Lombard King, & Ansia,
wife of Desiderio, 24th & last Lombard King
issue:
a. Vastrada, one of the many wives of Charlemagne & the mother of his
daughter Ratperg (Redburh), wife of the English Bretwalda Egbert of
Wessex
----------------------------------------------------------------
13. Regintrude, dau of Lombard King 10B Godeperto (above)
= Theodo II, King of Bavaria
issue:
a. Thedebert (d722) (below)
a. Theodorata (dau) (below)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
14. Thedebert (d722) (above)
issue:
a. Swanhild
= Charles "Martel", Duke of France
b. Guntrude
= Liutprand, 19th Lombard King
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. Theodorata (above)
= Ansprand, 18th Lombard King 712
issue:
a. Liutprand, 19th Lombard King 712-744
= Guntrude [cousin] (above)
b. Sigiprand (below)
------------------------------------------------------------------------15.Sigiprand
(above)
issue:
a. Ildeprand (Hiltiprand), 20th Lombard King 744 dep
b. Tasia (dau)
= Ratchis, 21st & 23rd Lombard King (above)
c. Ansia (dau)
= Desiderio (Desiderius) [appears as Didier/Dedier in medieval
romance], 24th & last Lombard King (below)
---------------------------------------------------
note: Desiderio [id. with Desiderius, son of Erminulphus, son of
Alachisus], 24th & last Lombard King 756-774 dep (d775) (above)
= Ansia, sis of Ildeprand, 20th Lombard King, &, niece of Liutprand,
19th Lombard King
issue:
a. Adelchis, associate-ruler 759-774 (d788), had issue
b. Gerberga (dau)
= Carloman of France, mother of Pepin & Sigar
c. Desidere (Bertrade), one of the wives of Charlemagne, who conquered
the Lombards and annexed their territory [Lombardy] to his realm
d. Adelperg (dau)
= Arechi II, Duke of Benevento
e. Liutperg (dau)
= Tassilo IV, Duke of Bavaria
f. Ansperga, abbess
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
descents traceable from:
a. Vastrada, dau of Ratchis, 21st & 23rd Lombard King, &, wife Tasia,
sis of Ildeprand (Hiltiprand), 20th Lombard King, & Ansia, wife of
Desiderio, 24th & last Lombard King, one of Charlemagne's wives & the
mother of his daughter Ratperg (Redburh), wife of the English
Bretwalda Egbert of Wessex
b. Adelchis (d788), son of Desiderio, 24th & last Lombard King, had
issue & was the ancestor of an Italian noble house
c. Adelperg, dau of Desiderio, 24th & last Lombard King, &, her
husband Arechi II, Duke of Benevento
---------------------------------------------------------------------
compiled by David Hughes
Rdavi...@AOL.com
marshall kirk
> THE LOMBARD KINGS OF ITALY
> 01. AEgelmund, "1st" King of Lombards. The name of his wife and queen
> is recorded to have been Gambara. They were childless. Here enters the
> story that a prostitute gave birth to a boy and threw him into a pond
> to drown, when King AEgelmund and Queen Gambara happened to ride by
> and rescued the boy and adopted the abandoned infant, whose name was
> 02. Lamicho (Lamissio), who succeeded his adoptive father as King of
> the Lombards
[snip]
It's perhaps worth noting that this story -- of a child drawn from the
water who becomes a king -- is, with variations, extremely old and
widespread. It is, I think, the story of Shield Sheafing; it's
certainly the story of Moses; and it was, with details corresponding
quite closely to the version attached to Moses, that of Sargon
[Sharrukhin, Chris?] I the Great, which takes us back, in round
numbers, 40 or so centuries. (One of the 19th-century versions of the
story of King Arthur -- by an English poet laureate whose name escapes
me {Tennyson?} --has Merlin hauling him, a preternatural baby, from
the last and greatest of nine oceanic waves to crash ashore.) I
wouldn't be surprised if this element of Sargon's *vita* had still
earlier antecedents, tho' if so, we're pushing the extremity of the
envelope of recorded history, which begins only around 3,000 BCE --
perhaps just a tad earlier. (Again -- Chris? have the scholars
changed their opinion as to when cuneiform became something colorably
classifiable as writing? I'm afraid I'm still mired in Woolley's
scheme of dating, which I suspect is far too early.)
In any event, it's an old story, told of many a nobody who made good.
As a matter of fact, however, *I* was found in a steamer trunk adrift
on the reflecting pool before the Washington monument; tho' I don't
seem to have made good, so the story's wasted on me.
("Lamicho" -- Lamech?)
Peter Stewart
Hughes, but someone has written to me off-list asking for a response to
a couple of points in it, as follows:
david hughes wrote:
<chomp>
> 16. Ratchis, 21st & 23rd Lombard King 744-749 abd & 756
> = Tasia, sis of Ildeprand (Hiltiprand), 20th Lombard King, & Ansia,
> wife of Desiderio, 24th & last Lombard King
> issue:
> a. Vastrada, one of the many wives of Charlemagne & the mother of his
> daughter Ratperg (Redburh), wife of the English Bretwalda Egbert of
> Wessex
This is wrong. Charlemagne's wife Fastrada, or Fastradana, was the
daughter of a Franconian count named Radolf, and not of a Lombard king.
This is stated plainly in the royal Frankish annals, see _Annales regni
Francorum..._, edited by Friedrich Kurze, MGH SSrG 6 (Hanover, 1895) p
67 (under the year 783): [Carolus] duxit uxorem filiam Radolfi comitis
natione Francam, nomine Fastradam, ex qua duas filias procreavit.
The two daughters of Charlemagne & Fastrada mentioned were Theodrada, an
abbess, and Hiltrude. No marriage is recorded for either of these ladies.
In any case, Ecgbehrt's consort/s are not known. A late manuscript of
dubious authority named his wife as Redburh, adding that she was related
to of the Frankish king (his "sororia", which could mean sister,
sister-in-law or even cousin) - and this would have been Charlemagne
himself, so any rationale for making her his daughter must be even more
slender than this.
<snip>
> note: Desiderio [id. with Desiderius, son of Erminulphus, son of
> Alachisus], 24th & last Lombard King 756-774 dep (d775) (above)
> = Ansia, sis of Ildeprand, 20th Lombard King, &, niece of Liutprand,
> 19th Lombard King
> issue:
> a. Adelchis, associate-ruler 759-774 (d788), had issue
> b. Gerberga (dau)
> = Carloman of France, mother of Pepin & Sigar
This is highly uncertain. The name of Carloman's wife (or, if he had
more than one, of the mother of his sons) _may_ have been Gerberga, but
whether or not she was a daughter of King Desiderius is questionable.
_Annales Lobienses_, edited by GH Pertz, MGH SS II 195 (under 771)
staes: "Karlomannus...defunctus est Salmontiaco; uxor eius cum duobus
filiis et Otgario marchione ad Desiderium regem patrem suum confugit"
(Carloman died at Samoussy; his wife with two sons and Marquis Otgar
fled to her father King Desiderius). Most historians, including
Christian Settipani, follow earlier suggestions that this detail was
recorded through confusion with the supposed Lombard wife of Carloman's
elder brother Charlemagne - however, there is no obvious reason why this
is more plausible than the straightforward reading of the statement as
true. Other sources confirm that the widow of Carloman fled to Italy
with her two infant sons, and unless this was a return to her own family
it is hard to explain the choice of destination in her predicament. In
the next entry of same annals are details of the exile in Francia of
King Desiderius and his wife and sons, indicating some interest in his
family.
Gerberga would fit with the Germanic names given to the known daughters
of Desiderius, Adelberga, Luitberga (wife of Tassilo of Bavaria) and
Anselberga (abbess of San Salvatore, Brescia). Carloman was married to a
woman recognised as queen, who had given birth to sons by 771 if we take
literally a letter from Pope Stephen II to Carloman in that year ("cum
excellentissima ac christianissima filia nostra, regina, dulcissima
vestra coniuge, et amantissimis natis", (with our most esteemed and
Christian daughter, the queen, your dearest wife, and most beloved sons
- see _Codex Carolinus_, edited by Wilhelm Gundlach, MGH Epistolae III,
second edition (Berlin, 1957) 566 no 47).
It is usually presumed that this lady was of a similar background to
that of Charlemagne's first wife (or concubine) Himiltrud; however, a
marriage between either prince and a daughter of Desiderius had
evidently not taken place when Pope Stephen II wrote to Charlemagne and
Carloman, evidently about the same time as the letter quoted above,
bewailing that one of the brothers might be persuaded to marry a
daughter of the Lombard king (ibid 561 no 45, "cum magno cordis dolore
dicimus: eo quod Desiderius Langobardorum rex vestram persuadere
dinoscitur excellentiam, suam filiam uni ex vestra fraternitate in
conuvio copulari"). If the dating of these two letters to 770/1 is
correct then the pope can hardly have supposed that Carloman would have
cast aside his established queen who was pregnant, or newly-delivered of
a first son, in order to marry a Lombard princess.
Perhaps Carloman's widow was Frankish and yet thought her sons' best
chance of safety was over the Alps with a royal adversary of her
brother-in-law, although she and Desiderius were unrelated. It should be
noted that Desiderius himself took a marked interest in the sons of
Carloman after their flight to his court, and apparently tried to secure
their rights to the Frankish kingdom even after Charlemagne had already
been anointed by a pope, when it was too late for mere one-upmanship
over an enemy.
> c. Desidere (Bertrade), one of the wives of Charlemagne, who conquered
> the Lombards and annexed their territory [Lombardy] to his realm
This Lombard marriage of Charlemagne is generally accepted, but not
absolutely definite. In any event, the name of the princess is not
"Desidere".
St Paschasius Radbertus, abbot of Corbie, in the biography of his
predecessor (and Charlemagne's cousin) Adalhard, wrote "imperator
Carolus desideratam Desiderii regis Italorum filiam repudiaret" (Emperor
Charlemagne repudiated the....daughter of Desiderius, king of the
Italians, see _Patrologia latina..._ 120 column 1511). It is not clear
whether "desiderata" should be taken to mean "beloved" (by her father)
or "sought after" (by Charlemagne or on his behalf). However, it is more
certain that this should not be taken for her given name; elsewhere she
appears to have been called "Bertrada", but possibly "Gerberga" was the
correct reading in this manuscript too. At any rate, the account in
question is as likely to be confused, since Bertrada was her putative
mother-in-law's name.
According to the account by Paschasius Radbertus, Adalhard is supposed
to have taken exception to Charlemagne's marrying again while the
repudiated Lombard princess was still living, and to have left the
palace for the cloister as a result of his objection to this
irregularity; but it seems more plausible that Adalhard, Charlemage's
first cousin, would have had time at court to become deeply loyal to
Himiltrude, the longstanding Frankish consort, and that he was concerned
for her status as spouse. As a good son of the Church, he might also
have been concerned about the keeping of Frankish promises to defend the
apostolic patrimony against the wiles of Desiderius, rather than
attaching himself to a recently arrived and childless foreign bride who
was the daughter of this inveterate enemy of the pope.
Paschasius used the official royal annals as a source, and was perhaps
led into error by knowledge of a projected Lombard marriage for
Charlemagne, while Himiltrude had been in fact directly displaced by the
next Frankish wife, Hildegarde, in late 770/early 771. It is equally
possible that Charlemagne's and Carloman's mother Bertrada, who had gone
to Italy and arranged the Lombard marriage project, was determined to
see it through and paired the bride with Carloman instead when such a
union was rejected her elder son. If so, Gerberga might have been only
the step-mother to the boys she took with her to Italy, and Desiderius
might have used them simply as political pawns.
Peter Stewart