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not molest the Empire and that they would assist in
the wars against the Gepid®. They did make war
against the Gepidse, and under Alboin, who wanted to
carry off Rosamunda, daugliter of Cimimund, King of
the Gepidse, they succeeded with the help of the Avars
in completely routing them. Alboin slew Cunimund,
and as was the custom of his race, fashioned a drinkinir
cup from the king's skull . Then, gathering together all
the barbarians he could muster, Saxons, Suevi, Ostro-
goths, the remnant of the Gepidse, Saramati, Bulgars, and
Thuringians, he set out from Pannonia towards Italy
on 1 April, 568. Ill-defended, and torn by the rival-
ries of the Greek leaders or generals, Italy fell an easy
prey. Alboin met with no resistance either in Friuli
or in Vcneta; he advanced as far as the Adda, taking
possession of all the towns on his way, witii the excep-
tion of Padua, Mantua, and Monselice. Many of the
inhabitants fled for refuse to the islands in the lagoons.
The following year, finding none to bar his proeress, he
pushed forward, occupied Milan, and invaded Liguria
meeting resistance only in Pa via and Cremona. The
inhabitants fled, even as far as Genoa. Pavia held
out for three years, then fell, and became the capital of
Alboin's short-lived kingdom. Rosamunda, whom
the barbarian forced to drink out of her father's skull,
in revenge had him assassinated, and then fled with
her accomplices to Ravenna. The Longobards chose
as his successor Clefi, chief of the troops which had
remained at Bergamo; he was more cruel even than
Alboin in oppressing the conquered, driving them
from their lands and putting them to death under any
pretext. During all this time the exarch, Lonffinus, sent
from Constantinople to replace Narses, haa been un-
able to defend Italy, and snut himself up in Ravenna,
leaving the people to their cruel fate. The Longo-
bard invasion of Italy, the last stage in the Germanic
invasion of the West, marks the end of the Roman
world and the beginning of a new historical epoch,
which was to bring about deep changes in the social
life of those peoples, who, hitherto, under the domina-
tion of Heruli and Goths, had indeed changed their
masters but not their customs or their manner of
life.
With the new conquerors it was quite otherwise. At their head was a king usually chosen by the chiefs of the tribe nearly always from the stock of the same family. He was the civil and military head of the nation, but his power was shared with the leaders {heerzoge) chosen by him for life, one for each toTTi- torial division, and subject to him de jure, though de fcxlo independent and even hereditary, as was the case in Friuli, Spoleto, and Beneventum. Those nearer at hand, however, found it more difficult to escape his authority, but outbreaks were not infrequent and were the cause of weakness and decay from within. Viceroys pure and simple were the gastaldi nominated and dismissed by the King, administering his posses- sions and representing him in the various territories to which they were appointed. On the other hand the gasindi were part of his household and members of his Court. By playing off the one against the other, and by increasing their power the royal authority was augmented and the throne consoliclated. Then again the dukes had their gasindi and shuldahis to assist them, and among those nobles and favourites the conquerea lands were distributed. Whether these lands wore part of the imperial domain or belonged to private mdividuals who had been slain or who fled, they were parcelled out in fiefs or given away in freehold. The conquered became tributary, and had to pay thirds of all fruits and in most cases they seem to have been reduced to the state of aldii, or villains, who passed from owner to owner with the land. Only one citizen- Bhip was recognized, the Longobardic, and all had to belong to it, the barbarian auxiliaries, the Romans who remained freemen, and later the priests and the guargangi, or strangers who came to settle in Longo-
bard territory. The Quality of being a freeman (frn)
was inseparable from that of soldier {heermann: exar-
citalis) and the nation itself in the royal edicts is styled
the exercUus,
^ We can form an idea of the social and l^al condi- tion of the conquered peoples from the voxe&r-gtM^ or fine imposed for a muitier or any damage done by one inhabitant to another. The fine was always increased when a Longobard was the injured party. TTie Ro- man was cut off from all government positions and was always looked upon as an inferior. Amone the list of offices and honours, and even in the public docu- ments of the Longobards, there never once appears the name of an Italian inhabitimt. The main conse- quence of this antagonism was that the two peoples re- mained politically apart. In spite of the neavy dis- advantages under which they laooured it must not be imagihea that the conauered were civilly dead. The Longobards numbered nardly more than 1^,000 souls without a code of laws, and without imity of govern- ing methods to oppose to those already m existence, and which it was only natural they should go on using in their dealings with the Italians on all points not foreseen by their own barbarian customs. That this was the case is seen from the fact that hardly had the oppression come to an end when we find the Roman municipium once more arising and thriving in the comune. But the preservation of the tramtions of Rome was due to another cause — religion . The Longo- bards at the time of the invasion were for the most part pagan; a few had imbibed Arianism, and henee their ferocity against priests and monks whom they put to deatn. They destroyed churehes and monas- teries; they huntea and killed many of tlfe faithful who would not become pagan; they laid waste their
groperty, and seized Catholic places of worship, to and them over to the Arians. The holy pontiff, Gregory the Great, does not cease to l^nent the desola- tion caused by the Longobard slaughter throughout Italy. Slowly however the light of faith made way among them and the Chureh won their respect and obedience. This meant protection for the conquered. Gradually the Church's constitution and customs spread among the barbarians the ideas of Roman civilization, until at last, in defence of her own liberty and that of the people which the Longobards con- tinued to imperil, she was foreed to call in the aid of the Franks, and thus change the fate of ItaJy. This occurred only after two centuries of Longobardic domination. The succession of the Longobard kings is as follows: — Alboin from 561; Clefi, 573; interreg- num, 575; Autari from 584; Agilulf, 591; Adaloala, 615; Ariovald, 625; Rothari, 636; Rodoald, 652; Ari- bert, 653; Gondibert and Pertarit, 661; Grimoald, 662; Garibald, 671; Pertarit (a second time), 671; Cunibert (as co-ruler), 678; Cunibert (alone), 686; Luitpert, 700; Regimbert, 701; Aribert, 701; Aus- prand, 702; Liutprand, 712; Hildebrand, 744; Rat- chis, 744; Astulf, 749; Desiderius, 756 till 774. In this list of kings prime importance attaches to the civil and religious influence of Queen Theodolinda, a Frank by birth, a Catholic in faith, the wife of Autari, and afterwards of Agilulf whom she won over from barbarism and converted to Christianity. To her is due the foundation of many churehes and monasteries, among others St. John's at Monza, where tiie iron crown was kept and protection granted to the Irish- man, St. Columbanus, foimder of Bobbio (q. v.), and apostle of the religious life in Gaul, Britain, Switser- land, and Italy. Agilulf had much trouble with his dukes, who had grown haughty in their independence, and were perhaps angered at his conversion to the religion of the conquered.
The son of Adaloald was deposed and his place taken by an Arian, Ariovald, Duke of Turin. Rothari was also an Arian; during his reign the first Lombaid code was published. With much carnage aad deya»-
