Italy: Lombardy And The Crown Of The Lombards

Lombards (Latin Langobardi) literally means long beards.

The word Lombard in its original meaning stands very far from the notion of "Putting something dear with hope and then someday redeem." By this word the French called the half-savage, ferocious, long-bearded men of German blood. Long beards - in Latin will be Langobardi - Lombards. The French called them Lombards .

The Italian province, where the Lombards originally settled, later became known as Lombardy. And the Lombards, who came from the province of Lombardy, after the destruction of the Knights Templar in the beginning of the fourteenth century (there is no holy place), engaged in banking. In particular, they gave loans on bail of valuables and other valuables. Hence Lombard.

The Lombards invaded northern Italy in the sixth century. Their leader with royal authority was Alboin . Two years earlier he had defeated the Gepids , another German people, who spoke with the Lombards in one language. Alboin with his own hand killed the king of Göpides Kunimund . From the skull of his enemy he made himself a goblet for wine, and his daughter took a wife. The unfortunate bride was Rosamund .

Monk Sigebert from Gamble , a medieval chronicler, describes such a scene:

Alboin once handed her this cup with the words: "Drink with your father," the woman flushed with anger and made it so that he was killed in bed by his own squire.

And Pavel Deacon, the main source on the history of the Lombards, gives some details:

Killing his father Rosamund, Alboyin ordered to make a skull from his skull. And somehow time inflicted a mortal offense to Rosamund, forcing her to drink from the skull of her own father. Deciding to take revenge, Rosmund turned to the royal retinue Helmegis, who was probably her lover. However, he was afraid to act alone and offered to help Pederio, a very strong man. Pederio refused to help the conspirators, but, nevertheless, mistakenly slept with Rosamund the next night, mistaking it for his girlfriend. Learning of his mistake, he agreed to participate in the conspiracy, fearing the king's wrath. The next day Rosamund ordered in the whole palace to observe the silence during Alboin's afternoon sleep. And, when he fell asleep, tied his sword to the bed and let the killers in. When Alboin woke up and saw the killers, he grabbed the sword, but could not snatch it, as Rosamund tightly tied the sword to the bed. He tried to defend himself with a footstool, but the forces were not equal and he was killed. Alboin was buried in his palace and the Lombards mourned his death.

Murder of Alboin and the offer to drink "with his father" were fertile topics for artists.

The Lombards entered Italy in 569. In a short time, the Lombards conquered almost all of northern and central Italy. The cities that rendered the Lombards resistance were looted, while the cities that recognized the power of the Lombards remained untouched. In 572, after a three-year siege, the Lombards seized Pavia and made it the capital of their state. Pavia was the only one of the cities resisting Lombard, was not destroyed, as medieval chroniclers believed, only thanks to divine intercession.

Lombards with the local population did not enter into marriages and did not mix with them. The Lombards thought of themselves as Christians, but before the invasion of Italy they fell into the Arian heresy, and the locals were Catholics. The Roman popes, also known to be Catholics, did not enjoy special respect among the Lombards and were subjected to humiliation, expressed in the form of weaning land. Then, of course, they repented and became good Catholics, but they did not stop to visit the pope.

Step by step the Lombards subjugated almost all of present-day Italy, leaving the Pope with a small territory in the center of the Apennine peninsula. To our day, from this territory remained a piece of land called the Vatican.

Lombard Kingdom, paradoxically, died at the peak of its power. By that time, France began to rule Charles I, nicknamed Charlemagne , better known as Charlemagne . Since the onslaught of the Lombards to the Papal States continued to increase, Pope Adrian I complained to Karl, whom he had some sort of friendship with.

In fairness, I must say that there was a woman involved again. Charlemagne at first seemed to have married the daughter of the last Lombard king. But then, I do not know why, I sent her back to my father, and I took another wife as my wife. Desiderius , the last Lombard king, was offended and, according to the then logic, began to run into the pope of Rome. And he turned to the one who at that time was the coolest.

In 774, Charlemagne overwhelmed the Lombard Kingdom and raised the Iron Crown of the Lombards. This crown is a very remarkable thing. It is made of a gold hoop 3 inches wide and decorated with precious stones. Inside the golden hoop a narrow iron hoop is placed. The iron hoop, as it is commonly believed, is made of a nail, which was nailed to the cross of Jesus Christ.

Since then, and to this day, the crown is kept in the church of John the Baptist in Monza, near Milan. Will be in those parts, stop by to see. This is a truly ancient crown of Europe. In addition to the Langobard kings, it was crowned by the German emperors, beginning with Charlemagne. And also Napoleon Bonaparte after in 1805 he reorganized the Italian Republic into the Italian kingdom.