Alboin or Alboïn (d. 572 or 573), king of the Lombards, and conqueror of Italy, succeeded his father Audoin about 565. The Lombards were at that time dwelling in Noricum and Pannonia (the plain of eastern Austria south and east of the Danube, modern-day Slovenia and Istria). In alliance with the Avars, an Asiatic people who had invaded central Europe, Alboin defeated the Lombards' hereditary enemies, the Gepids, a powerful nation on his eastern frontier, slew their new king Cunimund, whose skull he fashioned into a drinking-cup, and whose daughter Rosamund he carried off and made his wife. Events Emperor Bidatsu ascends the throne of Japan. ... Events A young monk is ordained. ... The Lombards (Latin Langobardi, from which the alternative name Longobards found in older English texts), were a Germanic people originally from Scandinavia that entered the late Roman Empire. ... Alduin or Audoin was king of the Lombards from 539 or 546 to 563 or 565. ... Events January 22 - Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus. ... Noricum in ancient geography was a province of the Roman Empire. ... Position of the Roman province of Pannonia Pannonia is an ancient country bounded north and east by the Danube, conterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. ... The Eurasian Avars were a nomadic people of Eurasia who migrated into central and eastern Europe in the 6th century. ... The Gepids (Latin Gepidae) were a Germanic tribe most famous in history for defeating the Huns after the death of Attila. ...

Three years later, in April, 568, on the alleged invitation of Narses, who was irritated by the treatment he had received from the emperor Justin II, Alboin invaded Italy, with the women and children of the tribe and all their possessions, with 20,000 Saxon allies and the subject tribe of the Gepids and a mixed host of other barbarians, probably marching over the pass of the Predil and crossing the great plain at the head of the Adriatic into Italy. The Gothic War, which had ended in the downfall of the Goths, had exhausted Italy, which was wracked with famine and plague, and the Eastern Emperor's government at Constantinople was powerless to retain the Italian province which Belisarius and Narses had recently recovered for it. Alboin's horde overran Venetia and the wide district which we now call Lombardy, took Milan in 569, meeting with but feeble resistance till he came to the city of Ticinum (Pavia), which for three years (569-572) kept the Lombards at bay and then became the new capital. Where the Lombards did meet with resistance, retribution was savage beyond anything Italy had experienced before. The bishops, who were virtually the leaders of the late antique Roman cities, fled, like the bishop of Milan, or compounded with the barbarians for gentler treatment of their people. Events April 1 - King Alboin leads the Lombards into Italy; refugees fleeing from them go on to found Venice. ... Narses (478-573) was, along with Belisarius, one of the two great generals in the service of the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I. during the so-called Reconquest that took place during the Justinians reign. ... Flavius Iustinus Iunior Augustus Flavius Iustinus Iunior Augustus or Justin II (c. ... The Gothic War, 535–552, was the expression of Justinians decision in 535 to reverse the course of events of the past century in the West and win back for the Eastern Roman Empire the provinces of Italy that had been lost, first to Odoacer and then to the... Belisarius, by Jacques-Louis David (1781); as depicted in a popular legend that may be apocryphal. ... Narses (478-573) was, along with Belisarius, one of the two great generals in the service of the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I. during the so-called Reconquest that took place during the Justinians reign. ... Location within Italy Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venexia), the city of canals, is the capital of the region of Veneto and of the province of Venice, 45°26′N 12°19′E, population 271,663 (census estimate January 1, 2004). ... Lombardy (Italian: Lombardia) is a region in northern Italy between the Alps and the Po Valley. ... Ticinum (the modern Pavia) is an ancient city of Gallia Transpadana, founded on the banks of the river of the same name (now the Ticino river) a little way above its confluence with the Padus (Po). ... Church San Michele in Pavia The Old Bridge (Ponte Vecchio) on the Ticino river is a symbol of Pavia Pavìa (the ancient Ticinum) (population 71,000) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its... Events The Nubian kingdom of Alodia is converted to Christianity, according to John of Ephesus. ... Events Emperor Bidatsu ascends the throne of Japan. ... The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milan is a particular church of the Roman Catholic Church in Italy. ...

While the siege of Pavia was in progress Alboin was also engaged in other parts of Italy, and at Pavia's capitulation he was probably master of Lombardy, Piedmont and Tuscany, as well as of the regions which afterwards went by the name of the duchies of Spoleto and Benevento. Lombardy (Italian: Lombardia) is a region in northern Italy between the Alps and the Po Valley. ... Piedmont is a region of northwestern Italy. ... Tuscany (Italian Toscana) is a region in central Italy, bordering on Latium to the south, Umbria and Marche to the east, Emilia-Romagna and Liguria to the north, and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. ... Spoleto (Latin: Spoletium), 42°44′ N 12°44′ E, an ancient town in the Italian province of Perugia in east central Umbria, at 385 meters (1391 ft) above sea-level on a foothill of the Apennines. ... Benevento is a town and archiepiscopal see of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 32 miles northeast of Naples. ...

In 572, according to Paul the Deacon (Paulus Diaconus), the 8th century Lombard chronicler, Alboin fell a victim to the revenge of his wife Rosamund, the daughter of the king of the Gepids, whose skull Alboin had turned into a drinking cup (worn at his belt) and out of which he forced Rosamund to drink. Rosamund immediately went to Helemechis (or Helmgis), the king's squire (scilpor) or armour-bearer and foster brother, who advised her to seek out Peredeo, a very strong man. Peredeo refused to involve himself in such a crime. So the queen went to the bed of the dressing-maid with whom Peredeo was having an affiar and, unbeknownst to Peredeo, slept with him. When the deed was done, the queen revealed her identity to Peredeo and said Events Emperor Bidatsu ascends the throne of Japan. ... Paul the Deacon (c. ... (7th century — 8th century — 9th century — other centuries) Events The Iberian peninsula is taken by Arab and Berber Muslims, thus ending the Visigothic rule, and starting almost 8 centuries of Muslim presence there. ... In medieval times a squire was a man-at-arms in the service of a knight, often as his apprentice. ...

"...surely now you have perpetrated such a deed, Peredeo, that either you must kill Alboin or he will slay you with his sword."

Letting Paul the Deacon continue:

Then he learned the evil thing he had done, and he who had been unwilling of his own accord, assented, when forced in such a way, to the murder of the king. Then Rosemund, while Alboin had given himself up to a noon-day sleep, ordered that there should be a great silence in the palace, and taking away all other arms, she bound his sword tightly to the head of the bed so it could not be taken away or unsheathed, and according to the advice of Peredeo, she, more cruel than any beast, let in Helmechis the murderer. Alboin suddenly aroused from sleep perceived the evil which threatened and reached his hand quickly for his sword, which, being tightly tied, he could not draw, yet he seized a foot-stool and defended himself with it for some time. But unfortunately alas! this most warlike and very brave man being helpless against his enemy, was slain as if he were one of no account, and he who was most famous in war through the overthrow of so many enemies, perished by the scheme of one little woman.[1]

So Peredeo and the queen fled to the protection of the Byzantine representative at Ravenna.

In these few years the Lombards had established themselves in the north of Italy (henceforth Lombardy). But they had little practice in governing large provinces. Lombard warlords (which Latin chroniclers called 'dukes') were established in all the strongholds and passes, and this arrangement became increasingly characteristic of the Lombard settlement. Their power extended tenuously across the Apennines into Liguria and Tuscany, and southwards to the outlying Lombard dukedoms of Spoleto and Benevento. The invaders failed to secure any maritime ports or any territory that was conveniently commanded from the sea, such as Byzantine Ravenna. Local inhabitants fled into the marshes and lagoons, where Venice had its beginnings. Lombardy (Italian: Lombardia) is a region in northern Italy between the Alps and the Po Valley. ... Spoleto (Latin: Spoletium), 42°44′ N 12°44′ E, an ancient town in the Italian province of Perugia in east central Umbria, at 385 meters (1391 ft) above sea-level on a foothill of the Apennines. ... Benevento is a town and archiepiscopal see of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 32 miles northeast of Naples. ... Ravenna is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. ... Location within Italy Venice (Italian: Venezia, Venetian: Venexia), the city of canals, is the capital of the region of Veneto and of the province of Venice, 45°26′N 12°19′E, population 271,663 (census estimate January 1, 2004). ...

After his death and the short reign of his successor Cleph the Lombards remained for more than ten years without a king, ruled by the various dukes. Cleph or Clef (in Italian, Clefi) was king of the Lombards from 572 or 573 to 574 or 575. ...

The authorities for the history of Alboin are first of all Paul the Deacon, the Byzantine Procopius, and Agnellus (in his history of the church of Ravenna). Paul the Deacon (c. ... Procopius was a prominent Byzantine scholar of the family Procopius. ... Ravenna is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. ...

Sources

• Charles Oman, The Dark Ages 476-918. 1914. Rivingtons, London.

• This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain.

Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman (Jan. ... Petrarch, who conceived the idea of a European Dark Age. From Cycle of Famous Men and Women, Andrea di Bartolo di Bargillac, c. ... Events August - The usurper Basiliscus is deposed and Zeno is restored as Eastern Roman Emperor. ... Events Taebong has been overthrown and Goryeo established in Korean peninsula. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... London — containing the City of London — is the capital of the United Kingdom and of England and a major world city. With over seven million inhabitants (Londoners) in Greater London area, it is amongst the most densely populated areas in Western Europe. ... The 11th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1910-1911) is the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

External link

• A translation of Historia Langobardorum