Desiderius, the last king of the Lombards, is chiefly known through his connection with Charlemagne. 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. ... Charlemagne (742 or 747 – 28 January 814) (also Charles the Great; from Latin, Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus), son of King Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, was the king of the Franks from 768 to 814 and king of the Lombards from 774 to 781. ...

He was duke of Tuscany and became king of the Lombards after the death of Aistulf in 756. Seeking, like his predecessors, to extend the Lombard power in Italy, he came into collision with the papacy, and about 772 the new pope, Adrian I, implored the aid of Charlemagne against him. 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. ... Aistulf, also called Aistulf of Friuli, (d. ... Events Abd-ar-rahman I conquers Iberia and establishes a new Umayyad dynasty. ... The Pope is the Catholic Bishop and patriarch of Rome, and head of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches. ... Events Pope Adrian I succeeds Pope Stephen IV. Adrian I turns to Charlemagne for support against king Desiderius of the Lombards. ... Adrian, or Hadrian I, (died December 25, 795) was pope from 772 to 795. ...

Other causes of quarrel already existed between the Frankish and the Lombard kings. In 770 Charlemagne had married a daughter of Desiderius, but he soon divorced her and sent her back to her father. Moreover, Gerberge, the widow of Charlemagne's brother Carloman, had sought the protection of the Lombard king after her husband's death in 771; and (probably in return for the slight cast upon his daughter) Desiderius had recognized Gerberga's sons as lawful Frankish kings, and had attacked Adrian for refusing to crown them. The Franks or the Frankish people were one of several west Germanic federations. ... Events Emperor Konin ascends to the throne of Japan, succeeding Empress Shotoku. ... Gerberge or Gerberga was the name of several queens and noblewomen among the Franks. ... Carloman (751 - December 4, 771) was a King of the Franks (768 - 771). ... Events December 4 - Austrasian King Carloman dies, leaving his brother Charlemagne king of the now complete Frank kingdom (Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Emperor of the Franks at Rome on Christmas Day, 800). ... The Franks or the Frankish people were one of several west Germanic federations. ...

Such was the position when Charlemagne led his troops across the Alps in 773, took the Lombard capital, Ticinum, the modern Pavia, in June 774, and added the kingdom of Lombardy to his own dominions. Desiderius was exiled to Corbie, France, where he died, and his son, Adalgis, spent his life in futile attempts to recover his father’s kingdom. The name of Desiderius appears in the romances of the Carolingian period. Charlemagne took the title King of the Lombards, the first time one of the Germanic kings adopted the title of a kingdom he had conquered. The West face of the Petit Dru above the Chamonix valley near the Mer de Glace. ... Events Charlemagne crosses the Alps and invades the kingdom of the Lombards. ... 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 Charlemagne conquers the kingdom of the Lombards, and takes title King of the Lombards. ... Corbie is a commune of the Somme département, in northern France. ... Adalgis (? – 788) was the son of Desiderius and the prince of Lombardia in Italy. ... The Carolingians (also known as the Carlovingians) were a dynasty of rulers that eventually controlled the Frankish realm and its successors from the 8th to the 10th century, officially taking over the kingdoms from the Merovingian dynasty in 751. ...

References

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