Grimoald I (c. 610 - 671) was duke of Benevento (651-662) and king of the Lombards (662-672). Events Chinese Buddhist pilgrim I-Ching visited the capital of the partly-Buddhist kingdom of Srivijaya, Palembang, Indonesia. ... Benevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. ... Events End of Yazdegard IIIs attempts to drive out the Saracens. ... Events The regent Grimuald usurps the kingship of the Lombards, driving Perctarit into exile and killing Godepert Births Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, Japanese poet (approximate date) Deaths Maximus the Confessor, Byzantine theologian Godepert, king of the Lombards Categories: 662 ... The Lombards (Latin Langobardi, whence comes the alternative name Longobards found in older English texts), were a Germanic people originally from Northern Europe that entered the late Roman Empire. ... Events April 11 - Adeodatus succeeds Vitalian as Pope. ...

Born probably before 610 to Duke Gisulf II of Friuli and the Bavarian princess Ramhilde, daughter of Duke Garibald I of Bavaria, he succeeded his brother Radoald (646-651) as duke of Benevento. Before that, he was, along with Radoald, a regent for their mentally incapable adoptive brother Aiulf I from 642 to Radoald's succession. He married the princess Theodota, daughter of King Aripert I. Their son was Garibald. Gisulf II was the duke of Friuli from around 591[1] to his death. ... For other uses, see Bavaria (disambiguation). ... Garibald I (also Garivald) (540 – ) was Duke of Bavaria from 555 until 591. ... Radoald (also Raduald) (died 651) was the duke of Benevento (the southernmost Lombard duchy in medieval Italy) from 646 to his death in 651. ... Events Byzantines reconquer Alexandria from the Muslims. ... Regent, from the Latin, a person selected to administer a state because the ruler is a minor or is not present or debilitated. ... Aiulf I (also Aione) was the duke of Benevento from 641 to his death in 646 as the son and successor of Arechis I. However, he was mentally unstable and his adoptive brothers Radoald and Grimoald were regents for him. ... Events August 5 - In the Battle of Maserfield, Penda king of Mercia defeats and kills Oswald, king of Bernicia. ... Aripert I (also spelled Aribert) was king of the Lombards (653-661) in Italy. ... Garibald was the young son of Grimoald I of Benevento, king of the Lombards, and Theodota, daughter of Aripert I. After his fathers death in 671, he reigned briefly for three months until the numerous adherents of Perctarit, his uncle, who had been exiled by Grimoald nine years earlier...

In 662, after being called to assist King Godepert in a war with his brother King Perctarit, Grimoald gave Benevento to his eldest son Romuald (662-677) and, removing the fraternal impediments to his kingship with the aid of Duke Garibald of Turin, assassinated Godepert and forced Perctarit to flee. He sent Perctarit's wife and son to Benevento and took over the kingship of the Lombards. It was then that he promptly married Godepert's sister in order to relate himself to the Bavarian Dynasty of Theodelinda. Godepert (also Gundipert, Godebert, Godipert, Godpert, Gotebert, Gotbert, Gotpert, Gosbert, or Gottbert) was king of the Lombards (661), eldest son and successor of Aripert I. He was an Arian who governed from the ancient capital, Pavia, while his brother, Perctarit, a Roman Catholic, governed from Milan. ... Perctarit (also Berthari) was king of the Lombards from 661 to 662 the first time and later from 671 to 688. ... Romuald I (also spelled Romoald and in Italian Romoaldo), duke of Benevento (662-677), was the son of Grimoald, king of the Lombards. ... // Events Battle of Syllaeum: Arab fleet destroyed by Byzantines Tang China declares the deposed King Bojang of Goguryeo King of Joseon, placing him in charge of the Liaodong area under the Protectorate General to Pacify the East. ... Cunipert (also Cunibert or Cunincpert) was king of the Lombards from 688 to 700. ... The Bavarian Dynasty is the name given to those kings of the Lombards who were descended from Garibald I, duke of Bavaria. ... Theodelinda in an illustration for the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493 Theodelinda, queen of the Lombards, (c. ...

His martial prowess and skill in the field of battle secured his victory in many border wars. He led his armies to victory personally against the Byzantines under Emperor Constans II at the siege of Benevento, where they had been besieging the young Romuald, who betrothed his sister Gisa to Constans. Romuald then took Taranto and Brindisi, much limiting the Byzantine influence in the region during the rebellion of Mezecius in Sicily, which had distracted the Byzantines after Constans death. Grimoald himself took Forlì, in the north, from the Greeks and razed Oderzo (but did not take it), where his brothers had been murdered years before. His capture of Forlì was shameful, however, for he took it on Easter Day, slaughtering worshippers during the festivities. Byzantine redirects here. ... Constans and his son Constantine. ... Taranto is a coastal city in Apulia, southern Italy. ... Brindisi is an ancient city in the Italian region of Puglia, the capital of the province of Brindisi. ... Mezezius also known as Mecetius, Byzantine usurper in Sicily from 668 to 669. ... Sicily ( in Italian and Sicilian) is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, with an area of 25,708 km² (9,926 sq. ... Forlì is a comune and city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, famed as the birthplace of the great painter Melozzo da Forlì and of Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, at the nearby comune of Predappio. ... Oderzo is a town in the province of Treviso, Veneto, Italy. ... Tasso or Taso (d. ... Easter is the most important religious holiday of the Christian liturgical year, observed in March, April, or May to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, which Christians believe occurred after his death by crucifixion in AD 27-33 (see Good Friday). ...

While he was combatting the Byzantines in the Mezzogiorno, he left Duke Lupus of Friuli as regent in the north. Lupus usurped all authority and rebelled, though he was crushed and with the help of the Avars his duchy despoiled and devastated. Grimoald tracked down Lupus' aspiring son Arnefrit, and his Slav allies, and defeated him at Nimis. Arnefrit died in battle. Grimoald placed Wechthari, a stalwart enemy of the Slavs, in Friuli. The Mezzogiorno is generally viewed as encompassing Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, Apulia, and Sicily, which lie in Italys south, as well as Molise and Abruzzo, which are geographically in central or south-central Italy. ... Lupus was the Duke of Friuli from between 660 and 663 to his death around 666. ... Late Avar period Map showing the location of Avar Khaganate, c. ... Arnefrit, Arnefrid, Amefrit, or Amefrith was the son of Lupus of Friuli who claimed the Duchy of Friuli after his fathers death in 666. ... Distribution of Slavic people by language The Slavic peoples are a linguistic and ethnic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly in Europe, where they constitute roughly a third of the population. ... Nimis is a town of 2,817 located in the Italian province of Udine, close to the border with Slovenia. ... Wechtar or Wechthari, a Lombard from Vicenza, was the Duke of Friuli from 666 to 678. ... Friulian Coats of Arms Friuli (Furlan: Friûl, German: Friaul, Slovenian: Furlanija) is an area in northeastern Italy, comprising the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia. ...

Grimoald defeated the Franks who invaded during the infancy of Chlothar III. Grimoald had allied with Perctarit, at Asti and the Avars, of whom he had been a hostage in his youth. He saved the northeast of Italy by defeating the Slav tribes and maintained internal order by suppressing the baronial revolts and autonomy of the duchies of Friuli and of Spoleto, where he installed Thrasimund. Chlothar III (or Chlotar, Clothar, Clotaire, Chlotochar, or Hlothar, giving rise to Lothair; 652 – 673) was the eldest son of Clovis II, king of Neustria and Burgundy, and his queen Balthild. ... Asti is a city and comune in the Piemonte or Piedmont region, in north-western Italy, about 80 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River. ... Late Avar period Map showing the location of Avar Khaganate, c. ... Friulian Coats of Arms Friuli (Furlan: Friûl, German: Friaul, Slovenian: Furlanija) is an area in northeastern Italy, comprising the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia. ... The independent Duchy of Spoleto was a Lombard territory founded about 570 in southern Italy by the Lombard dux Faroald. ... Thrasimund I or Transamund I was the Count of Capua and then Duke of Spoleto (663 – 703), a faithful follower of Grimoald I of Benevento. ...

In his religion he remained Arian despite his marriage to a Catholic and he was aloof of the Papacy. However, he perceived Saint Michael — whose cult was spreading strongly from Monte Gargano— as the warrior-protector of the Lombard nation. Arian may refer to: Arian, being well endowed. ... The Pope is the Catholic Bishop and patriarch of Rome, and head of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches. ... Guido Renis archangel Michael (in the Capuchin church of Sta. ... Monte SantAngelo sul Gargano or Monte Gargano, located at 20°58′ N 72°54′ E on Mount Gargano, Italy, is the site of the oldest shrine in Western Europe dedicated to the archangel Michael, the militant Christian transformation of Mithras. ...

He died in 671 after concluding a treaty with the Franks and was succeeded by Perctarit, whom he had exiled. He was a popular ruler, known as much for the kingly virtues of generosity and mercy as for his ferocity and ruthlessness in war. His son Romuald was left in Benevento, which once again drifted away from central authority, and his son Garibald was not elected to succeed him on account of his youth and was deposed by the adherents of Perctarit's cause in three months time.

Sources

• Gwatkin, H. M., Whitney, J. P. (ed) The Cambridge Medieval History: Volume II—The Rise of the Saracens and the Foundations of the Western Empire. Cambridge University Press, 1926.
• Oman, Charles. The Dark Ages 476-918. London, 1914.