No More Learning

Whoever he was, the monk of Silos is the first of the
Spanish chroniclers to mention him, and to represent him as taking any
part in the conquest of Spain; according to the earlier chroniclers, the



## p. 184 (#216) ############################################

184
The Story of Count Julian
[708-711
only people who helped, or rather were helped by, the Arabs, were the
sons of Witiza, whom Roderick had deposed. Hence, the connexion
between the person of Urban and the fall of the Visigothic State is
now generally held by scholars to be a mere legend, perhaps derived
from some Arab historian.
The second element of the legend, viz. the violation of the count's
daughter, is even more doubtful. The offence committed by Roderick
against the count is also, by some of the early chroniclers, attributed
to Witiza, and the later chroniclers are not clear whether it was the
daughter or the wife of Julian or Urban. Moreover, the monk of Silos
is the first to relate this part of the legend; and the name of La Cava,
by which the count's daughter is now generally known, appears for the
first time in the fifteenth century, in the untrustworthy history of Pedro
del Corral. Nevertheless, the more cautious of the modern critics do
not consider the question as definitely settled.
A third explanation, intermediate between the two, has been set
forth by Saavedra, the historian and Arabic scholar, and its main
outlines are at present more or less generally accepted. He believes
that, even granting that Roderick did commit this offence, it had no
connexion with the help given by Julian to the Arabs. According to
him, Julian was a Byzantine governor of Ceuta, and received assistance
from Witiza in 708, when his city was attacked by the Muslims, and
was therefore bound to the Visigothic king by ties of gratitude and
possibly of self-interest. On the death of Witiza, when Julian was
again attacked by the Arabs, he surrendered to them on condition that,
during his lifetime, he might continue to hold the city of Ceuta under
the supreme authority of the Caliph. When Achila was deposed by
Roderick, he sought help from Julian, who helped him by making a
preliminary expedition to Spain, which was not successful. Then the
family of Witiza had recourse to the Muslim chiefs, who were more
powerful than Julian, and after long negotiations, thanks to his inter-
vention, they succeeded in obtaining the support of the Arab troops of
Africa, and thus managed to defeat Roderick. This connexion between
the Muslims and the sons of Witiza is confirmed by all the chroniclers,
and forms a trustworthy starting-point for the history of the invasion.
The final attack was preceded by two purely tentative expeditions, of
which the first, that attributed to Julian, was made in 709, and the
second, a year later, was controlled by an Arab chief called Tarif, who
merely laid waste the country between Tarifa and Algeciras, and did
not succeed in obtaining possession of any stronghold.
In 711, a large force of Muslim troops, commanded by Tarik, the
lieutenant of Musa, governor of Mauretania, who was accompanied by
the count Julian or Urban of the legend, took the rock of Gibraltar,
and the neighbouring cities of Carteya and Algeciras. When the enemy
had thus secured places to which they could retreat, they advanced on



## p. 185 (#217) ############################################


711-712]
Battle of Lake Janda
185
Cordova, but were detained on the way by a regiment of the Visigothic
army under the command of Bencius, a cousin of Roderick. Although
the Arabs defeated Bencius, his resistance enabled the king himself
to arrive on the field. At that time Roderick happened to be fighting
in the north of Spain against the Franks and the Vascons, whom the
partisans of Achila had incited to make a fresh attack. When the
Visigothic king saw this new danger, he assembled a powerful army and
marched against the invaders, who, according to some historians, also
increased their forces to the number of 25,000 men. On 19 July 711, the
armies met on the shores of Lake Janda, which lies between the city of
Medina Sidonia and the town of Vejer de la Frontera in the province of
Cadiz. The river Barbate flows into this lake, and as its Arabic name
of Guadibeca was misunderstood by some of the chroniclers, there arose
the mistaken belief that the battle was fought on the banks of the river
Guadalete. The victory was won by the Arabs, owing to the treachery
of part of the Visigothic army, which was won over by the partisans of
Achila. Among the traitors, the chroniclers make special mention of
Bishop Oppas and Sisebert, referring to the latter as a relation of Witiza.
So the king could not prevent Tarik from cutting off his retreat and
dispersing his army. What became of King Roderick? The most
common story in the chroniclers, both Arabic and Spanish, is merely
that he disappeared, or that his end is unknown. Only a few state
plainly that he perished in the battle of La Janda, and even these disagree
as to the details of his death. Saavedra1 has thus reconstructed the
history of Roderick after his defeat of La Janda. The Arabs advanced
on Seville and, after another victory, they took Ecija, besieged Cordova,
which held out for two months, and entered Toledo. King Roderick
rallied his forces in Medina, and went to threaten the capital, which
was occupied by Tarik. The Arab general asked Musa for reinforce-
ments; in 712 the latter came himself with a large army. After taking
possession of Seville and other strongholds, he advanced on Merida, the
place which the Muslims had most reason to dread. He besieged this
city, which held out for a year, and was finally taken by storm.
At this point, we notice an important change in the accounts given
by the chroniclers. Hitherto the invaders had met with but little
resistance, and a certain amount of sympathy on the part of the towns-
people, who, in some cases, had opened the gates of their cities to the
foe. The Arabs had only left small garrisons in the towns which they
had conquered, entrusting the protection and government of these towns
to the Jews, who naturally welcomed the victorious Arabs. But, after
1 Relying on a text of Rasis in which the king is represented as being present at
the battle of Sagiuyne or Segoyuela, and on another text of the chronicle of Albelda
(of the ninth century), which states that Roderick reigned for three years, 710-713;
also on the definite statement of the Arab historians, that the king took refuge in
a place called Assanam or Assuagin.


## p. 186 (#218) ############################################

186 The Arab Conquest [711-713
the taking of Merida (June 713), a change appears to have set in.
Possibly about that time Musa, who had seen for himself what the
country was like, and what advantages he had gained, disclosed his
intention of changing his tactics. The Muslim troops had hitherto
acted as auxiliaries of Achila's party, but at this point Musa began
to regard the victorious Muslims as fighting on behalf of the Caliph.
In any case about this time the Visigoths began to offer a general
resistance, which first shewed itself in the revolt of Seville. Musa sent
his son 'Abd-al-'Aziz to suppress it, and he himself advanced as far as the
Sierra de Francia, not without giving orders to Tarik, who was at
Toledo, to come and join him with an army in the wild mountainous
country, which extends thence to the Estrella, passing through the
Sierra de Gata and forming a means of communication with Portugal.
Of one place, Egitania or Igaeditania (Idanha a Vella), we possess
money coined by Roderick, possibly in 712. The king of the Visigoths
had established himself there. Finally, the combined forces of the
Muslims came up with him near the town of Segoyuela in the province
of Salamanca. In the battle (September 718) Roderick was defeated,
and probably slain. His corpse was perhaps borne by his followers to
Vizeu, for if we believe the chronicle of Alfonso III, written in the ninth
century by Sebastian of Salamanca, a tomb was there discovered with
the inscription: "Hie requiescit Rudericus, rex 6011100™. "
Thus ended the rule of the Visigoths, for Musa, after the battle of
Segoyuela, marched to Toledo, which had revolted on the departure of
Tarik, and there proclaimed the Caliph as sovereign, dealing the death-
blow to the hopes of Achila and his supporters. Achila was obliged to
content himself with the recovery of his estates, which had been con-
fiscated by Roderick, and with his residence at Toledo, where he lived in
great pomp. His brother Artavasdes established himself at Cordova and
assumed the title of count, which he transmitted to A^b Sa'id, his
descendant. Olmund remained in Seville, and Bishop Oppas held the
metropolitan see of Toledo. As for Julian, he shortly afterwards
followed Musa on his journey to Damascus, the capital of the Caliphate,
and subsequently returned to Spain; according to Ibn 'Iyad, the Arab
historian, he then established himself in Cordova, where his son,
Balacayas, became an apostate, and where his descendants continued
to reside. This then is Saavedra's theory.
The end of the Visigothic kingdom of Spain was the natural result
of the political divisions and the internal strife which had undermined
the State. Since the time of Recared, and even more since that of
Chindaswinth, there had been no insuperable difficulty in the amalgama-
tion of the Visigothic and Spanish-Roman elements. In recent times their
opposition has been exaggerated; it has been supposed that the imperfect
nature of the fusion effected by the kings betrayed itself in national


## p. 187 (#219) ############################################


Weakness of the Visigothic Kingdom
187
weakness, that the two racial elements lacked cohesion, and therefore
they could not make head against the foreign invaders. But our in-
formation proves that they were much more closely united than has
generally been supposed. Moreover, the most fruitful cause of antagonism
between Visigoths and Romans—the distribution of lands, houses and
slaves—was not as widely enforced in the Peninsula as in Gaul, where,
nevertheless, it did not prevent the fusion of the two elements. Con-
cerning the way in which this distribution was made in the territories
ceded by Honorius to the Visigoths, by the application of the law of
tenancy (de metatis), contained in the code of Theodosius, we now
possess exact information shewing that the distribution did not apply to
all the Gallo-Roman possessores. With regard to Spain, we know for a fact
that the Sueves applied this law, and we have good reason to suppose
that, touching the arable land and part of the forests, the Visigoths did
the same, after the conquests of Euric, in the districts which they
acquired. We have various data in support of this; amongst others, the
fact that the laws of consortes remained in force. It is also probable
that they made distribution of the houses, the slaves engaged to cultivate
the fields, and the agricultural implements; but, in any case, the private
property of the Spanish-Romans seems to have suffered less than that of
their neighbours in Gaul.
Moreover—notwithstanding the statement apparently contained in
the military law of Wamba—the fact that, up to the time of Roderick,
the Visigoths were constantly engaged in warfare, seems to confute the
accusation of effeminacy and military decadence which has been brought
against them. The Arabs before they came to Spain had been victorious
in other countries where these conditions did not prevail. The fact that
they were able to effect the conquest of the Peninsula in the comparatively
short space of seven years is due—apart from the prowess of the Muslims
—to the political disagreements of the Visigoths, to the indifference of
the enslaved classes who found it profitable to submit to the victorious
Arabs, to the support of the Jews—the only element really estranged
from the bulk of the nation by persecution—and lastly, to the selfishness
of some of the nobles—one more proof of the political unsoundness of
the State—who preferred their personal advantage to concerted action
on behalf of a monarch. The internal history, the history of the
Visigothic kingdom, is one long struggle between the nobility and the
monarchy. The kings were supported by the clergy in their efforts to
consolidate the royal power and transmit it from father to son, while the
nobles strove to keep it elective, and held themselves free to depose the
elected king by violence. Nevertheless, the kings gained a certain
strength, especially those endowed with great personal qualities, such as
Leovigild, Chindaswinth, Receswinth and Wamba. The Visigothic king
was an absolute monarch, at times despotic, notwithstanding the principle
of submission to the law which, from the contemporary works on


## p. 188 (#220) ############################################


188
The Councils of Toledo
ecclesiastical politics, passed into the legislation. The king was the
chief of the army and the only legislative power. The last is clearly
proved by the Councils of Toledo, concerning which there have been so
many erroneous opinions.
It is therefore necessary to discuss in some detail the organisation
and authority of these Councils. The kings alone were empowered to
summon them, they had also the right to appoint the bishops, and to
deprive them of their sees, thus exercising in the Catholic Church the
power which, in these matters, they had been wont to exercise in the
Arian. Their power to summon the Councils is acknowledged in the
decrees passed by each of these, with the possible exception of the
seventh, which seems to leave the question undecided. On the other
hand, the decree of the ninth Council clearly states that the bishops
have not the power to assemble except by command of the king. The
latter did not issue his summons at regular intervals. The Council was
formed of two elements, the clerical and the lay. The first consisted of
the bishops, who in varying numbers were present at all the Councils;
the vicars, who appeared for the first time at the third Council; the
abbots, who began to attend at the eighth; and the archpriest,
archdeacon, and precentor of Toledo. The lay element was composed
of the officials or nobles of the palace (optimatibus et senioribiu palatii,
magnificentissimis ac nobilissirms viris, etc. ), whose presence is attested
by the signatures and prefaces to the decrees of all the Councils dealing
with civil matters. From these we see that the lay element is absent from
the Council held in 597 (which is not numbered), from that summoned
byGundemar, also known as "Gundemar's Ordinance,"from the fourteenth
and from the seventh, which merely confirmed or re-enacted a law
already approved by the lay element at the Royal Council. We are
left in doubt as to the presence of the lay element at the following
Councils :—the tenth, where the signatures are probably incomplete; the
eighteenth, of which there are no decrees in existence; and the third of
Saragossa, from which the signatures are missing. As in the case of the
ecclesiastics, the number of the nobles varied considerably. We see
from tne decrees of the twelfth and sixteenth Councils that they were
chosen by the king, and we learn from those of the eighth Council that
this was in accordance with an ancient custom. What part did the nobles
take in the assemblies? Historians are by no means agreed; some hold
that they had a voice in the discussion of lay matters only, others that
they were nothing more than passive witnesses, or that their presence
was a pure formality; again, others believe that they represented the
king. Perez Pujol, the most recent historian of Visigothic Spain, has a
convincing argument that, in matters wholly or partly lay, the nobles
had the same rights to discuss and vote as the ecclesiastical members of
the Council. This is the inference drawn from authentic texts of the
eighth, tenth, twelfth, thirteenth, seventeenth Councils, and from the
V ^


## p. 189 (#221) ############################################

The Councils of Toledo 189
sixth, which is conclusive with regard to the vote. The difference
between the respective powers of the lay and clerical elements was limited
to matters wholly religious, and the right of proposing laws to the king.
With regard to lay matters, the functions of the Councils were of
three kinds: (1) Deliberative, concerning the methods of government,
adoption of new laws, modification or repeal of the old ones, and
their codification or compilation. On these points the king consulted
the Councils, both in the tomus regius which he handed to them at the
opening of the Council, and in special communications, such as the one
sent to the sixteenth Council (9 May 693). (2) The right to petition
or to initiate legislation, that is to say, the right to present to the
monarch, for approval, such proposals as were not included in these
communications or in the tomus regius. But only the ecclesiastics were
entitled to take this initiative. (3) Judicial, that is to say, the power to
act as a kind of tribunal in the case of disputes connected with the
administration; this tribunal settled the complaints and charges brought
by the citizens against the government officials, and possibly also against
influential men. In this sense, the Council formed part of the system of
the courts. It is not known whether these matters were laid directly
before the Council, or whether they first passed through the hands of
the king. The discussion concerning the tomus and the royal communi-
cations was followed by voting, as a result of which the original
proposal of the monarch was approved or modified. He frequently
entrusted to the Council, not only the adoption of specially important laws,
but also the general revision of all the existing laws—as we see from
the tomus regius of the eighth, twelfth, and sixteenth Councils. This added
to the freedom enjoyed by the clergy with regard to legislative initiative
(as expressed in the canons of the sixteenth and seventeenth Councils)
and furnishes grounds for the very general opinion that the Visigothic
monarchy was dominated by the clergy, and was therefore mainly
ecclesiastical in character. In the different Visigothic codes, and, conse-
quently, in the most recent versions of the Liber or Forum Judicum,
there is a large proportion of laws made by the Councils on ecclesiastical
initiative: further, the political and theological doctrines of the time—
of which Isidore of Seville is the chief representative—are reflected at
every stage in the legislation, such as the duties of the monarch, the
divine origin of power, the distinction drawn between the private means
of the monarch and the patrimony of the Crown, etc. , and the duty of the
State to defend the Church and to punish crimes committed against
religion.
The Visigothic legislation was deeply imbued with the spirit of
Catholicism. This was due, not only to the piety of the monarchs and
upper classes, but also to the superior culture of the clergy, which gave
them great authority over Spanish society, and enabled them to defend
the principles of justice. Yet we have no right to suppose that, from


## p. 190 (#222) ############################################

190
Influence of the Goths on Spain
the time of Recared, the clergy ruled the kings. We have seen that the
kings controlled the bishops, that they appointed them, deprived them
of their sees, and convoked them, so that they always had the means of
checking any encroachment. We know that there were frequent disputes
between the Crown and the prelates, that the latter often made con-
spiracies, headed rebellions, and were in consequence punished by the
kings; we also know that for some time there was difference of opinion
between the kings and the upper clergy on the subject of the Jews.
Lastly, we must not forget that, in legislative matters, not only did the
kings issue provisions motu propria without consulting the Councils—
there is no lack of examples—but also that, even with regard to the
decisions and suggestions of the latter, they always reserved for them-
selves the right of approval, as we may clearly see from the royal
declarations at the eighth, thirteenth, and sixteenth Councils, apart
from their general power of confirmation, without which the decrees were
not valid. So far as we know, the kings always enforced the decisions
of the Councils; and they could well afford to do so. It was a corrupt
bargain. The Councils sanctioned the worst acts of hypocritical kings
like Erwig, while the kings allowed their theological and political
doctrines to creep into the legislation. This appears to be the truth of
the matter.
The fall of the Visigothic State did not put an end to Gothic
influence in Spain. Like the Roman Empire, the Visigothic rule made
a deep impression on the race and on the character of the Spanish
people. Portions of Visigothic law were incorporated into their legal
constitution: in the sphere of legislation, not only did their principles
survive for several centuries, but some of them have come down to
the present day, and are amongst those regarded as most essentially
Spanish. The Forum Judicutn remained in force in the Peninsula for
centuries; in the thirteenth, as it was still thought indispensable, it was
translated into the vernacular—that is, Castilian—and, down to the
nineteenth, its laws continued to be quoted in the courts. No sooner was
the new monarchy established in Asturias, than it attempted to restore
the Visigothic State, seeking for precedents in the latter and claiming
to be its successor. This influence is proved by various passages of the
chronicles which treat of the Reconquest and by the texts of the laws
of Alfonso II, Bermudo II, Alfonso V, and other kings. The word
Goth survived to denote a Spanish Christian, and, in the sixteenth
century, the victorious Spaniards introduced it into America.
It was not only on legislation and politics that the Visigothic
influence left its mark. It has now been proved that the Visigothic
codes, even in their final and most complete form, by no means included
all the legislation which existed in Spain. Apart from the law, and, in
many cases, in direct opposition to it, there survived a considerable
number of customs, almost all Gothic, which were firmly rooted in the



## p. 191 (#223) ############################################

Influence of Spain on the Goths 191
people. These, after an existence which, to the modern observer, seems
buried in obscurity—for they are not mentioned in any contemporary
document—came to the surface in the legislation of the medieval Fuero. s,
which was founded on custom, as soon as the political unity of Visigothic
Spain had been destroyed. It has been shewn by several modern scholars
who have investigated the subject, such as Pidal, Muiioz, Romero,
Picker, and Hinojosa, that many of these principles or Fueros faithfully
reflect the ancient Gothic law. Here, then, is a new social factor of
medieval Spain, which descends directly from the Visigoths.
Conversely, in matters of social life and culture, the Visigoths were
deeply affected by the Byzantine and by the Spanish-Roman element.
The Roman spirit first affected them when they came in contact with
the Eastern Empire in the third and fourth centuries. Afterwards in
Gaul, and still more in Spain, a Western and properly Roman influence
produced a much deeper effect, as is shewn by the advance in their
legislation. Subsequently the Byzantine influence was revived by the
Byzantine conquests in south and south-east Spain (554-629), and
also by the constant communication between the Spanish clergy and
Constantinople; indeed, we know that many of them visited this city.
Some scholars have attempted to trace Byzantine influence in matters
juridical, but it is not perceptible either in Visigothic legislation, or in
the formulae of the sixth century, or in the legal works of Isidore of
Seville. On the other hand, the influence of Byzantine art and litera-
ture is manifest at every stage in the literary and artistic productions
of the period. In the territory in subjection to the Empire, Greek was
spoken in its vulgar form, and learned Greek was the language of all
educated men. Moreover, Byzantine influence played a considerable
part in commerce, which was chiefly carried on by the Carthagena route
—this city being the capital of the imperial province—and by the
Barcelona route, which followed the course of the Ebro to the coast of
Cantabria.
As might have been expected, the Roman-Latin influence was more
powerful than the Byzantine. On the whole, the Visigoths conformed
to the general system of social organisation which they had found
established in Spain. According to this system, property was vested in
the hands of a few, and there was great inequality between the classes.
Personal and economic liberty was restricted by subjection to the curia
and the collegia. The Visigoths improved the condition of the curiales,
and lightened the burden of the compulsory guild, which pressed heavily
on the workmen and artisans; but, on the other hand, they widened
the gulf between the classes, by extending the grades of personal
servitude and subjection on the lines followed by the Roman Empire in
the fourth century; and these, owing to the weakness of the State,
became daily more intolerable. With regard to the economic question
of population, the Visigoths reversed the established Roman practice


## p. 192 (#224) ############################################

192
Literature of the Goths

which was mainly municipal, and restored the rural system, which in
their hands proved very efficient, as we see from the distribution of the
local communities and from the system of local administration, although
the Roman scheme of country-houses (villae) in some respects coincides
with this; they also improved the condition of agriculture. With
regard to the family, the Visigoths were less susceptible to Latin
influence, inasmuch as they retained the form of the patriarchal family
and of the Sippe, which found its ultimate expression in solidarity of
the clans in matters relating to the family, to property, and to punish-
ment of crime, etc. Nevertheless, here too Roman influence did not fail
to produce some effect; in the legislation, at least, it modified the
Gothic law in an individualistic sense.
Of the original language, script and literature of the Visigoths,
nothing remained. The language left scarcely any trace on the Latin,
by which it was almost immediately supplanted in common use. Modern
philologists believe that most of the Gothic words—a bare hundred—
contained in the Spanish language have not come from the Visigoths,
but that they are of more ancient origin, and had crept into vulgar
Latin towards the end of the Empire, as a result of the constant
intercourse between the Roman soldiers and the Germanic tribes. The
Gothic script fell rapidly into disuse in consequence of the spread of
Catholicism, and the destruction of many of the Arian books in which
it had been used. Although there is evidence that it survived down to
the seventh century, there are but few examples of it; documents were
generally written in Latin, in the script wrongly termed Gothic, which
is known to Spanish palaeographers as that of Toledo.
The literature which has come down to us is all in Latin, and the
greater part of it deals with matters ecclesiastical. Although amongst
the writers and cultured men of the time there were a few laymen, such
as the kings Recared, Sisebut, Chindaswinth, and Receswinth, duke
Claudius, the counts Bulgaranus and Laurentius, the majority of the
historians, poets, theologians, moralists and priests were ecclesiastics;
such were Orosius, Dracontius, Idatius, Montanus, St Toribius of
Astorga, St Martin of Braga, the Byzantines Licinianus and Severus,
Donatus, Braulio, Masona, Julian, Tajon, John of Biclar, etc. The
most important of all, the best and most representative exponent of
contemporary culture, was Isidore of Seville, whose historical and legal
works (Libri Sententiarum) and encyclopaedias (Origines sive Etymologise)
—the latter were written between 622 and 623—reproduce, in turn,
Latin tradition and the doctrines of Christianity. The Etymologise
is not only exceedingly valuable from the historical point of view as a
storehouse of Latin erudition, but it also exercised considerable influence
over Spain and the other Western nations. In Spain, France, and other
European countries, there was scarcely a single library belonging to a
chapter-house or an abbey, whose catalogue could not boast of a copy of



## p. 193 (#225) ############################################

Gothic Art 193
Isidore's work. Alcuin and Theodulf took their inspiration from it, and
for jurists it was long one of the principal sources of information con-
cerning the Roman Law before the time of Justinian.
Of the artistic productions which the Visigoths left behind in
Spain, there is not much to be said. In addition to the undoubted
Byzantine influence, which, however, did not exactly reveal itself
through the medium of Visigothic art, since it had its own province
like that of other Western countries, it is possible that the work of the
Visigoths shewed other traces of Eastern art. We have much informa-
tion concerning public buildings—palaces, churches, monasteries and
fortifications—built during the Visigothic period, and more especially
during the reigns of Leovigild, Recared, Receswinth, etc. But none of
these buildings have come down to us in a state of sufficient preservation
to enable us to state precisely the characteristic features of the period.
The following buildings, or at least some part of them, have been
assigned to this period: the churches of San Roman de la Hornija, and
San Juan de Banos at Palencia; the church of San Miguel de Tarrasa,
and possibly the lower part of Cristo de la Luz at Toledo; the cathedral
of San Miguel de Escalada at Leon; Burguillos and San Pedro de Nave,
and a few other fragments. It is also thought that there are traces of
Visigothic influence in the church of St Germain-des-Pres at Paris,
which was built in 806 by Theodulf, bishop of Orleans, a native of
Spain. But the capitals found at Toledo, Merida and Cordova, and,
above all, the beautiful jewels, votive crowns, crosses and necklaces of
gold and precious stones discovered at Guarrazar, Elche, and Antequera,
must assuredly be attributed to the Visigoths. We possess numerous
Visigothic gold coins, or rather medals struck in commemoration of
victories and proclamations, modelled on the Latin and Byzantine types
and roughly engraved. They furnish information concerning several kings
whose names do not occur in any known document, and who must
probably be regarded as usurpers, rebels, or unsuccessful candidates for
the throne, such as Tutila or Tudila of Iliberis and Merida, and Tajita
of Acci, who are supposed to belong to the period between Recared I
and Sisenand, and Suniefred or Cuniefred, who possibly belongs to the
time of Receswinth or Wamba.
C. MED. II. VOI. II. CH. VI. 13


## p. 194 (#226) ############################################

194
CHAPTER VII.
ITALY UNDER THE LOMBARDS.
The Lombards are mentioned first at the time of Augustus and
Tiberius by Velleius Paterculus and Strabo, and a hundred years later
by Tacitus. Their first residence was the Bardengau on the left bank
of the lower Elbe, and here they were conquered by Tiberius at the
time before the battle in the Teutoburgian forest, when the Romans
still intended to subdue the whole of Germany. After the deliverance
of the inner part of Germany by Arminius, the Lombards were ruled by
Marbod, who went over to Arminius and later on brought back to his
compatriots Italicus, the son of Arminius, whom the Cherusci had fetched
from Rome and then driven away again. They are generally described as
a small tribe, the fiercest of all German tribes, and only their bravery
enabled them to hold their position between their stronger neighbours.
On the whole their habits seem to have been the same as those of all
other Germans at the time of Tacitus; some of their laws of a later
period shew a certain resemblance to those of their former neighbours by
the North Sea. As with all Germans, their kingdom is no original insti-
tution, and whatever tradition tells about it is only fabulous. It is the
smallness of their tribe which accounts for their principal quality—the
tendency to assimilate the allied or subdued individuals and tribes.
Roman influence seems to have touched them only in the slightest
degree during the first five centuries of our era. At the time of their
wanderings they began to shew differences from their neighbours.
We know nothing about the way the Lombard wanderings took,
though tradition says a good deal about them. The extensive farming
they practised, consisting more in cattle-breeding than agriculture, and
the loose organisation of the tribe made it easy for them to leave their
dwelling-places. Perhaps here, as is so often the case, the first motive
was need of land, a natural result of the increase of population, while
at the same time so small a tribe had no possibility of enlarging its
boundaries. A division of Lombards invaded Pannonia with the
Marcomanni about the year 165, but were repulsed by the Romans and
obliged to return. They did not again reach the old Roman frontier,
the Danube, till 300 years later, under a certain king Godeoch,


## p. 195 (#227) ############################################

487-568]
The Lombards
195
who occupied the desolated Kugiland after the destruction of their
empire by Odovacar in the year 487. Meanwhile during the
troubles of their wanderings and continual wars the institution of a
constant commander-in-chief in form of kingship seems to have taken
the place of the Tacitean duke who was invested for every single war
From Rugiland they wandered into the land which was called "Feld"
(in Hungary) but were subdued by the Heruli and forced to pay
tribute. At that time they were probably landlords, leaving the land
to subjected half-freemen (aldiones) for culture; we may suppose that
they were at that time strongly influenced by their neighbours, the
Bavarians, and it was then that they adopted Christianity in its Arian
form. But not very long afterwards, during the Franco-Ostrogothic
war in Gaul, the Lombards, under the reign of their king Tato of
the family of Leth, shook off the yoke of the Heruli, who were
allied with Theodoric, succeeded in beating them completely in a battle
somewhere in the Hungarian plain, and entirely destroyed their realm.
The Lombards now had the Gepidae on the south and the Danube on
the west. Tato's nephew and successor, King Vacho, who had married
one daughter to a Frankish king and another to Garibald, duke of
Bavaria, considered himself friend and ally of the Roman Emperor.
When after the death of the last "Lethingian" king his guardian
Audoin had mounted the throne, the Lombards crossed the Danube
and, while the Ostrogothic land was in great confusion, occupied the
south-west of Hungary, and also Noricum, the south of Styria, both
belonging in name to the Roman Empire, but left to them for settlement
by Justinian. In this way they were loosely federated with the Empire,
which paid them subsidies, but was nevertheless troubled by their raids.
They assisted Narses in his decisive expedition to Italy, bringing him
2500 warriors with 3000 armed followers, but the Byzantine soon sent
them back after the deciding battle, seeing how dangerous they were to
friend and foe through their fierceness and want of discipline. Meanwhile
the Lombards and Gepidae, stirred up by the Roman Emperor, were en-
gaged in constant battles and struggles. After Audoin's death his son and
successor Alboin, well known to fable, concluded a league with the Avars,
engaging himself to pay the tenth part of all cattle for their help in war
and, in case of victory, to give up the land of the Gepidae to the Avars.
The latter made their invasion from the north-east, the Lombards
from the north-west. In the decisive battle Kunimund, king of the
Gepidae, was slain by Alboin's hand, the king's daughter taken prisoner
and made queen by Alboin. Part of the Gepidae took flight, another
part surrendered to the Lombards; their realm existed no more, their
land and the few who stayed behind fell under the government of the
Avars, who were now the Lombards1 most dangerous neighbours. But
the Lombards renewed their confederacy with them, and left to
them the land they had themselves occupied till then, intending to
ch. vii. 13—2



## p. 196 (#228) ############################################

196 AlboirCs Invasion [563-572
conquer for themselves a better and richer land in Italy, which many
of them already knew. At the command of Alboin they assembled on
1 April 568, with family, goods and chattels, with a mixed multitude
of all the subjugated races already assimilated by their people. With
a great number of allies—20,000 Saxons among others—and grouped in
tribes (fara) they crossed the Alps under the guidance of Alboin.
About the same time Narses was recalled by Justinian's successor: hence
arose a rumour, reporting that the commander had committed treason,
by calling the Lombards; and this became the saga of Narses.
In spite of the well-organised defensive system which Narses had
established, the Romans seem to have been surprised and made no
attempt at defence. The Lombards threw down the Friulian limes
with its castles and, marching into the Venetian plain, took Cividale
(Forum Julii), the first important place that fell into their hands, and
afterwards the residence of the ducal dynasty of the Gisulfings; they
also destroyed the town of Aquileia, whose patriarch fled to Grado,
the later New-Aquileia, with his treasure, part of the population and
of the soldiers. But the imperialists succeeded in holding out in
Padua, Monselice and Mantua, thereby defending the line of the
Po, while Vicenza and Verona fell into Alboin's hands, so that the
important limes of Tridentum, which bordered on Bavaria in the north,
was separated from the bulk of the imperial army. On 4 September
569, Alboin entered Milan; the archbishop Honoratus fled to Genoa,
which for two generations remained the asylum of the bishops of Milan.
Ticinum (Pavia) alone offered resistance for a time and could only be
taken after a long siege, during which and afterwards other Lombard
troops scoured the country up to the Alps and took possession of the
land except a few fortifications. Undoubtedly the Lombard bands had
as little idea of systematic attack as the imperialists of systematic
defence: and it seems the latter judged the Lombard invasions to be
like other barbarian invasions, which soon passed away. Alboin himself
seems to have dated his reign in Italy from the time of his occupation
of Milan.
Alboin did not long enjoy his fame. Revolted by her husband's
insolence, who forced her to drink from a cup made of her father
Kunirnund's skull, Rosamund conspired with Alboin's foster-brother
Helmechis and a powerful man called Peredeo; the barbarian hero-
king was murdered in his bed (in spring 572). But as Rosamund
could not realise her plan of taking possession of the throne with
Helmechis, against the Lombards' opposition, the two fled to Ravenna,
taking the royal treasure with them. Here the queen wanted to
get rid of her accomplice and marry Longinus, praefect of Italy;
but Helmechis forced her to finish the poison she had given him. So
the praefect could only deliver Alboin's daughter and the treasure to
Constantinople. This is what the saga related, and we can neither



## p. 197 (#229) ############################################


574]
Settlement of the Lombards
197
confirm nor contradict its details. The duke Cleph of the family of Beleos
was now made king by the Lombards at Pavia, but was murdered after
one and a half years' reign (574). Lombard bands spread further in
middle and southern Italy, but so small was the need of a single leader
that they chose no more kings, but every one of the dukes, 35 in number,
reigned independently in his own district.
These dukes, called duces by our authorities, but whose Lombard
titles we do not know, are not to be confounded with the duces in the
Tacitean sense. We must picture them as leaders of a military division
chosen by the king from among the nobles. Their position changed
naturally, when the Lombard people was no longer on march, but the
same clans were garrisoned permanently in the same town, as the saga of
Gisulf s appointment in Friuli exemplifies, and occupied permanently the
same district, living on its produce. These districts generally coincided
with the Roman division in civitates, and a walled town formed the
centre. Probably these towns were at first used as victualling stations,
managed in a more or less regular manner, sometimes perhaps by
imposing payment of a third on the peasants of the district. But this
could only be considered a transition state, preparing the way for
definite settlement. The fierce Lombards had not come as federates or
friends like the Goths, but as enemies, and treated the Romans jure
belli.
The Roman freeman—the curialis who owned a moderate property
in the town or the great landowner in the country—had fled, or had
been killed or enslaved, and only the great mass of working people, the
cokmi and the agricultural slaves, had been left on the soil, though
many had perished during the terrors of war. When the Lombards
began to settle, they divided the land, with all its bondmen, as far
as it had not been entirely devastated, between the free Lombards,
who thereby took the place of the Roman landlords. The coloni were
considered as aldiones, as half-freemen, and paid tribute and did socage
service for the Lombards as they had done for the Romans before. Of
course the possessions of the Catholic Church, which was the Church of
the Roman State, fell under the same lot of division. The dukes claimed
for themselves all the public land with its traditional duties as well, but
every free Lombard warrior was entitled to part of the booty, and there-
fore became also a landowner. In this way the local division in all those
parts which had not been totally devastated, and which were ploughed
again after a time, suffered no change. The culture was much the same,
with the one difference that the Lombards, having brought great herds
of cattle, especially swine, from Pannonia, attached more importance
within the manor to stock-management and cattle-breeding than the
Romans had done. The towns and municipal settlements were likewise
unchanged, because the Lombards, who had known stone buildings only
upon Roman soil, accommodated themselves to the conditions of a


## p. 198 (#230) ############################################


198
Spoleto and Benevento
[574-579
higher culture. It is certain that regard was paid to the connexion
between the fara (clan) in every settlement, but on the other hand it
was just the manorial and municipal settlement which entirely destroyed
the connexion within the fara, so that the rest of the original clan-
organisation soon disappeared. Two of the duchies were somewhat
different in origin and organisation from those of the north of Italy, the
"great duchies" of Spoleto and Benevento. They did not go back to
the time of conquest in common, but were founded by independent
enterprises of Lombard bands, who had severed from the great mass
under command of their chiefs and invaded the land on their own
account. They were much larger in extent than one civitas, so that here
the civitas forms a subdivision of the duchy.
In the year 575 or 576 the patrician Baduarius, son-in-law to the
Emperor Justin, and his army were entirely beaten by the Lombards.
They approached Ravenna, the duke Faroald even occupied for a time
Classis, its port, destroyed the Petra Pertusa, which defended the Via
Flaminia, and thereby forced the passage of the Apennines. Faroald
occupied Nursia, Spoleto and other towns and installed an Arian bishop in
Spoleto, which was now the centre of his duchy. Another duke, Zotto,
who with his partly heathen bands inundated the province of Samnium
and spread terror all around, settled down in Benevento. The connexion
between Ravenna and Rome was interrupted at times; even Rome was
besieged in the year 579, but the Lombards were obliged to give up the
siege as well as that of Naples two years later, because Roman walls, kept
in good condition and provided with a sufficient number of defenders,
were impregnable to them. During the next years the two dukedoms
took a still wider range, limited only by Rome with its surroundings
and by Byzantine seaport-towns, which could not be taken from the
land side. During the kingless time Benevento and Spoleto grew so
strong that they were able to keep up their independence.
In the north of Italy too the incoherent government of the dukes
did not permit any uniform action. Even in Alboin's time various
troops had detached themselves and pillaged in Gaul, but upon the whole
these adventurers had no success against Mummolus, commander-in-chief
of the Burgundian king Guntram. The Saxons, who did not want to
assimilate with the Lombards and intended to make their way home
through the land of the Franks, were likewise beaten in the following
years.
But these bands had shewn the way into the neighbouring kingdom
to the dukes of North Italy. Some of these marched into the upper
valley of the Rhone and were beaten by the Burgundians near Bex (574)
and no better did they fare next year, as they were repulsed by
Mummolus, after having laid waste the land between the Rhone, the Isere
and the Alps. At this time Susa and Aosta, the most important passage
over the West Alps, seem to have fallen into the hands of the Franks,
^


## p. 199 (#231) ############################################

684] Authari 199
and on the other side, a Frankish duke, Chramnichis, advanced from
Austrasia into the dukedom of Trent, but was, after a short success, totally
defeated with his troops by the duke Evin near Salurn. These conflicts
took a dangerous aspect when the Emperor Maurice sent subsidies
(50,000 golidi) to the young king Childebert of Austrasia in order to drive
out the Lombards.
In 584 King Childebert conducted an army against Italy, and so weak
had the want of monarchical leading rendered the Lombard dukes that
they dared not offer resistance, and sent presents in token of submission.
Besides this their force of resistance had been weakened by the treason
of some of their fellow-countrymen who were not ashamed of joining
the imperialists against their own people. The imperial policy was to
combat barbarians with barbarians, and to spend abundant means for
this purpose. In this manner they had won over the duke Drocton
of Brexillum, a Lombard duke of Suevic family, who succeeded in
expelling Faroald from Classis, and other deserters were found as well.
Standing in danger of losing all their booty by dispersing their forces,
the dukes of West Italy at last resolved to unite again under a king's
leading.
They elected Authari the son of Cleph (584), and conceded to him
(as we hear), in order to give material foundation to the new kingdom,
half of their own lands, which were later administered by royal gantaldi.
The dukedom had, in consequence of the settlements during the last
ten years, become quite a different thing from what it had been at the
time of Alboin, and also the new kingdom was obliged to represent
not only the leading power of the army as before but also territorial
power.
The king's attempt to strengthen the new central power against the
forces of disunion, grown strong during the last period, now formed the
most important part of the Lombard State's politics, as it was the king's
task to form a really united State. He was no longer satisfied with the
dignity of a barbarian chieftain, but aspired to reign lawfully within
the territory of the Roman Empire. We see this from the fact that
Authari first took up the name Flavius, which all his successors kept,
though he was not acknowledged by the Empire, as for instance Theodoric
had been.
The Lombards wanted this territory to comprise all Italy, and a
legend illustrating the fact tells us that Authari rode into the sea at the
south point of Italy, and touched a solitary column, projecting out of
the waves, with his spear and called out: "This is to be the boundary
of the Lombard realm"; but in reality Authari's task was of a more
modest character and limited to the north of Italy. A new attack of
the Austrasians failed in consequence of the leaders' disagreements, and as
the Exarch Smaragdus felt too weak to offer resistance to the Lombards
without their help, Authari managed to conclude an armistice for three


## p. 200 (#232) ############################################

200 Theodelinda [588-590
years, the first that was concluded between the Lombards and the
Empire. Authari seems to have availed himself of this opportunity
partly to restore order in North Italy and partly to ensure his boundary
in the north, and above all to destroy the Franco-Byzantine league,
which threatened the existence of his realm. He therefore betrothed
himself to Childebert's sister, but the engagement was soon broken by
the Franks when the Frankish imperial and catholic party of Brunhild
got the ascendant. Authari however married Theodelinda (588 ? ), the
Catholic daughter of the Bavarian duke Garibal, who, by her mother,
belonged to the old Lombard royal family of the Lethings. The other
daughter was married to the mighty duke Evin of Tridentum, and her
brother Gundoald was made duke of Asti by Authari. When the
Franks, by this time, repeated their invasion of Italy under the leading
of a few dukes, they were entirely beaten after a hot battle. Childeberfs
revenge was prevented by AutharTs negotiations with him (589) and by
his offer to become even a dependent confederate and pay tribute.
Meanwhile, after the armistice had ended, Authari had succeeded in
removing the last remnants of imperial power on the northern boundaries
of Italy, and had probably also obtained his acknowledgment by the
duke of Friuli. Nevertheless his position was much impaired when a
new exarch, Roman us, appeared in Ravenna with reinforcements,
regained Altinum, Modena and Mantua, and induced the Lombard
dukes of the Emilia, as well as the duke of Friuli, to join the imperialists.
The negotiations were broken off, and imperialists and Franks planned
to destroy the Lombard power by a systematic and simultaneous attack
from north and south, and had even agreed already on the distribution of
the booty. Twenty Frankish dukes broke forth from the Alps in two
divisions, one marching against Milan, the other under the duke Chedinus
against Verona, after having broken through the fortification of the
frontier and devastated the land all around (summer 590); but no
important conflicts took place, because the Lombards retired into their
fortifications, fearing the enemy's overwhelming numbers. The exarch
came to meet the Franks at Mantua, and intended to march in a line
parallel to them against Pavia, to which Authari had drawn back; but
this plan was not put into practice, it is said, in consequence of misunder-
standings.
The Frankish dukes tried to secure their moveable booty, and Duke
Chedinus is said to have concluded an armistice for ten months; but
epidemics and famine caused great losses on their way back. After
these efforts, which had brought no real success to them, the Franks
ceased to invade Italy for more than a century and a half. Authari
lived to manage the negotiations for peace which led to a lasting
friendship between the Franks and Lombards later on, though only on
condition of paying tribute to the Franks—a burden which was, as it
seems, not for a long time thrown off by the Lombards. The northern


## p. 201 (#233) ############################################

590-605] Agilulf 201
boundary, at all events, was secured, and the Lombards were only
threatened from one side, by the imperials. But Authari did not live
to see the definite treaty of peace; he is said to have been poisoned
and died (5 Sept. 590). The result of his active life was the establish-
ment of a kingdom and the Lombard State, though many difficulties
still awaited the Lombards from within and without.
Two months after Authari's death, Agilulf, duke of Turin, obtained
the crown and married his predecessor's widow, Theodelinda. In May
591 an assembly of Lombards at Milan acknowledged him solemnly, but
a number of North Italian dukes had then to be subdued in repeated
battles; also Piacenza and Parma were again subjected, and in the
latter town the king's son-in-law was established as duke, as the king
generally claimed the right to nominate the dukes himself. He ensured
the northern boundary by an agreement with the Avars which became
a defensive and offensive alliance later on. The time had now come
for a systematic attack on the imperialists. The newly-nominated
duke of Benevento, Arichis, who had consolidated his duchy by gaining
nearly all the territories in South Italy with the exception of a few
towns on the coast, had the especial task of marching against Naples and
threatening Rome from the south, while Ariulf of Spoleto had already
destroyed the land communication between Rome and Ravenna in
April 592, and even appeared before Rome in the summer, afterwards
turning to the north and taking the castles on the upper Tiber. To
be sure, the exarch succeeded in regaining them during the time he
was free of Agilulf; but in 593 the king himself advanced southward,
occupied Perusia and appeared before Rome. The siege ended in a
treaty with Pope Gregory who only wished for peace, but it was
not acknowledged by the exarch after the king had marched off;
the war did not cease, and the Lombards made constant progress.
It was only after the Exarch Romanus' death (596) that, by the pope's
urging, the transactions were renewed seriously; it is true that the new
exarch, Callinicus, carried on the war in North Italy, but he concluded an
armistice of a year in autumn 598 on the basis of the status quo and
engaged himself to pay 500 pounds in gold to the Lombard king. The
armistice was renewed for the time from spring 600-601 but, when the
war was taken up again, the exarch succeeded in making prisoners of
the duke of Parma and his wife, Agilulf s daughter; but the Lombard
king took Padua, devastated Istria with Slav and Avar troops, con-
quered the fortified town of Monselice, enforced peace on the rebellious
dukes of Friuli and Tridentum and occupied in 603 Cremona and
Mantua. The central position of the imperialists at Ravenna appeared to
be endangered after the subjugation of all the north of Italy, and the
Exarch Smaragdus, who was again sent to Italy after the fall of the
Emperor Maurice, hastily concluded a new armistice till 605, and
surrendered the king's daughter. Then Agilulf crossed the Apennines



## p. 202 (#234) ############################################

202 Theodelinda and Adaloald [605-628
once more, occupied Balneum Regis and Orvieto, but in November 605
the imperialists obtained a new armistice at the price of paying a tribute
of 12,000 solidi. From that time till Agilulf s death and even afterwards,
this armistice was continually prolonged. It is true that a definite state
of peace, which would have naturally led to a legal partition of the
Italian soil, was not effected, though Agilulfs ambassador Stablicianus
seems to have entered into negotiations on this subject in Constantinople.
Agilulf died in 616 after 25 years of a warlike reign, in which he had
expanded and strengthened his empire and obliged the Romans to pay
tribute.
To Agilulf his son Adaloald (a minor) followed in name, but
Theodelinda exercised the ruling influence on government in his place.
While Authari had never allowed Lombard children Catholic baptism,
a Catholic chapel had been conceded to Theodelinda at Monza and
Adaloald himself was already baptised as a Catholic, though by a
schismatic, and Theodelinda, who exchanged occasional letters with
Pope Gregory, was schismatic in relation to the Three Chapters. In this
way Agilulf had not tolerated the organisation of the Roman Church
within the reach of his power, but the schismatic bishop of Aquileia and
his schismatic suffragans had taken refuge with the Lombards. Agilulf
had also given deserted land in the Apennines at the confluence of the
torrent Bobbio and the Trebbia to the Irish monk Columba (Columbanus)
who had fled from Gaul, and differed dogmatically from Rome. He also
gave permission to lay the foundations of a monastery at Bobbio, but the
monks soon turned to orthodoxy after Columbanus1 death, and even got
a privilege in 628, by which they were exempted from the power of the
neighbouring bishop of Tortona. In contrast to the national chiefs, who
were still Arian, the government favoured the Catholics or at least the
schismatics, and in consequence Roman influence made rapid progress
in the Lombard kingdom, favoured partly by the social influence
of the Roman subjects, partly by the intercourse with the Roman
neighbours, which the long armistices had so well prepared. Neverthe-
less the peace was once more broken at the beginning of AdaloakTs
reign between the Exarch Eleutherius and the Lombards under the
commander Sundrarius, who owed his training to Agilulf, but this
war was ended by another armistice, the exarch consenting to pay
a tribute of 500 pounds in gold. In the following years the Roman
influence on the king was so great that he was generally said to be
either mad or bewitched. Perhaps it was the national party among the
Lombards which raised upon the buckler Arioald, the duke of Turin,
the husband of AdaloaWs sister Gundeberga, and after several combats
dethroned King Adaloald, who was then said to have been removed by
poison (626). Arioald reigned ten years too, without much change in
the course of Lombard politics. He came in conflict with his Catholic
wife, who was released from prison by the intervention of the Franks


## p. 203 (#235) ############################################

626-652]
Duchy of Friuli
203
and allowed Catholic service in a church of John the Baptist at
Pavia.
The alliance which Agilulf had formed with the Avars was dissolved.
They invaded Italy and killed Gisulf, duke of Friuli, with nearly the
whole of his army; his widow perfidiously surrendered Cividale which
was entirely burnt down and the open country was devastated, the
Lombards offering resistance only in the fortified castles at the frontier,
till the Avars turned back to Pannonia after their raid. No help was
to be expected for Friuli at that time from the weak kingdom; but at
last Gisulfs sons escaped from the Avars, and the two eldest, Taso
and Cacco, took the reins of government into their hands. While the
power of the Avars was decreasing, the young dukes in alliance with
Bavarians and Alemans fought successfully against the Slavs, and during
Arioald's reign penetrated victoriously into the valleys of the Alps
perhaps as far as Windisch-Matrei and the valley of the Gail, and
obliged the Slavs to pay tribute. But, following the intention of
Arioald, it is said, the exarch quietly removed Taso and Cacco, and their
uncle Grasulf was nominated duke of Friuli while the two younger sons
of Gisulf, Radoald and Grimoald, appealed to the protection of the
mighty duke Arichis of Benevento.
After Arioald's death the nobles in the kingdom elected the duke
Rothari of Brescia, an ardent Anan, who was connected with the former
dynasty by his marriage with the widowed queen Gundeberga. Never-
theless his policy (unlike that of his predecessors in the last twenty years)
was decidedly hostile to the Romans, though he tolerated the gradual
establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in the Lombard kingdom. He
sought to keep order in all internal matters and to raise the king's authority
over the nobles, and to this purpose war against the imperials, which had
rested during two decades, was taken up again, in order to strengthen the
king's royal domain by new conquests. He passed the Apennines and
conquered the coast between Luna and the Frankish boundary; he did not
instal dukes here but kept the conquered land under direct royal adminis-
tration, so that the greatest part of the west of Italy was royal. He
destroyed Oderzo in the east, the last remnant of Roman power on the
Venetian mainland, and slew the imperials in a bloody battle on the borders
of the Scultenna not far from the central seat of Roman dominion; he
concluded a suspension of hostilities shortly before his death (652). His
son Rodoald followed him, but was killed after a few months' reign.
More famous even than by his victorious enterprises and by the
saga that attaches itself to the name of "King Rother," Rothari was the
first legislator of the Lombards. Up to that time, the Lombards, like
all barbarian nations, had been ruled by customary laws, handed down
to them verbally by their ancestors. Rothari ordered them to be written
down, published as Edictus after having consulted his nobles, and con-
firmed according to Lombard custom by an assembly of warriors at Pavia




## p. 204 (#236) ############################################

204
Rothari
[643-662

(22 Nov. 643). Of course it was a territorial law, for only the Lombard,
who alone was " fulc-free,11 was subject to Lombard law in the Lombard
State, and the fact of its being written down shewed clearly enough that
the Lombard State placed itself in the same line with the respublica (the
Empire) and the other acknowledged States as perfectly equal to them.
When Rothari declares the law should protect the poor against the oppres-
sions of the mighty, we can find therein part of the means he employed
to keep order in internal matters. The kingdom was not only protected
by some of the laws of the Edictus but also shewed its power by the
fact of issuing legal regulations for the whole country, which, if not
at once, were at all events after a short time accepted irrevocably from
Benevento to Cividale. Its matter is essentially German law, but in
the supplements which Rothari's successors added, we can trace alien
influence; and, moreover, the form is naturally influenced by Roman
patterns. Comparative science of law has proved that Lombard law
had the greatest likeness to Saxon, Anglo-Saxon, and Scandinavian law
—a proof that the Lombards preserved their law unchanged in essential
matters since their departure from the lower Elbe. The Edictus is
systematically arranged, and treats of crimes against king, state or
man, especially compensations for bodily injuries, law of inheritance
and family right, and manumission, then obligations and real estate,
crimes against property, oath and bail. It can well be called the best
juridical codification of barbarian law.
The successor of Rotharfs son was Aripert, the son of that duke
Gundoald of Asti, who had come from Bavaria with his sister Theo-
delinda. During the nine years of his reign he, as a Catholic, carried on
the traditions of Theodelinda, in opposition to Rothari. He built a
Catholic church at Pavia and favoured the Catholic hierarchy, although
the assertion of a poem which celebrates the merits of his dynasty
about the year 700, that "the good and pious king11 abolished the
Arian heresy, is probably exaggerated. The bishop of Pavia was
converted to Catholicism. A change of policy took place only after his
death (661), when his two young sons Godepert in Pavia and Perctarit
in Milan, to whom he had left the government, fell out, and Godepert
claimed the help of the mighty duke Grimoald of Benevento against
his brother. After the death of Arichis, and of his son Ajo, who
had perished in a battle against Slav pirates near Sipontum (662), the
two sons of Gisulf of Friuli, Radoald and Grimoald, attained the
dignity of dukedom consecutively, and energetically maintained their
power in several battles against the imperialists. Grimoald, duke of
Benevento since 657, now marched into North Italy by the east
side of the Apennines against the centre of the Lombard realm, while
his subordinate, the count of Capua, marched through Spoleto and
Tuscia and joined the duke by Piacenza. Assisted by the treachery of
the duke Garibald of Turin, Grimoald seized the reins of government


## p. 205 (#237) ############################################


662-671]
Grimoald
205
himself after having killed King Godepert with his sword; Perctarit
had fled from Milan to the Avars and his wife and young son Cuninc-
pert had been sent into exile to Benevento. Grimoald now married
Aripert's daughter, who was already betrothed to him, and legitimated
his power by a later election at Pavia; for the purpose of gaining
firm support he bestowed royal domains in upper Italy on several
of his faithful followers of Benevento. He was the first Lombard
king who united the king's royal domain in the north with Bene-
vento under his actual government.
Mighty as he was, Grimoald had a long struggle for the preservation
of his royal power. Perctarit came back, and seemed to submit himself,
but was soon obliged to fly to the Franks, after the discovery of a
conspiracy between his followers and some disaffected dukes. The inter-
vention of a Frankish army in favour of the banished dynasty had no
success; by stratagem Grimoald contrived to attack them suddenly near
Asti and slew them. In the year 663 the Emperor Constans had landed
at Tarentum, in order to obtain a new base for his heavily oppressed
empire by conquests in the West, and the expulsion of the Lombards was
naturally the first condition for this enterprise. The Emperor occupied
Luceria with superior forces, assaulted Acerenza without success, and
then besieged Grimoald's young son Romuald at Benevento. The latter
pledged his sister Gisa in token of submission after having offered resistance
bravely; but Grimoald had already reached the river Sangro with a
relieving army, though many Lombards had left him, and young Romuald
did not fulfil his pledge; the Emperor gave up his siege and moved on
to his own city of Naples. This imperial army was said to have been
defeated twice: at all events Constans gave up war against the Lombards
for a time and after a short visit to Rome went on to Sicily, where he was
murdered. Romuald then occupied Tarentum, Brundusium and all the
rest of the imperial dominion on the Adriatic coast of South Italy, with
the exception of Hydruntum ; and Grimoald, after having installed Tran-
samund, a duke of his choice, in Spoleto, again devoted himself to his most
urgent tasks in North Italy, where he found in rebellion the duke Lupus
of Friuli, whom he had left in his place at Pavia. Evidently menaced
by other rebellions as well, the king himself appealed to the Khagan of
the Avars, for help against the duke; Lupus perished in the battle, but
the Avars now prepared to occupy Friuli as conquered land. But, in
spite of the insufficiency of his military forces, Grimoald induced them to
depart, and set up Wechthari, a powerful soldier and the terror of the
Slavs, as duke of Friuli in place of Arnefrit, the son of Lupus, who had
tried to regain his father's inheritance by help of the Slavs, but had
been beaten and killed near Nimis. Grimoald took away Forli from
the imperials and razed to the ground Oderzo, where his brothers had
once been murdered: then he made peace with the Franks, so that
Perctarit did not feel safe any longer in his asylum, and prepared to fly


## p. 206 (#238) ############################################

206 The Bavarian Dynasty [671-698
to England. At this time the mighty king Grimoald died, after
having made sure the limits of his realm, and broken the dukes1 power,
in the ninth year of his reign (671). His eldest son Romuald took his
place in the dukedom of Benevento, while the young boy Gari bald, his
son by Aripert's daughter, inherited the royal crown.
By this time Perctarit returned from his exile and dethroned his
nephew Garibald with the help of his numerous followers; he and his
dynasty now held the throne for more than 40 years consecutively. He
made his son Cunincpert co-regent (680) and entered into friendly terms
with Romuald of Benevento, whose son, the younger Grimoald, married
Perctarit's daughter. In the south as well as in the north-west
Catholicism gained exclusive power, and in Benevento and Pavia many
foundations of cloisters spoke of a growing piety, shewn especially by the
two princesses. Numerous Lombard bishops had already assisted at the
Roman synod of 680; on the other hand the Three Chapters Schism
lasted on in Austrasia, on the east border of the Adda, in contrast to
Neustria westwards, where royalty had taken root more decidedly. The
duke Alahis of Tridentum, who had extended his territory northward in
the direction of the Bavarians, was too strong for Perctarit and even
added the dukedom of Brescia to his own. After Perctarit's death he
also occupied Pavia, drove King Cunincpert to a refuge on an isle in the
Lake of Como and acted as king, acknowledged by the greater part of the
north of Italy. But passing for a heretic and acting recklessly against
the Church, he made an enemy of the hierarchy, and Cunincpert was soon
able to return to Pavia, protected by their adherents. Between Neustria
and Austria on the field of Coronate a battle was fought between them;
Alahis fell, and a great part of his followers perished in the flood of the
Adda. This was at once a victory of kingdom over dukedom, and
orthodoxy over the Three Chapters Schism. An insurrection in Friuli
was also subdued; at a synod that had been convoked at the king's
request in Pavia (698? ) even those bishops of Austrasia who were still
schismatic acknowledged the fifth and sixth oecumenical councils, and
thus the unity of Catholic faith was established in Lombard Italy. The
only lasting effect of this schism was the division of the patriarchate of
Aquileia between the bishops of Grado and of Old-Aquileia, following
the civil boundaries between Lombards and Romans. Even before the
Roman Church triumphed throughout the whole Lombard realm, after
the Emperor Constans1 attempt to reconquer what he had lost had failed,
and the Bavarian dynasty's traditional policy of peace had replaced
Grimoald's belligerent policy—even at that time definite peace had
been made between the Empire and the Lombards, thereby placing the
Lombard State amid the States which were officially acknowledged by the
respublica. The acknowledgment of the status quo, the limits, which
had been fixed by a hundred years of war, formed the basis of peace;
and the Lombards renounced any further policy of conquest. This peace


## p. 207 (#239) ############################################

671-712] Roman Influence 207
seems to have been concluded between 678-681 at Constantinople, and
from that time the Lombard bishops, when the pope confirmed their
nomination at Rome, swore to provide that "peace, which God loves,
be maintained in eternity between the Respublka and us, that is, the
Lombard people. 11
Roman influence affected the Lombards in different ways. Inter-
course with the half-free Roman subjects had always been a strong force
since the beginning of the settlement; the schismatics coming from the
Roman Empire had found reception even at a very early period, as had
the merchants during the times of armistice, who maintained friendly
relations and profited by the great Lombard market; but when definite
peace had been made, lasting relations and safe intercourse with the new
allies were possible, so that free Romans and above all Catholic clergy
established themselves in the lands of their new friends and allies, who
also acknowledged their right to be tried by Roman law. Intermarriage
must have frequently happened at a very early period, and was furthered by
Lombard laws, which considered the freedman and free as equal, so that
marriages with freedmen or freedwomen were allowed and very common;
after the definite peace even unions between Lombards and women of the
Roman Empire were not a rare thing either. As the Lombards were in
a small minority, even in their own territory, intermarriage naturally
had a marked effect. The adaptation of the reigning people to the
Roman culture they had found led the same way. Thus they came to
the knowledge of new forms of culture and luxury, which could only be
satisfied in the Roman manner, partly by the industry of Roman subjects,
partly by booty made in war, and since the peace also by regular imports.
Trade and art are of Roman stamp, although the workmanship is decayed
and accommodates itself somewhat to barbarian taste. It was only in
Italy that the Lombards learnt to erect stone buildings, to construct
larger ships and use weapons of metal; their clothing changed similarly
and they gradually accepted the vulgar Latin language, especially because
all the terms of their new culture belonged to that language, the only
written language used, not only for written law, but all other documents
which were drawn up by Roman ecclesiastics and notaries following
Roman formulae. As their importance grew, the written word gained
supremacy in all matters of law.