Ingl2

A short history lesson
Blood of our Kind

The first homeland of Lombards would have been the Scandinavia. From there , at an unknown period but anyway before the beginning of the common era , they transferred themselves to actual Northern Germany , around the mouth of the Elbe river, at the base of the Jutland Peninsula . Here they were at the start of the Roman Imperial age, when they were noted by various historian. Tacitus describes them as a famous people who "defended their own security through the danger of battle and not through submission"(Germania, 40).
Neil Christie, in the book "The Lombards - The Ancient Longobards " in TLS May 31, 1996:"Lombard self-presentation was very confident and their historical consciousness more highly developed than many historians have believed. Their histories, seemingly stretching back, in oral form, to their (probable) Scandinavian beginnings, were first written down in the seventh century as part of lawmaking".
According to Paolo Diacono (Paolo of Warnefrido, according to his "Historia Langobardorum" written around 780, he was a Lombard from Cividale del Friuli who became a Bendectine monk at Montecassino ) the Lombards left Pannonia on 3 April 568 CE. They left all together : men, women, children, warriors and servants with all their proprieties , leaving their lands to the Avars . During the transfer, groups of Gepids, Sarmatians, Suevi joined the migration and later settled in our Land together with the Lombards . Left Pannonia, the Lombards pointed towards Emona (today Lubjana - SL )and from there to Natisone Valley . Paolo Diacono says that Alboino arrived to the Langbard boarders "with his whole army and a multitude of men and women ,climbed a mountain and from there looked at the country in front of him. This mountain has been called Mount of King (Monte del Re)since then"(Historia Langobardorum, II,8). From there they came to Cividale , that surrendered without fighting , and spread on the plain. Aquileia, Ceneda, Treviso, Vincenza , Verona, Brescia, Bergamo, Trent surrended without fighting, too. Milan was taken 3 oct.569 . Pavia resisted strenuously and surrended in 572 only, becoming later the Capital of the Kingdom. In general the whole of actual Northern Italy was occupied : the indigenous People of this land was formed by the successors of the Celtic tribes of the Cisalpine Gaul, ( a part of the "Great Gaul " , over Alps they call it "Transalpine Gaul" as we call them ,this land was the mother of our celtic tribes : protagonist of an hard and heroic resistance against roman invaders ). This Land was called "Great Langbard" (Langobardia Major) and his people and culture was germanised without violence. The Lombard was received with open arms by the large part of the people.The army then spread in Central and also in Southern Italy. In the Central Italy Lombards took Tuscany and Umbria (this countries was germanised , too : the part of Lombards who lived in this lands was called "Lambardi") . The Langbard was subdivide in three regions Neustria ( in the West : Piedmont, where there’s the central Hof of Comunità Odinista and actual Lombardy ) the Austria ( the actual Venetia Regions of the East , called "TriVeneto" ) and - in the South - the Tuscia .King Alboino organised his conquest in duchies , areas governed by a Duke residing in their most important city.
The Christian Church and the Pope was the first enemies of the Lombardy . Alboino reigned up to 572 , when he was murdered by his wife Rosmunda. According to Paolo Diacono this was a familiar question, but it is possible that behind Rosmunda’s hand there where the Byzantines and the Romans.
The last Lombard King Desiderio, continued the defensive lombard policy ( remember Tacitus?) and tried to bend the new Pope Adriano with the force . He occupied Senigallia, Iesi, Urbino , Gubbio and interrupted the connections between Rome and Ravenna. The Pope closed himself in Rome and asked for to help Charlemagne . Desiderio went back to the Langbard’s Capital Pavia. From there he transferred with all the Langbardian Arimanni ( heer-mann = warriors ) to Susa’s locks (Neustria, extreme West, actual Piedmont) to wait for Charlemagne . But the Last one preferred to avoid a frontal attack and outflanked the Lombard Army . Desiderio was forced to close himself in Pavia while his son Adelchi went to Verona.
The siege of Pavia started in September 773. Charlemagne tried to capture Adelchi in Verona but he succeeded to escape to Costantinopoli.
Pavia resisted for nine months and surrendered in June 774.
Desiderio and his family were brought beyond the Alps and ended their days in a monastery . Charlemagne, the impostor, was acclaimed Rex Langobardorum title that he added to those of Rex Francorum ac Patricius Romanorum. The Southern duchies did not hing to help Desiderio : the Duke of Spoleto submitted to the Pope while the Duke of Beneventosurvived to the fall of Lombard kingdom of Langobardia Major , and , like a corpse remained independent . Even if the Franks used the Lombard administrative organisations to govern our Land leaving at their place many dukes and gastaldi , the774 is officially the end of the Lombard kingdom. A kingdom that lasted two centuries only but thet left in actual Northern Italy (Padania) so deep cultural, legal and linguistic marks to last still today.