The March of Ancona ( Italian : Marca Anconitana or Anconetana ) was a frontier march centred on the city of Ancona and later Fermo then Macerata in the Middle Ages . Its name is preserved as an Italian region today, the Marche , and it corresponds to almost the entire modern region and not just the Province of Ancona .
119-665: Originally part of Imperial Italy , the march was constituted around 1100 from the March of Fermo and a southern portion of the Byzantine Pentapolis . Initially the new march took the name of its first ruler: marca Guarnerii or march of Werner . There were disputes between the Empire and the Church over rights and jurisdiction in the March. In 1173, an imperial army under Christian of Mainz invaded
238-718: A Christian king. His alliance with the Franks, crowned by a symbolic adoption of the young Pepin the Short , and with the Avars, on the eastern borders, allowed him to keep his hand relatively free in the Italian theater, but he soon clashed with the Byzantines and with the Papacy. A first attempt to take advantage of an Arab offensive against Constantinople in 717 achieved few results. Closer relations with
357-505: A Guelph rebellion under Lord Guido della Torre . Henry restored the rule of Matteo I Visconti and proceeded to Rome, where he was crowned emperor by three cardinals in place of Pope Clement V in 1312. His further plans to restore the Imperial rule in northern Italy and to expand the empire, invading the Kingdom of Naples , were aborted by his sudden death the next year. Successive emperors in
476-638: A devastating plague pandemic (541–542). Although the Byzantine Empire eventually prevailed, the triumph proved to be a pyrrhic victory , as all these factors caused the population of the Italian Peninsula to crash, leaving the conquered territories severely underpopulated and impoverished. Although an invasion attempt by the Franks , then allies of the Ostrogoths , late in the war was successfully repelled,
595-607: A dynastic crisis. The succession of Cunipert's minor son, Liutpert , was immediately challenged by the Duke of Turin , Raginpert , the most prominent of the Bavarian dynasty. Raginpert defeated the supporters of Liutpert ( viz. , his tutor Ansprand , Duke of Asti, and the Duke of Bergamo, Rotarit ) in Novara , and, at the beginning of 701, took the throne. However, he died after just eight months, leaving
714-546: A king of their own in opposition to that of Germany. The absenteeism of the Italian monarch led to the rapid disappearance of a central government in the High Middle Ages , but the idea that Italy was a kingdom within the Empire remained and emperors frequently sought to impose their will on the evolving Italian city-states . The resulting wars between Guelphs and Ghibellines , the anti-imperialist and imperialist factions, respectively, were characteristic of Italian politics in
833-618: A large migration by the Lombards , a Germanic people that had been previously allied with the Byzantine Empire, ensued. In the spring of 568 the Lombards, led by King Alboin , moved from Pannonia and quickly overwhelmed the small Byzantine army left by Narses to guard Italy. The Lombard arrival broke the political unity of the Italian Peninsula for the first time since the Roman conquest (between
952-492: A man in his entourage who perhaps colluded with the Byzantines. Following Cleph's assassination another king was not appointed, and for a decade dukes ruled as absolute monarchs in their duchies . At this stage, the occupation of the dukes was simply the heads of the various fara (families) of the Lombard people. Not yet firmly associated with the cities, they simply acted independently, also because they were under pressure from
1071-500: A new rebellion, that of the Duke of Friuli, Corvulus , and adopted a strongly pro-Catholic policy. In 712, Ansprand returned to Italy with an army raised in Bavaria, and clashed with Aripert; the battle was uncertain, but the king behaved cowardly and was abandoned by his supporters. He died while trying to escape to the realm of the Franks, and drowned in the Ticino , dragged to the bottom by
1190-510: A novel fashion. It was the young widow Theodelinda who chose the heir to the throne and her new husband: the Duke of Turin , Agilulf . The following year (591) Agilulf received the official investiture from the Assembly of the Lombards , held in Milan . The influence of the queen over Agilulf's policies was remarkable and major decisions are attributed to both. After a rebellion among some dukes in 594
1309-495: A permanent peace were not established until 1183, however, in the Peace of Constance , when Frederick conceded their right to freely elect town magistrates. By this move, Frederick recovered his nominal domination over Italy, which became his chief means of applying pressure on the papacy. Frederick's son Henry VI actually managed to extend Hohenstaufen authority in Italy by his conquest of
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#17330859558451428-561: A possession of the Spanish Empire of Charles's son Philip II of Spain , whereas the title of Holy Roman Emperor and the rights connected to Imperial Italy were transferred to Charles's brother, Ferdinand I . Milan continued to be a state of the Holy Roman Empire so that, in his position as duke of Milan , Philip II was, at least formally, a vassal of Emperor Ferdinand. However, following the reign of Charles V, no Holy Roman Emperor of
1547-470: A power structure, useful only to make forays in search of plunder. In 584 the dukes agreed to crown King Cleph's son, Autari , and delivered to the new monarch half of their property (and then probably getting even with a new crackdown against the surviving Roman property land). Autari was then able to reorganise the Lombards and stabilise their settlement in Italy. He assumed, like the Ostrogoth Kings ,
1666-590: A rapprochement between Franks and Byzantines, but Autari managed (in 588 and again, despite some severe early setbacks, in the 590s) to repel the resulting Frankish attacks. The period of Autari marked, according to Paul the Deacon , the attainment of the first internal stability in the Lombard kingdom: Erat hoc mirabile in regno Langobardorum: nulla erat violentia, nullae struebantur insidiae; nemo aliquem iniuste angariabat, nemo spoliabat; non erant furta, non latrocinia; unusquisque quo libebat securus sine timore There
1785-464: A year and a day on pain of forfeit. The renewal of fiefdoms incensed the papacy, some of whose own vassals now dug out ancient documents ostensibly proving them to be vassals of the Emperor. Smaller states of Italy saw the Emperor as their protector against larger territories like Savoy and the papacy. Imperial authority strengthened throughout the 18th century, with the duchies of Milan and Mantua passing to
1904-665: Is named the first "Marquess of Ferrara", and the title passed to his descendants, and Este Marquisate's was delegated to a cadet branch of the family. Later, were also created the Marquisates of Modena and Reggio. This Italian history article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire) Timeline The Kingdom of Italy ( Latin : Regnum Italiae or Regnum Italicum ; Italian : Regno d'Italia ; German : Königreich Italien ), also called Imperial Italy ( Italian : Italia Imperiale ; German: Reichsitalien ),
2023-537: The Edictum Rothari , may allude to the use of seal rings , but it is not until the reign of Ratchis that they became an integral part of royal administration, when the king required their use on passports . The only evidence for their use at the ducal level comes from the Duchy of Benevento , where two private charters contain requests for the duke to confirm them with his seal. The existence of seal rings "testifies to
2142-791: The Basilica of St. John (also known as the Duomo of Monza) and the Royal Palace of Monza, while some masterpieces in gold were created such as the Agilulf Cross , the Hen with seven chicks , the Theodelinda Gospels and the famous Iron Crown (all resident in the Duomo of Monza treasury ). After the death of Agilulf in 616, the throne passed to his son Adaloald, a minor. The regency (which continued even after
2261-564: The Battle of the Volturnus and the peninsula was, for a short time, reintegrated into the empire. The Kings of the Lombards (Latin: reges Langobardorum , singular [rex Langobardorum] Error: {{Lang}}: invalid parameter: |links= ( help ) ) ruled those Germanic people from their invasion of Italy in 567–68 until the Lombardic identity became lost in the ninth and tenth centuries. After 568,
2380-560: The Exarchate to submit to the Lombards. Internally, Rothari strengthened the central power at the expense of the duchies of Langobardia Maior, while in the south the Duke of Benevento, Arechi I (who in turn was expanding Lombard domains), also recognized the authority of the King of Pavia. The memory of Rothari is linked to his famous edict, promulgated in 643 in Pavia by a gairethinx , an assembly of
2499-757: The First Council of the Lateran . Now it had recurred, in a slightly different form. Frederick had to humble himself before Pope Alexander III at Venice. The emperor acknowledged the pope's sovereignty over the Papal States, and in return Alexander acknowledged the emperor's overlordship of the Imperial Church. Also in the Treaty of Venice , a truce was made with the Lombard cities, which took effect in August 1178. The grounds for
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#17330859558452618-514: The Holy Roman Empire , roughly corresponding to the territory of the former Langobardia Maior. The so-called Iron Crown of Lombardy , one of the oldest surviving royal insignias of Christendom, may have originated in Lombard Italy as early as the 7th century and continued to be used to crown kings of Italy until Napoleon Bonaparte in the early 19th century. The earliest Lombard law code,
2737-635: The Medici Pope Clement VII , conquered Florence where he reinstalled the Medici as dukes of Florence after a siege . Charles V was crowned king of Italy with the Iron Crown in medieval fashion and, upon the extinction of the Sforza line of Milan in 1535, claimed direct possession of that territory as an Imperial fief. After Charles divided his possession between a Spanish and Austrian branch, Milan became
2856-479: The Migration Period ; the first ruler attested independently of Lombard tradition is Tato . The actual control of the sovereigns of both the major areas that constitute the kingdom – Langobardia Major in the centre-north (in turn divided into a western, or Neustria , and one eastern, or Austria and Tuskia ) and Langobardia Minor in the centre-south, was not constant during the two centuries of life of
2975-666: The Ostrogoth king Totila was killed, the Byzantine general Narses captured Rome and besieged Cumae . Teia , the new Ostrogothic king, gathered the remnants of the Ostrogothic army and marched to relieve the siege, but in October 552 Narses ambushed him at Mons Lactarius (modern Monti Lattari ) in Campania , near Mount Vesuvius and Nuceria Alfaterna . The battle lasted two days and Teia
3094-623: The Three Chapter schism (where the Patriarch of Aquileia had broken communion with Rome), maintained a direct relationship with Gregory the Great (preserved in correspondence between him and Theodelinda) and promote the establishment of monasteries, like the one founded by Saint Columbanus in Bobbio . Even art enjoyed, under Agilulf and Theodelinda, a flourishing season. In architecture Theodelinda founded
3213-589: The campaigns of the French Revolutionaries in 1792–1797, when a series of sister republics were set up with local support by Napoleon and then united into the Italian Republic under his presidency. In 1805 the Italian Republic became the Kingdom of Italy with Napoleon as the new king. This state was disbanded with the collapse of Napoleonic rule in 1814. After the Battle of Taginae , in which
3332-614: The king of the Franks , crossed the Alps and invaded the Lombard kingdom , which encompassed all of Italy except the Duchy of Rome , the Republic of Venice and the Byzantine possessions in the south. In June 774, the kingdom collapsed and the Franks became masters of northern Italy. The southern areas remained under Lombard control, as the Duchy of Benevento was changed into the independent Principality of Benevento. Charlemagne called himself king of
3451-569: The 12th–14th centuries. The Lombard League was the most famous example of this situation; though not a declared separatist movement, it openly challenged the emperor's claim to power. The century between the Humiliation of Canossa (1077) and the Treaty of Venice of 1177 resulted in the formation of city states independent of the Germanic emperor. A series of wars in Lombardy from 1423 to 1454 reduced
3570-535: The 14th and 15th centuries were bound in the struggle between the rivaling Luxembourg, Habsburg and Wittelsbach dynasties. In the conflict with Frederick the Fair , King Louis IV (reigned until 1347) had himself crowned emperor in Rome by Antipope Nicholas V in 1328. His successor Charles IV also returned to Rome to be crowned in 1355. None of the emperors forgot their theoretical claims to dominion as kings of Italy. Nor did
3689-565: The 3rd and 2nd century BC). The peninsula was now torn between territories ruled by the Lombards and the Byzantines, with boundaries that changed over time. The newly arrived Lombards were divided into two main areas in Italy: the Langobardia Maior , which comprised northern Italy gravitating around the capital of the Lombard kingdom, Ticinum (the modern-day city of Pavia in the Italian region of Lombardy ); and Langobardia Minor , which included
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3808-534: The Austrian Habsburgs was crowned king of Italy and the title effectively ceased to be used for two centuries and a half. In 1559, the Kingdom of France ended its ambitions over the Imperial fiefs in Italy, abandoning its claims to Savoy and Milan and withdrawing from Tuscany and Genoese Corsica by the terms of the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis . The major imperial fiefs in Italy were known as "Feuda latina", whereas
3927-464: The Avars. Grimoald was invested by the Lombard nobles, but still had to deal with the legitimate faction, which tried international alliances to return the throne to Perctarit. Grimoald, however, persuaded the Avars to return the deposed ruler. Perctarit, as soon as he returned to Italy, had to make an act of submission to the usurper before he could escape to the Franks of Neustria , who attacked Grimoald in 663. The new king, hated by Neustria because he
4046-524: The Blind of Provence both claiming the Imperial throne for a time. The kingdom was also beset by Arab raiding parties from Sicily and North Africa , and central authority was minimal at best. In the 10th century, the situation hardly improved, as various Burgundian and local noblemen continued to dispute over the crown. Order was only imposed from outside, when the German king Otto I invaded Italy and seized both
4165-518: The Byzantine Empire and the Pope . However, by the end of the 7th century, their conversion to Catholicism was all but complete. Nevertheless, their conflict with the Pope continued and was responsible for their gradual loss of power to the Franks , who conquered the kingdom in 774. Charlemagne , the king of the Franks, adopted the title "King of the Lombards", although he never managed to gain control of Benevento,
4284-661: The Carolingian lands in Italy, which were now for the first time (save the brief rule of Charlemagne 's son Pepin in the first decade of the century), ruled as a distinct unit. The kingdom included all of Italy as far south as Rome and Spoleto , but the rest of Italy to the south was under the rule of the Lombard Principality of Benevento or of the Byzantine Empire . Following Louis II's death without heirs, there were several decades of confusion. The Imperial crown
4403-562: The Duchy of Brescia). Alahis rebelled again later, joining with the political opponents of the pro-Catholic Bavarian policy at Perctarit's death in 688. His son and successor Cunipert was initially defeated and forced to take refuge on the Isola Comacina - only in 689 did he manage to quash the rebellion, defeating and killing Alahis in the Battle of Coronate at the Adda . The crisis resulted from
4522-429: The Empire (first gaining the Kingdom of Sicily in 1713, swapped in 1720 for the Kingdom of Sardinia ). Imperial authority was used by the Austrian Habsburgs to intervene in Italy during the War of Mantuan Succession phase of the Thirty Years' War and to take control of vacant Italian imperial fiefs during the European Wars of Succession of the 18th century: following the extinction of the Spanish Habsburgs in 1700,
4641-452: The Empire. In many aspects, the Imperial claims to feudal overlordship over the Italian territories had become practically meaningless: the effective political authority, as well as the power to raise taxes and spend resources, was in the hands of the Italian princes and dukes. However, the presence of the Imperial feudal network in Italy continued to play a role in the history of the peninsula. It gave to Emperors Sigismund and Maximilian I
4760-401: The Franks into modern Piedmont and led the Byzantines to ask, for the first time since the Lombards had entered Italy, for a truce. At the end, he occupied the last Byzantine stronghold in northern Italy: Isola Comacina in Lake Como . To ensure a stable peace with the Franks, Autari attempted to marry a Frankish princess, but the project failed. Then the king, in a move that would influence
4879-477: The French. In 1687, a new plenipotentiary of Italy was appointed, a position that had been left vacant for over a century prior (the powers of the office had instead been exercised haphazardly by the Aulic Council). In 1690, Prince Eugene of Savoy tried to levy an imperial tax over Italy to pay for war expenses, the first time such a thing had been done. Then, in 1696, Leopold issued an edict mandating all of his Italian vassals to renew their oaths of allegiance within
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4998-424: The Habsburg family as vacant imperial fiefs during the War of the Spanish Succession, the end of the War of the Quadruple Alliance reconfirming the statuses of Tuscany, Modena-Reggio , and Parma-Piacenza as imperial fiefs, and the Habsburgs continuing to rule the Italian territories of their hereditary lands (roughly the modern provinces of Trentino-Alto Adige and the Austrian Littoral ). Piedmont-Savoy , on
5117-427: The Habsburg territories (such as the Imperial Free City of Trieste , the County of Gorizia and Gradisca , the Duchy of Milan , and later the Grand Duchy of Tuscany ). Unlike most of the German states, the Imperial Italian contributions bypassed the Reichstag and other institutions and went directly to the Imperial army and treasury. The Italian states were in large part autonomous, but their lack of representation gave
5236-470: The Imperial and Italian thrones for himself in 962. In 951, King Otto I of Germany married Adelaide of Burgundy , the widow of late King Lothair II of Italy . Otto was proclaimed king of Italy at Pavia despite his rival Margrave Berengar of Ivrea . When in 960 Berengar attacked the Papal States , King Otto, summoned by Pope John XII , conquered the Italian kingdom and on 2 February 962 had himself crowned Holy Roman Emperor at Rome. From that time on,
5355-417: The Imperial supremacy in Italy remained contested. The cities first demonstrated their increasing power during the reign of the Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick Barbarossa (1152–1190), whose attempts to restore imperial authority in the peninsula led to a series of wars with the Lombard League , a league of northern Italian cities, most of the times headed by Milan , and ultimately to a decisive victory for
5474-423: The Italian toponymy ). The economic system of late antiquity , which focused on large estates worked by peasants in semi-servile condition, was not revolutionized, but modified only to benefit the new rulers. After ten years of interregnum, the need for a strong centralised monarchy was clear even to the most independent of the dukes; Franks and Byzantines pressed and the Lombards could no longer afford so fluid
5593-417: The Italian cities, but these conflicts bore less and less relation to the origins of the parties in question. The Italian campaigns of the Holy Roman emperors decreased, but the kingdom did not become wholly meaningless. In 1310 the Luxembourg King Henry VII of Germany with 5,000 men again crossed the Alps, moved into Milan and had himself crowned king of Italy (with a mock-up of the Iron Crown ), sparking
5712-430: The Italians themselves forget the claims of the emperors to universal dominion: writers like Dante Alighieri (died 1321) and Marsilius of Padua ( c. 1275 – c. 1342 ) expressed their commitment both to the principle of universal monarchy, and to the actual pretensions of Emperors Henry VII and Louis IV, respectively. The Imperial claims to dominion in Italy mostly manifested themselves, however, in
5831-407: The Kingdom of Italy with little central authority. There was also a lack of powerful landed magnates – the only notable one being the Margraviate of Tuscany , which had wide lands in Tuscany , Lombardy , and the Emilia , but which failed due to lack of heirs after the death of Matilda of Canossa in 1115. This left a power vacuum – increasingly filled by the Papacy and by the bishops, as well as by
5950-416: The Kingdom of Italy, and the restored Italian duchies now became fully sovereign in their own right. Kingdom of the Lombards Timeline The Kingdom of the Lombards , also known as the Lombard Kingdom and later as the Kingdom of all Italy ( Latin : Regnum totius Italiae ), was an early medieval state established by the Lombards , a Germanic people , on the Italian Peninsula in
6069-460: The Kings of Italy were always also Kings of Germany, and Italy thus became a constituent kingdom of the Holy Roman Empire , along with the Kingdom of Germany ( regnum Teutonicorum ) and – from 1032 – Burgundy . The German king ( Rex Romanorum ) would theoretically be crowned in Pavia as a prelude to the visit to Rome to be crowned Emperor by the Pope . In general, the monarch was an absentee, spending most of his time in Germany and leaving
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#17330859558456188-402: The League at the Battle of Legnano in 1176, that had as its leader the Milanese Guido da Landriano , which forced Frederick to make administrative, political, and judicial concessions to the municipalities, officially ending his attempt to dominate Northern Italy. From then, Italy became a patchwork of autonomous duchies and city-states only nominally tied to the Holy Roman Empire. The scene
6307-446: The Lombard duchies of Spoleto and Benevento in southern Italy. The territories which remained under Byzantine control were called "Romania" (today's Italian region of Romagna ) in northeastern Italy and had its stronghold in the Exarchate of Ravenna . Arriving in Italy, King Alboin gave control of the Eastern Alps to one of his most trusted lieutenants, Gisulf , who became the first Duke of Friuli in 568. The duchy, established in
6426-421: The Lombard kings sometimes styled themselves Kings of Italy (Latin: rex totius Italiæ ). The primary sources for the Lombard kings before the Frankish conquest are the anonymous 7th-century Origo Gentis Langobardorum and the 8th-century Historia Langobardorum of Paul the Deacon . The earliest kings (the pre-Lethings) listed in the Origo are almost certainly legendary. They purportedly reigned during
6545-510: The Lombards and in 800 was crowned emperor in Rome. Members of the Carolingian dynasty continued to rule Italy until the deposition of Charles the Fat in 887, after which they once briefly regained the throne in 894–896. In 951, King Otto I of Germany , already married to Queen Adelaide of Italy , invaded the kingdom and proclaimed himself king. Otto defeated the previous king and conquered Pavia in 961, and then continued on to Rome, where he had himself crowned emperor in 962. The union of
6664-401: The Lombards then imposed themselves at first as the dominant caste in place of the former lineages, who were subsequently extinguished or exiled. The products of the land were allocated to his Roman subjects that worked it, giving to the Lombards a third ( tertia ) of crops. The proceeds were not given to individuals but to the family, which administered them in the halls (a term still used in
6783-431: The March against pro-papal resistance led by Countess Boltruda Frangipani . In 1177, Pope Alexander III referred to it as "partly belonging to the empire but largely to the church". The march was definitely acquired by the Papal States during the pontificate of Innocent III in the year 1198. It was initially governed by a papal nominee called a rector . The rector of Ancona, like the rectors of other papal provinces,
6902-408: The March of Ancona became the home of the spiritual Franciscans after Francis' death. The line of "Marquesses of Este"("Marchesi d'Este") rises in 1039 with Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan . The name "Este" is related to the city where the family came from, Este . The family was founded by Adalbert the Margrave. who might have been the true first Margrave of Milan of this family. In 1209 Azzo VI
7021-400: The Norman Kingdom of Sicily , which comprised Sicily and all of Southern Italy. Henry's son, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor – the first emperor since the 10th century to actually base himself in Italy – attempted to return to his father's task of restoring imperial authority in the northern Italian Kingdom, which led to fierce opposition not only from a reformed Lombard League, but also from
7140-510: The Popes, who had become increasingly jealous of their temporal realm in central Italy (theoretically a part of the Empire), and concerned about the hegemonic ambitions of the Hohenstaufen emperors. Frederick II's efforts to bring all of Italy under his control failed as signally as those of his grandfather, and his death in 1250 marked the effective end of the Kingdom of Italy as a genuine political unit. Conflict continued between Ghibellines (Imperial supporters) and Guelfs (Papal supporters) in
7259-407: The Roman town of Forum Iulii (modern-day Cividale del Friuli ), constantly fought with the Slavic population across the Gorizia border. Justified by its exceptional military needs, the Duchy of Friuli thus had greater autonomy compared to other duchies of Langobardia Maior until the reign of Liutprand (712–744). Over time, other Lombard duchies were created in major cities of the kingdom. This
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#17330859558457378-406: The Romans and Franks, but was a unique case among the Lombards. Perhaps because of this, a conflict broke out between Perctarit, who was based in Milan, and Godepert, who remained in Pavia. The Duke of Benevento, Grimoald , intervened with a substantial military force to support Godepert, but, as soon as he arrived in Pavia, he killed Godepert and took his place. Perctarit, clearly in danger, fled to
7497-425: The army, and written in Latin . The Edict consolidated and codified Germanic rules and customs , but also introduced significant innovations, a sign of the progress of Latin influence on the Lombards. The edict tried to discourage the feud (private revenge) by increasing the weregild (financial compensation) for injuries/murders and also contained drastic restrictions on the use of the death penalty . After
7616-460: The autonomy of his duchy. Perctarit developed a policy in line with the tradition of his dynasty and supported the Catholic Church against Arianism and the chapters anathematized in the Three-Chapter Controversy . He sought and achieved peace with the Byzantines, who acknowledged Lombard sovereignty over most of Italy, and repressed the rebellion of the Duke of Trent , Alahis , although at the cost of hard territorial concessions to Alahis (including
7735-415: The beginning of the early modern period, the Kingdom of Italy still formally existed but had de facto splintered into completely independent and self-governing Italian city-states . Its territory had been significantly limited – the conquests of the Republic of Venice in the " domini di Terraferma " and those of the Papal States had taken most of northeastern and central Italy outside the jurisdiction of
7854-432: The capital back to Pavia, was troubled by these conflicts, as well as external threats; the King was able to withstand an attack of the Avars in Friuli , but could not limit the growing influence of the Franks in the kingdom. At his death, the legend says that, using the same procedure as that followed by his mother Theodelinda, Queen Gundeperga had the privilege to choose her new husband and king. The choice fell on Rothari,
7973-486: The capital, but the ancient Roman city of Milan with Monza as a summer residence. He identified himself, in a votive crown , Gratia Dei rex totius Italiae , "By the grace of God king of all Italy", and not just Langobardorum rex , "King of the Lombards". Moves in this direction also included strong pressure, particularly from Theodelinda, to convert the Lombards, who until then were still largely pagan or Arians, to Catholicism. The rulers also endeavored to heal
8092-427: The character of a pure military occupation and approached a more proper state model. The inclusion of the losers (the Romans) was an inevitable step, and Agilulf made some symbolic choices aimed at the same time at strengthening its power and gaining credit with people of Latin descent. The ceremony of ascension to the throne of his son Adaloald in 604, followed a Byzantine rite. He chose not to continue to use Pavia as
8211-456: The conduct of the many wars of his long reign. These values are typical of Liutprand: Germanic descent, king of a nation now overwhelmingly Catholic, joined by those of a piissimus rex ("loving king") (despite having tried several times to take control of Rome). On two occasions, in Sardinia and in the region of Arles (where he had been called by his ally Charles Martel ) he successfully fought Saracen pirates , enhancing his reputation as
8330-400: The crown of the new Kingdom of Italy for himself, putting the Iron Crown on his head at Milan on 26 May 1805. He also directly annexed most of the former Imperial Italy (including Piedmont-Savoy, Genoa and Tuscany) into France. The Empire itself was abolished the next year on 6 August 1806. The Congress of Vienna following Napoleon's defeat did not bring back the Holy Roman Empire nor
8449-409: The crowns of Italy and Germany with that of the so-called "Empire of the Romans" proved stable. Burgundy was added to this union in 1032, and by the twelfth century the term "Holy Roman Empire" had come into use to describe it. The emperor was usually also king of Italy and Germany, although emperors sometimes appointed their heirs to rule in Italy and occasionally the Italian bishops and noblemen elected
8568-458: The disintegration and loss of the Germanic identity of the Lombard people. The victory allowed Cuniperto, already long associated with the throne by his father, to continue the work of pacifying the kingdom, always with a pro-Catholic accent. A synod convened in Pavia in 698 sanctioned the reintegration of the three anathematized chapters into Catholicism. Cunipert's death in 700 marked the opening of
8687-501: The divergence between the two regions of Langobardia Maior: Neustria , to the west, was loyal to the Bavarian rulers, pro-Catholic and supporters of the policy of reconciliation with Rome and Byzantium; on the other hand, Austria , to the east, identified with the traditional Lombard adherence to paganism and Arianism, and favored a more warlike policy. The dukes of Austria challenged the increasing "latinization" of customs, court practices, law and religion, which they believed accelerated
8806-552: The duke of Brescia and an Arian. Rothari reigned from 636 to 652 and led numerous military campaigns, which brought almost all of northern Italy under the rule of the Lombard kingdom. He conquered Liguria (643), including the capital Genoa , Luni , and Oderzo ; however, not even a total victory over the Byzantine Exarch of Ravenna, defeated and killed along with his eight thousand men at the River Panaro , succeeded in forcing
8925-582: The emperor greater ability to act more autonomously with the Italian principalities than the German ones, such as when he decided to simply add the Grand Duchy of Tuscany (officially an imperial fief) to his family's lands after the extinction of the Medici ruling line in 1737. Aside from the Prince-Bishopric of Trent , Piedmont-Savoy was the only independent Italian state represented in the Reichstag and also
9044-736: The emperor proclaimed Milan a vacant Imperial fief and added it to his direct Austrian dominions in 1707 (confirmed by the Treaty of Rastatt at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession ); the Gonzaga of Mantua were deposed by the Imperial Diet in 1708 on charges of felony towards the Holy Roman Emperor; following the extinction of the Florentine House of Medici in 1737, Francis of Lorraine
9163-466: The empire, and thus subject to certain obligations and jurisdiction. A special Italian section of the Aulic Council was created in 1559. It handled 1,500 cases from Imperial Italy between 1559 and 1806 (out of 140,000 total), with most of those cases coming from later dates. Italian states provided significant support in all of the Empire's wars in this time, either under their own princes or as part of
9282-557: The fate of the kingdom for more than a century, turned to the traditional enemies of the Franks, the Bavarii , to marry a princess, Theodelinda , from the Lethings dynasty. This allowed the monarchy to trace a line of descent from Wacho , king of the Lombards between 510 and 540, a figure surrounded by an aura of legend, and a member of a respected royal line. The alliance with the Bavarii led to
9401-507: The granting of titles to the various strongmen who had begun to establish their control over the formerly republican cities. Most notably, the emperors gave their backing to the Visconti of Milan , and King Wenceslaus made Gian Galeazzo Visconti the duke of Milan in 1395. Other families to receive new titles from the emperors were the Gonzaga of Mantua , and the Este of Modena and Reggio . By
9520-502: The increasingly wealthy Italian cities, which gradually came to dominate the surrounding countryside. Upon the death of Emperor Otto III in 1002, one of late Berengar's successors, Margrave Arduin of Ivrea , even succeeded in assuming the Italian crown and in defeating the Imperial forces under Duke Otto I of Carinthia . Not until 1004 could the new German King Henry II of Germany , by the aid of Bishop Leo of Vercelli , move into Italy to have himself crowned rex Italiae . Arduin ranks as
9639-583: The integration of the different components of the kingdom, presenting an image modeled on that of his predecessor Rotari—wise legislator in adding new laws to the Edict, patron (building a church in Pavia dedicated to Saint Ambrose ), and valiant warrior. With Grimoald's death in 671, his minor son Garibald assumed the throne, but Perctarit returned from exile and swiftly deposed him. He immediately came to an agreement with Grimoald's other son, Romualdo I of Benevento, who pledged loyalty in exchange for recognition of
9758-534: The king passed into majority) was exercised by the Queen Mother, Theodelinda , who gave command of the military to Duke Sundarit. Theodelinda continued Agilulf's pro-Catholic policy and maintained the peace with the Byzantines, which generated ever-stronger opposition from the warriors and Arians among the Lombards. A civil war broke out in 624, led by Arioald , Duke of Turin and Adaloald's brother-in-law (through his marriage to Adaloald's sister Gundeperga ). Adaloald
9877-523: The kingdom shared in all the partitions, divisions, civil wars, and succession crises of the Carolingian Empire of which it became a part until, by the end of the ninth century, the Italian kingdom was an independent, but highly decentralised, state. The death of the Emperor Lothair I in 855 led to his realm of Middle Francia being split among his three sons. The eldest, Louis II , inherited
9996-554: The kingdom. An initial phase of strong autonomy of the many constituent duchies developed over time with growing regal authority, even if the dukes' desires for autonomy were never fully achieved. The Lombard kingdom proved to be more stable than its Ostrogothic predecessor, but in 774, on the pretext of defending the Papacy , it was conquered by the Franks under Charlemagne . They kept the Italo-Lombard realm separate from their own, but
10115-513: The last domestic "King of Italy" before the accession of Victor Emmanuel II in 1861. Henry's Salian successor Conrad II tried to confirm his dominion against Archbishop Aribert of Milan and other Italian aristocrats ( seniores ). While besieging Milan in 1037, he issued the Constitutio de feudis in order to secure the support of the vasvassores petty gentry, whose fiefs he declared hereditary. While Conrad stabilised his rule, however,
10234-416: The latter part of the 6th century. The king was traditionally elected by the very highest-ranking aristocrats, the dukes , as several attempts to establish a hereditary dynasty failed. The kingdom was subdivided into a varying number of duchies, ruled by semi-autonomous dukes, which were in turn subdivided into gastaldates at the municipal level. The capital of the kingdom and the center of its political life
10353-522: The number of competing states. The next forty years were relatively peaceful in Italy, but in 1494 the peninsula was invaded by France . After the Imperial Reform of 1495–1512, the Italian kingdom corresponded to the unencircled territories south of the Alps. Juridically the emperor maintained an interest in them as nominal king and overlord, but the "government" of the kingdom consisted of little more than
10472-602: The only one to be part of the circle system (being within the Upper Rhenish Circle ; the Habsburg possessions of Trieste and Gorizia-Gradisca were within the Austrian Circle , as was Trent). Thus despite being opposed to the Habsburg family, it still emphasized its imperial privileges to establish itself as suzerain over smaller surrounding lordships. In 1713 the dukes of Savoy also became kings through their holdings outside
10591-506: The other hand, remained defiant of Imperial authority despite officially participating in the diet and the duke receiving the title of "Royal Highness" from the Emperor in 1693. The status of Imperial Italy was more or less stable up to 1789. There was even a serious push by the Savoyards (backed by Prussia ) to raise Savoy to electorate status in 1788, which would make it only the second non-German state to become so (after Bohemia , which
10710-458: The plenipotentiaries the emperor appointed to represent him and those governors he appointed to rule his own Italian states. The 250 to 300 lesser feudal lords of the Reichsitalien nonetheless frequently appealed to the imperial courts and jurisdiction to settle conflicts with the prominent princes. The Habsburg rule in several parts of Italy continued in various forms but came to an end with
10829-615: The pretext to intervene in Italian affairs. Furthermore, the Imperial rights were notably asserted during the Italian Wars by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (also king of Spain , Naples and archduke of Austria ). He drove the French from Milan after the Battle of Pavia , and prevented an attempt by the Italian princes, with French aid, to reassert their independence in the League of Cognac . His mutinous troops sacked Rome and, coming to terms with
10948-599: The royal capital, King Alboin was assassinated in a conspiracy in Verona plotted by his wife Rosamund and her lover, the noble Helmichis , in league with some Gepid and Lombard warriors. Helmichis and Rosamund's attempt to usurp power in place of the assassinated Alboin, however, gained little support from Lombard duchies, and they were forced to flee together to the Byzantine territory before getting married in Ravenna . Later in 572,
11067-462: The short reign of the son of Rothari and his son Rodoald (652-653), the dukes elected Aripert I , Duke of Asti and grandson of Theodolinda, as the new king. The Bavarian dynasty returned to the throne, and the Catholic Aripert duly suppressed Arianism. At Aripert's death in 661, his will divided the kingdom between his two sons, Perctarit and Godepert . This method of succession was known from
11186-620: The smaller ones were known as "Feuda Minora". Italian princes did not send representatives to the Imperial Diet , but their forces also joined the Imperial Army , as in the case of the Hungarian campaign of Maximilian II against Suleiman the Magnificent in 1566. While they were excluded from the Reichstag, the Italian states were still considered vassals of the emperor, like other states of
11305-553: The south the duchies of Spoleto and Benevento, extending the Lombards' domains. Istria was attacked and invaded by the Lombards on several occasions, although the degree of their occupation of the peninsula and its subordination to the Lombard kings is unclear. Even when Istria was part of the Exarchate of Ravenna, a Lombard, Gulfaris , rose to power in the region, styling himself as dux Istriae . The strengthening of royal powers, started by Autari and continued by Agilulf, also marked
11424-523: The southern duchies were considerably more autonomous than the smaller northern duchies. Over time, the Lombards gradually adopted Roman titles, names, and traditions. By the time Paul the Deacon was writing in the late 8th century, the Lombardic language , dress and hairstyles had all disappeared. Initially the Lombards were Arian Christians or pagans, which put them at odds with the Roman population as well as
11543-463: The southernmost Lombard duchy. The Kingdom of the Lombards at the time of its demise was the last minor Germanic kingdom in Europe. Some regions were never under Lombard domination, including Latium , Sardinia , Sicily , Calabria , Naples , Venice and southern Apulia . A reduced Regnum Italiae , a heritage of the Lombards, continued to exist for centuries as one of the constituent kingdoms of
11662-660: The tenacity of Roman traditions of government". In the 6th century Byzantine Emperor Justinian attempted to reassert imperial authority in the territories of the Western Roman Empire . In the resulting Gothic War (535–554) waged against the Ostrogothic Kingdom , Byzantine hopes of an early and easy triumph evolved into a long war of attrition that resulted in mass dislocation of population and destruction of property. Problems were further exacerbated by volcanic winter (536) , causing widespread famine (538–542) and
11781-576: The territories that made up the Kingdom of Italy. The imperial reorganization carried out in 1799–1803 left no room for Imperial claims to Italy – even the Archbishop of Cologne was gone, secularized along with the other ecclesiastical princes. Napoleon's victory in the War of the Second Coalition saw this reconfirmed in the Treaty of Lunéville . In 1805, while the Holy Roman Empire was still in existence, Napoleon, by now Emperor Napoleon I, claimed
11900-582: The thirty-five dukes assembled in Pavia to hail king Cleph . The new monarch extended the boundaries of the kingdom, completing the conquest of Tuscia and laying siege to Ravenna. Cleph tried to pursue the policy of Alboin consistently, which aimed to break the legal-administrative institutions firmly established during Ostrogoth and Byzantine rule. He achieved this by eliminating much of the Latin aristocracy, through occupying their lands and acquiring their assets. However, he too, fell victim to regicide in 574, slain by
12019-543: The throne to his son Aripert II . Ansprand and Rotarit reacted immediately and imprisoned Aripert, returning the throne to Liutpert. Aripert, in turn, managed to escape and confront his rival's supporters. In 702, he defeated them in Pavia, imprisoned Liutpert and occupied the throne. Shortly after, he finally defeated the opposition: he killed Rotarit, suppressed his duchy, and drowned Liutpert. Only Ansprand managed to escape, taking refuge in Bavaria . Subsequently, Aripert crushed
12138-423: The time (Cividale del Friuli : Treviso , Trento , Turin , Verona, Bergamo , Brescia , Ivrea , Lucca ). In the management of public power dukes were joined by minor officials, these the sculdahis and the gastald . The new organisation of power, less linked to race and clan relations and more to land management, marked a milestone in the consolidation of the Lombard kingdom in Italy, which gradually lost
12257-499: The title of Flavio , with which he intended to proclaim himself also protector of all Romans in Lombard territory: it was a clear call, with anti-Byzantine overtones, to the heritage of the Western Roman Empire. From the military point of view, Autari defeated both the Byzantines and Franks and broke the coalition, thereby fulfilling the mandate with which the dukes had entrusted him at the time of his election. In 585 he drove
12376-399: The transition to a new concept based on stable territorial division of the kingdom into duchies . Each duchy was led by a duke, not just the head of a fara but also a royal official, the depository of public powers. The locations of the duchies were established in strategically important centers, thus furthering the development of many urban centers placed along the main communication routes of
12495-459: The warriors nominally under their authority to allow them to loot. This unstable situation, which persisted over time, led to the final collapse of the Roman-Italic political-administrative structure, which was almost maintained up to the invasion, so that the same Roman-Italic aristocracy had retained responsibility for civil administration (as exemplified by the likes of Cassiodorus ). In Italy,
12614-583: The weight of the gold that he brought with him. With him ended the Bavarian dynasty's role in the Lombard kingdom. Ansprand died after only three months of his reign, leaving the throne to his son Liutprand . His reign, the longest of all Lombard monarchs, was characterized by the almost religious admiration that was accorded to the king by his people, who recognized in him boldness, courage and political vision. Thanks to these qualities Liutprand survived two attempts on his life (one organized by one of his relatives, Rotari), and he displayed no inferior qualities in
12733-579: Was Pavia in the modern northern Italian region of Lombardy . The Lombard invasion of Italy was opposed by the Byzantine Empire , which had control of the peninsula at the time of the invasion. For most of the kingdom's history, the Byzantine-ruled Exarchate of Ravenna and Duchy of Rome separated the northern Lombard duchies, collectively known as Langobardia Maior , from the two large southern duchies of Spoleto and Benevento , which constituted Langobardia Minor . Because of this division,
12852-464: Was a miracle in the kingdom of the Lombards: there was no violence, no insidious plot; no others unjustly oppressed, no depredations; there were no thefts, there were no robberies, where everyone went where they wanted, safely and without fear Autari died in 590, probably due to poisoning in a palace plot and, according to the legend recorded by Paul the Deacon, the succession to the throne was decided in
12971-606: Was after the crushing of Bohemian estates in 1620 dominated by German-speaking aristocrats). This came to nothing as the French Revolution of 1789 would quickly shatter the old order. During the French Revolutionary Wars , the Austrians were driven from Italy by Napoleon , who set up republics throughout northern Italy, and by the Treaty of Campo Formio of 1797, Emperor Francis II relinquished any claims over
13090-514: Was allied with the Franks of Austrasia , repulsed them at Refrancore , near Asti . Grimoald, who in 663 had also defeated an attempt to reconquer Italy by the Byzantine Emperor Constans II , exercised his sovereign powers with a fullness never attained by his predecessors. He entrusted the Duchy of Benevento to his son Romuald , and assured the loyalty of the duchies of Spoleto and Friuli, by appointing their dukes. He favoured
13209-619: Was deposed in 625 and Arioald became king. This coup d'état against the Bavarian dynasty of Adaloald and Theodelinda intensified the rivalry between the Arian and Catholic factions. The conflict had political overtones, as the Arians also opposed peace with Byzantium and the Papacy and integration with the Romans, opting instead for a more aggressive and expansionist policy. Arioald (r. 626–636), who brought
13328-408: Was dictated primarily by immediate military needs as dukes were primarily military commanders, tasked to secure control of territory and guard it against possible counter-attacks. However, the resulting collection of duchies also contributed to political fragmentation and sowed the seeds of the structural weakness of the Lombard royal power. In 572, after the capitulation of Pavia and its elevation to
13447-528: Was initially disputed among the Carolingian rulers of West Francia ( France ) and East Francia ( Germany ), with first the western king ( Charles the Bald ) and then the eastern ( Charles the Fat ) attaining the prize. Following the deposition of the latter, local nobles – Guy III of Spoleto and Berengar of Friuli – disputed over the crown, and outside intervention did not cease, with Arnulf of Eastern Francia and Louis
13566-496: Was invested with the Grand Duchy of Tuscany by Imperial diploma; a similar use of Imperial rights allowed the Habsburgs to assert sovereignty over the Duchy of Parma between 1735 and 1748, although this caused a dispute with the Papacy, which claimed it as a Papal fief . Emperor Leopold I increasingly asserted his rights over the imperial fiefdoms of Italy from the 1660s with the decline of Spanish power and more overt intervention of
13685-403: Was killed in the fighting. Ostrogothic power in Italy was eliminated, but according to Roman historian Procopius of Caesarea , Narses allowed the Ostrogothic population and their Rugian allies to live peacefully in Italy under Roman sovereignty. The absence of any real authority in Italy immediately after the battle led to an invasion by the Franks and Alemanni , but they too were defeated in
13804-485: Was one of the constituent kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire , along with the kingdoms of Germany , Bohemia , and Burgundy . It originally comprised large parts of northern and central Italy . Its original capital was Pavia until the 11th century. Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and the brief rule of Odoacer , Italy was ruled by the Ostrogoths and later the Lombards . In 773, Charlemagne ,
13923-519: Was preempted, Agilulf and Theodelinda developed a policy of strengthening their hold on Italian territory, while securing their borders through peace treaties with France and the Avars . The truce with the Byzantines was systematically violated and the decade up to 603 was marked by a notable recovery of the Lombard advance. In northern Italy Agilulf occupied, among other cities, Parma , Piacenza , Padova , Monselice , Este , Cremona and Mantua , but also to
14042-517: Was similar to that which had occurred between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor at Canossa a century earlier. The conflict was the same as that resolved in the Concordat of Worms : Did the Holy Roman Emperor have the power to name the pope and bishops? The Investiture controversy from previous centuries had been brought to a tendentious peace with the Concordat of Worms and affirmed in
14161-659: Was under the authority of a general rector reporting directly to the pope. Under the papacy, the March had three towns of over 10,000 people: Ancona, Ascoli Piceno and Fermo . The province was reorganized by the Constitutiones Sanctæ Matris Ecclesiæ in 1357. The march followed the Adriatic as far north as Urbino and contained the cities of Loreto , Camerino , Fermo , Macerata , Osimo , San Severino , and Tolentino According to Paul Sabatier's biography of St. Francis of Assisi , "The Road to Assisi",
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