Austria was, according to the

early medieval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

geographical classification, the eastern portion of

Langobardia Major Langobardia Major was the name that, in the Early Middle Ages, was given to the domains of the Lombard Kingdom in Northern Italy. It comprised Lombardy proper with its capital Pavia, the Duchies of Friuli and Trent as well as the Tuscany region. ...

, the north-central part of the

Lombard Kingdom The Kingdom of the Lombards ( la, Regnum Langobardorum; it, Regno dei Longobardi; lmo, Regn di Lombard) also known as the Lombard Kingdom; later the Kingdom of (all) Italy ( la, Regnum totius Italiae), was an early medieval state established ...

, extended from the Adda to

Friuli Friuli ( fur, Friûl, sl, Furlanija, german: Friaul) is an area of Northeast Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity containing 1,000,000 Friulians. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giulia ...

and opposite to

Neustria Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks. Neustria included the land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, approximately the north of present-day France, with Paris, Orléans, Tours, Soissons as its main cities. It later ...

. The partition had not only been territorial, but also implied significant cultural and political differences.

Territory

Austria included the

duchies A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between " ...

of the north-eastern Lombard Kingdom. Among them a prominent role was played by: *

Duchy of Friuli The Duchy of Friuli was a Lombard duchy in present-day Friuli, the first to be established after the conquest of the Italian peninsula in 568. It was one of the largest domains in ''Langobardia Major'' and an important buffer between the Lombard ...

Duchy of Verona A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between " ...

Duchy of Trent The Duchy of Tridentum (Trent) was an autonomous Lombard duchy, established by Euin during the Lombard interregnum of 574–584 that followed the assassination of the Lombard leader Alboin. The stronghold of Euin's territory was the Roman city ...

* Duchy of Brescia * Duchy of Bergamo

History

The duchies of Austria presented themselves as the defenders of the warrior and conqueror spirit of the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...

. Here survived longer than in other places the old

pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...

cults and among the converts to Christianity, many were adherents of

Arianism Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God ...

or adherents to the Schism of the Three Chapters. The Dukes of ''Austria'' pressed repeatedly on the king to take initiative, coming in several times to hatch conspiracies to overthrow the legitimate sovereign. This was the case in 662 of Grimoald I of Benevento, Grimoald (Duchy of Benevento, duke of Benevento, but a son of a Duchy of Friuli, Duke of Friuli), who managed to usurp the throne of Godepert and Perctarit despite the opposition of the Neustrians dukes of Asti and Turin; of Alahis, Duke of Trent, who in 688-689 was able to seize the throne of Pavia before being defeated by Cunipert; of Ansfrid of Friuli, Ansfrid of Friuli, who, having usurped the

, in turn attempted to seize the throne of Cunipert (who defeated and killed him in 698); of Rotarit, Duchy of Bergamo, Duke of Bergamo, who after the death of Cunipert objected unsuccessfully to Raginpert first and then Aripert II (700-702). In the 8th century, however, the widespread conversion of the Lombards to Catholicism smoothed the opposition between ''Austria'' and ''Neustria'', thanks to a revived expansion at the expense of the Byzantine Empire with the Catholic and Neustrian Liutprand, King of the Lombards, Liutprand (king from 712). After the fall of the Lombard kingdom in 774, the Langobardia Maior fell entirely under the dominion of the Franks. Its political-administrative structure was not disrupted. However, Frankish and Lombard counts replaced the dukes of Austria.

References

Bibliography

Primarie sources

*''Origo gentis Langobardorum'', ed. Georg Waitz in ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica'' SS rer. Lang. *Paul Deacon, ''Historia Langobardorum'' (''Storia dei Longobardi'', cura e commento di Lidia Capo, Lorenzo Valla/Mondadori, Milan 1992).

Storiographic literature