Cunincpert (also Cunibert or Cunipert) was king of the
Lombards from 688 to 700. He succeeded his father
Perctarit, though he was associated with the throne from 680.
Life
Soon after his assumption of the sole kingship, Cunincpert was ousted by
Alahis,
duke of
Brescia (who had previously been duke of
Trento). Alahis had also rebelled during the reign of Perctarit, but it was Cunincpert who, according to
Paul the Deacon
Paul the Deacon ( 720s 13 April in 796, 797, 798, or 799 AD), also known as ''Paulus Diaconus'', ''Warnefridus'', ''Barnefridus'', or ''Winfridus'', and sometimes suffixed ''Cassinensis'' (''i.e.'' "of Monte Cassino"), was a Benedictine monk, s ...
in the ''
Historia Langobardorum'', had persuaded his father to show mercy. Perctarit is reported to have warned his son of the consequences. It was thus soon after Perctarit's death that Alahis forced Cunincpert to flee to
Isola Comacina
Isola Comacina is a small wooded island of Italy’s Lake Como, administratively a part of the comune, commune of Ossuccio. It is located close to the western shore of the Como arm of the lake in front of a gulf known as ''Zoca de l'oli'', a Lomba ...
, an island in the middle of
Lake Como
Lake Como ( it, Lago di Como , ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh de Còmm , ''Cómm'' or ''Cùmm'' ), also known as Lario (; after the la, Larius Lacus), is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the thir ...
.
The only extant record of the rule of Alahis is contained in ''Book V'' of Paul the Deacon's ''Historia Langobardorum''. His rule is portrayed as burdensome and tyrannical, and particularly antagonistic to the
Catholic Church. Having lost the support of the Church and, crucially, of the 'people' (notably the brothers Aldo and Grauso of
Brescia), Cunincpert was able to return to Pavia and resume control. Alahis, however, was able to acquire sufficient support to bring the matter to battle. Cunincpert, with the men of
Piedmont, defeated Alahis and the men of
Venetia at the
Battle of Coronate
The Battle of Coronate took place in 689, after King Cunicpert returned from exile and ousted Alahis, Usurper King and Duke of Trent, from the capital Pavia.
Duke Alahis fled towards the east, into Austria. There he assembled an army to march ...
, on the Horn of the
Adda, near
Lodi, in 689. Alahis was slain in battle.
Cunincpert suppressed other insurrections during his reign, including that of the usurper Duke
Ansfrid of Friuli Ansfrid, Ansfrit, or Ausfrid was the Duke of Friuli in 694. He was originally the lord of the castle of Ragogna.
In 694, he attacked Friuli and forced Duke Rodoald to flee to King Cunipert. Ansfrid then rebelled against the king in an attempt to ...
.
He also successfully settled the
schism of the Three Chapters in the
Italian Church between the
patriarch of Aquileia and his rival
patriarch of Grado.
He died in 700 and was succeeded by his young son
Liutpert, the
regent Ansprand, and many rebels. Many wars took place during his reign. He is notably the first Lombard monarch to strike coins in his image. (For his epitaph, see
Latin rhythmic hexameter.) He was buried in the
Basilica of Santissimo Salvatore in
Pavia.
Further reading
*Antonopoulos, Panagiotis. ''The Reign of Cunincpert: Saga, Reality, Stability and Progress in Lombard Italy at the End of the Seventh Century''. Camberley, Surrey: Porphyrogenitus Ltd., 2010.
References
{{Reflist
700 deaths
7th-century Lombard monarchs
Lombard warriors
Bavarian dynasty
Year of birth unknown