Among 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 an ...

, the

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

or ''

dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, '' ...

'' was the man who acted as political and military commander of a set of "military families" (the Fara), irrespective of any territorial appropriation.

Etymology

The proper Lombardic language term for the figure of the duke is not known; the oldest Lombard historiographical sources (the anonymous '' Origo gentis Langobardorum'' and ''

Historia Langobardorum The ''History of the Lombards'' or the ''History of the Langobards'' ( la, Historia Langobardorum) is the chief work by Paul the Deacon, written in the late 8th century. This incomplete history in six books was written after 787 and at any rate ...

'' of

Paul Deacon Paul Deacon (born 13 February 1979) is an English rugby union coach who is the head coach of the Sale Sharks in Premiership Rugby, and former a professional rugby league footballer and coach. A Great Britain and England international represen ...

) were written in Latin. The Latin word ''

'' was adopted to designate a political and military figure that had no exact equivalent in the classical world, thus redefining the concept of "duke" in a form that would continue to develop in later centuries.

History

The figure of the Duke emerged between the 4th and 5th centuries, after the

German people , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

settled between the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...

and the current northern Bohemia. At that time the Lombards were nomads, forming homogeneous groups and compact families originating from the same noble clan, and able to organize themselves into quotas with military functions: the

Fare A fare is the fee paid by a passenger for use of a public transport system: rail, bus, taxi, etc. In the case of air transport, the term airfare is often used. Fare structure is the system set up to determine how much is to be paid by various pa ...

. The Dukes were the leaders of the Fare. In that office they were honored as warriors for the dynastic ties and their valor shown in war, and later rewarded by the

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

. The figure of the Lombard Duke encompassed a mixture of military, noble, sacral (invested by the king, attended his "charisma"), political, judicial and administrative elements. In the assembly of the people in arms (" Gairethinx"), the dukes had a prominent role, and were decisive in the election of the king. Once in Italy, the ducal institution gradually became linked with the territory, but always subordinate to the political-military status of the Duke. Since the first city conquered by

Alboin Alboin (530s – 28 June 572) was king of the Lombards from about 560 until 572. During his reign the Lombards ended their migrations by settling in Italy, the northern part of which Alboin conquered between 569 and 572. He had a lasting effe ...

in 568,

Cividale Cividale del Friuli ( fur, Cividât (locally ); german: Östrich; sl, Čedad) is a town and '' comune'' in the Province of Udine, part of the North-Italian Friuli Venezia Giulia ''regione''. The town lies above sea-level in the foothills of the ...

, a duke was appointed in any militarily significant urban center, with a mandate to lead the Lombards warriors settled in nearby areas "''in Fara''" against any enemy threats. From that first settlement, however, the ducal institution had a dual character: on the one hand, the Duke was a commander of an army, on the other, he was the head of a fraction of the people ( "''gens''"), and therefore subject to the expectations and traditions (management of power, military activity, division of wealth) of the people themselves. The Duke was thus given a royal investiture and a political-military nature, but at the same time also carried a unique power as a guarantor of a particular social structure (that of the Fara). These coexisting but contradictory factors characterize 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 ...

, in constant tension between the centralizing impulses of sovereign power and aspirations for autonomy of the Dukes; over the centuries a transition was seen from greater ducal independence (so that for the ten years of the so-called

Rule of the Dukes The Rule of the Dukes was an interregnum in the Lombard Kingdom of Italy (574/5–584/5) during which Italy was ruled by the Lombard dukes of the old Roman provinces and urban centres. The interregnum is said to have lasted a decade accordi ...

, 574 to 584, they ruled as absolute monarchs in their seats) to a growing assertion of central power, although their aspirations for autonomy were not completely settled.Lida Capo, ''Commento'' a Paolo Diacono, ''Storia dei Longobardi'', pp. 432-433. The Lombard duchies, both in Langobardia Maior and Langobardia Minor, were not abolished with the fall in the realm in 774, and were later incorporated into the

Carolingian Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the ...

. The only exception, the

Duchy of Benevento The Duchy of Benevento (after 774, Principality of Benevento) was the southernmost Lombard duchy in the Italian Peninsula that was centred on Benevento, a city in Southern Italy. Lombard dukes ruled Benevento from 571 to 1077, when it was conq ...

, was soon elevated to the rank of principality (though weakened by secessions), retaining its autonomy and indeed playing an important political role until the arrival of the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

in the 11th century. With the defeat of the Lombard kingdom by the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...

, the figure of the Lombard Duke was replaced by the Frankish

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

; however, the

remained outside the Carolingian Empire, and maintained a substantial degree of autonomy.

List of Lombard duchies

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 Ceneda 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 Treviso 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 Vicenza 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 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 Parma * Duchy of Reggio * Duchy of Piacenza * Duchy of Brescia * Duchy of Bergamo * Duchy of San Giulio * Duchy of Pavia * Duchy of Turin * Duchy of Asti * Duchy of Tuscany * Duchy of Spoleto *

, after 774 the Principality of Benevento; later the Principalities of Salerno and

Capua Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etrus ...

gained independence from it *

Duchy of Aosta __NOTOC__ The Duchy of Aosta, originally the County of Aosta, was a realm ruled by the House of Savoy from the early 11th century until the late 18th, when its independent institutions were aligned with those of the Principality of Piedmont. The ti ...

* Duchy of Milan * Duchy of Ivrea * Duchy of Persiceta

References

Sources

, ''

'' (''Storia dei Longobardi'', Lorenzo Valla/Mondadori, Milan 1992)

Bibliography

*Lidia Capo. ''Comment'' to * *

Jörg Jarnut Jörg Jarnut (born 1 March 1942) is a German historian who was Chair of Medieval History at the University of Paderborn from 1983 to 2007. Biography Jörg Jarnut was born in Weimar, Germany on 1 March 1942. He gained his PhD at the University o ...