Gisulf I (died 706) was the duke of Benevento from 689, when his brother

Grimoald II Grimoald II (french: Grimaud) (died 714), called the Younger, was the mayor of the palace of Neustria from 695. He was the second son of Pepin of Herstal and Plectrude and his father placed him in the office of mayor of the palace in the Neustria ...

died. His father was Romuald I. His mother was Theodrada (or Theuderata), daughter of Duke

Lupus of Friuli Lupus was the Duke of Friuli from between 660 and 663 to his death around 666. Immediately after he succeeded to Friuli, Lupus invaded Grado with a body of cavalry and plundered the city, then proceeding to Aquileia, where he stole the treasures o ...

, and she exercised the

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

for him for the first years of his reign. 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 ...

, it was during his reign that the relics of Saint Benedict of Nursia and

Saint Scholastica Scholastica (c. 480 – 10 February 543) is a saint of the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Anglican Communion. She was born in Italy. According to a ninth century tradition, she was the twin sister of Benedict of Nursia. ...

his sister were taken from

Monte Cassino Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first h ...

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, ...

. Gisulf may have granted the monastery of

San Vincenzo al Volturno San Vincenzo al Volturno is a historic Benedictine monastery located in the territories of the Comunes of Castel San Vincenzo and Rocchetta a Volturno, in the Province of Isernia, near the source of the river Volturno in Italy. The current monaste ...

a bloc of land in size around 700. In about 705, Gisulf took the cities of Sora,

Arpino Arpino ( Southern Latian dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Frosinone, in the Latin Valley, region of Lazio in central Italy, about 100 km SE of Rome. Its Roman name was Arpinum. The town produced two consuls of the ...

, and Arce. He marched as far as Horrea,Paul the Deacon, Chapter XXVII. Identified as

Puteoli Pozzuoli (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula. History Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia'' ( el, Δικα ...

or a location at the five mile mark of the

Via Latina The Via Latina (Latin for "Latin Road") was a Roman road of Italy, running southeast from Rome for about 200 kilometers. Route It led from the Porta Latina in the Aurelian walls of Rome to the pass of Mount Algidus; it was important in the ear ...

. plundering and burning, before he was confronted with gifts by the ambassadors of

Pope John VI :''Pope John VI can also refer to Pope John VI of Alexandria.'' Pope John VI ( la, Ioannes VI; 65511 January 705) was the bishop of Rome from 30 October 701 to his death. John VI was a Greek from Ephesus who reigned during the Byzantine Papacy. H ...

, who ransomed many of his captives and induced him to return whence he had come to his own dominions. He was an energetic duke, like his father and grandfather. He fought against king, pope, and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

. He was married to Winiperga and was succeeded by his son Romuald II.

Sources

''Lexikon des Mittelalters'': Gisulf I. Herzog von Benevent (681-698)
*

''Historia Langobardorum''
Available at Northvegr. *

Chris Wickham Christopher John Wickham, (born 18 May 1950) is a British historian and academic. From 2005 to 2016, he was Chichele Professor of Medieval History at the University of Oxford and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford: he is now emeritus professor ...

. ''Early Medieval Italy: Central Power and Local Society, 400–1000''. London: Macmillan, 1981.

Notes

706 deaths Gisulf 1 7th-century Lombard people 8th-century Lombard people Lombard warriors 7th-century rulers in Europe 8th-century rulers in Europe Year of birth unknown {{italy-noble-stub