The ''History of the Lombards'' or the ''History of the Langobards'' ( la, Historia Langobardorum) is the chief work by

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 ...

, written in the late 8th century. This incomplete history in six books was written after 787 and at any rate no later than 796, maybe at

Montecassino 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 firs ...

. The history covers the story 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 an ...

from their mythical origins to the death of King Liutprand in 743, and contains much information about the

Eastern Roman empire 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 Constantin ...

, 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, ...

, and others. The story is told from the point of view of a Lombard patriot and is especially valuable for its treatment of the relations between the Franks and the Lombards. As his primary sources, Paul used the document called the '' Origo gentis Langobardorum'', the ''

Liber pontificalis The ''Liber Pontificalis'' (Latin for 'pontifical book' or ''Book of the Popes'') is a book of biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the ''Liber Pontificalis'' stopped with Pope Adrian II (867� ...

'', the lost history of

Secundus of Trent Secundus of Trent or Secundus of Non authored ''History of the Acts of the Langobards'', up to 612. Secundus is first mentioned in the letters of Pope Gregory I for January 596, at which time Secundus served archbishop Marinianus of then-Byzantine ...

, and the lost annals of

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and '' comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and t ...

; he also made free use of works by

Bede Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom ...

, Gregory of Tours, and Isidore of Seville.

Editions

According to a study made by Laura Pani in 2000, there are 115 surviving

codices The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, ...

of Paul's history. A popular work in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, as indicated by the number of copies and their dissemination throughout Western Europe, more than twenty of these manuscripts predate the 11th century while another eighty or more were copied later.McKitterick 2004, p
77-78
The relations between these manuscripts were studied by Georg Waitz, who in 1876 identified 11 different families of the ''Historia Langobardorum''. The oldest manuscript is the

Palimpsest In textual studies, a palimpsest () is a manuscript page, either from a scroll A scroll (from the Old French ''escroe'' or ''escroue''), also known as a roll, is a roll of papyrus, parchment, or paper containing writing. Structure A scr ...

of Assisi, written in the uncial script towards the end of the 8th century, almost immediately after Paul's work was completed. This palimpsest is, however, far from complete, as it contains only parts of books II and V of Paul's history. The earliest complete manuscript is the ''Codex Sangallensis 635'' written sometime between the 8th and the 10th centuries and designated by Waitz as F1. According to Waitz, F1's age makes it the most reliable of the ''Historias codices, a view which has been challenged by Antonio Zanella and Dante Bianchi, both of whom hold that the F1 does not correctly reflect Paul's original.Zanella 2007, pp. 105–106 Paulus - Historia Langobardorum, 1480 - 528076 Proemio

Paulus - Historia Langobardorum, 1480 - 528076 Proemio

Paul's account was largely accepted by subsequent writers, was often continued, and was first printed in Paris in 1514. Among the printed editions of the Latin text, the most authoritative is that edited by Ludwig Konrad Bethmann and Georg Waitz and published in the ''

Monumenta Germaniae Historica The ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica'' (''MGH'') is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published primary sources, both chronicle and archival, for the study of Northwestern and Central European history from the end of the Roman Empire ...

. Scriptores rerum langobardicarum et Italicarum'' (Hanover, 1878).

Translations

It has been translated into English, German, French, Polish, Spanish, Swedish, Italian, Aragonese, Slovenian and Croatian, the English translation being by W.D. Foulke (Philadelphia, 1906), the German by O. Abel and R. Jacobi (Leipzig, 1878), the Polish by Ignacy Lewandowski (1995, Warszawa), Henryk Pietruszczak, (2002, Zgorzelec), the Spanish by P. Herrera (Cádiz, 2006), and the Swedish by Helge Weimarck (Stockholm, 1971). Several versions of the English translation are available (see below in the section Further reading).

Into Italian

*L. Domenichi, ''Paulo Diacono della Chiesa d'Aquileia della Origine e Fatti dé Re Longobardi'' (Venice, 1548) * A. Viviani, ''Dell' origine e de' fatti de' Longobardi'', 2 vols. (Udine, 1826‑28) * G. S. Uberti, ''De' fatti de' Longobardi'' (Cividale, 1899), reprinted in the ''Biblioteca Popolare Sonzogno'' (Milan, 1915) * M. Felisatti, ''Storia dei Longobardi'' (Milan, 1967) * F. Roncoroni, ''Storia dei Longobardi'' (Milan, 1971) * E. Bartolini, ''Historia Langobardorum'' with Latin text and translation by A. Giacomini (Udine, n.d.) * A. Zanella, ''Storia dei Longobardi'' (Milan, 1991) * L. Capo (ed.), ''Storia dei Longobardi'' (Milan, 1992)

Notes

References

* *
Bibliography
in «Geschichtsquellen des deutschen Mittelalters» («Historical Sources of the German Middle Ages») repertory. Attribution: *

External links

*

(in Latin)

(in Latin) * ttps://www.librideipatriarchi.it/en/books/paul-the-deacon-historia-langobardorum-1096/ Historia Langobardorum overview and full reproduction of the codex: Cividale del Friuli, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, XXVIII. {{Authority control 8th-century history books Carolingian historiography Sources on Germanic paganism History of Central Europe 8th-century Latin books Medieval Latin histories