Hrodgaud or Rodgand was the

Duke of Friuli The dukes and margraves of Friuli were the rulers of the Duchy and March of Friuli in the Middle Ages. The dates given below, when contentious, are discussed in the articles of the respective dukes. Lombard dukes * 568–c.584 Grasulf I ...

from 774 to 776. In all likelihood he was already duke under Desiderius, notwithstanding some Frankish sources, such as the '' Einhardis annales'', who say that

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 Em ...

put him in power after the Siege of Pavia. In 776, he rebelled against his lord and, according to some, declared himself king. Charlemagne, however, had been forewarned of the revolt by Pope Hadrian I, who himself had been warned in a letter by John, Patriarch of Grado. Hadrian believed that a conspiracy of

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 ...

and Byzantines, led by

Arechis II of Benevento Arechis II (also ''Aretchis'', ''Arichis'', ''Arechi'' or ''Aregis'') (born According to the ''Chronicon Salernitanum'', Arechis ''vixit autem quinquaginta tres (53) annos; obiit septimo Kal. Septembris, anno ab incarnacione Domini 787, indictione ...

, Hildeprand of Spoleto, and Raginald of Clusium, was brewing against 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, ...

. Thus, Charles quickly crossed the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, ...

and defeated him, retaking Friuli and Treviso, where he spent

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

, removing Hrodgaud from power and replacing him with Marcarius. He placed Frankish counts in the cities of Friuli.

Further reading