Lupus 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 * 5 ...

from between 660 and 663 to his death around 666. Immediately after he succeeded to Friuli, Lupus invaded

Grado Grado may refer to: People * Cristina Grado (1939–2016), Italian film actress * Jonathan Grado (born 1991), American entrepreneur and photographer * Francesco De Grado ( fl. 1694–1730), Italian engraver * Gaetano Grado, Italian mafioso * ...

with a body of cavalry and plundered the city, then proceeding to Aquileia, where he stole the treasures of the

Patriarchate Patriarchate ( grc, πατριαρχεῖον, ''patriarcheîon'') is an ecclesiological term in Christianity, designating the office and jurisdiction of an ecclesiastical patriarch. According to Christian tradition three patriarchates were est ...

. When King Grimoald went south to rescue his son Romuald and 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 ...

from the invasion of the

Byzantine Emperor This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire, to Fall of Constantinople, its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. On ...

Constans II, he put Lupus in charge of

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the cap ...

. Lupus played the tyrant during Grimoald's absence, believing that the king would not return, thus was forced to flee to

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 ...

, seat of Friuli, and enter into rebellion when the king did come north again. Grimoald promptly asked the Khagan of the Avars to attack Friuli in order to prevent a civil war in Italy. Fighting lasted for four days at Flovius,That is, Fluvius Frigidus ("cold river"), in the valley of Wippach, meaning "Pear Tree", in Carniola, southeast of Cividale. Hodgkin, vol. vi, p 286 n1. during which Lupus held his own for three, taking much booty and slaughtering many men, before his own losses and the arrival of Avar reinforcements forced his army to retreat. He himself was killed in battle. Lupus' son Arnefrit claimed Friuli on his father's death, but was unseated by Grimoald. Lupus' daughter Theuderada (or Theodorada) married the aforementioned Romuald. She acted as regent of Benevento for their son Gisulf. "Lupus" literally means "Wolf" in Latin, so this may have been a Latinization for the Duke's real birth name (''Wolf'', ''Wulf'', or ''Ulf'').

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