Rodoald (or ''Rodwald''), ( 630 – 653) was a Lombard king of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, who succeeded his father

Rothari Rothari (or Rothair) ( 606 – 652), of the house of Arodus, was king of the Lombards from 636 to 652; previously he had been duke of Brescia. He succeeded Arioald, who was an Arian like himself, and was one of the most energetic of Lombard kings ...

on the throne in 652. He was said to be lecherous and he was assassinated after a reign of just six months in 653 by the husband of one of his lovers. Paul the Deacon writes that Rodoald "had reigned five years and seven days, " (more probably five months and seven days), although historians note that this length of reign is suspect. Aripert, a rival claimant, was elected with the support of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, which opposed the

Arian Arianism ( grc-x-koine, Ἀρειανισμός, ) is a Christological doctrine first attributed to Arius (), a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by G ...

monarchy.

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External links

* Paul the Deacon
''History of the Lombards'', Book 4
translated by William Dudley Foulke, 1907. See chapter XLVIII for Rodoald’s reign. 630s births 653 deaths Year of birth uncertain 7th-century Lombard monarchs 7th-century murdered monarchs Harodingian dynasty {{Europe-royal-stub