Cunincpert (also Cunibert or Cunipert) was king 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 688 to 700. He succeeded his father

Perctarit Perctarit (also Berthari) (died 688) was king of the Lombards from 661 to 662 the first time and later from 671 to 688. He was the son and successor of Aripert I. He shared power with his brother Godepert. He was a Catholic, whereas Godepert wa ...

, though he was associated with the throne from 680.

Life

Soon after his assumption of the sole kingship, Cunincpert was ousted by Alahis,

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are r ...

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and '' comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

(who had previously been duke of

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th centu ...

). Alahis had also rebelled during the reign of Perctarit, but it was Cunincpert who, 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, ...

in the ''

Historia Langobardorum The ''History of the Lombards'' or the ''History of the Langobards'' ( la, Historia Langobardorum) is the chief work by Paul the Deacon, written in the late 8th century. This incomplete history in six books was written after 787 and at any rate ...

'', had persuaded his father to show mercy. Perctarit is reported to have warned his son of the consequences. It was thus soon after Perctarit's death that Alahis forced Cunincpert to flee to

Isola Comacina Isola Comacina is a small wooded island of Italy’s Lake Como, administratively a part of the commune of Ossuccio. It is located close to the western shore of the Como arm of the lake in front of a gulf known as ''Zoca de l'oli'', a Lombard nam ...

, an island in the middle of

Lake Como Lake Como ( it, Lago di Como , ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh de Còmm , ''Cómm'' or ''Cùmm'' ), also known as Lario (; after the la, Larius Lacus), is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the thir ...

. The only extant record of the rule of Alahis is contained in ''Book V'' of Paul the Deacon's ''Historia Langobardorum''. His rule is portrayed as burdensome and tyrannical, and particularly antagonistic to the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

. Having lost the support of the Church and, crucially, of the 'people' (notably the brothers Aldo and Grauso of

), Cunincpert was able to return to Pavia and resume control. Alahis, however, was able to acquire sufficient support to bring the matter to battle. Cunincpert, with the men of

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, defeated Alahis and the men of Venetia at the

Battle of Coronate The Battle of Coronate took place in 689, after King Cunicpert returned from exile and ousted Alahis, Usurper King and Duke of Trent, from the capital Pavia. Duke Alahis fled towards the east, into Austria. There he assembled an army to march ...

, on the Horn of the Adda, near Lodi, in 689. Alahis was slain in battle. Cunincpert suppressed other insurrections during his reign, including that of the usurper Duke

Ansfrid of Friuli Ansfrid, Ansfrit, or Ausfrid 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 du ...

. He also successfully settled the

schism of the Three Chapters The Schism of the Three Chapters was a schism that affected Chalcedonian Christianity in Northern Italy lasting from 553 to 698 AD, although the area out of communion with Rome contracted throughout that time. It was part of a larger Three-Chapter ...

in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

Church between the

patriarch of Aquileia The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certain ...

and his rival

patriarch of Grado This is a list of the Patriarchs of Grado (north-eastern Italy).
'' Liutpert Liutpert (or Liutbert) (died 702) was the Lombard king of Italy from 700 and to 702, with interruption. Upon succeeding his father, King Cunincpert, at a young age, he ruled together with his tutor, Ansprand, the duke of Asti. After eight month ...

, the

regent 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 ...

Ansprand Ansprand ( 657 – 712) was king of the Lombards briefly in 712. Before that he was the duke of Asti and regent during the minority of Liutpert (700–701). He was defeated at Novara by Raginpert and exiled during the subsequent war over the succ ...

, and many rebels. Many wars took place during his reign. He is notably the first Lombard monarch to strike coins in his image. (For his epitaph, see

Latin rhythmic hexameter The Latin rhythmic hexameter or accentual hexameter is a kind of Latin dactylic hexameter which arose in the Middle Ages alongside the metrical kind. The rhythmic hexameter did not scan correctly according to the rules of classical prosody; instead ...

.) He was buried in the

Basilica of Santissimo Salvatore The Basilica of Santissimo Salvatore is a Roman Catholic church in Pavia, region of Lombardy, Italy. It was founded in 657 by the Lombard king Aripert I and became a mausoleum for many of the Lombard kings. History The first documentation re ...

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 ...

References

{{Reflist 700 deaths 7th-century Lombard monarchs Lombard warriors Bavarian dynasty Year of birth unknown

Life

Further reading

References