Siege Of Pavia (773–774)
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The siege or battle of Pavia was fought in 773–774 in northern Italy, near Ticinum (modern
Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...
), and resulted in the victory of the
Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...
under
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
against the
Lombards The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...
under King
Desiderius Desiderius, also known as Daufer or Dauferius (born – died ), was king of the Lombards in northern Italy, ruling from 756 to 774. The Frankish king of renown, Charlemagne, married Desiderius's daughter and subsequently conquered his realm. De ...
.


Background

Charlemagne, ''rex Francorum'', had succeeded to the throne in 768 jointly with his brother Carloman. At the time there was antagonism between not only the two ruling brothers, but between the king of the Lombards, Desiderius, and the
papacy The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
. In 772,
Pope Hadrian I Pope Adrian I (; 700 – 25 December 795) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 February 772 until his death on 25 December 795. Descended from a family of the military aristocracy of Rome known as ''domini de via Lata'', h ...
expelled all the Lombard officials from the papal curia. In response, Desiderius invaded papal territory, even taking Otriculum (modern
Otricoli Otricoli is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Terni, Umbria, central Italy. It is located on the Via Flaminia, near the east bank of the Tiber, some 70 km north of Rome and 20 km south of Narni. It was originally the ancient Umbri ...
), just a day's march from
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
.*. Hadrian called Charlemagne for assistance. Charles had produced an alliance with the Lombards by marrying one of Desiderius' daughters,
Desiderata "Desiderata"(Latin: 'things desired') is a 1927 prose poem by the American writer Max Ehrmann. The text was widely distributed in poster form in the 1960s and 1970s. History Max Ehrmann of Terre Haute, Indiana, started writing the work in 1921, ...
; within a year, however, he had changed his mind about the marriage and alliance, and divorced his wife, sending her back to her father. This was taken as an insult by the Lombards. Upon the death of Carloman in 771, his own wife, Gerberge, fled the kingdom with her children for reasons now unclear (Einhard disingenuously protests that she spurned her husband's brother "for no reason at all") and sought refuge with Desiderius at
Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...
. Desiderius now returned the insult to the Franks by giving her asylum, and protesting that her children be allowed their share of the Kingdom of the Franks. The relationship between Frank and Lombard now broke down completely and the pope took full advantage. His embassy landed at
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
and travelled to
Thionville Thionville (; ; ) is a city in the northeastern French Departments of France, department of Moselle (department), Moselle. The city is located on the left bank of the river Moselle (river), Moselle, opposite its suburb Yutz. History Thionvi ...
, where they delivered this message: Charlemagne ascertained the truth of Desiderius' aggressions and the threat he posed to his own Frankish realm and marched his troops towards Italy in the early summer of 773.


Siege

Charles' army had 10,000–40,000 troops; he divided it in half, giving command of one half to his uncle, Bernard, son of Charles Martel, and led it through the Alpine passes; he through that of the Dora Susa near Mont Cenis, and Bernard through the Great St Bernard Pass. At the foot of the mountains, Charles' army met the fortifications of Desiderius, but scouting forces found an alternate route. A cavalcade was sent to attack the defenders from the flank and, with Bernard's forces approaching from the east, the Lombards fled to fortified Pavia. The Frankish troops then marched on to begin the siege of Pavia by September. The entire Frankish army was capable of wholly surrounding the Lombard capital, however they had brought no siege engines. The Lombards too had failed in their preparations: the city was poorly stocked with food and the surrounding countryside was now in the hands of the Franks. Desiderius remained in Pavia, but Adelchis, his son, had left to stronger
Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...
to guard over the family of Carloman. Charles led a small force to besiege Verona. Adelchis fled in fear to Constantinople, and the city and Carloman's family were taken. Charles then began to subdue the whole region around Pavia in the early months of 774. Charles even visited the pope in Rome at Easter. No other Lombard dukes or counts made any attempt at relief and Desiderius made no strong counterattack. In the tenth month of the siege, famine was hitting Pavia hard and Desiderius, realising that he was left on his own, opened the gates to Charles and surrendered on some Tuesday in June.


Legacy

After the victory, Charlemagne had himself declared ''rex Langobardorum'', and from that time onwards he was to be called "King of the Franks ''and'' Lombards". This was unique in the history of the
Germanic kingdoms The barbarian kingdoms were states founded by various non-Roman, primarily Germanic, peoples in Western Europe and North Africa following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century CE. The barbarian kingdoms were the princip ...
of the
Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...
: A current ruler taking the title of the conquered for his own. Charles was forging what could in modern language be called an "empire" proper; he was also allying himself very closely with the Church as its protector. His recognition of temporal Papal authority in
central Italy Central Italy ( or ) is one of the five official statistical regions of Italy used by the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), a first-level NUTS region with code ITI, and a European Parliament constituency. It has 11,704,312 inhabita ...
helped lay the foundation for medieval Papal power. The decline of the Lombard state had been swift, and the changes wrought in Italy by the Frankish conquest were great. Many Franks entered into positions of power and authority in Italy, though many Lombards, on account of their willingness to make peace with Charles, retained their positions. As Paul K. Davis writes, "The defeat and consequent destruction of the Lombard monarchy rid Rome of its most persistent threat to Papal security, laying the groundwork for the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
."


Memories of the siege

In
Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...
, where the memory of the Lombard reasoning and the role of capital of the city characterized the urban identity for centuries, there are some testimonies of the siege, some contemporary, such as the sections of the first walls preserved in via dei Mulini, others, albeit later, very significant, such as the cycle of the stories of Saint Theodore of Pavia frescoed in the right aisle of the church of San Teodoro. The painting, commissioned in 1514 by the rector of the church Giovanni Luchino Corti to an anonymous Lombard artist, depicts some episodes in the life of the holy bishop of Pavia and in particular during the siege of 773-774, which significantly fails in the pictorial cycle. Theodore in fact caused the
Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...
waters to swell, flooding the Frankish camp and forcing
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
to abandon the siege. In years in which the wars of Italy created strong uncertainties about the future of the city and of the entire
duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan (; ) was a state in Northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti of Milan, Visconti family, which had been ruling the city since 1277. At that time, ...
, the clients, by modifying the real outcome of the siege, intended to underline their strong identity and autonomy, as if the
Lombard kingdom The Kingdom of the Lombards, also known as the Lombard Kingdom and later as the Kingdom of all Italy (), was an Early Middle Ages, early medieval state established by the Lombards, a Germanic people, on the Italian Peninsula in the latter part ...
had not ever really fallen. Always linked to the memory of the siege is the small church of Santa Sofia ( Torre d'Isola) located on a high terrace of Ticino a few kilometers west of the city, which according to a legend (based on the story handed down by the chronicler Notker the Stammerer) was built by Charlemagne during the siege of Pavia in just one day in order to better attend the divine services. However, beyond the imaginative narration of the chronicler, a royal residence certainly arose in the church in the ninth century, in which
Louis II of Italy Louis II (825 – 12 August 875), sometimes called the Younger, was the king of Italy and emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 844, co-ruling with his father Lothair I until 855, after which he ruled alone. Louis's usual title was '' imper ...
and then
Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a series of civil wars during t ...
stayed first in the year 876.


Notes


Bibliography

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Further reading

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Siege of Pavia (773-74) Pavia 773
Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...
Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...
Pavia Charlemagne 8th century in Italy 773 774 8th century in Francia Kingdom of the Lombards