Alboin

Alboin was king of the Lombards from about 560 until 572. He conquered northern Italy between 569 and 572, ending the migrations of the Germanic peoples. He was assassinated in a coup d’état instigated by the Byzantine Empire. Alboin’s name derives from the Proto-Germanic roots *albiz and *winiz.

About Alboin in brief

Alboin was king of the Lombards from about 560 until 572. He conquered northern Italy between 569 and 572, ending the migrations of the Germanic peoples. He was assassinated in a coup d’état instigated by the Byzantine Empire. Alboin’s name derives from the Proto-Germanic roots *albiz and *winiz ; it is thus cognate with the Old English name Ælfwine. In modern Italian he is Alboino and in modern Lombard Albuì. He is the last in the line of hero-kings who had led the Lombard people through their migrations from the vale of the Elbe to Italy. The Lombards under King Wacho had migrated towards the east into Pannonia, taking advantage of the difficulties facing the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy following the death of its founder, Theodoric, in 526. His death in about 540 brought his son Walthari to the throne, but, as the latter was still a minor, the kingdom was governed in his stead by his father, Audoin, of the Gausian clan. Seven years later WALTHari died, giving Audoin the opportunity to crown himself and overthrow the reigning Lethings. Like his father he was raised a pagan, although Audoin had at one point attempted to gain support against his Christian wife by professing himself a Christian. He took as his first wife, daughter of the Chlothar King Theudebald, soon after his father’s death in 555. The marriage is thought to reflect Audoin’s decision to distance himself from the traditional allies of the Byzantines, the Frankish ruler Theodald.

However, the Later Roman Empire interprets events differently, believing that Albo in married a Lombard king shortly before his death in 572 or shortly after. The Frankish alliance was important because of the Franks’ known hostility to the Byzantine empire, providing Lombards with a more than one option than the Byzantine option of providing them with one option. He died in about 572 and was succeeded by his foster brother, Cleph, who was later killed by the Gepid king in a palace coup. The Gepids and the Franks were the main rivals for control of the Pannonian Basin, and AlboIn’s defeat of them marked the beginning of centuries of Lombard rule in the region. In 567 he inflicted a decisive defeat on his enemies, thanks to his alliance with the Avars, whose lands the Avar subsequently occupied. The increasing power of his new neighbours caused him some unease however, and he decided to leave Pannonie for Italy. He crossed the Julian Alps in 568, entering an almost undefended Italy, and rapidly took control of most of Venetia and Liguria. He then turned his attention to Tuscany, but signs of factionalism among his supporters began to manifest themselves. The coup failed in the face of opposition.

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