Lombard, member of a Germanic people who from 568 to 774 ruled a kingdom in Italy.
The Lombards were one of the Germanic tribes that formed the Suebi, and during the 1st century ad their home was in northwestern Germany. Though they occasionally fought with the Romans and with neighbouring tribes, the main body of the Lombards seems to have pursued a settled, pastoral existence until the beginnings of their great southward migrations in the 4th century. By the end of the 5th century they had moved into the area roughly coinciding with modern Austria north of the Danube River.
In 546 a new Lombard royal dynasty was begun by Audoin. At that time, it seems, the Lombards began to adapt their tribal organization and institutions to the imperial military system of the period, in which a hierarchy of dukes, counts, and others commanded warrior bands formed from related families or kin groups. For two decades the Lombards waged intermittent wars with the Gepidae, who were finally destroyed (c. 567) by Audoin’s successor, Alboin.
About this time the Lombards decided to migrate into Italy, which had been left almost defenseless after the Byzantine Empire’s armies had overthrown the Ostrogothic kingdom there. In the spring of 568 the Lombards crossed the Julian Alps. Their invasion of northern Italy was almost unopposed, and by late 569 they had conquered all the principal cities north of the Po River except Pavia, which fell in 572. At the same time, they occupied areas in the central and southern parts of the peninsula. Shortly afterward, Alboin was murdered, and the 18-month rule of his successor, Cleph, was marked by the ruthless treatment of the Italian landowners.
On the death of Cleph, the Lombards chose no successor; instead, the dukes exercised authority in their particular city-territories. The 10-year “rule of the dukes” was later viewed as one of violence and disorder. In 584, threatened by a Frankish invasion that the dukes had provoked, the Lombards made Cleph’s son Authari king; when he died in 590 he was succeeded by Agilulf, duke of Turin, who was able to recover most of those portions of Italy that had been lost to a Frankish-Byzantine alliance.
When Authari became king the dukes surrendered half their estates for the maintenance of the king and his court. Pavia, where the royal palace was located, became the centre of administrative organization. The Lombards converted from Arianism to orthodox Christianity in the latter part of the 7th century.
After the brutal Aripert II (reigned 700–712), a new dynasty took the Lombard throne. Its second representative, Liudprand (reigned 712–744), was probably the greatest of the Lombard kings. Until 726 he seems to have been concerned exclusively with the internal condition of his kingdom. Later, however, he steadily reduced the area of Italy still under Byzantine rule. Coins and documents from his court confirm the impression of a strong and effective monarch.
The invasion of papal territories by the Lombard kings Aistulf (reigned 749–756) and Desiderius (reigned 756–774) compelled Pope Adrian I to seek aid from the Frankish king Charlemagne. The Franks entered Italy in 773, and after a year’s siege Pavia fell to their armies. Desiderius was captured, and Charlemagne became king of the Lombards as well as of the Franks. Lombard rule in Italy thus came to an end.
The Lombards gave their name to the northern Italian region that was their stronghold, now known as Lombardy.