Transamund II of Spoleto

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Transamund II [lower-alpha 1] was the Lombard Duke of Spoleto from 724 to 745, [1] though he was twice driven from power by the king, Liutprand. Transamund rose to power by deposing his own father, Faroald II, and tonsuring him in a monastery.

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In 737 or 738, Transamund captured Gallese and thus disrupted communication between Rome and Ravenna. Pope Gregory III offered to pay for the return of Gallese in return for a peace treaty with Transamund. The treaty included the Gregory, Duke of Benevento. Liutprand rejected the treaty as contrary his interests and attacked Transamund as a traitor. He had taken Spoleto by 16 June 739 and appointed Hilderic as his replacement. [2] Transamund fled to Rome, where Liutprand besieged him. The king took Amelia, Orte, Bomarzo, and Bieda, but still the pope refused to release his refugee. Gregory even wrote to ask Charles Martel, Duke of the Franks, for assistance. Charles, however, refused. [3]

In December 740, Transamund recovered his duchy and killed Hilderic with Papal-Beneventan aid, [4] but did not return the confiscated papal cities and his alliance with the pope ruptured. Liutprand did not recognise Transamund's reconquest and set out to dispossess him a second time. This time Liutprand met with Gregory's successor, Zachary, in 742 and, promising to restore the four towns, allied with the Romans and forced Transamund to flee again. [5] Transamund was caught and put in a monastery. Agiprand, Liutprand's nephew, was put in his place. The new duke of Benevento, Godescalc, who had succeeded Gregory without royal assent and continued to support Transamund, was the next object of royal wrath.

On Liutprand's death in 744, Transamund managed to regain power in Spoleto. He lasted another year under the weak King Hildeprand the Useless until he died.

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The Duchy of Spoleto was a Lombard territory founded about 570 in central Italy by the Lombard dux Faroald. Its capital was the city of Spoleto.

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The Duchy of Benevento was the southernmost Lombard duchy in the Italian Peninsula that was centred on Benevento, a city in Southern Italy. Lombard dukes ruled Benevento from 571 to 1077, when it was conquered by the Normans for four years before it was given to the Pope. Being cut off from the rest of the Lombard possessions by the papal Duchy of Rome, Benevento was practically independent from the start. Only during the reigns of Grimoald, King of the Lombards and the kings from Liutprand on was the duchy closely tied to the kingdom. After the fall of the kingdom, however, it was the sole Lombard territory to continue to exist as a rump state, maintaining its de facto independence for nearly 300 years, although it was divided after 849.

Liutprand, King of the Lombards King of the Lombards

Liutprand was the king of the Lombards from 712 to 744 and is chiefly remembered for his multiple phases of law-giving, in fifteen separate sessions from 713 to 735 inclusive, and his long reign, which brought him into a series of conflicts, mostly successful, with most of Italy. He is often regarded as the most successful Lombard monarch, notable for the Donation of Sutri in 728, which was the first accolade of sovereign territory to the Papacy.

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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.

Donation of Sutri 728 agreement between the King of the Lombards and the Papacy

The Donation of Sutri was an agreement reached at Sutri by Liutprand, King of the Lombards and Pope Gregory II in 728. At Sutri, the two reached an agreement by which the city and some hill towns in Latium were given to the Papacy, "as a gift to the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul" according to the Liber Pontificalis. The pact formed the first extension of papal territory beyond the confines of the Duchy of Rome and was the first of two land transfers from Liutprand to the Church of Rome.

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Gisulf II was the third last duke of Benevento before the fall of the Lombard kingdom. He ruled from 743, when King Liutprand came down and removed Godescalc, to his death up to ten years later.

Hilderic was the Lombard Duke of Spoleto briefly from 739 to 740. He was the first appointee of Liutprand, King of the Lombards, against the rebellious Thrasimund II.

Duchy of Rome Duchy in Byzantine Empire

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Thrasimund I or Transamund I was the Count of Capua and then Duke of Spoleto, a faithful follower of Grimoald I of Benevento.

Faroald II was the duke of Spoleto from 703, when he succeeded his own father Thrasimund I.

Agiprand was briefly the Duke of Spoleto between 742 and 744.

Ago was the Duke of Friuli from between 651 and 661 until about 663. He succeeded Grasulf II.

Lupus was the Duke of Friuli from between 660 and 663 to his death around 666.

Hildeprand was the Duke of Spoleto from 774 to 789.

Adelperga

Adelperga was a Lombard noblewoman, Duchess of Benevento by marriage to Arechis II of Benevento. She acted as regent of Benevento for her son Grimoald in 787-788. She was the third of four daughters of Desiderius, King of the Lombards, and his wife Ansa. Her elder sister Desiderata was a wife of Charlemagne.

References

  1. Lars Ulwencreutz (November 2013). Ulwencreutz's The Royal Families in Europe V. Lulu.com. p. 350. ISBN   978-1-304-58135-8.
  2. Hartmann, Ludo Moritz. Geschichte Italiens im Mittelalter. II, 2, 137–138.
  3. Hodgkin, Thomas. Italy and her Invaders. Clarendon Press, 1895. pp 475–478.
  4. Hartmann, II, 2, 139.
  5. Hartmann, II, 2, pp. 139, 140.

Notes

  1. His name may also be spelled Transimund, Transmund, Thrasimund or Thrasamund.

Sources

Regnal titles
Preceded by
Faroald II
Duke of Spoleto
724–739
Succeeded by
Hilderic
Preceded by
Hilderic
Duke of Spoleto
740–742
Succeeded by
Agiprand
Preceded by
Agiprand
Duke of Spoleto
744–745
Succeeded by
Lupus