Sources
- Paul the Deacon (1907). History of the Lombards. Translated by Foulke, William Dudley. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania.
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Ariulf (died 602) was the second Duke of Spoleto from 592 (the death of Faroald [1] ) until his own death. [2]
In 592, Ariulf, whose position in Spoleto and control of key points along the Via Flaminia, the main communication between Ravenna and Rome, to cut its alternative, the fortified Via Amerina, and capture several Byzantine cities. He took several strongholds in Latium and threatened Rome, where Gregory the Great, cut off from the exarchate, was forced to make a separate peace with him, to the great dissatisfaction of Romanus (exarch), the exarch of Ravenna, who considered himself the imperial representative in Italy and superior to the popes. Ariulf's successes were brief: the exarch's forces retook the Roman fortifications and the city of Perugia, and cleared the roads for the time being.
He then assisted Arechis I of Benevento in besieging Naples, another important city of Imperial Italy. He won a great victory at Camerino, where, according to Paul the Deacon, he claimed to have seen Saint Sabinus, the martyred hero of Spoleto, helping him, and was thus led to convert to Catholic Christianity.
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Pope Gregory II was the bishop of Rome from 19 May 715 to his death. His defiance of Emperor Leo III the Isaurian as a result of the iconoclastic controversy in the Eastern Empire prepared the way for a long series of revolts, schisms, and civil wars that eventually led to the establishment of the temporal power of the popes.
Pope Gregory III was the bishop of Rome from 11 February 731 to his death. His pontificate, like that of his predecessor, was disturbed by Byzantine iconoclasm and the advance of the Lombards, in which he invoked the intervention of Charles Martel, although ultimately in vain. He was the last Pope to seek the consent of the Byzantine exarch of Ravenna for his election, and of Syrian origin, the last non-European pope until the election of Pope Francis more than 1,271 years later in 2013.
Pope Constantine was the bishop of Rome from 25 March 708 to his death. One of the last popes of the Byzantine Papacy, the defining moment of his pontificate was his 710/711 visit to Constantinople, where he compromised with Justinian II on the Trullan canons of the Quinisext Council. The city's next papal visit occurred in 1967.
Eutychius was the last Exarch of Ravenna, heading the Exarchate from 726 or 727 until 751.
The Exarchate of Ravenna, also known as the Exarchate of Italy, was a lordship of the Eastern Roman Empire in Italy, from 584 to 751, when the last exarch was put to death by the Lombards. It was one of two exarchates established following the western reconquests under Emperor Justinian to more effectively administer the territories, along with the Exarchate of Africa.
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.
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.
Eleutherius was the exarch of Ravenna from 615 to 619, succeeding the eunuch John I.
Romanus was Exarch of Ravenna from 589 until 596 or 597.
Agilulf, called the Thuringian and nicknamed Ago, was a duke of Turin and king of the Lombards from 591 until his death.
The Duke of Spoleto was the ruler of Spoleto and most of central Italy outside the Papal States during the Early and High Middle Ages. The first dukes were appointed by the Lombard king, but they were independent in practice. The Carolingian conquerors of the Lombards continued to appoint dukes, as did their successors the Holy Roman Emperors. In the 12th century, the dukes of Spoleto were the most important imperial vassals in Italy.
The Patrimony of Saint Peter originally designated the landed possessions and revenues of various kinds that belonged to the apostolic Holy See. Until the middle of the 8th century this consisted wholly of private property; later, it corresponded to the territories under Papal sovereignty, but from the early 13th century the term was applied to one of the four provinces of the States of the Church.
Theodelap or Theudelapius was one of the sons of Faroald, the first Duke of Spoleto. After the death of Ariulf in 601 or 602, Theodelap and his brother fought for the throne. Theodelap won and was crowned duke. He held the dukedom for more than half a century, until his death. His reign was nevertheless uneventful and he appears to have been largely or completely independent of royal authority throughout. He was succeeded by Atto.
Transamund II was the Lombard Duke of Spoleto from 724 to 745, 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.
Faroald I was the first Duke of Spoleto, which he established during the decade of interregnum that followed the death of Alboin's successor. He led the Lombards into the centre of the Italian peninsula while Zotto led them into the south.
The Duchy of Rome was a state within the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna. Like other Byzantine states in Italy, it was ruled by an imperial functionary with the title of dux. The duchy often came into conflict with the Papacy over supremacy within Rome. After the founding of the Papal States in 756, the Duchy of Rome ceased to be an administrative unit and 'dukes of Rome', appointed by the popes rather than emperors, are only rarely attested.
The Kingdom of the Lombards, also known as the Lombard Kingdom and later as the Kingdom of all Italy, was an early medieval state established by the Lombards, a Germanic people, on the Italian Peninsula in the latter part of the 6th century. The king was traditionally elected by the very highest-ranking aristocrats, the dukes, as several attempts to establish a hereditary dynasty failed. The kingdom was subdivided into a varying number of duchies, ruled by semi-autonomous dukes, which were in turn subdivided into gastaldates at the municipal level. The capital of the kingdom and the center of its political life was Pavia in the modern northern Italian region of Lombardy.
Agiprand was briefly the Duke of Spoleto between 742 and 744.
In the Byzantine Empire, the Duchy of the Pentapolis was a duchy, a territory ruled by a duke (dux) appointed by and under the Exarch of Ravenna. The Pentapolis consisted of the cities of Ancona, Fano, Pesaro, Rimini and Sinigaglia. It lay along the Adriatic coast between the rivers Marecchia and Misco immediately south of the core territory of the exarchate ruled directly by the exarch, east of the Duchy of Perugia, another Byzantine territory, and north of the Duchy of Spoleto, which was part of the Lombard Kingdom of Italy. The duchy probably extended inland as far as the Apennine Mountains, perhaps beyond, and its southernmost town was Humana (Numera) on the northern bank of the Misco. The capital of the Pentapolis was Rimini and the duke was both the civil and military authority in the duchy.
The Duchy of Perugia was a duchy in the Italian part of the Byzantine Empire. Its civil and military administration was overseen by a duke (dux) appointed by and under the authority originally of the Praetorian Prefect of Italy (554–584) and later of the Exarch of Ravenna (584–751). Its chief city and namesake was Perugia (Perusia), located at its centre. It was a band of territory connecting the Duchy of the Pentapolis to its northeast with the Duchy of Rome to its southwest, and separating the duchies of Tuscia and Spoleto, both parts of the Lombard Kingdom of Italy. It was of great strategic significance to the Byzantines since it provided communication between Rome, the city of the Popes, and Ravenna, the capital of the Exarchate. Since it cut off the Duke of Spoleto from his nominal overlord, the king ruling from Pavia, it also disturbed the Lombard kingdom, which was a constant thorn in the Byzantines' side. This strategic importance meant that many Lombard and Byzantine armies passed through it.