Who were the Lombards?

   Lombard was the name of a Germanic tribe that conquered much of Italy in the late A.D. 500's, and threatened the political power of the popes.

   The Lombards probably came from Gotland Island in the Baltic Sea. They migrated to northern Germany along the lower Elbe River in the 100's b.c. In the a.d. 300's, they began to move southward. By about 490, they had settled in what is now Austria. The Lombards invaded Italy in 568 and seized control of much of the Italian peninsula. They settled in a part of northern Italy that is still called Lombardy.

   The popes in Rome feared the Lombards would destroy their political power. In 754, Pope Stephen II asked the Franks for help. Pepin the Short, the Frankish king, invaded Italy and defeated the Lombards. Pepin gave part of central Italy to the pope in 756. In 774, Charlemagne, Pepin's son, crushed the Lombards. As a result of the Lombard defeat, the Franks won control of Italy and the popes' power remained secure.

Iron Crown of Lombardy