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 Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome. History Sp ...

Lombards

The

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

had invaded Italy in 568 AD and conquered much of it, establishing the

Kingdom of the Lombards The Kingdom of the Lombards ( la, Regnum Langobardorum; it, Regno dei Longobardi; lmo, Regn di Lombard) also known as the Lombard Kingdom; later the Kingdom of (all) Italy ( la, Regnum totius Italiae), was an early medieval state established ...

, which was divided among several dukes dependent on the King. The King himself had established his seat in

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the ...

in 572. In the following years they also conquered much of southern and central Italy, conquering the important hub of

, in what is now Umbria, in 570. A decade of interregnum after the death of

Alboin Alboin (530s – 28 June 572) was king of the Lombards from about 560 until 572. During his reign the Lombards ended their migrations by settling in Italy, the northern part of which Alboin conquered between 569 and 572. He had a lasting eff ...

's successor (574), however, left the Lombard dukes (especially the southern ones) well settled in their new territories and quite independent of the Lombard kings at Pavia. By 575 or 576 Faroald had seized Nursia and Spoleto, establishing his duchy and sponsoring an Arian bishop. Within Spoleto, the Roman '' capitolium'' dedicated to

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousand ...

, Juno and

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the R ...

had already been occupied by the bishop's

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

(the see was founded in the 4th century) which incorporated the pagan structure (now the church of San Ansano). The Lombard dukes restored the fortifications of the high ''rocca,'' whose walls had been dismantled by Totila during the Gothic War. The dukes of Spoleto waged intermittent war with the Byzantine

Exarchate of Ravenna The Exarchate of Ravenna ( la, Exarchatus Ravennatis; el, Εξαρχάτο της Ραβέννας) or of Italy was a lordship of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) in Italy, from 584 to 751, when the last exarch was put to death by the ...

, and Spoleto's territories fluctuated with the fortunes of the times over much of Umbria,

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, the

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

and the Abruzzi. Never as important as the Duchy of Benevento, Spoleto has a fairly obscure spot in Lombard history, nevertheless. Its second Duke Ariulf made frequent expeditions against the Byzantines (in 579–592 against Ravenna and in 592 against Rome). Ariulf was succeeded by

Theudelapius Theodelap or Theudelapius was one of the sons of Faroald Faroald I (also spelled Faruald) (died 591 or 592) was the first Duke of Spoleto, which he established during the decade of interregnum that followed the death of Alboin's successor (574 or ...

, son of Faroald, whom the ''

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

'' credits with the first building of Spoleto's cathedral. Then came Atto (653), Thrasimund I (663), and Faroald II (703), who ruled conjointly with his brother Wachilap. Faroald II captured Classis, the port of Ravenna, according to Paul the Deacon's ''History of the Lombards'': "In that time too Faroald, the first ''dux'' of the Spoletans, invading Classis with an army of Lombards, left the wealthy city despoiled and bare of all its riches." He was then obliged by Liutprand, King of the Lombards to restore it, a measure of the loose central control of Lombard rule that Liutprand was occupied in tightening, at least as Paul interpreted events for his Frankish patrons. At Spoleto Faroald was deposed by his son Transemund II (724), who also rebelled against Liutprand and formed an alliance with Pope Gregory III, who sheltered him in Rome in 738. Ilderic, who had replaced him as duke, was slain by Transemund in 740, but in 742 Transemund was forcibly retired to a monastery by Liutprand, who conferred the duchy that he had rewon by force of arms upon Agiprand (742). By the time of Liutprand's death (744), Spoleto was more securely in central control from Pavia, and Theodicus succeeded peaceably. Three 8th-century dukes were Kings of the Lombards, a sign that in that period Spoleto was linked more closely to the kingdom than was Benevento.

Imperial fief

In 776, two years after the fall of Pavia, Spoleto fell likewise to

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...

and his

Carolingian Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the L ...

, and he assumed the title King of the Lombards. Though he granted the territory to the Church, he retained the right to name its dukes, an important concession that can be compared to the as-yet uncontested Imperial right to invest territorial bishops, and perhaps at times a matter of contention between Emperor and Papacy, for Pope Adrian I had recently named a duke of Spoleto. In 842, the former duchy was resurrected by the Franks to be held as a Frankish border territory by a dependent

margrave Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the ...

. Among the more outstanding of the Frankish dukes, Guido I divided the duchy between his two sons Lambert and Guido II, who received as his share the lordship of Camerino, which was made a duchy. Lambert was a doughty fighter against

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia ...

raiders, but who equally massacred Byzantines (as in 867), and was deposed in 871, restored in 876, and finally

excommunicate Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

d by Pope John VIII. In 883 Guido II reunited the dukedom, henceforth as the Duchy of Spoleto and Camerino. After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, Guido had himself crowned Roman Emperor and

King of Italy King of Italy ( it, links=no, Re d'Italia; la, links=no, Rex Italiae) was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a barbarian military leader ...

by Pope Stephen V (891). The following year Pope Formosus crowned Guido's son Lambert II as duke, king and emperor. The dukes of Spoleto continued to intervene in the violent politics of Rome. Alberico I, Duke of Camerino (897), and afterwards of Spoleto, married the notorious Roman noblewoman

Marozia Marozia, born Maria and also known as Mariuccia or Mariozza ( 890 – 937), was a Roman noblewoman who was the alleged mistress of Pope Sergius III and was given the unprecedented titles ''senatrix'' ("senatoress") and ''patricia'' of Rome by ...

, mistress of

Pope Sergius III Pope Sergius III (c. 860 − 14 April 911) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from 29 January 904 to his death. He was pope during a period of violence and disorder in central Italy, when warring aristocratic factions ...

(904–911), and was killed by the Romans in 924. His son Alberico II overthrew the ''senatrix'' in 932 though her son, his half-brother, was

Pope John XII Pope John XII ( la, Ioannes XII; c. 930/93714 May 964), born Octavian, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 16 December 955 to his death in 964. He was related to the counts of Tusculum, a powerful Roman family which had do ...

. About 949 the Frankish King

Berengar II of Italy Berengar II ( 900 – 4 August 966) was the King of Italy from 950 until his deposition in 961. He was a scion of the Anscarid and Unruoching dynasties, and was named after his maternal grandfather, Berengar I. He succeeded his father as Marg ...

retook Spoleto from its final margrave. At that time, the Emperor

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of He ...

detached from the Duchy of Spoleto the lands called ''Sabina Langobardica'' and presented them to the Holy See. Now the control of Spoleto became increasingly a gift of the emperors. In 967, Otto briefly united the Duchy of Spoleto with that of

Principality of Capua The Principality of Capua ( la, italic=yes, Principatus Capuae or ''Capue'', it, italic=yes, Principato di Capua) was a Lombard state centred on Capua in Southern Italy, usually ''de facto'' independent, but under the varying suzerainty of ...

and Benevento, which was then ruled by Pandulf Ironhead. After Pandolf's death in 981, the joint principality of Spoleto, Capua and Benevento is partitioned amongst the sons of Pandulf, who fight endlessly to gain supremacy. Landulf IV gains Spoleto, Capua, and Benevento, while Pandulf II receives Salerno. Then in 989 Otto III detached Spoleto and granted it to Hugh, Margrave of Tuscany. Later in December 998, Otto appointed Adhemar of Capua as the Duke of Spoleto. Adhemar ruled four years until the duchy is united a second time with

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

in 1003. During the

Investiture Controversy The Investiture Controversy, also called Investiture Contest (German: ''Investiturstreit''; ), was a conflict between the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops ( investiture) and abbots of mona ...

with the papacy, the Emperor Henry IV named other dukes of Spoleto. In 1152, the emperor gave the duchy to Guelf VI of Este. The city was destroyed by Emperor Frederick I three years later, but was soon rebuilt. After that, the dukedom was held by the family of the Werner (Guarnieri) of Urslingen, Margraves of Ancona. In 1183, Frederick appointed Conrad of Urslingen as the Duke. Conrad ruled until 1190 when Frederick died and the Guelphs seized the principality and positioned Pandulf as the Duke. Five years later after Henry VI succeeded Frederick I as emperor, Conrad regained the position as Duke of Spoleto. After Henry VI died in 1197 and Otto of Brunswick became the King of Italy in 1198, however, Conrad left the position and ceded Spoleto to

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III ( la, Innocentius III; 1160 or 1161 – 16 July 1216), born Lotario dei Conti di Segni (anglicized as Lothar of Segni), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 to his death in 16 ...

Papal fief

In 1201, in support of Pope Innocent's desire to strengthen the dominion of the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...

, Otto made a gift of the Imperial rights for Spoleto to the Papacy. In 1209, after the death of Philip of Swabia, however, Otto became the Holy Roman Emperor and reneged on his earlier promises to support the Pope. Otto set his sights on reestablishing Imperial power and occupied Spoleto until 1213 when the duchy was brought back under papal rule with a governor, usually a cardinal. However, Spoleto remained a pawn in the struggles of Frederick II until the extinction of the

House of Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynas ...

in 1254. Ultimately, the territories of Spoleto were annexed to the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples. The title of Duchy of Spoleto was later used by members of the House of Savoy.

Citations

References

* * *

External links

* The History Files
Lombard Dukes of Spoleto

on the ''