The Harodingian dynasty ( or ) was a prominent Lombard noble family which provided

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

with two kings in the middle of the seventh century (636–653). The Harodingians started out owning one small ''fara'' near

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

. Then

Rothari Rothari (or Rothair) ( 606 – 652), of the house of Arodus, was king of the Lombards from 636 to 652; previously he had been duke of Brescia. He succeeded Arioald, who was an Arian like himself, and was one of the most energetic of Lombard ki ...

, son of Nanding, became Duke of Brescia and raised the fortunes of his family to great heights. In 636, he was elected to the Lombard throne. Through his marriage to Gundiperga, widow of

Arioald Arioald was the Lombard king of Italy from 626 to 636. Duke of Turin, he married the princess Gundeberga, daughter of King Agilulf and his queen Theodelinda. He was, unlike his father-in-law, an Arian who did not accept Catholicism. Arioald ...

and daughter of

Authari Authari ( 550 – 5 September 590) was king of the Lombards from 584 to his death. He was considered the first Lombard king to have adopted some level of ''Romanitas'' (Roman-ness) and introduced policies that led to drastic changes, particul ...

and

Theodelinda Theodelinda, also spelled ''Theudelinde'' ( 570 – 628 AD), was a queen of the Lombards by marriage to two consecutive Lombard rulers, Autari and then Agilulf, and regent of Lombardia during the minority of her son Adaloald, and co-regent when ...

, he attained legitimacy and a connection to the ancient and illustrious Lething and Agilolfing families. Indeed, Gundiperga had been given the opportunity upon her husband's death to choose a new husband to reign over the Lombards. A Catholic herself, she chose the

Arian Arianism (, ) is a Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is considered he ...

but tolerant Rothari and thus changed the course of Lombard Italy and its

Papal The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

relations. Rothari's young son and successor, Rodoald, was the last Harodingian and last Arian to wear the Iron Crown. The

Bavarian dynasty The Bavarian dynasty was those kings of the Lombards who were descended from Garibald I, the Agilolfing duke of Bavaria. They came to rule the Lombards through Garibald's daughter Theodelinda, who married the Lombard king Authari in 588. The B ...

replaced them and another attempt to establish a long-lasting dynasty failed.

Sources

* * {{cite book , last=Rovagnati , first=Sergio , title=I Longobardi , language=it , location=Milano , publisher=Xenia , date=2003 , isbn=88-7273-484-3 Medieval royal families Lombard families Harodingian dynasty