Arioald was the Lombard king of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

from 626 to 636. Duke of

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

, he married the princess Gundeberga, daughter of King

Agilulf Agilulf ( 555 – April 616), called ''the Thuringian'' and nicknamed ''Ago'', was a duke of Turin and king of the Lombards from 591 until his death. A relative of his predecessor Authari, Agilulf was of Thuringian origin and belonged to the A ...

and his queen

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 ...

. He was, unlike his father-in-law, an Arian who did not accept

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Arioald deposed Agilulf's heir

Adaloald Adaloald (602–628) was the Lombard king of Italy from 616 to 626. He was son and heir of King Agilulf and his Catholic queen Theodelinda. He was baptised shortly after his birth in 602; the abbot Secundus of Non (later historian) was his g ...

with the support of the nobility, for Adaloald had gone mad. Upon becoming king, he had his wife locked up in a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

, accusing her of plotting against him with

Tasson Tasso (or Taso) (died 617) was the joint Duke of Friuli with his younger brother Kakko from their father's death (611Perhaps as early as 602.) to their own. Their father was Gisulf II and their mother Romilda of Friuli. In or around 611, Gisulf wa ...

duke of Friuli The dukes and margraves of Friuli were the rulers of the Duchy and March of Friuli in the Middle Ages. The dates given below, when contentious, are discussed in the articles of the respective dukes. Lombard dukes * 568–c.584 Grasulf I * 5 ...

. He also reestablished Arianism in the Lombard kingdom. His only recorded wars were against the Avars, whom he succeeded in repelling during an attempted invasion of northeast Italy.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arioald 7th-century Lombard monarchs 7th-century Arian Christians Lombard warriors