The Battle of Coronate took place in 689, after King Cunicpert returned from exile and ousted

Alahis Alahis (or Alagis) (fl. 680–689) was the Arian duke of Trent and Brescia before becoming king of the Lombards after his successful rebellion in 688. He did not rule long, however. His first rebellion against King Perctarit failed in 680, but ...

, Usurper King and

Duke of Trent The Duchy of Tridentum (Trent) was an autonomous Lombard duchy, established by Euin during the Lombard interregnum of 574–584 that followed the assassination of the Lombard leader Alboin. The stronghold of Euin's territory was the Roman cit ...

, from the capital

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 ...

. Duke Alahis fled towards the east, into

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. There he assembled an army to march against the king. Within the same year, Alahis crossed the River Adda, the border between

Neustria Neustria was the western part of the Kingdom of the Franks. Neustria included the land between the Loire and the Silva Carbonaria, approximately the north of present-day France, with Paris, Orléans, Tours, Soissons as its main cities. It late ...

and

, and faced Cunincpert in the plain of Coronate. Wishing to spare the Lombard blood of so many, Cunincpert offered Alahis to engage him in single combat. But

refused and both camps prepared for battle. Fearing for Cunincpert's life, a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

named Seno begged the king to lend him his armor, so that he, the

, appeared to be the king and distract all troubles from

Cunincpert Cunincpert (also Cunibert or Cunipert) was king of the Lombards from 688 to 700. He succeeded his father Perctarit, though he was associated with the throne from 680. Life Soon after his assumption of the sole kingship, Cunincpert was ousted by ...

. Finally, Cunincpert agreed to that plan and battle was joined. Once

spotted the supposed king, he charged and killed him. When

was about to take off the helmet, and present to his troops the dead king, he realised that he had only slain a

cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

. In fury,

swore a horrible oath, as

Paul the Deacon Paul the Deacon ( 720s 13 April in 796, 797, 798, or 799 AD), also known as ''Paulus Diaconus'', ''Warnefridus'', ''Barnefridus'', or ''Winfridus'', and sometimes suffixed ''Cassinensis'' (''i.e.'' "of Monte Cassino"), was a Benedictine monk, ...

recorded: Cunincpert's men were horrified by the news that the king had been killed. But Cunincpert assured them all that he was alive and well. Again the two hosts drew together for the battle, and again Cunincpert renewed his offer to settle the quarrel by single combat and spare the lives of the people. But Alahis again refused to accept the challenge, this time alleging that he saw among the standards of his rival the image of the

Archangel Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

. The trumpets sounded again for the charge, neither side gave way to the other, and a terrible slaughter was made of Lombard warriors. But at length Alahis fell, and the victory went to King Cunincpert. Great was the slaughter among the fleeing troops of Alahis, and those who were not killed by the sword, drowned in the River Adda. The head and legs of Alahis were cut off, leaving only his torso. The body of the brave

Seno, however, was buried by the king’s order before the gates of the church of St. John. Cunincpert returned to

in great triumph and later founded a monastery in honor of St. George the Martyr on the battlefield of Coronate in memory of his victory.

Sources

{{coord missing, Italy Kingdom of the Lombards Coronate 689 Coronate Coronate 7th century in Italy