Tasso (or Taso) (died 617) was the joint

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 ...

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 Romilda or Ramhilde (died 611), was a Duchess consort of Friuli by marriage to Duke Gisulf II of Friuli. She served as regent of Friuli in 611, during the invasion of the Pannonian Avars. Romilda was reportedly the daughter of Garibald I of Bavaria ...

. In or around 611, Gisulf was killed fending off an Avar invasion. Tasso, along with his brothers Kakko, Radoald, and Grimoald, escaped the Avars and evaded capture, successfully setting themselves up as Gisulf's successors. During their reign, they ruled over the

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

of the valley of the Gail up to Matrei and imposed a tribute upon them. Tasso and Kakko were treacherously killed one day by Gregory,

exarch 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 ...

. The

exarch An exarch (; from Ancient Greek ἔξαρχος ''exarchos'', meaning “leader”) was the holder of any of various historical offices, some of them being political or military and others being ecclesiastical. In the late Roman Empire and ea ...

, having invited Tasso to

Oderzo Oderzo ( la, Opitergium; vec, Oderso) is a '' comune'' with a population of 20,003 in the province of Treviso, Veneto, northern Italy. It lies in the heart of the Venetian plain, about to the northeast of Venice. Oderzo is crossed by the Montic ...

for a ceremonial beard-cutting, had him hunted down and killed along with Kakko. Radoald and Grimoald fled to

Arechis I of Benevento Arechis I (also ''Arigis'', ''Aretchis'', ) was the second duke of Benevento from 591 to his death in 641, a reign of half a century. He was from Friuli and was a relative of the dukes there, maybe a nephew of Zotto, his predecessor. He was appo ...

and Friuli passed to their uncle Grasulf II.

Notes

Sources

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, ...

''Historia Langobardorum''
Available at Northvegr. Year of birth missing 617 deaths Dukes of Friuli Lombard warriors 7th-century Lombard people 7th-century rulers in Europe {{Italy-noble-stub