Adelperga (born c. 740 – died after 787) was a Lombard noblewoman, Duchess of Benevento by marriage to

Arechis II of Benevento Arechis II (also ''Aretchis'', ''Arichis'', ''Arechi'' or ''Aregis'') (born According to the ''Chronicon Salernitanum'', Arechis ''vixit autem quinquaginta tres (53) annos; obiit septimo Kal. Septembris, anno ab incarnacione Domini 787, indiction ...

. She acted as regent of Benevento for her son Grimoald in 787-788. She was the third of four daughters of

Desiderius Desiderius, also known as Daufer or Dauferius (born – died ), was king of the Lombards in northern Italy, ruling from 756 to 774. The Frankish king of renown, Charlemagne, married Desiderius's daughter and subsequently conquered his realm. De ...

, King of the Lombards, and his wife Ansa. Her elder sister

Desiderata "Desiderata"(Latin: 'things desired') is a 1927 prose poem by the American writer Max Ehrmann. The text was widely distributed in poster form in the 1960s and 1970s. History Max Ehrmann of Terre Haute, Indiana, started writing the work in 1921, ...

was a wife of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

Early life

She was the third of four daughters of

, King of the Lombards, and his wife Ansa. Adelperga was tutored by

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, sc ...

Duchess

About 757, she married Arechis II,

Duke of Benevento This is a list of dukes and princes of Benevento during the Duchy of Benevento between 577–774, the Principality of Benevento between 774–1081, and the Napoleonic creation Principality of Benevento (Napoleonic) between 1806-1815. Dukes of B ...

. She remained in contact with Paulus, who at her request wrote his continuation of Eutropius about 775. Paul dedicated to her his ''Versus de Annis'', including an

acrostic An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the Fre ...

spelling ''Adelperga pia''. Adelperga and Arechis had five children, Romuald (761/2–787), Grimoald (before 773 – April 806), Gisulf (d. before 806), Theoderada (d. after 787) and Adelchisa (b. after 773, d. after 817), abbess of San Salvatore d'Alife.

Conflict with Charlemagne

After the fall of the Kingdom of the

Lombards The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...

, Adelperga's parents and sister were exiled to Francia, where they were imprisoned in religious houses. Adelperga and her sister Liutperga embarked upon a struggle to regain their patrimony and take revenge upon Charlemagne. Liutperga ultimately brought ruin upon herself and her family by encouraging her husband Tassilo to rebel against his cousin Charlemagne. Charlemagne discovered Tassilo's plots and confiscated his goods. Tassilo, Liutperga, and their children were banished to monasteries. Adelperga was more successful; her husband resisted Charlemagne for some time, until in 787 he agreed to make peace. At the encouragement of his wife and the Byzantines, he refused the peace treaty, which would have entailed surrendering part of his duchy to the Papacy. Adelperga and Arechis sponsored the church of Santa Sofia in Benevento.

Regency

When Arechis died on 26 August 787, Adelperga acted as regent, because Charlemagne hesitated to release Adelperga's son Grimoald, whom he kept as a hostage. Grimoald was released and acceded as duke in February 787. He arrived in Benevento in 788, thus discontinuing Adalperga's regency. Grimoald swore fealty to Charlemagne and defeated a Byzantine invasion commanded by Adelchis. After this, Adelperga is not again mentioned.King, P. D. (1987): ''Charlemagne: Translated Sources''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adelperga 740s births 8th-century Italian women 8th-century Lombard people 8th-century Italian nobility Lombard women Year of birth uncertain Year of death unknown 8th-century women regents 8th-century duchesses consort 8th-century regents