Corvulus (also Corvolus) was the

Duke of Friuli The dukes and margraves of Friuli were the rulers of the Duchy of Friuli, 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.5 ...

for a brief spell in the early eighth century AD ( 705 or 706). Virtually nothing is known about his origin and life; he replaced Ferdulf, but he apparently offended King Aripert II and was arrested and had his eyes gouged out. He "lived " in shame as an obscure, blind exile thereafter, according to

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 ...

. He was ultimately replaced by Pemmo.

Name

"Corvulus" literally means "little

raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...

" in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, so this may have been a

hypocoristic A hypocorism ( or ; from Ancient Greek ; sometimes also ''hypocoristic''), or pet name, is a name used to show affection for a person. It may be a diminutive form of a person's name, such as '' Izzy'' for Isabel or '' Bob'' for Robert, or it ...

or Latinization for the duke's real birth name (as a likely ethnic Lombard who assimilated to Italo-Roman culture as many like him; cf.

Rabanus Maurus Rabanus Maurus Magnentius ( 780 – 4 February 856), also known as Hrabanus or Rhabanus, was a Frankish Benedictine monk, theologian, poet, encyclopedist and military writer who became archbishop of Mainz in East Francia. He was the author of t ...

, the first name from

Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

Sources

Paulus Diaconus 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 ...

''Historia Langobardorum''
Translated by

William Dudley Foulke William Dudley Foulke (November 20, 1848 – May 30, 1935) was an American literary critic, journalist, poet, and reformer. Biography William Dudley Foulke was born in New York City on November 20, 1848. He graduated Columbia University in 1869 ...

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

: 1907. * Hodgkin, Thomas. ''Italy and her Invaders''. Clarendon Press: 1895. Dukes of Friuli 8th-century dukes in Europe 8th-century Lombard people 7th-century births 8th-century deaths {{Italy-noble-stub