Among 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 ...

, the

duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

or '' dux'' was the man who acted as political and military commander of a set of "military families" (the Fara), irrespective of any territorial appropriation.

Etymology

The proper

Lombardic language Lombardic or Langobardic () is an extinct West Germanic language that was spoken by the Lombards (), the Germanic people who settled in present-day Italy in the sixth century and established the Kingdom of the Lombards. It was already declining ...

term for the figure of the duke is not known; the oldest Lombard historiographical sources (the anonymous '' Origo gentis Langobardorum'' and ''

Historia Langobardorum The ''History of the Lombards'' or the ''History of the Langobards'' () is the chief work by Paul the Deacon, written in the late 8th century. This incomplete history in six books was written after 787 and at any rate no later than 796, maybe at ...

'' of Paul Deacon) were written in Latin. The Latin word '' dux'' was adopted to designate a political and military figure that had no exact equivalent in the classical world, thus redefining the concept of "duke" in a form that would continue to develop in later centuries.

History

The figure of the Duke emerged between the 4th and 5th centuries, after the

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts of ...

settled between the

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

and the current northern

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

. At that time the Lombards were nomads, forming homogeneous groups and compact families originating from the same noble

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

, and able to organize themselves into quotas with military functions: the

Fare A fare is the fee paid by a passenger for use of a public transport system: rail, bus, taxi, etc. In the case of air transport, the term airfare is often used. Fare structure is the system set up to determine how much is to be paid by various p ...

. The Dukes were the leaders of the Fare. In that office, they were honored as warriors for the dynastic ties and their valor shown in war, and later rewarded by the

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

. The figure of the Lombard Duke encompassed a mixture of military, noble, sacral (invested by the king, attended his "charisma"), political, judicial, and administrative elements. In the assembly of the people in arms (" Gairethinx"), the dukes had a prominent role, and were decisive in the election of the king. Once in Italy, the ducal institution gradually became linked with the territory, but always subordinate to the political-military status of the Duke. Since the first city conquered by

Alboin Alboin (530s – 28 June 572) was List of kings of the Lombards, king of the Lombards from about 560 until 572. During his reign the Lombards ended their migration period, migrations by settling in Kingdom of the Lombards, Italy, the northern ...

in 568,

Cividale Cividale del Friuli (, locally ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity of Udine, part of the Northern Italy, North-Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The town lies above sea-level in th ...

, a duke was appointed in any militarily significant urban center, with a mandate to lead the Lombards warriors settled in nearby areas "''in Fara''" against any enemy threats. From that first settlement, however, the ducal institution had a dual character: on the one hand, the Duke was a commander of an army, on the other, he was the head of a fraction of the people ( "''gens''"), and therefore subject to the expectations and traditions (management of power, military activity, division of wealth) of the people themselves. The Duke was thus given a royal investiture and a political-military nature, but at the same time also carried a unique power as a guarantor of a particular social structure (that of the Fara). These coexisting but contradictory factors characterize the

Lombard Kingdom The Kingdom of the Lombards, also known as the Lombard Kingdom and later as the Kingdom of all Italy (), was an Early Middle Ages, early medieval state established by the Lombards, a Germanic people, on the Italian Peninsula in the latter part ...

, in constant tension between the centralizing impulses of sovereign power and aspirations for autonomy of the Dukes; over the centuries a transition was seen from greater ducal independence (so that for the ten years of the so-called

Rule of the Dukes The Rule of the Dukes was an interregnum in the Lombard Kingdom of Italy (574/5–584/5) during which part of Italy was ruled by the Lombard dukes of the old Roman provinces and urban centres. The interregnum is said to have lasted a decade ...

, 574 to 584, they ruled as absolute monarchs in their seats) to a growing assertion of central power, although their aspirations for autonomy were not completely settled.Lida Capo, ''Commento'' a Paolo Diacono, ''Storia dei Longobardi'', pp. 432-433. The Lombard duchies, both in Langobardia Maior and Langobardia Minor, were not abolished with the fall in the realm in 774, and were later incorporated into the

Carolingian Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–887) was a Franks, Frankish-dominated empire in Western and Central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as List of Frankish kings, kings of the Franks since ...

. The only exception, the

Duchy of Benevento A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between "sovereign ...

, was soon elevated to the rank of principality (though weakened by secessions), retaining its autonomy and indeed playing an important political role until the arrival of the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

in the 11th century. With the defeat of the Lombard kingdom by the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

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 ...

, the figure of the Lombard Duke was replaced by the Frankish

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

; however, the

remained outside the Carolingian Empire, and maintained a substantial degree of autonomy.

List of Lombard duchies

* Duchy of Friuli * Duchy of Ceneda * Duchy of Treviso * Duchy of Vicenza * Duchy of Verona * Duchy of Trent *

Duchy of Parma The Duchy of Parma and Piacenza (, ) was an Italian state created in 1545 and located in northern Italy, in the current region of Emilia-Romagna. Originally a realm of the Farnese family after Pope Paul III made it a hereditary duchy for his s ...

* Duchy of Reggio *

Duchy of Piacenza The Duchy of Parma and Piacenza (, ) was an Italian state created in 1545 and located in northern Italy, in the current region of Emilia-Romagna. Originally a realm of the Farnese family after Pope Paul III made it a hereditary duchy for his so ...

* Duchy of Brescia * Duchy of Bergamo * Duchy of San Giulio * Duchy of Pavia * Duchy of Turin * Duchy of Asti * Duchy of Tuscany *

Duchy of Spoleto The Duchy of Spoleto () was a Lombards, Lombard territory founded about 570 in central Italy by the Lombard ''dux'' Faroald I of Spoleto, Faroald. Its capital was the city of Spoleto. Lombards The Lombards invaded northern Italy in 568 and b ...

, after 774 the Principality of Benevento; later the Principalities of Salerno and

Capua Capua ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, located on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etruscan ''Capeva''. The ...

gained independence from it *

Duchy of Aosta __NOTOC__ The Duchy of Aosta, originally the County of Aosta (), was a realm ruled by the House of Savoy from the early 11th century until the late 18th, when its independent institutions were aligned with those of the Principality of Piedmont. Th ...

Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan (; ) was a state in Northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti of Milan, Visconti family, which had been ruling the city since 1277. At that time, ...

* Duchy of Ivrea * Duchy of Persiceta

References

Sources

* Paul Deacon, ''

'' (''Storia dei Longobardi'', Lorenzo Valla/Mondadori, Milan 1992)

Bibliography