Gundeberga or Gundeperga ( – after 653) was queen 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 ...

in 626–652 by marriage to the kings

Arioald Arioald was the Lombard king of Italy from 626 to 636. Duke of Turin, he married the princess Gundeberga, daughter of King Agilulf and his queen Theodelinda. He was, unlike his father-in-law, an Arian who did not accept Catholicism. Arioald ...

''(king of the Lombards; 626–636)'' and his successor

Rothari Rothari (or Rothair) ( 606 – 652), of the house of Arodus, was king of the Lombards from 636 to 652; previously he had been duke of Brescia. He succeeded Arioald, who was an Arian like himself, and was one of the most energetic of Lombard ki ...

''(king of the Lombards; 636–652)''. She acted as Regent during the minority of her stepson

Rodoald Rodoald (or ''Rodwald''), ( 630 – 653) was a Lombard king of Italy, who succeeded his father Rothari on the throne in 652. He was said to be lecherous and he was assassinated after a reign of just six months in 653 by the husband of one of his ...

after the death of her second husband in 652.

Life

She was the daughter of

Theodelinda Theodelinda, also spelled ''Theudelinde'' ( 570 – 628 AD), was a queen of the Lombards by marriage to two consecutive Lombard rulers, Autari and then Agilulf, and regent of Lombardia during the minority of her son Adaloald, and co-regent when ...

and her second husband, the Lombard king

Agilulf Agilulf ( 555 – April 616), called ''the Thuringian'' and nicknamed ''Ago'', was a duke of Turin and king of the Lombards from 591 until his death. A relative of his predecessor Authari, Agilulf was of Thuringian origin and belonged to t ...

. As her mother was the daughter of duke Garibald I of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, Gundeberga is considered part of the

Bavarian Dynasty The Bavarian dynasty was those kings of the Lombards who were descended from Garibald I, the Agilolfing duke of Bavaria. They came to rule the Lombards through Garibald's daughter Theodelinda, who married the Lombard king Authari in 588. The B ...

of Lombard royalty. She married

, (king of the Lombards; 626–636), becoming queen of Lombardy. After the death of her husband in 636, she married his successor

, ''(king of the Lombards; 636–652)''. She became the stepmother of

. Upon the death of her second husband Rothari in 652, he was succeeded by his son Rodoald. Since Rodoald was too young to rule in accordance with Lombard custom, Gundeberga formally acted as his regent. Rodoald died in 653. It is known that Gundeberga survived his death, but her later life is not known. We do not know the exact year of her death, but only that she was buried in

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

in the church of San Giovanni Domnarum, which she founded.

References

{{authority control 590s births 7th-century Lombard people Queens consort of the Lombards 7th-century deaths 6th-century Italian women Baiuvarii 7th-century Italian women 7th-century women regents 7th-century regents Monastery prisoners 7th-century queens consort