The Lethings (Italian: Letingi) were a dynasty of Lombard kings ruling in the 5th and 6th centuries until 546. They were the first Lombard royal dynasty and represent the emergence of the Lombard rulership out of obscurity and into history.
The Lethings were elected by an assembly of warriors. They took their dynastic name from Lethuc, the first known Lombard king. When Lethuc died and was replaced by Aldihoc, the Lombards took a step towards institutional stability. Under the Lethings, too, the Lombards, who had thitherto wandered around northern Europe, migrated south to the Danube and Pannonia. In 510, the reigning Lething, Tato, was displaced by his nephew, Wacho, and thereafter until 546 a cadet branch of the original house ruled. Under the last dynasts, the Lombards became a power in terms of their threat to the Byzantine Empire on par with the Ostrogoths and Franks.
The Lething were displaced when the child ruler Walthari was killed by his regent, Audoin, who then assumed the throne, inaugurating the Gausi dynasty. The Lething lineage did no die out, however, as Waldrada, a daughter of Wacho, had married Garibald I of Bavaria, and fostered a daughter, Theodelinda, who married Authari and became Queen of the Lombards. Her descendents were the Bavarian dynasty, a cadet branch of the Agilolfings, themselves Frankish.
The Kings of the Lombards or reges Langobardorum (singular rex Langobardorum) ruled that Germanic people from early in the 6th century until the Lombardic identity became lost in the 9th and 10th centuries. After 568, the Lombard kings sometimes styled themselves Kings of Italy (rex totius Italiae). After 774, they were not Lombards, but Franks. The Iron Crown of Lombardy (Corona Ferrea) was used for the coronation of the Lombard kings and the kings of Italy thereafter for centuries.
The primary sources for the Lombard kings before the Frankish conquest are the anonymous 7th-century Origo Gentis Langobardorum and the 8th-century Historia Langobardorum of Paul the Deacon. The earliest kings (the pre-Lethings) listed in the Origo are almost certainly legendary. They purportedly reigned during the Migration Period. The first ruler attested independently of Lombard tradition is Tato.
Contents
Early rulers
Legendary rulers
Shava
Agelmund
Lamissio
Ybor and Agio, brothers, together with their mother Gambara, who led the emigration from Scandinavia
Agilmund, son of Agio
Laiamicho
Lething Dynasty
The Lethings were an early dynasty from the time of Lethuc. The last ruling descendant of Lethuc was Walthari, whose son was in turn displaced by Audoin of the family of the Gausi.
Lethuc (fl. c. 400), ruled for some 40 years.
Aldihoc (mid-5th century)
Godehoc (480s), led the Lombards into modern-day Austria
Claffo (fl. c. 500)
Tato (early 6th century, died perhaps 510), his son Ildichus died in exile
Wacho (510539), son of Unichus
Waltari (539546), son of Wacho
Gausian Dynasty
Audoin (546565), led the Lombards into Pannonia
Kings in Italy
See also: Kingdom of the Lombards
Gausian Dynasty
Alboin (565 - 572)
Unnamed dynasty
Cleph (572 - 574)
Rule of the Dukes (Ten year interregnum)
Authari (584 - 590), son of previous
Agilulf (591 - c.616), cousin of previous
Bavarian Dynasty
Adaloald (c.616 - c.626)
Non-dynastic king
Arioald (c.626 - 636)
Harodingians
Rothari (636 - 652)
Rodoald (652 - 653)
Bavarian Dynasty, First Restoration
Aripert I (653 - 661)
Perctarit and Godepert (661 - 662)
Beneventan Dynasty
Grimuald (662 - 671)
Garibald (671)
Bavarian Dynasty, Second Restoration
Perctarit (671 - 688) (restored from exile)
Alahis (688 - 689), rebel
Cunincpert (688 - 700)
Liutpert (700 - 701)
Raginpert (701)
Aripert II (701 - 712)
Non-dynastic kings
Ansprand (712)
Liutprand (712 - 744)
Hildeprand (744)
Ratchis (744 - 749)
Aistulf (749 - 756)
Desiderius (756 - 774)
Carolingian Dynasty
Charlemagne conquered the Lombards in 774 at the invitation of Pope Adrian I.
Charlemagne (774-781) in personal union, passed kingship to third son, Pippin
Pepin (781-810) king under authority of Charlemagne
Bernard (810-818)
Lothair I (818-839)
Louis II (839875)
The title rex Langobardorum, synonymous with rex Italiae, lasted well into the High Middle Ages,[1] but subsequent holders are found at King of Italy.
Kind(eren):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lething_Dynasty
List_of_kings_of_the_Lombards.htm