Alboin

Alboin (530s – June 28, 572) is king of the Lombards from about 560 until 572.

During his reign the Lombards end their migrations by settling in Italy, the northern part of which Alboin conquers between 569 and 572.

He has a lasting impact on Italy and the Pannonian Basin; in the former his invasion marks the beginning of centuries of Lombard rule, and in the latter his defeat of the Gepids and his departure from Pannonia ends the dominance of the Germanic peoples.

The period of Alboin's reign as king in Pannonia following the death of his father, Audoin, iis one of confrontation and conflict between the Lombards and their main neighbors, the Gepids.

The Gepids initially gain the upper hand, but in 567, thanks to his alliance with the Avars, Alboin inflics a decisive defeat on his enemies, whose lands the Avars subsequently occupy.

The increasing power of his new neighbors causes Alboin some unease however, and he therefore decides to leave Pannonia for Italy, hoping to take advantage of the Byzantine Empire's reduced ability to defend its territory in the wake of the Gothic War.

After succeeding in gathering together a large coalition of peoples, Alboin begins his trek in 568.

After crossing the Julian Alps he enters an almost undefended Italy, and rapidly takes control of most of Venetia and Liguria.

In 569, unopposed, he takes northern Italy's main city, Milan.

Pavia offers stiff resistance however, and is only taken after a siege lasting three years.

During this time Alboin turns his attention to Tuscany, but signs of factionalism among his supporters and Alboin's diminishing control over his army increasingly begin to manifest themselves.

Alboin is assassinated on June 28, 572, in a coup d'état instigated by Constantinople.

It is organized by the king's foster brother, Helmichis, with the support of Alboin's wife, Rosamund, daughter of the Gepid king whom Alboin had killed some years earlier.

The coup fails in the face of opposition from a majority of the Lombards, who elect Cleph as Alboin's successor, forcing Helmichis and Rosamund to flee to Ravenna under imperial protection.

Alboin's death deprives the Lombards of the only leader who could have kept the newborn Germanic entity together, the last in the line of hero-kings who had led the Lombards through their migrations from Elba to Italy.

For many centuries following his death Alboin's heroism and his success in battle were celebrated in Saxon and Bavarian epic poetry.

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