Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/471

LOMBARDS. 419 LOMBARDY. anarcliy, and whu was followed by Authari (5S4-oS)0), who assumed the title of Flavins, which had been borue by some of the later Ko- iium emperors, and asserted the usual claims of a Koman ruler. The administration of the Lombard Kingdom was soon so superior to that which then prevailed in other parts of Italy that to many the change of master was a positive re- lief from unjust and severe exactions. While the higher nobilit.y, however, in general retained some portion of their former wealth and great- ness, the possessors of small properties became fewiT in number, and sank into the class of mere cultivators. The rights of the municipal cor- porations, although acknowledged, were grad- ually abridged, partly through the encroachment of the Lombard dukes and partly through those of the higher clergy, till few relics of their an- cient self-government remained. These few, how- ever, were the germs from which, at a subsequent period, the liberties of the independent Italian cities were developed. The conversion of the Arian Lombards to the orthodox faith was brought about by the policy of Gregory the Great and by the zeal of Theude- linda, wife of Authari, and subsequently of his successor, Agilulf (590-615). Theudelinda per- suaded Agilulf to restore a portion of their prop- erty and dignities to the Catholic clergy, and to have his own son baptized according to the Cath- olic rites. She also built the magnificent Ba- silica of Saint .John the Baptist at ilonza, near JMilan, in which in subsequent times was kept the Lombard crown, called the Iron Croii:ii. The Lombards were ere long fully united to the Roman Catholic Church. The contests of the dukes prevented the firm consolidation of the Kingdom, or any very considerable extension of its boundaries. The edict of the Lombard King, Rothari (036-652), declaring the laws of the Lombards, promulgated in G43, is memorable. It was revised and extended by subsequent Lombard kings and remained in force for several centuries after the Lombard Kingdom had passed away. The Lombards gradually became assimilated with the former inhabitants of the land, their rude cu.stoms began to assume something of refinement, and the Latin language prevailed over the Ger- man. Of this original Lombard language little is known, nothing remaining to attest its Ger- man character except a few words and names, the very ballads in which the stories of Lombard heroes were recorded having come down to us in Latin versions. Liutprand (712-744) raised the Lombard King- dom to its highest prosperity. He quelled with a .strong hand the turbulence of the nobles, and sought to extend his dominion over all Italy. King .^istulf (740-750) gave a finishing blow to the Exarchate of Ravenna. (See Ravexxa. Ex- archate OF.) But the efforts of the ])opes to in- crease their temporal power, and the disputes which- arose concerning the succession to the Lombard throne, leil to the downfall of the Lombard King- dorii within a short time after. The popes allied themselves with the Frankish kings, and Pepin the Short, in gratitude for the Pope's sanction of his act in dethroning the ^Merovingian King, and making himself absolute ruler, invaded Italy in 754-755, and compelled King Aistilf to refrain from further conquests, and even to give up some of the cities which had already yielded to his arms; these Pepin bestowed upon the Church. New causes of hostility between the Frankish and the Lombard monarchs arose wlien Charles the Great sent back his wife, the daughter of the Lombard King Uesiderius (756-774), to her father, whereupon Uesiderius embraced the cause of the children of Carloman, Charles's brother, against the King. In the autumn of 773 Charles invaded Italy; and in May of the following year Pavia was conquered and the Lombar<l Kingdom was overthrown. In 776 an insurrection of .some of the Lombard dukes brought Charles again into Italy, and the dukedoms were broken up into counties, and the Lombard system, as far as possible, was supplanted by that of the Franks. In 803 a treaty between Charles and Nicephorus, the Eastern Emperor, confirmed the right of the former to the Lombard territory, with Rome, the Exarchate, Istria, etc. The independent Lom- bard duchy of Benevento survived the overthrow of the Lombard Kingdom. Consult Hodgkin, Italy and Her Invaders, vols, v.-viii. (O.xford, 1880), where many references to sources and secondary works are given. LOMBARDY, lom'ber-dl. The historic name of that part of Xorthem Italy which com- prises the modern provinces of Bergamo, Bres- cia, Como, Cremona, Mantua, Milan, Pavia, and .Sondrio. It lies mainly north of the Po, between Piedmont on the west and Venetia on the east, and embraces the valleys of the Ticino, Adda, Oglio, and Mincio rivers. Lom- bardy is in great part a fertile plain, splen- didly irrigated, and yielding liountiful crops of maize, wheat, and rice. The northern part is occupied by the Alps. On the borders of Pied- mont is Lago Maggiore and on the Venetian lior- ders is Lago di Garda. while within the Lombard territories are Lakes Como, part of Lugano, and Iseo. Lombardy produces immense quantities of silk, and is noted for its cheese. Vine is ex- tensively produced. Lombardy is industrially the most important section of Italv. The poim- lation. in 11)01, was 4.282.728. the princi|)al city is ^lilan. Lombardy has its name from the Lombards, who occupied the region in the second half of the sixth century. (See Lombabds.) In 774 Charles the Great, King of the I'ranks, put an end to the Lombard Kingdom. After the dis- solution of the Carolingian Empire and the rise of the new German Roman Empire, Loml)ardy, with a great part of Italy, was held in a nominal feudal subjection to the emperors, and those of the Saxon and succeeding houses came down at intervals and held diets in the plains of Ron- caglia. In the development of industrial cities in Italy which was so remarkable a feature of the centuries from the tenth to the twelfth. Lom- bardy took a leading place, and a strong spirit of independence arose in the rich and prosperous commonwealths, of which !Milan and Pavia were the most notable. A league of the Lombard cities, formed in 1167, was strong enough to oppose the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa (see Frederick I.), to defeat him at Legnano (1176), and to wrest from him in the Peace of Constance ( 1183) numerous chartered privileges. This peace granted such a measure of autonomy to the cities as to make the League, which was officially recog- nized, virtually a republic, recognizing the nomi- nal suzerainty of the Emperor. .Tealousy among the cities of the League prevented their utilizing this opportunity for the creation of a strong federal State. The League soon fell apart. It