The Origo Gentis Langobardorum (Latin for "Origin of the tribe of the Lombards") is a short, 7th-century AD Latin account offering a founding myth of the Longobard people. The first part describes the origin and naming of the Lombards, the following text more resembles a king-list, up until the rule of Perctarit (672–688).
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👉 Origo Gentis Langobardorum in the context of Codex Gothanus 84
The Codex Gothanus 84 is a 10th/11th century Latin law parchment manuscript in two-column Carolingian minuscule and is one of two extant copies of a lost early ninth-century codex written at Fulda and commissioned by Eberhard of Friuli, probably about 830, from the scholar Lupus Servatus, abbot of Ferrières. It is held by the Gotha Research Library (Gotha, Forschungsbibliothek, Memb. I 84), hence its name.
The manuscript contains laws useful in the administration of Friuli, preceded by a text of the origins of the Lombards, probably compiled before the death of Pepin of Italy (810). According to Walter Pohl it is written from a Carolingian and Christian perspective, substituting for the Longobardi origin myth concerning Wotan a controlling sense of Providence. The Monumenta Germaniae Historica version (MGH SRL, pp 7-11) calls it Historia Langobardorum Codicis Gothani. The opening and closing of the Codex Gothanus are so different from the Origo Gentis Langobardorum and Paul the Deacon that Thomas Hodgkin, Italy and Her Invaders (vol VI 1880:146, note B) printed them separately rather than attempt to weave them into a coherent whole.
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Origo Gentis Langobardorum
- 👉 Origo Gentis Langobardorum in the context of Codex Gothanus 84
- Origo Gentis Langobardorum in the context of Lombards
- Origo Gentis Langobardorum in the context of List of kings of the Lombards
- Origo Gentis Langobardorum in the context of Waldrada (Lombard)
Origo Gentis Langobardorum in the context of Lombards
The Lombards, Longobards or Langobards (Latin: Langobardi) were a Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774 AD. They had previously settled in the Middle Danube in the 5th century, near what is now Austria, Slovenia and Hungary. Their previous homeland was in the north, near present day Hamburg. Roman-era historians in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD mention the Lombards as one of the Suebian peoples, and report them living on the Lower Elbe already in the early 1st century. Their legacy is apparent in Lombardy, northern Italy, the region deriving its name from them.
There are no contemporary accounts of the Lombards in the 3rd or 4th century, or for most of the 5th century, which is when they reappear, near the Danube river far to the south. Legendary accounts of the Lombard migration are found in several early medieval texts, the oldest being the Origo Gentis Langobardorum (Origin of the Lombard People). There are two other notable later adaptions, the Chronicon Gothanum and the more scholarly History of the Lombards by Paul the Deacon, written between 787 and 796 AD, which contain more information. All three describe the Lombards as a people who moved to the Danube from somewhere near the North Sea. The details, however, differ until they enter "Rugiland" soon after Odoacer's defeat in 487/488 AD of the Rugii, who had a kingdom near what is now Vienna.
Origo Gentis Langobardorum in the context of List of kings of the Lombards
The kings of the Lombards or reges Langobardorum (singular rex Langobardorum) were the monarchs of the Lombard people from the early 6th century until the Lombardic identity became lost in the 9th and 10th centuries. After 774, the kings were not Lombards, but Franks. From the 12th century, the votive crown and reliquary known as the Iron Crown (Corona Ferrea) retrospectively became a symbol of their rule, though it was never used by Lombard kings.
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.
Origo Gentis Langobardorum in the context of Waldrada (Lombard)
Waldrada (also Vuldetrada) (531–572), wife (firstly) of Theudebald, King of Austrasia (ruled 548–555), reputed mistress (secondly) of Chlothar I, King of the Franks (ruled until 561), was the daughter of Wacho, King of the Lombards (ruled ca. 510–539) and his second wife called Austrigusa or Ostrogotha, a Gepid.
The Origo Gentis Langobardorum names "Wisigarda…secundæ Walderada" as the two daughters of Wacho and his second wife, specifying that Waldrada married "Scusuald regis Francorum" and later "Garipald". The Historia Langobardorum names "Waldrada" as Wacho's second daughter by his second wife, specifying that she married "Chusubald rex Francorum". Paulus Diaconus names "Wisigarda…[et] secunda Walderada" as the two daughters of King Wacho & his second wife, specifying that Walderada married "Cusupald alio regi Francorum" and later "Garipald". Gregory of Tours names Vuldetrada as the wife of King Theodebald. Herimannus names "Wanderadam" wife of "Theodpaldus rex Francorum" when recording her second marriage to "Lotharius rex patris eius Theodeberti patruus".