Lombards: Map & History
The Lombards, Longobards or Langobards were a Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774 AD.
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The Lombards, Longobards or Langobards 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. Still earlier they lived further 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 in the early 1st century. Their legacy is apparent in Lombardy, northern Italy, the region deriving its name from them.
Modern Countries Once Part of Lombards
At its mapped extent, Lombards covered territory in 10 present-day countries. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
- Slovenia546–568 CE · nearly all
- Bosnia and Herzegovina546–568 CE · most
- Hungary546–568 CE · most
- Austria546–568 CE · a large part
- Croatia546–568 CE · a large part
- Serbia567–568 CE · a large part
- Italy569–586 CE · a small part
- Poland490–499 CE · a small part
- Sweden480–499 CE · a small part
- Germany490–499 CE · a small part
States and Provinces
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Lombards's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Lombards in Depth
History
The first mention of the Lombards in a near contemporary record occurred between AD 9 and 16, by the Roman court historian Velleius Paterculus, who accompanied a Roman expedition as prefect of the cavalry. Paterculus says that under Tiberius the "power of the Langobardi was broken, a race (gens) surpassing even the Germans in savagery". Strabo, writing in about 20 AD, treats them as a branch of the Suebi, and indicates that they had previously lived west of the Elbe, but were now forced by Romans to stay on the eastern side.
Tacitus, writing in about 100 AD in his Germania, emphasised that the Langobardi were a distinctively small Suebian people, in terms of numbers, but surrounded by the most powerful peoples. They kept safe, according to him, "by daring the perils of war".
Legendary origins
All three of the legendary accounts state that the Langobards were originally called Winnili, and they begin with the Winnili being ruled by two brothers, Ibor and Aio (or Agio), whose mother and advisor is named Gambara.
The Origo and the History of Paul the Deacon have them first living on an island in the far north which the various manuscripts of these works spell in different ways: Scadan, Scandanan, Scadanan, or Scadinavia. This appears to be an imitation of the 6th-century origin of the Goths written by Jordanes. The 7th-century writer Fredegar similarly says that the Langobardi came from Scathanavia, but only says this is "between the Danube and the Ocean" without calling it an island.
Culture
Unless Cimbrian and Mòcheno represent surviving dialects, the Lombardic language is extinct. It declined beginning in the seventh century, but may have been in scattered use until as late as about the year 1000. Only fragments of the language have survived, the main evidence being individual words quoted in Latin texts. In the absence of Lombardic texts, it is not possible to draw any conclusions about the language's morphology and syntax. The genetic classification of the language depends entirely on phonology. Since there is evidence that Lombardic participated in, and indeed shows some of the earliest evidence for, the High German consonant shift, it is usually classified as an Upper German dialect descended from Elbe Germanic.
Lombardic fragments are preserved in runic inscriptions.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Lombards (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Lombards Map Over Time
Dated world maps on which Lombards appears, with the other states of the time.
Lombards Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 203,485 km² in 568 CE.
Lombards: Frequently Asked Questions
When did Lombards exist?
Lombards is dated to 480 CE – 586 CE, in the Classical Antiquity era.
How large was Lombards at its peak?
At its peak in 568 AD Lombards covered about 203,485 km².