Alboin

Alboin (c. 522–572) was a king of the Lombards who ruled in Pannonia before leading the Lombard people into Italy. He was the son of Audoin and succeeded him as king around 559–560. Under his reign the Lombards grew from a power in the Danubian region into a major force in the surrounding areas.

In the late 560s, Alboin is traditionally associated with the defeat of the Gepids and the subjugation of their kingdom after their king Cunimund was slain. He reputedly married Cunimund’s daughter, Rosamund, as part of the settlement of that conflict. This marriage helped to secure Lombard influence in the region and facilitated further expansion.

Across the Alps, Alboin led the Lombards into northern Italy in 568–569, beginning a long process of settlement and conquest in the Po Valley and surrounding territories. The invasion established a Lombard kingdom in Italy, with a center at Ticinum (modern Pavia), and laid the groundwork for Lombard rule over much of northern and central Italy, while the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna retained some coastal and southern holdings.

Alboin was murdered in 572, an event described in Lombard chronicles as the result of a conspiracy involving his wife Rosamund and her lover. His death precipitated the accession of his son Authari, who continued Lombard expansion in Italy. Alboin’s reign is regarded as a turning point that transformed the Lombards from a power in Pannonia into a durable kingdom on the Italian peninsula, a political entity that persisted for more than two centuries.