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Mediaeval duchy in central Italy, circa 575–1201
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The Duchy of Spoleto (Latin: Ducatus Spolitanorum) was a duchy in central Italy that existed from the late 6th century until the early 13th century. Centered on the city of Spoleto, it controlled much of the mountainous interior of central Italy, including parts of modern Umbria, Abruzzo, Marche, and Lazio.
The duchy emerged during the Lombard conquest of Italy in the 570s, under Duke Faroald I. Owing to its position astride the Via Flaminia, Spoleto became strategically important in the struggle between the Lombards and the Byzantine Empire. Although its dukes nominally recognized the authority of the Lombard kings, the duchy often acted independently and at times concluded alliances or truces on its own.
After the Frankish conquest of the Lombard kingdom in 774, the Duchy of Spoleto passed under Carolingian suzerainty but retained a distinct political identity. During the 9th and 10th centuries its rulers played an active role in the politics of central Italy and Rome, and several dukes went on to become kings or emperors.
From the late 12th century onward the duchy was gradually absorbed into the Papal States, and by the reign of Pope Innocent III it had ceased to exist as an autonomous polity.
The Duchy of Spoleto emerged during the Lombard expansion into central Italy in the late 6th century. Its origins are traditionally placed during the reign of Alboin, around 571. An alternative chronology places the foundation of the duchy after the failed Byzantine offensive of 575–576 led by Baduarius. Following this defeat Faroald I and associated Lombard groups established control, placing the foundation of the duchy a few years later.
From Spoleto, Lombard expansion advanced toward the central Apennines. The valleys of the Vigi, Nera, and Corno were progressively occupied.
The conquest divided central Italy into two main spheres: the Tuscia Romanorum, corresponding to the Byzantine-held Duchy of Perugia, and the Tuscia Longobardorum, or Duchy of Spoleto. Spoleto became a strategic center of Lombard power, as holding Spoleto meant controlling the Via Flaminia and the main routes between Rome and Ravenna, thereby cutting off the Byzantine territories from Rome.
Early Lombard settlements were established mainly on hilltops and had a very rudimentary character, encampments protected by palisades and wooden watchtowers. As the need arose to consolidate control over these territories, strategically important sites were occupied, including frontier fortresses, formerly Gothic or Byzantine fortified towns, valleys, and mountain passes.
Lombard society was organized around fare (from the term far-an), armed kinship groups that typically corresponded to extended family clans and formed the basic units of Lombard settlement and organization.
Initially the duchy enjoyed considerable independence from the Lombard kingdom, owing to natural barriers and intervening Byzantine territories. This autonomy is shown by the 592 agreement in which Ariulf concluded a separate truce with Pope Gregory I, apart from the Lombard king Agilulf.
Within Spoleto, the Roman capitolium dedicated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva had already been occupied by the bishop's cathedral (the see was founded in the 4th century) which incorporated the pagan structure (now the church of San Ansano). The Lombard dukes restored the fortifications of the high rocca, whose walls had been dismantled by Totila during the Gothic War.
Upon the death of Faroald I in 591, he was succeeded by Ariulf, who further expanded the duchy, seizing territories from the Byzantines in Picenum and among the Paeligni and Vestini. Some sources report that he converted to Catholicism later in life.
Ariulf made frequent expeditions against the Byzantines (in 579–592 against Ravenna and in 592 against Rome).
After Ariulf's death in 602, a succession dispute arose among the sons of Faroald I. The eldest, Theodelap, prevailed in battle and became duke. He is believed to have died around 650, though some sources place his death in 653. Theodelap is credited by the Catholic Encyclopedia with the first building of Spoleto's cathedral.
Theodelap was succeeded by Atto (or Azzo), of whom little is known except that he lived until 662.
Under the Lombard King Grimoald, the duchy's independence diminished as he appointed Transamund I, formerly count of Capua, as duke of Spoleto. He governed for about 40 years. Upon his death in 703, he was succeeded by his son Faroald II. He restored the renowned Farfa Abbey, which had been destroyed by the first duke, enriched it with donations, and later founded the monastery of Ferentillo.
In 716 Faroald II captured Classis, the port of Ravenna, according to Paul the Deacon's History of the Lombards. He was then obliged by Liutprand, King of the Lombards to restore it, a measure of the loose central control of Lombard rule that Liutprand was occupied in tightening, at least as Paul interpreted events for his Frankish patrons.
Transamund II, son of Faroald II, rebelled against him and in 724 forced him to abdicate and take monastic vows at the monastery of San Pietro in Ferentillo, where he died in 728. Some, however, believe that Faroald II abdicated voluntarily.
Transamund II allied with the Roman Church. He marched toward Rome and, at the Ponte Salario, defeated a Byzantine army advancing against Pope Gregory II. The Romans, together with the Lombards of the Duchy of Spoleto, defended the pope against Leo III the Isaurian and his iconoclast officials.
However, Leo III sought an alliance with King Liutprand, who distrusted the dukes of Benevento and Spoleto, considering them insufficiently loyal and intending to replace them with his own relatives. Seeing himself unable to resist the combined forces of Liutprand and Leo III, Transamund submitted entirely to his king in 729, swore loyalty, and gave hostages, thereby retaining the duchy.
Soon after, whether due to rebellion or refusal to wage war against the Duchy of Rome, Liutprand marched on Spoleto with a powerful army, intending to replace Transamund with his nephew, Agiprand. Transamund fled to Rome, where he was received favorably. Enraged, Liutprand demanded his surrender; when the Romans refused, he laid siege to Rome, plundered the Basilica of Saint Peter, and occupied several cities, including Amelia and Orte, before returning to Pavia in August 739.
Meanwhile, Hilderic had taken control of Spoleto. With the help of Roman forces and Godescalc of Benevento, Transamund invaded the duchy in 740, killed Hilderic, and reclaimed power. However, he soon alienated the pope and the Romans by failing to return four cities previously occupied by the Lombards, as he had promised.
Liutprand then swore vengeance against both Transamund and the Romans. Fearing destruction, the Romans made terms with the Lombard king. Transamund was forced to submit and soon after entered monastic life in 740. Liutprand then granted the duchy to Agiprand.
At this time, it appears that both nobles and commoners participated in choosing their duke. Agiprand was succeeded by Lupus, from whom King Aistulf later removed the duchy, governing it directly through appointed officials. Lupus was followed by Unulf in 753.
During the internal unrest among the Lombards following the succession of King Aistulf, the nobles of Spoleto, in early 757, elected Alboin as their duke. Together with Liutprand of Benevento, they submitted to Pope Stephen II under the protection of Pepin, defender of the Church.
This political shift proved costly. Desiderius, elected king with the support of the pope and Pepin, invaded the duchies of Benevento and Spoleto between 757 and 758, plundering and devastating them. The dukes Alboin and Liutprand were defeated in battle. Liutprand was succeeded in Benevento by Arechis II, while Alboin, wounded, was taken prisoner to Pavia along with leading nobles of Spoleto. The duchy remained vacant for two years.
In 759, while Desiderius was campaigning in the Roman Campagna, both Spoleto and Benevento revolted. Desiderius responded by marching against Benevento, devastating its territory and imposing heavy tributes. He then advanced into Umbria, ravaging Perugia, Assisi, and Foligno, and plundering the rest of the Duchy of Spoleto.
A new duke, Gisulf, was elected around 759 or 760. Three years later, Theodicius became duke. He, together with the Duke of Tuscany, supported the Roman clergy in deposing the antipope Constantine in 767, after which Pope Stephen III was canonically elected. He was succeeded in 772 by Adrian I. At the end of 773 the pope appointed Hildeprand as duke of Spoleto, and he acknowledged his dependence on the papacy.
Desiderius did not remain at peace with the new pope, who pressed him to honor prior agreements. In response, Desiderius gathered a formidable army and incited the Lombards of Tuscany and Spoleto to take up arms against the Church, advancing as far as Otricoli. Adrian I sent envoys to Pavia to negotiate peace, but Desiderius refused all appeals. The pope then called upon Charlemagne for military support.
According to historian Giancolombino Fatteschi, when news spread of the approaching Frankish army, a large number of Lombards from Spoleto went to Rome and swore loyalty to Pope Adrian I.
In 776, two years after the fall of Pavia, Spoleto fell likewise to Charlemagne and his Carolingian Empire, and he assumed the title King of the Lombards.
After defeating the Lombards, Charlemagne donated extensive territories in central Italy to Pope Adrian I. This grant included jurisdiction over major cities and the right to collect the fodrum, a levy owed by the dukes of Spoleto. Despite these donations, the Duchy formally remained under imperial dominion.
Pope Adrian I complained to Charlemagne about Duke Hildeprand, who was involved in a conspiracy organized by Hrodgaud, duke of Friuli, together with Arechis II, duke of Benevento, and Reginald, duke of Chiusi, in support of Adalgis, son of Desiderius. Hildeprand later made peace with the Frankish king by presenting gifts at Varciniaco in 779. He also assisted Grimoald III, duke of Benevento, when he was attacked by Byzantine forces, which were defeated by the Franks and Lombards.
After 788 or 789 Hildeprand is no longer mentioned, marking the end of the Lombard dukes in Spoleto and the beginning of Frankish and German rule. Charlemagne appointed Winigis, a Frank, as duke.
In 799, following attacks against Pope Leo III, Winigis went to his aid and brought him to Spoleto. In 802 he campaigned against Grimoald III of Benevento, who sought independence, but was captured and later released in 803. Winigis, together with Gerold, who is identified as his son by some accounts and associated with him in government, supported Pope Leo III against opposition from Roman elites.
In his testament Charlemagne assigned the Duchy of Spoleto to his sons, having not transferred full sovereignty to the Pope, but only the pensions, tribute, and annual payments previously owed to the Lombard royal palace.
In 845 Guy I, a Frank, is recorded as duke; he received 70,000 scudi from Radelchis I, duke of Benevento, in return for assistance during a siege by Siconulf, prince of Salerno. Among the more outstanding of the Frankish dukes, Guy I divided the duchy between his two sons Lambert I and Guy II, who received as his share the lordship of Camerino, which was made a duchy.
In 865 Lambert I returned from Bari with spoils taken from the Saracens but was defeated at Naples. In 866 he accompanied Emperor Louis II at the siege of Capua. That same year Guy I died and Lambert I succeeded him. In 867 Lambert entered Rome following the election of Pope Adrian II and carried out acts of violence. Complaints were made to Louis II, who in 871 removed him from the duchy for further abuses. In that year Suppo II, a minister of the emperor, was appointed to govern the duchy, and his daughter Bertila married Berengar, later king of Italy and emperor.
Under Louis II, the gastaldates of the Marsi were detached from the Duchy of Spoleto and elevated into the County of Marsi.
After the death of Louis II, Lambert I was restored to power by Emperor Charles II the Bald. Suppo received other duchies in compensation. Lambert withdrew to Camerino and left Spoleto to his brother Guy II. In 877, acting against Charles II and allied with Alberic, count of Tusculum, Lambert seized Rome and imposed recognition of Carloman as imperial claimant. He and his allies were excommunicated by the pope, and Charles II declared him banished from the empire; the Council of Troyes in 878 confirmed the excommunication.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Duchy of Spoleto”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.