Paulus Diaconus: HISTORIA LANGOBARDORUM

1. Dum ista aput Langobardos trans Padum geruntur, Romualdus Beneventanorum dux, congregata exercitus multitudine, Tarentum expugnavit et cepit, parique modo Brundisium et omnem illam quae in circuitu est latissimam regionem suae dicioni subiugavit. Coniux quoque eius Theuderata eodem tempore foras muros Beneventanae civitatis basilicam in honore beati Petri apostoli construxit; quo in loco multarum ancillarum Dei coenobium instituit.

1. While these things are being done among the Langobards beyond the Po, Romuald, duke of the Beneventans, with a multitude of the army gathered, stormed and took Tarentum, and in like manner Brundisium, and he subjugated to his dominion all that very broad region which is in the surrounding circuit. His spouse too, Theuderata, at the same time outside the walls of the city of Beneventum built a basilica in honor of the blessed apostle Peter; in which place she established a coenobium of many handmaids of God.

2. Romuald quoque, postquam sedecim annos ducatum gessit, ab hac luce subtractus est. Post quem eius filius Grimualdus tribus annis Samnitum populos rexit. Huic in coniugio sociata fuit Wigilinda, soror Cunincperti, filia Perctarit regis.

2. Romuald also, after he had borne the dukedom for sixteen years, was withdrawn from this light. After whom his son Grimuald ruled the peoples of the Samnites for three years. To him in conjugal union was joined Wigilinda, sister of Cunincpert, daughter of King Perctarit.

Defuncto quoque Grimualdo, Gisulfus, eius germanus, ductor effectus est, praefuitque Benevento annis decem et septem. Huic sociata fuit Winiperga, quae ei Romuald peperit. Circa haec tempora, cum in castro Cassini, ubi beatissimi Benedicti sacrum corpus requiescit, ab aliquantis iam elapsis annis vasta solitudo existeret, venientes de Cenomannicorum vel Aurelianensium regione Franci, dum aput venerabile corpus se pernoctare simulassent, eiusdem venerabilis patris pariterque eius germanae venerandae Scolasticae ossa auferentes, in suam patriam adportarunt; ubi Singillatim duo monasteria in utrorumque honorem, hoc est beati Benedicti et sanctae Scolasticae, constructa sunt.

With Grimuald also deceased, Gisulf, his german brother, was made leader (duke), and he presided over Benevento for seventeen years. To him was joined Winiperga, who bore him Romuald. Around these times, since in the fort of Cassinum, where the sacred body of the most blessed Benedict rests, for some years now a vast solitude existed, Franks coming from the region of the Cenomanni or the Aurelianenses, while they pretended to pass the night at the venerable body, carrying off the bones of that same venerable father and likewise of his sister, the venerable Scholastica, brought them to their own fatherland; where, separately, two monasteries were constructed in the honor of them both, that is, of blessed Benedict and Saint Scholastica.

Sed certum est, nobis os illud venerabile et omni nectare suavius et oculos semper caelestia contuentes, cetera quoque membra quamvis defluxa remansisse. Solum etenim singulariter dominicum corpus non vidit corruptionem; ceterum omnium sanctorum corpora in aeternam postea gloriam reparanda corruptioni subiecta sunt, his exceptis, quae ob divina miracula sine labe servantur.

But it is certain that for us that venerable face, sweeter than every nectar, and the eyes ever beholding celestial things, as well as the other members, although decayed, have remained. For only, in singular fashion, the Lord’s body did not see corruption; but the bodies of all the saints, to be restored afterward into eternal glory, have been subjected to corruption—excepting those which, on account of divine miracles, are preserved without blemish.

3. At vero Rodoald, quem aput Foroiuli praemisimus ducatum tenuisse, cum ab eadem civitate abesset, Ansfrit de castro Reunia ducatum eius absque regis nutu pervasit. Quo comperto Rodoald in Histriam fugiit ac deinde navigio per Ravennam Ticinum ad Cunincpertum regem pervenit. Ansfrit vero non contentus ducatum Foroiulanensium regere, insuper contra Cunincpertum rebellans, regnum eius invadere voluit.

3. But indeed Rodoald, whom we earlier mentioned as having held the duchy at Foroiuli, when he was away from that same city, Ansfrid from the stronghold Reunia usurped his duchy without the nod of the king. On learning this, Rodoald fled into Histria and then by ship, through Ravenna, came to Ticinum to King Cunincpert. Ansfrid, however, not content to rule the duchy of the Foroiulians, moreover rebelling against Cunincpert, wished to invade his realm.

Sed conprehensus in Verona, ad regem deductus, evulsis oculis, in exilium trusus est. Foroiulano autem ducatui post haec Ado, frater Rodoaldi, lociservatoris nomine per annum et menses septem gubernavit.

But seized in Verona and led to the king, with his eyes torn out, he was thrust into exile. As for the Foroiulian duchy, after these things Ado, brother of Rodoald, governed under the title of lociservator for a year and seven months.

4. Dum haec in Italia geruntur, heresis aput Constantinopolim orta est, quae unam in domino nostro Iesu Christo voluntatem et operationem adseverabat. Hanc autem heresem excitarunt Georgius patriarcha Constantinopolitanus, Macharius, Pyrrus, Paulus et Petrus. Quam ob causam Constantinus Augustus centum quinquaginta episcopos congregari fecit; inter quos etiam fuerunt legati sanctae Romanae ecclesiae missi ab Agathone papa, Iohannes diaconus et Iohannes Portuensis episcopus; qui omnes eandem heresem damnaverunt.

4. While these things are being transacted in Italy, a heresy arose at Constantinople, which asserted one will and one operation in our Lord Jesus Christ. Now this heresy was stirred up by George, patriarch of Constantinople, Macarius, Pyrrhus, Paul, and Peter. For which cause the Augustus Constantine caused one hundred fifty bishops to be assembled; among whom there were also legates of the holy Roman Church sent by Pope Agatho, John the deacon and John, bishop of Portus; and they all condemned the same heresy.

Ea hora tantae haranearum telae in medio populi ceciderunt, ut omnes mirarentur; ac per hoc significatum est, quod sordes hereticae pravitatis depulsae sunt. Et Georgius quidem patriarcha correptus est, ceteri vero in sua defensione perseverantes anathematis sunt ultione perculsi. Eo tempore Damianus Ticinensis ecclesiae episcopus sub nomine Mansueti Mediolanensis archiepiscopi hac de causa satis utilem rectaeque fidei epistolam conposuit, quae in praefato sinodo non mediocre suffragium tulit.

At that hour so many spiders’ webs fell in the midst of the people that all marveled; and through this it was signified that the filth of heretical depravity was driven away. And George the patriarch indeed was rebuked, but the others, persevering in their own defense, were smitten by the retribution of an anathema. At that time Damian, bishop of the Ticinense church, under the name of Mansuetus, archbishop of Mediolanum, for this cause composed a letter quite useful and of right faith, which in the aforesaid synod brought no mean suffrage.

Recta autem et vera fides haec est, ut in domino nostro Iesu Christo sicut duae sunt naturae, hoc est Dei et hominis, sic etiam duae credantur esse voluntates sive operationes. Vis audire de eo quod deitatis est? Ego, inquit, et pater unum sumus.

But the right and true faith is this: that in our Lord Jesus Christ, just as there are two natures—that is, of God and of man—so also two wills or operations are to be believed to exist. Do you wish to hear about that which pertains to the Deity? “I,” he says, “and the Father are one.”

Vis audire quod humanitatis? Pater maior me est. Cerne secundum humanitatem eum in navi dormientem; cerne eius divinitatem cum evangelista ait: Tunc surgens imperavit ventis et mari, et facta est tranquillitas magna.

Do you wish to hear what is of humanity? The Father is greater than I. Behold, according to humanity, him sleeping in the ship; behold his divinity when the evangelist says: Then, rising, he commanded the winds and the sea, and a great tranquility came to be.

Haec est sexta sinodus universalis Constantinopoli celebrata et Greco sermone conscripta, temporibus papae Agathonis, exsequente ac residente Constantino principe intra septa palatii sui.

This is the sixth universal synod, celebrated at Constantinople and written in the Greek tongue, in the times of Pope Agatho, with Constantine the emperor carrying it out and presiding within the precincts of his palace.

5. His temporibus per indictionem octavam luna eclypsin passa est. Solis quoque eclypsis eodem pene tempore, hora diei quasi decima, quinto nonas maias effecta est. Moxque subsecuta gravissima pestis est tribus mensibus, hoc est iulio, augusto et septembrio; tantaque fuit multitudo morientium, ut etiam parentes cum filiis atque fratres cum sororibus, bini per feretra positi, aput urbem Romam ad sepulchra ducerentur.

5. In those times, during the eighth indiction, the moon underwent an eclipse. Likewise an eclipse of the sun at nearly the same time, at about the tenth hour of the day, took place on May 3. And soon there followed a very grievous pestilence for three months, that is july, august and september; and so great was the multitude of those dying that even parents with their children and brothers with their sisters, placed in pairs upon biers, were led to the tombs at the city of Rome.

Pari etiam modo haec pestilentia Ticinum quoque depopulata est, ita ut, cunctis civibus per iuga montium seu per diversa loca fugientibus, in foro et per plateas civitatis herbae et frutecta nascerentur. Tuncque visibiliter multis apparuit, quia bonus et malus angelus noctu per civitatem pergerent, et ex iussu boni angeli malus angelus, qui videbatur venabulum manu ferre, quotiens de venabulo ostium cuiuscumque domus percussisset, tot de eadem domo die sequenti homines interirent. Tunc cuidam per revelationem dictum est, quod pestis ipsa prius non quiesceret, quam in basilica beati Petri quae ad Vincula dicitur sancti Sebastiani martyris altarium poneretur.

In a like manner also this pestilence depopulated Ticinum as well, such that, with all the citizens fleeing over the ridges of the mountains or into various places, in the forum and through the streets of the city grasses and shrubbery sprang up. And then it appeared visibly to many that a good and an evil angel were passing through the city by night, and at the order of the good angel the evil angel, who was seen to carry a hunting-spear in his hand, as often as he struck with the spear the door of any house, so many from that same house would perish on the following day. Then it was said to a certain person by revelation that the pestilence itself would not rest before an altar of Saint Sebastian the martyr should be set up in the basilica of Blessed Peter which is called at the Chains.

Factumque est, et delatis ab urbe Roma beati Sebastiani martyris reliquiis, mox ut in iam dicta basilica altarium constitutum est, pestis ipsa quievit.

And so it came to pass that, when the relics of the blessed martyr Sebastian had been brought from the city of Rome, as soon as an altar was established in the already-mentioned basilica, the plague itself subsided.

6. Rex vero Cunincpert dum post haec cum stratore suo, qui lingua propria "marpahis" dicitur, consilium iniret in civitate Ticinensi, quomodo Aldonem et Grausonem vita privare deberet: repente in fenestra, iuxta quam consistebant, una de maiusculis musca consedit; quam Cunincpert cultello ut extingueret percutere volens, eius tantum pedem abscidit. Aldo vero et Grauso dum ad palatium regis consilium nescientes venirent, cum basilicae sancti Romani martyris, quae prope palatium sita est, propinquassent, repente eis obvius quidam claudus uno pede truncato factus est; qui eis dixit, quod eos Cunincpert, si ad eum pergerent, occisurus esset. Qui haec audientes, magno timore correpti, post altarium eiusdem basilicae confugiere.

6. But King Cunincpert, after these things, while he was entering into counsel in the city of Ticinum with his strator, who in the native tongue is called “marpahis,” as to how he ought to deprive Aldo and Grauso of life: suddenly, on the window beside which they were standing, one of the larger flies settled; which Cunincpert, wishing to strike with a little knife so as to extinguish it, only cut off its foot. But Aldo and Grauso, while they were coming to the king’s palace, unaware of the plan, when they had drawn near to the basilica of Saint Roman the martyr, which is situated near the palace, suddenly a certain lame man, made one-foot truncated, met them; and he told them that Cunincpert would kill them if they went to him. Hearing this, seized with great fear, they took refuge behind the altar of the same basilica.

Moxque Cunincperto regi nuntiatum est, quod Aldo et Grauso in basilica beati Romani martyris confugissent. Tunc Cunincpert stratorem suum arguere coepit, ut quid suum consilium prodere debuisset. Cui suus strator ita respondit: "Domine mi rex, tu scis, quia, postquam hoc consiliati sumus, ego a tuo conspectu non exivi; et quomodo hoc alicui dicere potui?". Tunc rex [ad] Aldonem et Grausonem misit, interrogans eos, ut quid in locum sanctum confugium fecissent.

Mox it was announced to King Cunincpert that Aldo and Grauso had fled into the basilica of the blessed Romanus, martyr. Then Cunincpert began to argue/rebuke his strator, as to why he should have betrayed his counsel. To whom his strator thus responded: "My lord king, you know that, since we have taken this counsel, I have not gone out from your presence; and how could I have told this to anyone?" Then the king sent to Aldo and Grauso, asking them why they had made refuge into the holy place.

Qui respondentes dixerunt: "Quia nuntiatum est nobis, quod nos dominus rex occidere vellet". Iterato rex misit ad eos, sciscitans, quis fuerit ille qui eis nuntiaverit, mandans eis, ut, nisi ei nuntiatorem proderent, eius gratiam invenire non possint. Tunc illi sicut factum fuerat regi mandaverunt, dicentes, claudum hominem obvium se habuisse, qui unum pedem truncatum habebat et genu tenus crure ligneo utebatur, et hunc fuisse sui interitus nuntium. Tunc intellexit rex, muscam illam cui pedem truncaverat malignum spiritum fuisse et ipsum sui secreti consilia prodidisse.

They, answering, said: "Because it was announced to us that our lord the king wished to kill us." Again the king sent to them, inquiring who it was who had announced it to them, commanding them that, unless they betrayed to him the messenger, they could not find his favor. Then they communicated to the king as it had happened, saying that they had had a lame man meet them, who had one foot truncated and used a wooden leg up to the knee, and that this had been the messenger of their destruction. Then the king understood that that fly, whose foot he had cut off, had been an evil spirit and had betrayed the counsels of his secret.

Qui statim Aldonem et Grausonem in sua fide de eadem basilica suscipiens, eisdem culpam pepercit et in reliquum eosdem in loco fidelium habuit.

Who immediately, receiving Aldo and Grauso into his faith from that same basilica, spared them the culpability and thereafter held them in the place of the faithful.

7. Eo tempore floruit in arte gramatica Felix, patruus Flaviani praeceptoris mei; quem in tantum rex dilexit, ut ei baculum argento auroque decoratum inter reliqua suae largitatis munera condonaret.

7. At that time Felix flourished in the grammatical art, the paternal uncle of Flavianus, my preceptor; whom the king loved to such a degree that he bestowed on him, among the other gifts of his liberality, a staff adorned with silver and gold.

8. Per idem quoque tempus Iohannes episcopus Bergomatis ecclesiae vir mirae sanctitatis extitit. Qui cum regem Cunincpertum in convivio dum sermocinarentur offendisset, rex ei hospitium revertenti equum ferocem et indomitum, qui inmenso fremitu super se sedentes terrae allidere solebat, praeparari fecit. Cui cum episcopus supersedisset, ita mansuetus extitit, ut eum blando incessu usque ad domum propriam deportaret.

8. At the same time as well, John, bishop of the church of Bergamo, was a man of wondrous sanctity. When he had encountered King Cunincpert at a banquet while they were conversing, the king, as he was returning to his lodging, had a fierce and untamed horse prepared for him, which with immense snorting was accustomed to hurl to the ground those sitting upon it. When the bishop mounted it, it proved so meek that with a gentle gait it bore him all the way to his own house.

Quod rex audiens, et episcopum ex eo die honore debito coluit, et ei ipsum equum, quem suae sessioni dedicaverat, dono largitus est.

Hearing this, the king both honored the bishop from that day with the due honor, and bestowed upon him, as a gift, that very horse which he had dedicated to his own riding.

9. Hac tempestate noctu stella iuxta Vergilias caelo sereno inter Domini Natalem et Theophaniam apparuit, omnimodo obumbrata, veluti cum luna sub nube est constituta. Post haec mense februario die media stella ab occasu exiit, quae cum magno fulgore in partes orientis declinavit. Dehinc mense martio Bebius eructuavit per dies aliquot, et omnia virentia circumquaque prae pulvere et cinere illius exterminata sunt.

9. At this time, by night, a star near the Vergiliae (the Pleiades), in a clear sky, appeared between the Lord’s Nativity and Theophany, altogether overshadowed, as when the moon is set beneath a cloud. After this, in the month of February at midday, a star went out from the west, which with great brilliance inclined toward the regions of the east. Then, in the month of March, Bebius belched forth for several days, and all green things round about were destroyed on account of its dust and ash.

10. Tunc Sarracinorum gens infidelis et Deo inimica ex Aegypto in Africam cum nimia multitudine pergens, obsessam Cartaginem cepit captamque crudeliter depopulata est et ad solum usque prostravit.

10. Then the nation of the Saracens, faithless and inimical to God, setting out from Egypt into Africa with an excessive multitude, seized besieged Carthage; and, once taken, they cruelly laid it waste and leveled it to the very ground.

11. Inter haec Constantinus imperator aput Constantinopolim moritur, et eius minor filius Iustinianus Romanorum regnum suscepit, cuius per decem annos gubernacula tenuit. Hic Africam a Sarracenis abstulit et cum eisdem pacem terra marique fecit. Hic Sergium pontificem, quia in erroris illius synodo, quam [apud] Constantinopolim fecerat, favere et subscribere noluit, misso Zacharia protospathario suo, iussit Constantinopolim deportari.

11. Meanwhile, Emperor Constantine dies at Constantinople, and his younger son Justinian assumed the realm of the Romans, the helm of which he held for 10 years. He took Africa away from the Saracens and made peace with the same by land and sea. He, because Pope Sergius was unwilling to favor and to subscribe to that synod of error which he had held [at] Constantinople, ordered him to be carried off to Constantinople, sending his protospatharius Zacharias.

Sed militia Ravennae vicinarumque partium iussa principis nefanda contemnens, eundem Zachariam cum contumeliis ab urbe Roma et iniuriis pepulit.

But the soldiery of Ravenna and of the neighboring parts, despising the unspeakable orders of the princeps, drove that same Zacharias from the city of Rome with insults and injuries.

12. Contra hunc Iustinianum Leo augustalem dignitatem arripiens, eum regno privavit; regnumque Romanorum tribus annis regens, Iustinianum exulem in Ponto servavit.

12. Against this Justinian, Leo, seizing the Augustan dignity, deprived him of the kingdom; and, ruling the kingdom of the Romans for three years, he kept Justinian an exile in Pontus.

13. Rursumque Tiberius contra hunc Leonem insurgens, regnum eius invasit, eumque toto quo ipse regnavit tempore in eadem civitate in custodia tenuit.

13. And again Tiberius, rising up against this Leo, seized his kingship, and held him in custody in the same city for the whole time during which he himself reigned.

14. Hoc tempore sinodus Aquileiae facta ob imperitiam fidei quintum universalem concilium suscipere diffidit, donec salutaribus beati papae Sergii monitis instructa et ipsa huic cum ceteris Christi ecclesiis annuere consentit. Facta autem est haec sinodus Constantinopolim temporibus Vigilii papae sub Iustiniano principe contra Theodorum et omnes hereticos, qui, beatam Mariam solum hominem, non Deum et hominem genuisse, adfirmabant. In qua sinodo catholice est institutum, ut beata Maria semper virgo theotocos diceretur, quia, sicut catholica fides habet, non hominem solum, sed vere Deum et hominem genuit.

14. At this time a synod at Aquileia, on account of inexperience in the faith, distrusted to accept the Fifth universal (ecumenical) Council, until, instructed by the salutary monitions of the blessed Pope Sergius, it too agreed to assent to this with the other churches of Christ. Moreover, this synod was held at Constantinople in the times of Pope Vigilius, under the prince Justinian, against Theodore and all heretics who affirmed that the blessed Mary had borne only a man, not God and man. In which synod it was catholicly instituted that the blessed Mary ever virgin be called theotokos, because, as the catholic faith holds, she bore not only a man, but truly God and man.

15. His diebus Cedoal rex Anglorum Saxonum, qui multa in sua patria bella gesserat, ad Christum conversus Romam properavit. Qui per Cunincpertum regem veniens, ab eo mirifice susceptus est. Is cum Romam pervenisset, a Sergio papa baptizatus Petrusque appellatus et adhuc in albis constitutus, ad regna caelestia migravit.

15. In these days Cedoal, king of the Anglo-Saxons, who had waged many wars in his own fatherland, converted to Christ hastened to Rome. Coming through King Cunincpert, he was marvelously received by him. When he had arrived at Rome, he was baptized by Pope Sergius and named Peter, and, while still in the whites, he migrated to the heavenly kingdoms.

Cuius corpus in basilica beati Petri sepultum est, et hoc super se epythapium descriptum habet:

Whose body was buried in the basilica of blessed Peter, and it has this epitaph inscribed over it:

Culmen, opes, sobolem, pollentia regna, triumphos,
Exubias, proceres, moenia, castra, lares,
Quaeque patrum virtus et quae congesserat ipse,
Cedoal armipotens liquit amore Dei,
Ut Petrum sedemque Petri rex cerneret hospes,
Cuius fonte meras sumeret almus aquas,
Splendificumque iubar radianti carperet haustu,
Ex quo vivificus fulgor ubique fluit;
Percipiensque alacer recidivae praemia vitae,
Barbaricam rabiem nomen et inde suum
Conversus convertit ovans, Petrumque vocari
Sergius antistes iussit, ut ipse pater,
Fonte renascentis quem Christi gratia purgans
Protinus albatum vexit in arce poli.
Mira fides regis, clementia maxima Christi,
Cuius consilium nullus adire potest!
Sospes enim veniens supremo ex orbe Brittani
Per varias gentes, per freta perque vias,
Urbem Romuleam vidit templumque verendum
Aspexit Petri, mistica dona gerens.

Summit, wealth, offspring, potent kingdoms, triumphs,
Watches, nobles, walls, camps, hearths,
Whatever the virtue of the fathers and what he himself had heaped up,
Cedoal, mighty in arms, left for love of God,
That Peter and the Seat of Peter the king as guest might behold,
From whose font he might draw pure, nourishing waters,
And with a radiant draught might sip the splendid radiance,
From which life-giving luster flows everywhere;
And, eager, receiving the rewards of renewed life,
His barbaric rage and even his own name
Once converted he turned about rejoicing, and to be called Peter
Sergius the pontiff ordered, as a father himself,
Whom Christ’s grace, cleansing at the font of rebirth,
Straightway bore, white-robed, into the citadel of heaven.
Wondrous the king’s faith, the greatest clemency of Christ,
Whose counsel no one can approach!
Safe and sound, coming from the farthest orb of Britain
Through various peoples, through straits and through roads,
He saw the city of Romulus and the venerable temple
Of Peter he beheld, bearing mystic gifts.

Candidus inter oves Christi sociabilis ivit,
Corpore nam tumulum, mente superna tenet.
Commutasse magis sceptrorum insignia credas,
Quem regnum Christi promeruisse vides.

Candid, companionable, went among the sheep of Christ,
for with the body he holds the tomb, with the mind the things above.
You would rather believe that he had exchanged the insignia of scepters,
whom you see to have merited the kingdom of Christ.

16. Hoc tempore aput Gallias Francorum regibus a solita fortitudine et scientia degenerantibus, hi qui maiores domui regalis esse videbantur administrare regni potentiam et quicquid regibus agere mos est coeperunt; quippe cum caelitus esse(t) dispositum, ad horum progeniem Francorum transvehi regnum. Fuitque eo tempore maior domus in regio palatio Arnulfus, vir, ut postmodum claruit, Deo amabilis et mirae sanctitatis. Qui post gloriam seculi Christi se servitio subdens, mirabilis in episcopatu extitit, ac demum heremiticam vitam eligens, leprosis universa praebens obsequia, continentissime vixit.

16. At this time in Gaul, the kings of the Franks, degenerating from their accustomed fortitude and science, those who seemed to be the maiores of the royal house began to administer the power of the realm and to do whatever it is the custom for kings to do; since it had been disposed from heaven that the kingdom of the Franks be transferred to the progeny of these. And at that time the maior domus in the royal palace was Arnulf, a man—as afterward became clear—amiable to God and of wondrous sanctity. Who, after the glory of the age, subjecting himself to the servitude of Christ, stood forth admirable in the episcopate, and at length choosing a hermitic life, rendering every service to lepers, lived most continent.

De cuius mirabilibus apud Metensem ecclesiam, ubi episcopatum gessit, liber existit, eiusdem miracula et vitae abstinentiam continens. Sed et ego in libro quem de episcopis eiusdem civitatis conscripsi flagitante Angelramno, viro mitissimo et sanctitate praecipuo, praefatae ecclesiae archiepiscopo, de hoc sacratissimo viro Arnulfo quaedam eius miranda conposui, quae modo superfluum duxi replicare.

Concerning whose wonders at the Metensian church, where he held the episcopate, there exists a book, containing his miracles and the abstinence of his life. But I also, in the book which I wrote about the bishops of the same city, at the request of Angelramn, a most gentle man and preeminent in sanctity, archbishop of the aforesaid church, set down certain marvels of his about this most sacred man Arnulf, which I have now judged superfluous to repeat.

17. Inter haec Cunincpert cunctis amabillimus princeps, postquam duodecim annos Langobardorum regnum post patrem solus obtenuit, tandem ab hac luce subtractus est. Hic in campo Coronate, ubi bellum contra Alahis gessit, in honore beati Georgii martyris monasterium construxit. Fuit autem vir elegans et omni bonitate conspicuus audaxque bellator.

17. Meanwhile, Cunincpert, a prince most amiable to all, after he alone held the kingdom of the Langobards for twelve years after his father, was at length withdrawn from this light. He, in the field of Coronate, where he waged war against Alahis, built a monastery in honor of the blessed martyr George. Moreover, he was an elegant man, conspicuous for every goodness, and a bold warrior.

Hic cum multis Langobardorum lacrimis iuxta basilicam domini Salvatoris, quam quondam avus eiusdem Aripert construxerat, sepultus est. Regnumque Langobardorum Liutperto filio adhuc puerilis aetatis reliquit, cui tutorem Ansprandum, virum sapientem et inlustrem contribuit.

Here, with many tears of the Langobards, he was buried near the basilica of the Lord Savior, which once his grandfather Aripert had constructed. And he left the kingdom of the Langobards to his son Liutpert, still of boyish age, to whom he assigned as guardian Ansprand, a wise and illustrious man.

18. Dehinc elapsis octo mensibus, Raginpertus dux Taurinensium, quem quondam rex Godipertus, cum extingueretur a Grimualdo, reliquerat parvolum, de quo et superius diximus, cum valida manu veniens, adversus Ansprandum et Rotharit Bergomensium ducem apud Novarias conflixit, eosque in campo exsuperans, regnum Langobardorum invasit. Sed eodem anno mortuus est.

18. Thereafter, with eight months having elapsed, Raginpert, duke of the Turinese, whom once King Godepert, when he was being extinguished by Grimoald, had left a very small child—of whom we also spoke above—coming with a strong force, clashed at Novara against Ansprand and Rothari, duke of the Bergamese; and overcoming them in the field, he invaded the kingdom of the Langobards. But in the same year he died.

19. Tunc filius eius Aripert iterum bellum parans, pugnavit cum Liutperto rege aput Ticinum cumque Ansprando et Atone et Tatzone necnon et Rotharit ac Faraone. Sed omnes hos bello exsuperans, Liutpertum infantulum vivum in bello conprehendit. Ansprand quoque fugiens, in insulam se Commacinam conmunivit.

19. Then his son Aripert, preparing war again, fought against King Liutpert at Ticinum, and against Ansprand and Ato and Tatzo, and likewise Rothari and Farao. But surpassing all these in war, he apprehended Liutpert, the little infant, alive in the battle. Ansprand also, fleeing, fortified himself on the island Commacina.

20. At vero Rotharit dux Bergamum civitatem suam rediens, regnum arripuit. Contra quem rex Aripert cum magno exercitu proficiscens, expugnata primum et capta Laude, Bergamum obsedit, eamque cum arietibus et diversis belli machinis sine aliqua difficultate expugnans mox cepit, conprehensumque Rotharit pseudoregem, eius caput barbamque radens, Taurinis in exilium trusit, quique ibidem post aliquot dies peremptus est. Liutpertum vero, quem ceperat, pari modo in balneo vita privavit.

20. But indeed Rotharit, duke, returning to his city Bergamo, seized the kingship. Against him King Aripert, setting out with a great army, having first stormed and captured Laude, besieged Bergamo, and, assaulting it with battering rams and diverse machines of war, without any difficulty soon took it; and Rotharit, the pseudo-king, having been apprehended, shaving his head and beard, he thrust him into exile at Turin, and there after some days he was slain. Liutpert, moreover, whom he had taken, in like manner he deprived of life in the bath.

21. Misit quoque exercitum adversus Ansprandum in insulam Commacinam. Quo conperto, Ansprand fugiit Clavennam; deinde per Curiam Retorum civitatem venit ad Theutpertum Baioariorum ducem, et fuit cum eo per annos novem. Exercitus vero Ariperti insulam in qua Ansprand fuerat invadens, eius oppidum diruit.

21. He also sent an army against Ansprand to the Comacine island. On learning this, Ansprand fled to Clavenna; then through Curia, the city of the Rhaetians, he came to Theutpert, duke of the Bavarians, and was with him for nine years. But the army of Aripert, invading the island on which Ansprand had been, demolished his stronghold.

22. Rex igitur Aripert, confirmato regno, Sigiprandum, Ansprandi filium, oculis privavit omnesque qui ei consanguinitate iuncti fuerant diversis modis afflixit. Minorem quoque Ansprandi filium Liutprandum in custodia tenuit; quem quia despicabilem personam et adhuc adulescentulum esse perspexit, non solum in eius corpore vindictam aliquam minime ingessit, sed eum, ut ad patrem suum pergeret, abire permisit. Quod Dei omnipotentis nutu factum fuisse, qui eum ad regni gubernacula praeparabat, dubium non est.

22. Therefore King Aripert, his reign confirmed, deprived Sigiprand, the son of Ansprand, of his eyes, and afflicted in diverse ways all who had been joined to him by consanguinity. He also kept Liutprand, the younger son of Ansprand, in custody; whom, because he perceived to be a despicable person and still an adolescent, he not only did not at all inflict any vengeance upon his body, but even allowed him to depart, that he might proceed to his father. That this was done by the nod of Almighty God, who was preparing him for the helm of the kingdom, is not doubtful.

Igitur Liutprand ad patrem suum in Baioariam profectus, ei de suo adventu inaestimabile gaudium fecit. Uxorem vero Ansprandi Theodoradam nomine rex Aripert conprehendi fecit. Quae cum se voluntate feminea reginam futuram esse iactaret, naso atque auribus abscisis, decore suae faciei deturpata est.

Therefore Liutprand, having set out to his father in Bavaria, caused him inestimable joy by his arrival. But King Aripert had Ansprand’s wife, by name Theodorada, seized. And when she, with feminine will, boasted that she would be queen, with her nose and ears cut off, the beauty of her face was disfigured.

Pari etiam modo et germana Liutprandi nomine Aurona deformis effecta est.

Likewise, in the same manner, Liutprand’s sister, by the name Aurona, was made deformed.

23. Hoc tempore aput Gallias in Francorum regnum Anschis, Arnulfi filius, qui de nomine Anschise quondam Troiani creditur appellatus, sub nomine maioris domui gerebat principatum.

23. At this time among the Gauls, within the kingdom of the Franks, Anschis, son of Arnulf—who is believed to have been appellated from the name of Anchises, once a Trojan—held the principate under the title of mayor of the palace.

24. Mortuo quoque aput Foroiuli Adone, quem dixeramus lociservatorem fuisse, Ferdulfus ducatum suscepit, qui de partibus Liguriae extitit, homo lubricus et elatus. Qui dum victoriae laudem de Sclavis habere cupiit, magna sibi et Foroiulanis detrimenta invexit. Is praemia quibusdam Sclavis dedit, ut exercitum Sclavorum in eandem provinciam sua adhortatione inmitterent.

24. With Ado also having died at Forum Iulii, whom we had said was the place-keeper (warden), Ferdulf took up the duchy, who was from the parts of Liguria, a slippery and vainglorious man. While he desired to have the praise of victory over the Slavs, he brought great losses upon himself and upon the Foroiulians. He gave rewards to certain Slavs, so that, at his exhortation, they would send a Slavic army into the same province.

Quod ita quoque effectum est. Causa autem magnae in eadem Foroiulana provincia perditionis ista fuit. Inruerunt latrunculi Sclavorum super greges et pastores ovium, quae in eorum vicinia pascebantur, et de eis praedas abigerunt.

This too was brought to effect. But the cause of great perdition in that same Foroiulan province was this: brigands of the Slavs rushed upon the flocks and the shepherds of sheep, which were pasturing in their vicinity, and drove off booty from them.

Subsecutus est hos rector loci illius, quem "sculdahis" lingua propria dicunt, vir nobilis animoque et viribus potens; sed tamen eosdem latrunculos adsequi non potuit. Cui exinde revertenti dux Ferdulfus obviam factus est. Quem dum interrogaret, quid de illis latrunculis factum esset, Argait ei sic enim nomen habebat , eosdem fugisse, respondit.

After them followed the rector of that place, whom in their own tongue they call “sculdahis,” a noble man and potent in spirit and in strength; yet he was not able to overtake those same brigands. As he was returning thence, Duke Ferdulf came to meet him. When he asked him what had been done about those brigands, Argait—for such was his name—answered to him that those same had fled.

Tunc ei Ferdulfus indignans ita locutus est: "Quando tu aliquid fortiter facere poteras, qui Argait ab arga nomen deductum habes?". Cui ille maxima stimulatus ira, ut erat vir fortis, ita respondit: "Sic velit Deus, ut non antea ego et tu, dux Ferdulfe, exeamus de hac vita, quam cognoscant alii, quis ex nobis magis est arga". Haec cum sibi invicem vulgaria verba locuti fuissent, contigit non post multos dies, ut exercitus Sclavorum, pro quorum adventu dux Ferdulfus praemia dederat, cum magnis viribus adventaret. Qui cum castra in summo montis vertice posuissent, et pene ex omni parte difficile esset ad eos accedere, Ferdulfus dux cum exercitu superveniens, coepit eundem montem circuire, ut per loca planiora super eos possit inruere. Tunc Argait, de quo praemisimus, ita Ferdulfo dixit: "Memento, dux Ferdulf, quod me esse inertem et inutilem dixeris et vulgari verbo arga vocaveris.

Then Ferdulf, indignant, spoke thus to him: "When could you ever do anything bravely, you who have the name Argait derived from arga?" To whom he, goaded by the greatest wrath, as he was a brave man, replied thus: "So may God will, that neither I nor you, Duke Ferdulf, depart from this life before others come to know which of us is more arga." When they had spoken these vulgar words to one another, it befell not many days later that an army of the Slavs—for whose arrival Duke Ferdulf had given rewards—came with great forces. And when they had pitched camp on the summit of the mountain, and it was difficult to approach them from almost every side, Duke Ferdulf, arriving with the army, began to go around that same mountain, so that through flatter places he might be able to rush upon them from above. Then Argait, about whom we have said above, spoke thus to Ferdulf: "Remember, Duke Ferdulf, that you said I am inert and useless, and that with a vulgar word you called me 'arga'."

Nunc autem ira Dei veniat super illum, qui posterior e nobis ad hos Sclavos accesserit". Et haec dicens, verso equo, per asperitatem montis, unde gravis erat ascensus, ad castra contendere coepit Sclavorum. Ferdulfus vero opprobrium ducens, si non ipse per eadem difficilia loca super Sclavos inruerit, eum per aspera quaeque et difficilia inviaque loca secutus est. Quem suus exercitus, turpe ducens ducem non sequi, subsequi et ipse coepit.

"Now, however, may the wrath of God come upon him who shall be the later of us to approach these Slavs." And saying these things, turning his horse, through the asperity of the mountain, where the ascent was heavy, he began to hasten toward the camp of the Slavs. But Ferdulf, counting it an opprobrium if he himself did not rush upon the Slavs through those same difficult places, followed him through every rough and difficult and pathless place. Whom his army, deeming it disgraceful not to follow the leader, likewise began to follow.

Videntes itaque Sclavi eos per devexa loca super se venire, praeparaverunt se viriliter, et magis lapidibus ac securibus quam armis contra eos pugnantes, pene omnes deiectos equis perimerunt. Sicque victoriam non viribus, sed casu adepti sunt. Ibi omnis nobilitas periit Foroiulanorum; ibi Ferdulfus dux cecidit; ibi et ille qui eum provocaverat extinctus est.

Therefore, seeing the Slavs that they were coming over them through the sloping places, they prepared themselves manfully, and, fighting against them more with stones and axes than with arms, they slew almost all, cast down from their horses. And so they obtained the victory not by forces, but by chance. There all the nobility of the Foroiulanians perished; there Duke Ferdulf fell; there also he who had provoked him was extinguished.

Tantique ibi viri fortes per contentionis malum et inprovidentiam debellati sunt, quanti possent per unam concordiam et salubre consilium multa milia sternere aemulorum. Ibi tamen unus e Lango bardis nomine Munichis, qui pater post Petri Foroiulani et Ursi Cenetensis ducum extitit, solus fortiter et viriliter fecit. Is cum de equo eiectus esset, et eum unus e Sclavis subito invadens eius manus fune conligasset, ipse manibus ligatis lanceam ab eiusdem Sclavi dextera extrahens, eum cum ipsa percussit, et ligatus per aspera se loca deiciens evasit.

And men of such valour there were overcome through the evil of contention and improvidence as could by a single concord and healthful counsel strew many thousands of rivals. There, however, one of the Langobards by the name Munichis—who afterwards proved to be the father of Peter of Foroiulani and Ursus of Cenetensis, dukes—alone acted bravely and manfully. When he had been cast from his horse, and one of the Slavs, suddenly assailing him, had bound his hands with a rope, he, with his hands bound, drawing a lance from that same Slav’s right hand, struck him with it, and, still bound, hurling himself down through rough places, made his escape.

Haec ideo vel maxime in hac posuimus historia, ne quid aliquid per contentionis malum simile contingat.

For this reason, or rather especially for this reason, we have set these things in this history, lest anything similar should happen through the evil of contention.

25. Mortuo itaque Ferdulfo duce hoc modo, in eius loco ordinatus est Corvolus. Qui pauco tempore ducatum tenens, dum regem offendisset, evulsis oculis dedecorose vixit.

25. And so, with Ferdulf the duke dead in this way, Corvolus was appointed in his place. He, holding the dukedom for a short time, when he had offended the king, lived disgracefully with his eyes torn out.

26. Deinceps vero Pemmo ducatum promeruit, qui fuit homo ingeniosus et utilis patriae. Hic patre genitus Billone, qui de Belluno fuerat, sed propter seditionem, quam illuc fecerat, in Forumiuli post veniens, ibi pacifice vixit. Hic Pemmo habuit coniugem Ratpergam nomine; quae cum esset facie rusticana, saepe maritum deprecata est, ut se dimissa aliam uxorem duceret, quam tanti ducis coniugem esse deceret.

26. Thereafter indeed Pemmo earned the duchy, who was a man ingenious and useful to the fatherland. He was born of a father Billo, who was from Belluno, but on account of the sedition which he had raised there, afterwards coming to Forum Iulii, he lived there peacefully. This Pemmo had a consort named Ratperga; who, since she was rustic in visage, often entreated her husband that, with herself dismissed, he should take another wife—one whom it would be fitting to be the spouse of so great a duke.

Sed ipse, ut erat vir sapiens, plus eius mores et humilitatem verecundamque pudicitiam quam corporis pulchritudinem sibi conplacere, dicebat. De hac igitur coniuge tres Pemmo filios, hoc est Ratchis et Ratchait et Ahistulfum, viros strenuos, genuit. Quorum nativitas humilitatem matris ad gloriam erexit.

But he himself, as he was a wise man, used to say that her morals and humility and modest chastity pleased him more for himself than the beauty of the body. From this wife, therefore, Pemmo begot three sons—that is, Ratchis and Ratchait and Aistulf—stalwart men. Whose birth raised the mother’s humility to glory.

Qui dux, congregatis omnium nobilium qui in bello de quo diximus obierant filiis, sic eos cum suis natis pariter nutrivit, ac si et ipsi ab eo geniti fuissent.

This duke, having gathered the sons of all the nobles who had perished in the war of which we spoke, nurtured them together with his own sons, as if they too had been begotten by him.

27. Hac denique aetate Gisulfus Beneventanorum ductor Suram Romanorum civitatem, Hirpinum atque Arcim pari modo oppida cepit. Qui Gisulfus tempore Iohannis papae cum omni sua virtute Campaniam venit, incendia et depraedationes faciens, multos captivorum cepit et usque in locum qui Horrea dicitur castrametatus est, nullusque ei resistere potuit. Ad hunc pontifex missis sacerdotibus cum apostolicis donariis, universos captivos de eorum manibus redimit ipsumque ducem cum suo exercitu ad propria repedare fecit.

27. In this very age Gisulf, leader of the Beneventans, seized Sora, a city of the Romans, and in like manner the towns Hirpinum and Arce. This Gisulf, in the time of Pope John, came with all his force into Campania, setting fires and making depredations; he took many captives and encamped as far as the place which is called Horrea, and no one was able to resist him. To him the pontiff, priests having been sent with apostolic donaries, redeemed all the captives from their hands and caused the duke himself with his army to return to their own.

28. Hoc tempore Aripertus rex Langobardorum donationem patrimonii Alpium Cottiarum, quae quondam ad ius pertinuerat apostolicae sedis, sed a Langobardis multo tempore fuerat ablata, restituit et hanc donationem aureis exaratam litteris Romam direxit. His etiam diebus duo reges Saxonum ad vestigia apostolorum Romam venientes, sub velocitate, ut optabant, defuncti sunt.

28. At this time Aripert, king of the Lombards, restored the donation of the patrimony of the Cottian Alps, which had formerly pertained to the jurisdiction of the Apostolic See, but had for a long time been taken away by the Lombards, and he sent this donation, inscribed in golden letters, to Rome. Also in these days two kings of the Saxons, coming to Rome to the thresholds of the apostles, died with celerity, as they desired.

29. Tunc quoque venit Benedictus archiepiscopus Mediolanensis Romam et causam egit pro ecclesia Ticinensi; sed victus est, eo quod a priscis temporibus Ticinenses episcopi a Romana fuerant ecclesia consecrati. Fuit autem isdem venerabilis Benedictus archiepiscopus vir egregiae sanctitatis, de quo per universam Italiam bonae opinionis fama flagravit.

29. Then too Benedict, archbishop of Milan, came to Rome and pled his case on behalf of the Ticinese church; but he was defeated, because from ancient times the bishops of Ticinum had been consecrated by the Roman church. Moreover, that same venerable Archbishop Benedict was a man of distinguished sanctity, about whom throughout all Italy the fame of good opinion blazed.

30. Igitur defuncto Transamundo duce Spolitanorum, Farualdus, eius filius, in loco patris est subrogatus. Denique Wachilapus germanus fuit Transamundi et cum fratre pariter eundem rexit ducatum.

30. Therefore, with Transamund, duke of the Spoletans, deceased, Farualdus, his son, was subrogated in his father’s place. Indeed, Wachilapus was the german brother of Transamund, and together with his brother he ruled the same duchy.

31. At vero Iustinianus, qui amisso principatu in Ponto exulabat, auxilio Terebelli Bulgarum regis regnum rursus recipiens, eos qui se expulerant patricios occidit. Leonem quoque et Tiberium, qui locum eius usurpaverant, cepit et in medio circo coram omni populo iugulari fecit. Gallicinum vero patriarcham Constantinopolitanum erutis oculis Romam misit Cyrumque abbatem, qui eum in Ponto exulem aluerat, episcopum in loco Gallicini constituit.

31. But Justinian, who, his principate having been lost, was in exile in Pontus, recovering the kingdom again with the aid of Terebell, king of the Bulgars, killed the patricians who had driven him out. He also seized Leo and Tiberius, who had usurped his place, and in the middle of the Circus he had their throats cut before all the people. Gallicinus, however, the patriarch of Constantinople, with his eyes gouged out, he sent to Rome, and Cyrus the abbot, who had sustained him as an exile in Pontus, he appointed bishop in the place of Gallicinus.

Hic Constantinum papam ad se venire iubens, honorifice suscepit ac remisit; quem prostratus in terra pro suis peccatis intercedere rogans, cuncta eius ecclesiae privilegia renovavit. Qui cum exercitum in Pontum mitteret ad conprehendendum Filippicum, quem ibi religaverat, multum eum isdem venerabilis papa prohibuit, ne hoc facere deberet; sed tamen inhibere non potuit.

He, ordering Pope Constantine to come to him, received him honorifically and sent him back; and, prostrate on the ground, begging him to intercede for his sins, he renewed all the privileges of his church. When he was sending an army into Pontus to apprehend Philippicus, whom he had confined there, the same venerable pope greatly forbade him, that he ought not to do this; but nevertheless he was not able to restrain him.

32. Exercitus quoque, qui missus contra Filippicum fuerat, ad partem se Filippici contulit eumque imperatorem fecit. Qui Constantinopolim contra Iustinianum veniens, cum eo ab Urbe miliario duodecimo pugnavit, vicit et occidit regnumque eius adeptus est. Imperavit autem Iustinianus cum filio Tiberio in hac secunda vice annos sex.

32. The army too, which had been sent against Philippicus, betook itself to the side of Philippicus and made him emperor. He, coming to Constantinople against Justinian, fought with him at the 12th milestone from the City, conquered and killed him, and gained his kingdom. But Justinian ruled with his son Tiberius in this second turn for 6 years.

Quem Leo in expulsione illius naribus detruncavit; qui post iterum adsumpto imperio, quotiens defluentem guttam reumatis manu detersit, pene totiens aliquem ex iis qui contra eum fuerant iugulari praecepit.

whom Leo, at his expulsion, cut off in the nostrils; who afterward, having reassumed the imperium, almost as often as he wiped with his hand a running drop of rheum, nearly that often he ordered someone from among those who had been against him to have his throat cut.

33. Mortuo denique his diebus patriarcha Petro, regimen Aquileiensis ecclesiae suscepit Serenus, qui fuit vir simplicitate praeditus et ad Christi servitium pronus.

33. Finally, in these days, the patriarch Peter having died, Serenus took up the governance of the Aquileian church, who was a man endowed with simplicity and prone to the service of Christ.

34. At vero Filippicus, qui et Bardanis dictus est, postquam in imperiali dignitate confirmatus est, Cyrum, de quo dixeramus, de pontificatu eiecto, ad gubernandum monasterium suum Pontum redire praecepit. Hic Filippicus Constantino papae litteras pravi docmatis direxit, quas ille cum apostolicae sedis concilio respuit; et huius rei causa fecit picturas in porticu sancti Petri, quae gesta sex sanctarum sinodorum universalium retinent. Nam et huiusmodi picturas, cum haberentur in urbe regia, Filippicus iusserat auferri.

34. But indeed Filippicus, who was also called Bardanes, after he was confirmed in imperial dignity, ordered Cyrus—of whom we had spoken—cast out from the pontificate, to return to Pontus to govern his own monastery. This Filippicus sent to Pope Constantine letters of a depraved dogma, which he rejected together with the council of the apostolic see; and for this reason he caused paintings to be made in the portico of Saint Peter, which retain the acts of the six holy universal synods. For such paintings, when they were maintained in the royal city, Filippicus had ordered to be removed.

Statuit populus Romanus, ne heretici imperatoris nomen aut chartas aut figuram solidi susciperent. Unde nec eius effigies in ecclesia introducta est, nec nomen ad missarum sollempnia prolatum. Hic cum annum unum et sex mensibus regnum gessisset, contra eum Anastasius, qui et Artemius dictus est, insurgens, eum regno expulit oculisque privavit, nec tamen occidit.

The Roman people decreed that they should not receive the name of the heretical emperor, nor his charters, nor the figure on the solidus-coin. Whence neither was his effigy introduced in the church, nor was his name pronounced at the solemnities of the Masses. He, when he had borne the rule for one year and six months, Anastasius, who is also called Artemius, rising against him, expelled him from imperial rule and deprived him of his eyes, yet did not kill him.

Hic Anastasius litteras Constantino papae Romam per Scolasticum patricium et exarcum Italiae direxit, quibus se fautorem catholicae fidei et sancti sexti concilii praedicatorem esse declaravit.

This Anastasius sent letters to Pope Constantine to Rome through Scholasticus, patrician and exarch of Italy, in which he declared himself a supporter of the Catholic faith and a preacher of the holy sixth council.

35. Igitur postquam Ansprand aput Baioariam iam novem expletis annis exulasset, promoto tandem Teutperto, decimo anno Baioariorum ducto exercitu, venit Italiam pugnavitque cum Ariperto, et facta est ex utraque parte multa strages populorum. Sed quamvis ad extremum nox proelium dirimisset, certum tamen est, Baioarios terga praebuisse et Ariperti exercitum victorem ad castra remeasse. Sed dum Aripert in castris manere noluisset, sed potius Ticinum civitatem introisset, et suis hoc facto desperationem et adversariis audaciam praebuit.

35. Therefore, after Ansprand had been in exile in Bavaria for now nine full years, with Teutpert at last brought forward, in the tenth year of the Bavarians, leading an army, he came into Italy and fought with Aripert, and on both sides there was great slaughter of peoples. But although at the last night severed the battle, it is nevertheless certain that the Bavarians turned their backs and that Aripert’s army returned victorious to the camp. But since Aripert was unwilling to remain in the camp, and rather entered the city of Ticinum, by this deed he furnished to his own men desperation and to his adversaries audacity.

Qui postquam in civitatem regressus est, et sensisset, quia pro hoc facto suum exercitum offensum haberet, mox accepto consilio ut in Franciam fugeret, quantum sibi utile duxit e palatio aurum sustulit. Qui dum fluvium Ticinum gravatus auro transnatare voluisset, ibique corruens, suffocatus aquis extinctus est. Cuius in crastinum diem corpus inventum, in palatio ordinatum ac deinde ad basilicam domini Salvatoris, quam antiquus Aripert construxerat, prolatum ibique sepultum est.

After he had returned into the city, and had sensed that on account of this deed he had his army offended against him, he soon, having taken counsel to flee into France, carried off from the palace as much gold as he judged useful to himself. While he wished to swim across the river Ticino, burdened with gold, falling there, he was suffocated by the waters and was extinguished. His body, found on the next day, was laid out in the palace and then brought to the basilica of the Lord Savior, which the former Aripert had constructed, and there he was buried.

Hic in diebus quibus regnum tenuit noctu egrediens et hac illacque pergens, quid de eo a singulis civitatibus diceretur, per semet ipsum explorabat, ac diligenter, qualem iustitiam singuli iudices populo suo facerent, investigabat. Hic, advenientibus ad se exterarum gentium legatis, vilibus coram eis vestibus sive pelliciis utebatur; utque minus Italiae insidiarentur, numquam eis pretiosa vina vel ceterarum rerum delicias ministrabat. Regnavit autem cum patre Ragimperto sive solus usque ad annum duodecimum.

He, in the days in which he held the kingdom, going out by night and proceeding here and there, investigated by himself what was being said about him by each of the cities, and he diligently inquired what sort of justice each judge was rendering to his people. He, when legates of foreign nations came to him, used cheap garments or furs in their presence; and, so that they might plot against Italy the less, he never served them precious wines or the delicacies of other things. He reigned, moreover, with his father Ragimpert or alone up to the 12th year.

Fuit quoque vir pius, elymosinis deditus ac iustitiae amator; in cuius temporibus terrae ubertas nimia, sed tempora fuere barbarica. Huius germanus Gumpertus eo tempore in Franciam fugiens, ibidem usque ad diem suae mortis permansit. Huic fuerunt filii tres, quorum qui maior natu extitit Ragimpertus nomine nostris in diebus Aurelianensem civitatem rexit.

He was also a pious man, devoted to alms (eleemosynary works) and a lover of justice; in whose times the earth’s abundance was excessive, but the times were barbaric. His brother Gumpert, fleeing to France at that time, remained there until the day of his death. He had three sons, of whom the eldest by birth, named Ragimpert, in our own days ruled the city of Orléans.

Post cuius Ariperti funus Ansprand Langobardorum regnum potitus, tres solummodo menses regnavit; vir per omnia egregius et cuius sapientiae rari aequandi sunt. Cernentes Langobardi huius interitum, Liutprandum, eius filium, in regali constituunt solio; quod Ansprand dum adhuc viveret audiens, valde laetatus est.

After the death of Aripert, Ansprand, having obtained the kingdom of the Langobards, reigned only three months; a man outstanding in all respects, and whose sapience few can equal. The Langobards, perceiving his demise, place Liutprand, his son, upon the royal throne; which, hearing while he was still alive, Ansprand rejoiced greatly.

36. Hoc tempore Anastasius imperator classem in Alexandriam contra Sarracenos direxit. Cuius exercitus ad alium versus consilium, ab itinere medio Constantinopolitanam urbem regressus, Theodosium orthodoxum inquirens, imperatorem elegit atque coactum in solio imperii confirmavit. Qui Theodosius aput Niceam civitatem Anastasium gravi proelio vicit.

36. At this time Emperor Anastasius directed a fleet to Alexandria against the Saracens. Whose army, having turned to another plan, returned from mid-journey to the city of Constantinople, and, seeking Theodosius the orthodox, chose him as emperor and, having compelled him, confirmed him on the throne of the empire. This Theodosius at the city of Nicaea defeated Anastasius in a grave battle.

Datoque sibi sacramento, eum clericum fieri ac presbiterum fecit ordinari. Ipse vero ut regnum accepit, mox in regia urbe imaginem illam venerandam, in qua sanctae sinodus erant depictae et a Filippico fuerat deiecta, pristino in loco erexit. His diebus ita Tiberis fluvius inundavit, ut [extra] alveum suum egressus multa Romanae fecerit exitia civitati, ita ut in Via Lata ad unam et semis staturam excresceret atque a porta sancti Petri usque ad pontem Molvium aquae se descendentes coniungerent.

And an oath having been given to himself, he caused him to become a cleric and to be ordained presbyter. But he himself, when he received the kingdom, soon in the royal city set up again in its former place that venerable image, in which the holy synods had been depicted and which had been cast down by Philippicus. In these days the river Tiber so flooded that, having gone [outside] its channel, it wrought many devastations upon the Roman city, such that on the Via Lata it rose to a stature of one and a half, and that from the gate of Saint Peter as far as the Milvian bridge the waters, as they flowed down, joined together.

37. His temporibus multi Anglorum gentis nobiles et ignobiles, viri et feminae, duces et privati, divini amoris instinctu de Brittania Romam venire consuerunt. Aput regnum Francorum tunc temporis Pipinus optinebat principatum. Fuit autem vir mirae, audaciae, qui hostes suos statim adgrediendo conterebat.

37. In these times many of the English nation, noble and ignoble, men and women, dukes and private persons, by the instinct of divine love, were accustomed to come to Rome from Britain. In the kingdom of the Franks at that time Pippin held the principate. He was, moreover, a man of wondrous audacity, who by immediately attacking his enemies used to crush them.

Nam supra quendam suum adversarium, Rhenum transgressus, cum uno tantum satellite suo inruit eumque in suo cubiculo residentem cum suis trucidavit. Bella quoque multa cum Saxonibus, et maxime cum Ratpoto Frisionum rege fortiter gessit. Hic et alios filios habuit; sed ex his praecipuus Carolus extitit, qui ei post in principatu successit.

For, upon a certain adversary of his, having crossed the Rhine, he rushed in with only one bodyguard and slaughtered him, as he was sitting in his own chamber, together with his men. He also waged many wars with the Saxons, and most of all with Ratpot, king of the Frisians, bravely. He likewise had other sons; but of these Charles was preeminent, who afterwards succeeded him in the principate.

38. At vero Liutprand rex cum in regno confirmatus esset, eum Rothari, eius consanguineus, perimere voluit. Is enim convivium ei in domo sua aput Ticinum praeparavit, in qua domo viros fortissimos, qui regem convivantem extinguerent, armatos abscondit. Quod cum Liutprando nuntiatum fuisset, eum ad palatium suum evocari praecepit.

38. But indeed King Liutprand, when he had been confirmed in the kingdom, Rothari, his consanguine, wished to slay him. For he prepared a banquet for him in his own house at Ticinum, in which house he hid, armed, the very bravest men, who would extinguish the king as he was feasting. When this had been reported to Liutprand, he ordered that he be summoned to his palace.

Quem, sicut ei dictum fuerat, loricam sub veste indutum, eum ipse manu pertractans, repperit. Qui Rothari cum se detectum cognovisset, statim post se exiliens spatham evaginavit, ut regem percuteret. Econtra rex suum ensem vagina exemit.

Whom—just as it had been told to him—he found to be clad in a cuirass beneath his garment, feeling him with his own hand. Rothari, when he realized that he was detected, immediately, springing back, unsheathed a spatha to strike the king. In turn the king drew his own sword from the sheath.

Tunc unus e regiis satellitibus nomine Subo Rothari a tergo conprehendens, ab eo in fronte vulneratus est. Super quem Rothari et alii insilientes, eum ibidem occiderunt. Quattuor vero eius filii, qui non aderant, ubi inventi, ibi et perempti sunt.

Then one of the royal bodyguards, named Subo, seizing Rothari from behind, was wounded by him in the forehead. Upon whom Rothari and others, leaping, killed him there on the spot. But his four sons, who were not present, where they were found, there also they were put to death.

Fuit autem rex Liutprand vir multae audaciae, ita ut, cum eum duo armigeri eius occidere cogitarent, et hoc ei perlatum fuisset, in profundissimam silvam cum eis solus ingressus, mox evaginatum gladium contra eos tenens, eisdem, quia eum occidere cogitaverunt, inproperavit; quod ut facere deberent, hortatus est. Qui statim eius pedibus provoluti, ei sunt quae machinaverant cuncta professi. Et de aliis quoque hoc similiter fecit; sed tamen confessis mox tantae malitiae culpam pepercit.

Now King Liutprand was a man of much audacity, to such a degree that, when two of his armor-bearers were considering to kill him, and this had been conveyed to him, he, having entered with them alone into a most deep forest, soon, holding an unsheathed sword against them, reproached those same men because they had conceived to kill him; and he urged them to do what they had purposed to do. They, immediately prostrated at his feet, professed to him all the things which they had machinated. And he did this likewise with others as well; but nevertheless, to those confessing he forthwith spared the guilt of so great malice.

39. Defuncto itaque Gisulfo Beneventano duce, Samnitum populum Romuald, eius filius, regendum suscepit.

39. With Gisulf, the Beneventan duke, having died, Romuald, his son, undertook to govern the people of the Samnites.

40. Circa haec tempora Petronax, civis Brexianae urbis, divino amore conpunctus, Romam venit hortatuque tunc Gregorii apostolicae sedis papae huc Cassinum castrum petiit, atque ad sacrum corpus beati Benedicti patris perveniens, ibi cum aliquibus simplicibus viris iam ante residentibus habitare coepit. Qui eundem venerabilem virum Petronacem sibi seniorem statuerunt. Hic non post multum tempus, cooperante divina misericordia et suffragantibus meritis beati Benedicti patris, iamque evolutis fere centum et decem annis, ex quo locus ille habitatione hominum destitutus erat, multorum ibi monachorum, nobilium et mediocrium, ad se concurrentium pater effectus, sub sanctae regulae iugum et beati Benedicti institutione, reparatis habitaculis, vivere coepit atque hoc sanctum coenobium in statum quo nunc cernitur erexit.

40. Around these times Petronax, a citizen of the city of Brescia, compuncted by divine love, came to Rome, and at the exhortation of Gregory then pope of the apostolic see he sought hither the Casinum fortress, and, arriving at the sacred body of the blessed father Benedict, there he began to dwell with some simple men who had already been living there before. These appointed that same venerable man Petronax as their senior. He, not long thereafter, with divine mercy cooperating and the merits of the blessed father Benedict suffraging, and now with nearly 110 years having elapsed since that place had been forsaken of the habitation of men, having become the father of many monks there—both nobles and men of the middle sort—flocking to him, under the yoke of the holy rule and the institution of blessed Benedict, with the dwellings repaired, began to live, and he raised this holy coenobium into the state in which it is now beheld.

Huic venerabili viro Petronaci insequenti tempore sacerdotum praecipuus et Deo dilectus pontifex Zacharias plura adiutoria contulit, libros scilicet sanctae scripturae et alia quaeque quae ad utilitatem monasterii pertinent; insuper et regulam, quam beatus pater Benedictus suis sanctis manibus conscripsit, paterna pietate concessit. Monasterium vero beati Vincentii martyris, quod iuxta Vulturni fluminis fontem situm est, et nunc magna congregatione refulget, a tribus nobilibus fratribus, hoc est [Tato Taso et Paldo], iam tunc aedificatum, sicut viri eruditissimi Autperti eiusdem monasterii abbatis in volumine, quod de hac re conposuit, scripta significant. Superstite sane adhuc beato papa Gregorio Romanae sedis, Cumanum castrum a Langobardis Beneventanis pervasum est; sed a duce Neapolitano noctu superveniente quidam ex Langobardis capti, quidam perempti sunt.

To this venerable man Petronax, at the ensuing time, Zacharias, a chief among priests and a pontiff beloved by God, bestowed many aids, namely books of Holy Scripture and whatever other things that pertain to the utility of the monastery; moreover the Rule, which the blessed father Benedict wrote with his own holy hands, he granted with paternal piety. But the monastery of the blessed martyr Vincent, which is situated near the source of the river Volturnus and now shines with a great congregation, was already then built by three noble brothers, that is, [Tato Taso et Paldo], as the writings of the most learned man Autpertus, abbot of the same monastery, in the volume which he composed on this matter, indicate. While the blessed Pope Gregory of the Roman See was still alive, the fortress of Cumae was overrun by the Beneventan Lombards; but when the Neapolitan duke came upon them by night, some of the Lombards were captured, some were slain.

Castrum quoque ipsum a Romanis est receptum. Pro cuius castri redemptionem pontifex septuaginta libras auri, sicut primitus promiserat, dedit.

The fort itself also was recovered by the Romans. For the ransom of which fort the pontiff gave seventy pounds of gold, as he had promised at the first.

41. Inter haec defuncto imperatore Theodosio, qui uno solummodo imperium rexerat anno, eius in loco Leo Augustus subrogatur.

41. Meanwhile, the emperor Theodosius having died, who had ruled the imperium for only one year, Leo Augustus is appointed in his place.

42. Aput Francorum quoque gentem Pipino vita exempto, eius filius Carolus, de quo praemiseramus, licet per multa bella et certamina, de manu Raginfridi principatum sustulit. Nam cum in custodia teneretur, divino nutu ereptus aufugit, ac primum contra Raginfridum cum paucis bis terque certamen iniit novissimeque eum aput Vinciacum magno certamine superavit. Cui tamen unam, hoc est Andegavensem, civitatem ad habitandum concessit; cunctamque vero Francorum gentem ipse gubernandam suscepit.

42. Among the nation of the Franks as well, when Pippin had been removed from life, his son Charles, about whom we had earlier said, albeit through many wars and contests, took the principate out of the hand of Raginfrid. For when he was being held in custody, by a divine nod he was snatched away and escaped, and at first with a few men he entered battle twice or thrice against Raginfrid, and at last he defeated him at Vinciacum in a great contest. To him, however, he granted one city to dwell in, that is, the Andegavian (Angers) city; but the whole nation of the Franks he himself undertook to govern.

43. Eo tempore Liutprand rex donationem patrimonii Alpium Cottiarum Romanae ecclesiae confirmavit. Nec multum post idem regnator Guntrut, filiam Teutperti Baioariorum ducis, aput quem exularat, in matrimonium duxit; de qua unam solummodo filiam genuit.

43. At that time King Liutprand confirmed the donation of the patrimony of the Cottian Alps to the Roman church. And not much later the same ruler took in matrimony Guntrut, the daughter of Teutpert, duke of the Bavarians, with whom he had been in exile; by whom he begot only one daughter.

44. Per haec tempora Faroaldus Spolitanorum ductor Classem civitatem Ravennantium invasit; sed iussu regis Liutprandi eisdem Romanis reddita est. Contra hunc Faroaldum ducem filius suus Transamundus insurrexit, eumque clericum faciens, locum eius invasit. His diebus Teudo Baioariorum dux gentis orationis gratia Romam ad beatorum apostolorum vestigia venit.

44. During these times Faroald, duke of the Spoletans, invaded Classe, the city of the Ravennans; but by order of King Liutprand it was returned to those same Romans. Against this Duke Faroald his son Transamund rose up, and, making him a cleric, seized his place. In these days Teudo, duke of the Bavarians, for the sake of prayer on behalf of his people, came to Rome to the footsteps of the blessed apostles.

45. Aput Foroiuli igitur sublato e rebus humanis patriarcha Sereno, Calistus, vir egregius, qui erat Tarvisianae ecclesiae archidiaconus, adnitente Liutprando principe, Aquileiensem ecclesiam regendam suscepit. Quo, ut diximus, in tempore Pemmo Foroiulanis praeerat Langobardis. Is cum iam nobilium filios, quos cum suis natis nutrierat, [eos] iam ad iuvenilem perduxisset aetatem, repente ei nuntius venit, inmensam Sclavorum multitudinem in locum qui Lauriana dicitur adventasse.

45. At Forum Iulii, therefore, with the patriarch Serenus having been removed from human affairs, Callistus, an outstanding man, who was archdeacon of the church of Treviso, with Prince Liutprand lending his support, undertook to govern the church of Aquileia. At that time, as we said, Pemmo presided over the Forum-Julian Lombards. When now the sons of the nobles, whom he had nurtured together with his own offspring, [them] he had already brought to youthful age, suddenly a messenger came to him that an immense multitude of Slavs had arrived at the place which is called Lauriana.

Cum quibus ille iuvenibus super eosdem Sclavos tercio inruens, magna eos clade prostravit; nec amplius ibi aliquis a parte Langobardorum cecidit quam Sicualdus, qui erat iam aetate grandaevus. Iste namque in superiori pugna, quae sub Ferdulfo facta est, duos filios amiserat. Qui cum prima et secunda vice iuxta voluntatem suam se de Sclavis ultus esset, tercia vice, prohibente duce et aliis Langobardis, non potuit inhiberi, sed ita eis respondit: "Iam satis" inquit "meorum filiorum mortem vindicavi, et iam, si advenerit, laetus suscipiam mortem". Factumque est, et ipse solus in eadem pugna peremptus est.

With those youths, attacking those same Slavs for the third time, he laid them low with great slaughter; nor did anyone there fall on the part of the Langobards except Sicualdus, who was already advanced in age. For this man in the prior battle, which was fought under Ferdulf, had lost two sons. And since at the first and second time he had avenged himself upon the Slavs according to his will, at the third time, though the duke and the other Langobards were forbidding it, he could not be restrained, but thus he answered them: "Now enough," he says, "I have avenged the death of my sons, and now, if it shall come, I will gladly accept death." And so it came to pass, and he alone in that same battle was slain.

Pemmo vero cum multos inimicorum prostravisset, metuens ne aliquem suorum amplius in bello perderet, cum eisdem Sclavis in eodem loco pacis concordiam iniit; atque ex illo iam tempore magis ac magis coeperunt Sclavi Foroiulanorum arma formidare.

Pemmo, however, after he had laid low many of the enemies, fearing lest he might lose any more of his own men in war, with those same Slavs, in that same place, entered into a concord of peace; and from that time onward the Slavs began more and more to dread the arms of the Foroiulians.

46. Eo tempore gens Sarracenorum in loco qui Septem dicitur ex Africa transfretantes, universam Hispaniam invaserunt. Deinde post decem annos cum uxoribus et parvulis venientes, Aquitaniam Galliae provinciam quasi habitaturi ingressi sunt. Carolus siquidem cum Eudone Aquitaniae principe tunc discordiam habebat.

46. At that time the nation of the Saracens, crossing over from Africa at the place which is called Septem, invaded the whole of Spain. Then, after ten years, coming with their wives and little ones, they entered Aquitaine, a province of Gaul, as if about to settle. Indeed Charles then had discord with Eudo, prince of Aquitaine.

Qui tamen in unum se coniungentes, contra eosdem Sarracenos pari consilio dimicarunt. Nam inruentes Franci super eos, trecenta septuaginta quinque milia Sarracenorum interimerunt; ex Francorum vero parte mille et quingenti tantum ibi ceciderunt. Eudo quoque cum suis super eorum castra inruens, pari modo multos interficiens, omnia devastavit.

Who, however, joining themselves into one, fought against those same Saracens with an equal counsel. For the Franks, rushing upon them, slew 375,000 Saracens; but on the side of the Franks only 1,500 fell there. Eudo also, with his own men rushing upon their camp, in like manner killing many, devastated everything.

47. Hoc etiam tempore eadem Sarracenorum gens cum inmenso exercitu veniens, Constantinopolim circumdedit ac continuo per triennium obsedit, donec, civibus multa instantia ad Deum clamantibus, plurimi eorum fame et frigore, bello pestilentiaque perirent, ac sic pertaesi obsidionis abscederent. Qui inde egressi, Vulgarum gentem, quae est super Danubium, bello adgrediuntur; et ab hac quoque victi, ad suas naves refugiunt. Quibus, cum altum peterent, inruente subita tempestate, plurimi etiam mersi sive contritis navibus perierunt.

47. At this time as well the same race of the Saracens, coming with an immense army, encircled Constantinople and straightway besieged it continuously for three years, until, the citizens crying to God with much insistence, very many of them perished by hunger and cold, by war and pestilence, and thus, wearied of the siege, they withdrew. Departing thence, they attack in war the nation of the Bulgars, which is above the Danube; and, defeated by this people as well, they flee back to their ships. And when they were seeking the deep, with a sudden tempest rushing in, very many also perished, being sunk, or with their ships shattered.

Intra Constantinopolim vero trecenta milia hominum pestilentia interierunt.

But within Constantinople, 300,000 people perished from pestilence.

48. Liutprand quoque audiens, quod Sarraceni, depopulata Sardinia, etiam loca illa, ubi ossa sancti Augustini episcopi propter vastationem barbarorum olim translata et honorifice fuerant condita, foedarent, misit, et dato magno pretio, accepit et transtulit ea in urbem Ticinensem ibique cum debito tanto patri honore recondidit. His diebus Narnia civitas a Langobardis pervasa est.

48. Liutprand also, hearing that the Saracens, after depopulating Sardinia, were even defiling those places where the bones of Saint Augustine the bishop, on account of the devastation of the barbarians, had formerly been translated and had been honorably laid to rest, sent, and, a great price being paid, received and translated them into the city of Ticinum, and there reinterred them with the honor owed to so great a father. In these days the city of Narnia was overrun by the Langobards.

49. Eoque tempore rex Liutprandus Ravennam obsedit, Classem invasit atque destruxit. Tunc Paulus patricius ex Ravenna misit qui pontificem interemerent; sed Langobardis pro defensione pontificis repugnantibus, Spoletinis in Salario ponte et ex aliis partibus Langobardis Tuscis resistentibus, consilium Ravennantium dissipatum est. Hac tempestate Leo imperator aput Constantinopolim sanctorum imagines depositas incendit Romanoque pontifici similia facere, si imperialem gratiam habere vellet, mandavit.

49. And at that time King Liutprand besieged Ravenna, invaded Classis and destroyed it. Then Paul the patrician from Ravenna sent men to slay the pontiff; but with the Lombards resisting for the defense of the pontiff, the Spoletans on the Salarian bridge and, from other parts, the Tuscan Lombards resisting, the counsel of the Ravennates was dissipated. At this season Emperor Leo at Constantinople burned the images of the saints that had been taken down, and he commanded the Roman pontiff to do likewise, if he wished to have imperial favor.

Sed pontifex hoc facere contempsit. Omnis quoque Ravennae exercitus vel Venetiarum talibus iussis uno animo restiterunt, et nisi eos pontifex prohibuisset, imperatorem super se constituere sunt adgressi. Rex quoque Liutprand castra Emiliae, Feronianum et Montembellium, Buxeta et Persiceta, Bononiam et Pentapolim Auximumque invasit.

But the pontiff contemned to do this. Also the entire army of Ravenna or of the Venetians resisted such orders with one mind, and, unless the pontiff had forbidden them, they had set about to constitute an emperor over themselves. King Liutprand likewise invaded the camps of Aemilia, Feronianum and Montembellium, Buxeta and Persiceta, Bononia and the Pentapolis and Auximum.

Pari quoque modo tunc et Sutrium pervasit. Sed post aliquot dies iterum Romanis redditum est. Per idem tempus Leo Augustus ad peiora progressus est, ita ut conpelleret omnes Constantinopolim habitantes tam vi quam blandimentis, ut deponerent ubicumque haberentur imagines tam Salvatoris quamque eius sanctae genetricis vel omnium sanctorum, easque in medium civitatis incendio concremari fecit.

In like manner then he also overran Sutrium. But after several days it was returned again to the Romans. At the same time Leo Augustus progressed to worse things, such that he compelled all dwelling at Constantinople, both by force and by blandishments, to put down, wherever they were kept, images both of the Savior and of his holy Genetrix and of all the saints, and he caused them to be consumed by fire in the midst of the city.

Et quia plerique ex populo tale scelus fieri praepediebant, aliquanti ex eis capite truncati, alii parte corporis multati sunt. Cuius errori Germanus patriarcha non consentiens, a propria sede depulsus est, et eius in loco Anastasius presbiter ordinatus est.

And because most of the populace were hindering such a crime from being perpetrated, some of them were beheaded, others were punished by mutilation of a part of the body. Not consenting to this error, Germanus the patriarch was driven from his own see, and in his place Anastasius, a presbyter, was ordained.

50. Romoald denique dux Beneventi uxorem sortitus est Gumpergam nomine, quae fuit filia Auronae, Liutprandi regis sororis. De qua filium genuit, quem nomine sui patris Gisulfum appellavit. Habuit rursum post hanc et aliam coniugem nomine Ranigundam, filiam Gaidualdi Brexiani ducis.

50. Romoald, finally, duke of Beneventum, took a wife named Gumperga, who was the daughter of Aurona, sister of King Liutprand. By her he begot a son, whom he named Gisulf after his father. He had again after this another consort named Ranigunda, daughter of Gaiduald, the Brixian duke.

51. Gravis sane per idem tempus inter Pemmonem ducem et Calistum patriarcham discordiae rixa surrexit. Causa autem huius discordiae ista fuit. Adveniens anteriore tempore Fidentius episcopus de castro Iuliensi, cum voluntate superiorum ducum intra Foroiulani castri muros habitavit ibique sui episcopatus sedem statuit.

51. A grave quarrel of discord, indeed, arose at the same time between Duke Pemmo and Patriarch Callistus. But the cause of this discord was this. Bishop Fidentius, coming at an earlier time from the Iulian castle, with the will of the prior dukes, dwelt within the walls of the castle of Forum Iulii and there established the seat of his episcopate.

Quo vita decedente, Amator in eius loco episcopus ordinatus est. Usque ad eundem enim diem superiores patriarchae, quia in Aquileia propter Romanorum incursionem habitare minime poterant, sedem non in Foroiuli, sed in Cormones habebant. Quod Calisto, qui erat nobilitate conspicuus, satis displicuit, ut in eius diocesi cum duce et Langobardis episcopus habitaret et ipse tantum vulgo sociatus vitam duceret.

With his life departing, Amator was ordained bishop in his place. For up to that same day the preceding patriarchs, because they were by no means able to dwell in Aquileia on account of the incursion of the Romans, had their seat not in Forum Iulii, but in Cormons. This greatly displeased Calistus, who was conspicuous for nobility, namely that in his diocese a bishop should dwell with the duke and the Langobards, while he himself should lead his life only associated with the common folk.

Quid plura? Contra eundem Amatorem episcopum egit eumque de Foroiuli expulit atque in illius domo sibi habitationem statuit. Hac de causa Pemmo dux contra eundem patriarcham cum multis nobilibus Langobardis consilium iniit adprehensumque eum ad castellum Potium, quod supra mare situm est, duxit indeque eum in mare praecipitare voluit, sed tamen Deo inhibente minime fecit; intra carcerem tamen eum retentum pane tribulationis sustentavit.

What more? He acted against that same bishop Amator and drove him out from Foroiuli, and in that man’s house he set a habitation for himself. For this cause Duke Pemmo, against that same patriarch, with many noble Lombards entered into counsel, and, having apprehended him, led him to the castle Potium, which is situated above the sea, and from there wished to hurl him headlong into the sea; but yet, God inhibiting, he did not do it at all; nevertheless, keeping him detained within prison, he sustained him with the bread of tribulation.

Quod rex Liutprand audiens, in magnam iram exarsit, ducatumque Pemmoni auferens, Ratchis, eius filium, in eius loco ordinavit. Tunc Pemmo cum suis disposuit, ut in Sclavorum patriam fugeret; sed Ratchis, eius filius, a rege supplicavit patremque in regis gratiam reduxit. Accepta itaque Pemmo fiducia, quod nihil mali pateretur, ad regem cum omnibus Langobardis, quibus consilium habuerat, perrexit.

Hearing this, King Liutprand blazed into great wrath, and, taking away the dukedom from Pemmo, appointed Ratchis, his son, in his place. Then Pemmo with his own resolved to flee into the fatherland of the Slavs; but Ratchis, his son, made supplication to the king and brought his father back into the king’s favor. Therefore, Pemmo, having received confidence that he would suffer nothing ill, went to the king with all the Langobards with whom he had held counsel.

Tunc rex in iudicio residens, Pemmonem et eius duos filios Ratchait et Aistulfum Ratchis concedens, eos post suam sedem consistere praecepit. Rex vero elevata voce omnes illos qui Pemmoni adhaeserant nominative conprehendere iussit. Tunc Aistulfum dolorem non ferens, evaginato pene gladio regem percutere voluit, nisi eum Ratchis, suus germanus, cohibuisset.

Then the king, sitting in judgment, granting Pemmo and his two sons, Ratchait and Aistulf, to Ratchis, ordered them to take their place behind his seat. But the king, with elevated voice, ordered by name the apprehension of all those who had adhered to Pemmo. Then Aistulf, not bearing the grief, his sword almost unsheathed, wished to strike the king, had not Ratchis, his own brother-german, restrained him.

Hoc modo his Langobardis conprehensis, Herfemar, qui unus ex eis fuerat, evaginato gladio, multis se insequentibus, ipse se viriliter defensans, in basilica beati Michahelis confugit, ac deinde regis indulgentia solus inpunitatem promeruit, ceteris longo tempore in vinculis excruciatis.

In this manner, with these Langobards apprehended, Herfemar, who had been one of them, with sword unsheathed, while many were pursuing him—he himself, defending himself manfully—fled into the basilica of blessed Michael; and thereafter, by the king’s indulgence, he alone earned impunity, the rest for a long time being excruciated in chains.

52. Ratchis denique aput Foroiuli dux, ut dixeramus, effectus, in Carniolam Sclavorum patriam cum suis ingressus, magnam multitudinem Sclavorum interficiens, eorum omnia devastavit. Ubi cum Sclavi super eum subito inruissent, et ipse adhuc lanceam suam ab armigero non abstulisset, eum qui primus ei occurrit clava, quam manu gestabat, percutiens, eius vitam extinxit.

52. Ratchis, finally, at Foroiuli made duke, as we had said, entered into Carniola, the fatherland of the Slavs, with his men, and, killing a great multitude of Slavs, he devastated everything of theirs. When the Slavs had suddenly rushed upon him there, and he had not yet taken his lance from his armiger, striking with the club which he was bearing in his hand, he extinguished the life of the one who first met him.

53. Circa haec tempora Carolus princeps Francorum Pipinum suum filium ad Liutprandum direxit, ut eius iuxta morem capillum susciperet. Qui eius caesariem incidens, ei pater effectus est multisque eum ditatum regiis muneribus genitori remisit.

53. Around these times Charles, prince of the Franks, sent his son Pippin to Liutprand, that he might receive his hair according to custom. He, cutting his locks, became his father, and sent him back to his begetter enriched with many royal gifts.

54. Per idem tempus Sarracenorum exercitus rursum in Galliam introiens, multam devastationem fecit. Contra quos Carolus non longe a Narbone bellum committens, eos sicut et prius maxima caede prostravit. Iterato Sarraceni Gallorum fines ingressi, usque ad Provinciam venerunt, et capta Arelate, omnia circumquaque demoliti sunt.

54. During the same time the army of the Saracens, entering into Gaul again, wrought great devastation. Against them Charles, joining battle not far from Narbonne, laid them low, as before, with very great slaughter. Once more the Saracens, having entered the borders of the Gauls, came as far as Provence, and, Arles having been taken, they demolished everything round about.

Tunc Carolus legatos cum muneribus ad Liutprandum regem mittens, ab eo contra Sarracenos auxilium poposcit; qui nihil moratus cum omni Langobardorum exercitu in eius adiutorium properavit. Quo conperto gens Sarracenorum mox ab illis regionibus aufugit; Liutprandus vero cum omni suo exercitu ad Italiam rediit. Insequenti quoque tempore Romani, elatione solita turgidi, congregati universaliter, habentes in capite Agathonem Perusinorum ducem, venerunt ut Bononiam conprehenderent, ubi tunc Walcari, Peredeo et Rotcari morabantur in castris.

Then Charles, sending legates with gifts to King Liutprand, asked from him aid against the Saracens; who, delaying not at all, hastened with the entire army of the Langobards to his assistance. When this was learned, the nation of the Saracens soon fled from those regions; but Liutprand with all his army returned to Italy. In the following time as well the Romans, turgid with their customary elation, assembled universally, having at their head Agatho, duke of the Perusians, and came to seize Bologna, where then Walcari, Peredeo, and Rotcari were abiding in camp.

Qui super Romanos inruentes, multam de eis stragem fecerunt reliquosque fugam petere conpulerunt. Multa idem regnator contra Romanos bella gessit, in quibus semper victor extitit, praeter quod semel in Arimino eo absente eius exercitus caesus est, et alia vice, cum aput vicum Pilleum, rege in Pentapoli demorante, magna multitudo horum qui regi munuscula vel exenia vel singularum ecclesiarum benedictiones deferebant, a Romanis inruentibus caesa vel capta est. Rursus cum Ravennam Hildeprandus, regis nepos, et Peredeo Vicentinus dux optinerent, inruentibus subito Veneticis, Hildeprandus ab eis captus est, Peredo viriliter pugnans occubuit.

Who, rushing upon the Romans, made a great slaughter of them and compelled the rest to seek flight. The same regnator waged many wars against the Romans, in which he always proved victor, except that once at Ariminum, he being absent, his army was cut down; and at another time, at the vicus of Pilleum, while the king was lingering in the Pentapolis, a great multitude of those who were carrying to the king little gifts or exenia or the benedictions of individual churches was cut down or captured by the Romans as they burst in. Again, when at Ravenna Hildeprandus, the king’s nephew, and Peredeo, the Vicentine duke, were holding it, the Venetians suddenly rushing in, Hildeprandus was captured by them; Peredeo, fighting manfully, fell.

55. His diebus Transamundus contra regem rebellavit. Super quem rex cum exercitu veniens, ipse Transamundus Romam fuga petiit. In cuius loco Hildericus ordinatus est.

55. In these days Transamundus rebelled against the king. Against whom the king, coming with an army, Transamundus himself sought Rome in flight. In whose place Hildericus was appointed.

Mortuo autem Romualdo iuniore Beneventanorum duce, qui viginti et sex ducatum tenuerat annis, Gisulfus, eius filius adhuc parvolus, remansit. Contra quem aliqui insurgentes, eum moliti sunt extinguere; sed Beneventanorum populus, qui suis ductoribus semper fidelis extitit, eos perimerunt, sui ducis vitam servantes. Qui Gisulfus dum adhuc propter aetatem puerilem idoneus ad tantum populum regendum non esset, Liutprand rex Beneventum tunc veniens, eum exinde abstulit et aput Beneventum suum nepotem Gregorium ducem ordinavit, cui in matrimonio uxor sociata Giselperga nomine fuit.

But when Romuald the Younger, duke of the Beneventans, had died—who had held the duchy for 26 years—Gisulf, his son, still a little child, remained. Against him some, rising up, attempted to extinguish him; but the people of the Beneventans, who had always stood faithful to their leaders, slew them, preserving their duke’s life. And since this Gisulf, on account of his boyish age, was not yet suitable for ruling so great a people, Liutprand the king, then coming to Benevento, took him away from there and at Benevento appointed his own nephew Gregory as duke, to whom a wife by the name Giselperga was joined in marriage.

Ita rex Liutprand rebus conpositis ad suum solium remeavit; Gisulfumque suum nepotem paterna pietate erudiens, ei Scaunipergam nobili ortam progenie in matrimonium iunxit. Ipse rex eo tempore in langorem decidens, morti adproximavit. Quem Langobardi vita excedere existimantes, eius nepotem Hildeprandum foras muros civitatis ad basilicam sanctae Dei genetricis, quae Ad Perticas dicitur, regem levaverunt.

Thus King Liutprand, matters composed, returned to his throne; and, educating his nephew Gisulf with paternal piety, he joined to him in matrimony Scauniperga, sprung from noble lineage. The king himself at that time, falling into languor, drew near to death. The Lombards, thinking that he was departing from life, raised as king his nephew Hildeprand outside the walls of the city, at the basilica of the holy Mother of God, which is called Ad Perticas.

Cui dum contum, sicut moris est, traderent, in eius conti summitate cuculus avis volitando veniens insedit. Tunc aliquibus prudentibus hoc portentum visum est significari, eius principatum inutilem fore. Rex autem Liutprand cum hoc cognovisset, non aequo animo accepit; tamen de infirmitate convalescens, eum regni sui consortem habuit.

When they were handing him the spear, as is the custom, a cuckoo-bird, coming as it fluttered, perched on the summit of his spear. Then to some prudent men this portent seemed to signify that his principate would be ineffectual. But King Liutprand, when he had learned this, did not receive it with equanimity; nevertheless, recovering from his infirmity, he had him as a consort of his kingdom.

Evolutis dehinc aliquot annis, Transamundus, qui Romam fugerat, Spoletium rediens, Hildericum extinxit rursumque contra regem rebellionis audaciam sumpsit.

Then, with several years elapsed, Transamund, who had fled to Rome, returning to Spoleto, killed Hilderic and again assumed the audacity of rebellion against the king.

56. At vero Gregorius dum aput Beneventum annis septem ducatum gessisset, vita exemptus est. Post cuius obitum Godescalcus dux effectus, annis tribus Beneventanis. praefuit; cui in coniugio uxor sociata nomine Anna fuit.

56. But indeed Gregory, when at Beneventum he had borne the duchy for seven years, was taken away from life. After whose death Godescalcus, made duke, for three years over the Beneventans. presided; to him in conjugal union a wife was joined, by the name Anna.

Rex igitur Liutprand talia de Spoletio sive Benevento audiens, rursum cum exercitu Spoletium petiit. Qui Pentapolim veniens, dum a Fano civitate Forum Simphronii pergeret, in . silva, quae in medio est, Spoletini se cum Romanis sociantes, magna incommoda regis exercitui intulerunt. Qui rex in novissimo loco Ratchis ducem et eius fratrem Aistulfum cum Foroiulanis constituit.

Therefore King Liutprand, hearing such things about Spoleto or Benevento, again sought Spoleto with an army. Coming to the Pentapolis, while from the city of Fano he was proceeding to Forum Simphronii, in the forest which is in the middle, the Spoletans, joining themselves with the Romans, inflicted great losses on the king’s army. The king, in the very last position, stationed Duke Ratchis and his brother Aistulf with the Foroiulians.

Supra quos Spoletini et Romani inruentes, aliquos ex eis vulneraverunt. Sed tamen Ratchis cum suo germano et aliquibus viris fortissimis omne illud pugnae pondus sustinentes viriliterque certantes, multisque trucidatis, se suosque exinde, praeter ut dixi paucis sauciatis, eximerunt. Ibi quidam Spoletinorum fortissimus Berto nomine nominative Ratchis adclamans, armis instructus super eum venit.

Upon whom the Spoletans and the Romans, rushing in, wounded some of them. But nevertheless Ratchis, with his own brother and with some most valiant men, sustaining all that weight of the battle and contending manfully, and with many slaughtered, extricated himself and his men from there, except, as I said, that a few were wounded. There a certain very brave man of the Spoletans, by name Berto, calling Ratchis by name, armed and equipped, came upon him.

Quem Ratchis subito percutiens, equo deiecit. Cumque eum eius socii perimere vellent, eum pietate solita fugere permisit. Qui manibus pedibusque reptans, silvam ingressus evasit.

Whom Ratchis, striking suddenly, cast down from his horse. And when his companions wished to do him to death, he, with his wonted piety, allowed him to flee. He, crawling on hands and feet, entered the wood and escaped.

Super Aistulfum vero in quodam ponte duo fortissimi Spoletini a tergo venientes, unum eorum aversa cuspide feriens de eodem ponte deiecit, alterum vero, subito ad eum conversus, vita privatum post socium mersit.

But upon Aistulf, on a certain bridge, two most valiant Spoletans coming from behind—striking one of them with the reversed spear-point, he cast him down from that same bridge; the other, however, suddenly turning toward him, he deprived of life and plunged after his comrade.

57. At vero Liutprand Spoletium perveniens, Transamundum ducatu expulit eumque clericum fecit. Cuius in loco Agiprandum, suum nepotem, constituit. Cum vero Beneventum properaret, Gotscalcus, audito eius adventu, navem conscendere atque in Greciam fugere molitus est.

57. But indeed Liutprand, arriving at Spoleto, expelled Transamund from the dukedom and made him a cleric. In his place he appointed Agiprand, his nephew. And when he was hastening to Beneventum, Gotscalc, on hearing of his arrival, attempted to board a ship and flee into Greece.

Qui postquam uxorem et cuncta supellectilem suam in navi inposuisset et novissime ipse ascendere vellet, inruentibus Beneventanis, Gisulfi fidelibus, extinctus est. Uxor sane illius cum omnibus quae habebat Constantinopolim perlata est.

Who, after he had put his wife and all his furnishings aboard the ship, and wished at the very last to embark himself, as the Beneventans, Gisulf’s faithful ones, burst in, was slain. His wife indeed was borne to Constantinople with all that she had.

58. Tunc rex Liutprandus Beneventum perveniens, Gisulfum, suum nepotem, iterum in loco proprio ducem constituit. Rebusque ita conpositis, ad suum palatium remeavit. Hic gloriosissimus rex multas in Christi honore per singula loca ubi degere solebat basilicas construxit.

58. Then King Liutprand, arriving at Beneventum, appointed Gisulf, his nephew, duke again in his own place. And with affairs thus composed, he returned to his palace. Here the most glorious king constructed many basilicas in honor of Christ in each of the places where he was accustomed to dwell.

Hic monasterium beati Petri, quod foras muros Ticinensis civitatis situm est et Coelum Aureum appellatur, instituit. In summa quoque Bardonis Alpe monasterium quod Bercetum dicitur aedificavit. In Olonna nihilominus suo proastio miro opere in honore sancti Anastasii martyris Christi domicilium statuit, in quo et monasterium fecit.

Here he established the monastery of blessed Peter, which is situated outside the walls of the city of Ticinum and is called the Golden Heaven. On the summit likewise of Bardon’s Alp he built a monastery which is called Bercetum. At Olonna nonetheless, in his own suburb, with wondrous workmanship he set up a house in honor of Saint Anastasius, martyr of Christ, in which he also made a monastery.

Pari etiam modo multa per loca singula divina templa instituit. Intra suum quoque palatium oraculum domini Salvatoris aedificavit, et quod nulli alii reges habuerant, sacerdotes et clericos instituit, qui ei cotidie divina officia decantarent. Huius regis temporibus fuit in loco cui Forum nomen est, iuxta fluvium Tanarum, vir mirae sanctitatis Baodolinus nomine, qui multis miraculis, Christi gratia suffragante, refulsit.

In like manner also he established many divine temples in various places severally. Within his own palace likewise he built an oratory of the Lord Savior, and—something which no other kings had possessed—he appointed priests and clerics to chant the divine offices for him daily. In the times of this king there was, in a place whose name is Forum, near the river Tanarus, a man of wondrous sanctity, by name Baodolinus, who shone forth by many miracles, the grace of Christ giving aid.

Qui saepe futura praedixit, absentia quoque quasi praesentia nuntiavit. Denique cum rex Liutprand in Urbem silvam venatum isset, unus ex eius comitibus cervum sagitta percutere nisus, eiusdem regis nepotem, hoc est sororis eius filium, Aufusum nomine, nolens sauciavit. Quod rex cernens valde enim eundem puerum amabat cum lacrimis eius incommodum lamentari coepit statimque unum e suis equitem misit, qui ad virum Dei Baodolinum curreret eumque peteret, ut pro vita eiusdem pueri Christum supplicaret.

He often predicted future things, and announced absences also as if they were presences. Finally, when King Liutprand had gone to the Urbem forest to hunt, one of his companions, striving to strike a stag with an arrow, unwillingly wounded the same king’s nephew, that is, his sister’s son, named Aufusus. Seeing this—for he greatly loved that boy—the king began with tears to lament his misfortune, and straightway he sent one of his horsemen, to run to the man of God Baodolinus and to ask him to supplicate Christ for the life of that same boy.

Qui cum ad servum Dei pergeret, puer defunctus est. Cui Christi famulus ad se pervenienti ita dixit: "Scio, quam ob causam veneris; sed illud quod postulare missus es iam fieri non potest, quia puer ille defunctus est". Quod cum is qui missus fuerat regi quod a servo Dei audierat renuntiasset, rex, licet doluerit, quod effectum supplicationis suae habere non potuit, tamen quia vir Domini Baodolinus prophetiae spiritum habuerit, aperte cognovit. Huic quoque non dissimilis aput Veronensem civitatem Teudelapius nomine fuit, qui inter miranda quae patrabat praesago etiam spiritu multa quae erant ventura praedixit.

While he was going to the servant of God, the boy died. To him, as he reached him, the servant of Christ said thus: "I know for what cause you have come; but that which you were sent to ask can now no longer be done, because that boy has died." When the one who had been sent had reported to the king what he had heard from the servant of God, the king, although he grieved that he could not have the effect of his supplication, nevertheless clearly recognized that the man of the Lord, Baodolinus, possessed the spirit of prophecy. Not unlike to him, at the Veronese city, there was one by the name Teudelapius, who, among the marvels that he accomplished, with a presaging spirit also foretold many things that were to come.

Eo quoque tempore floruit vita vel actibus Ticinensis ecclesiae episcopus Petrus, qui quia regis erat consanguineus, ab Ariperto quondam rege aput Spoletium exilio fuerat retrusus. Huic beati martyris Savini ecclesiam frequentanti isdem venerabilis martyr praenuntiavit, quod episcopus aput Ticinum futurus esset. Qui postea, cum factum fuisset, basilicam eidem beato martyri Savino in solo proprio aput eandem civitatem construxit.

At that time also there flourished, in life as well as in deeds, Peter, bishop of the Ticinum church, who, because he was a kinsman of the king, had been thrust into exile at Spoleto by Aripert, once king. To him, as he was frequenting the church of the blessed martyr Sabinus, the same venerable martyr fore-announced that he would be bishop at Ticinum. He afterwards, when this had come to pass, built a basilica to that same blessed martyr Sabinus on his own ground in that same city.

Hic inter reliquas optimae vitae quas habuit virtutes etiam virginitatis flore decoratus enituit. Cuius nos aliquod miraculum, quod posteriori tempore gestum est, in loco proprio ponemus. At vero Liutprand, postquam triginta et uno annis septemque mensibus regnum optenuit, iam aetate maturus huius vitae cursum explevit; corpusque eius in basilica beati Adriani martyris, ubi et eius genitor requiescit, sepultum est.

This man, among the other virtues of a most excellent life which he possessed, also shone forth, adorned with the flower of virginity. Of whom we will set some miracle, which was accomplished at a later time, in its proper place. But indeed Liutprand, after he held the kingdom for 31 years and 7 months, now mature in age, completed the course of this life; and his body was buried in the basilica of the blessed martyr Adrian, where his father also rests.

Fuit autem vir multae sapientiae, consilio sagax, pius admodum et pacis amator, belli praepotens, delinquentibus clemens, castus, pudicus, orator pervigil, elemosinis largus, litterarum quidem ignarus, sed philosophis aequandus, nutritor gentis, legum augmentator. Hic initio regni sui Baioariorum plurima castra cepit, plus semper orationibus quam armis fidens, maxima semper cura Francorum Avarumque pacem custodiens.

Moreover, he was a man of much wisdom, sagacious in counsel, very pious and a lover of peace, prepotent in war, clement to delinquents, chaste, modest, ever-wakeful at prayer, lavish in alms, indeed ignorant of letters, yet to be equalled to philosophers, a nurturer of the people, an augmenter of laws. At the beginning of his reign he took very many forts of the Bavarians, always trusting more in prayers than in arms, with the greatest care always guarding the peace of the Franks and the Avars.