AuthariAuthari (c. 550 – 5 September 590) was king of the Lombards from 584 to his death. He was considered as the first Lombard king to have adopted some level of Romanitas (Roman-ness) and introduced policies that led to drastic changes, particularly in the treatment of the Romans and greater tolerance for the Christian faith. Authari was the son of Cleph, King of the Lombards, and duke of an unknown city.
Rule of the DukesThe Rule of the Dukes was an interregnum in the Lombard Kingdom of Italy (574/5–584/5) during which Italy was ruled by the Lombard dukes of the old Roman provinces and urban centres. The interregnum is said to have lasted a decade according to Paul the Deacon, but all other sources—the Fredegarii Chronicon, the Origo Gentis Langobardorum, the Chronicon Gothanum, and the Copenhagen continuator of Prosper Tiro—accord it twelve years.
LombardsThe Lombards (ˈlɒmbərdz,_-bɑːrdz,_ˈlʌm-) or Longobards (Longobardi) were a Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the History of the Lombards (written between 787 and 796) that the Lombards descended from a small tribe called the Winnili, who dwelt in northern Germany before migrating to seek new lands. Earlier Roman-era historians wrote of the Lombards in the first century AD as being one of the Suebian peoples, also from what is now northern Germany, near the Elbe river.
Northern ItalyNorthern Italy (Italia settentrionale, Nord Italia, Alta Italia or just Nord) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions: Aosta Valley, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy, Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige. As of 2014, its population was 27,801,460. Rhaeto-Romance and Gallo-Italic languages are spoken in the region, as opposed to the Italo-Dalmatian languages spoken in the rest of Italy.