Europe · The successor kingdoms
Duchy of Benevento
571–1077
The Duchy of Benevento was a Lombard duchy in southern Italy, founded around 571 (during the Lombard invasion of Italy) with its capital at Benevento. Geographically isolated from the northern Lombard kingdom by Byzantine-held territory, it enjoyed exceptional autonomy and is often called "Longobardia Minor."
- Existed
- 571–1077
- Shown on the map
- AD 577–586, 741–749, 775–787, 793–1045, 1056–1084 (5 periods)
- Peak area
- 46k km²
- Region
- Europe
Overview
The Duchy of Benevento was a Lombard duchy in southern Italy, founded around 571 (during the Lombard invasion of Italy) with its capital at Benevento. Geographically isolated from the northern Lombard kingdom by Byzantine-held territory, it enjoyed exceptional autonomy and is often called "Longobardia Minor." After the Frankish conquest of the northern Lombard kingdom (774), Duke Arechis II (r. 758–787) elevated his title to prince (princeps), asserting independence and claiming to continue Lombard sovereignty.
Decline and legacy
The Principality of Benevento fractured in the 9th century: a civil war led to the secession of Salerno (around 849), and later Capua also became independent, dividing the southern Lombard lands into the three principalities of Benevento, Salerno, and Capua. Benevento was contested among Lombards, Byzantines, the papacy, and Muslim raiders, and even briefly held by Byzantium. It was finally absorbed by the Normans, with the city of Benevento passing to the papacy in 1077.
Common questions
- What was the Duchy of Benevento?
- The Duchy of Benevento was a Lombard duchy in southern Italy, founded around 571 (during the Lombard invasion of Italy) with its capital at Benevento. Geographically isolated from the northern Lombard kingdom by Byzantine-held territory, it enjoyed exceptional autonomy and is often called "Longobardia Minor."
- When did the Duchy of Benevento exist?
- The Duchy of Benevento existed 571–1077. On this map it is drawn AD 577–586, 741–749, 775–787, 793–1045, 1056–1084.
- How large was the Duchy of Benevento?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Duchy of Benevento covered about 46,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
- How did the Duchy of Benevento end?
- The Principality of Benevento fractured in the 9th century: a civil war led to the secession of Salerno (around 849), and later Capua also became independent, dividing the southern Lombard lands into the three principalities of Benevento, Salerno, and Capua. Benevento was contested among Lombards, Byzantines, the papacy, and Muslim raiders, and even briefly held by Byzantium.
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each polity as the primary basis, cross-checked against Encyclopædia Britannica and the World History Encyclopedia, while flagging entries built on thin or contested evidence — Samo's Empire on a single Fredegar passage, Venice's 697 founding date as legendary, the Pacta conventa as a probable forgery. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Duchy of Benevento en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_Benevento
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
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