Historia gentis Langobardorum
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The Historia gentis Langobardorum (history of the Lombards) is the chief work by Paul the Deacon, written in the late 8th century.
This incomplete history in six books was written after 787 and at any rate no later than 796, maybe at Montecassino. It covers the story of the Lombards from 568 to the death of King Liutprand in 747, and contains much information about the Byzantine empire, the Franks, and others. The story is told from the point of view of a Lombard patriot and is especially valuable for the relations between the Franks and the Lombards. Paul used the document called the Origo gentis Langobardorum, the Liber pontificalis, the lost history of Secundus of Trent, and the lost annals of Benevento; he made a free use of Bede, Gregory of Tours and Isidore of Seville.
In some respects he suggests a comparison with Jordanes, but in learning and literary honesty is greatly the superior of the Goth.
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[edit] Editions
Of the Historia there are about a hundred manuscripts extant. It was largely used by subsequent writers, was often continued, and was first printed in Paris in 1514. Among the editions of the Latin the best is that edited by L. Bethmann and Georg Waitz, in the Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Scriptores rerum langobardicarum (Hanover, 1878).
[edit] Translations
It has been translated into English, German, French and Italian, the English translation being by WD Foulke (Philadelphia, 1906), and the German by O Abel and R Jacobi (Leipzig, 1878).
[edit] Into Italian
- A. Viviani, Dell' origine e de' fatti de' Longobardi, 2 vols., Udine (1826‑28)
- G. S. Uberti, De' fatti de' Longobardi, Cividale (1899) reprinted in the Biblioteca Popolare Sonzogno, Milan (1915)
- M. Felisatti, Storia dei Longobardi, Milan (1967)
- F. Roncoroni, Storia dei Longobardi, Milan (1971)
- E. Bartolini, Historia Langobardorum, with Latin text, and translation by A. Giacomini, Udine (nd)
- A. Zanella, Storia dei Longobardi, Milan (1991)
- L. Capo (ed.), Storia dei Longobardi, Milan (1992).
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Works of Paulus Diaconus at Bibliotheca Augustana (in Latin)
- A translation of Historia Langobardorum
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
