AISTULF (749)

King of the Lombards from 749 to 756, who led the expansion of his Germanic tribe into central Italy and the papal lands. Between 750 and 754 he added 22 cities to the Lombard kingdom.


Aistulf first moved against the Byzantines who held Ravenna as a province of the Eastern Church. In 751 his superior forces and military ability gained him easy victory over the Byzantines so that soon afterward he was able to threaten the city of Rome itself. Pope Stephen II sought the aid of the FRankish king Pepin III, who succesfully besieged Aistulf at Pavia early in 755. The conquered Lombard king promised to restore Ravenna to the Byzantine emperor and to respect the Roman territories.


After the departure of Pepin from Italy, however, the Lombard dukes persuaded Aistulf to lay siege on Rome (January-April 756). Once again Pepin returned to defeat Aistulf at Pavia (June 756). The truce imposed by Pepin required Aistulf to hand over his captured Byzantine provinces to the papacy. After the departure of Pepin, the Lombards protested this settlement; and yet a third war would probably have ensued if Aistulf had not died in a hunting accident.