Staying Lombard While Becoming Carolingian? Italy under King Pippin

In this article the attention is drown to some aspects regarding the first stage of Carolingian rule over Italy. Broadly speaking, the focus is set on the three decades between 781 and 810, which correspond to the period in which young Carloman/Pippin was made co-ruler of the Carolingian Kingdom of the Lombards. This article considers not only some aspects regarding Pippin’s co-rulership over the Regnum Langobardorum, which his father Charlemagne had conquered during the campaign of 773-774, but also some major transformations that took place in different areas of the realm under their political action. In its first part, this article recapitulates some of the results recently acquired through researches with diverse perspectives and interests. In the second part, it focuses on some new aspects. Finally, it adds some further conjectures which may need to be more deeply investigated in the near future.