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{{Short description|6th/7th-century Queen of the Lombards}}{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Theodelinda
| image        = File:Theodelinda married Agilulf (detail).jpg
| caption      = Theodelinda in a fresco by [[Zavattari]]
| succession   = [[List of Italian royal consorts|Queen consort of the Lombards]]
| reign        = 15 May 589 - 5 September 590<br>May 591 - 616
| birth_date   = c. 570
| birth_place  = [[Regensburg]]
| death_date   = 22 January 627/8
| death_place  = [[Monza]]
| burial_place = [[Duomo of Monza]]
| consort      = yes
| spouse       = [[Authari]]<br>[[Agilulf]]
| issue        = [[Adaloald]]<br>[[Gundeberga]]
| house        = [[Bavarian dynasty]]
| father       = [[Garibald I of Bavaria]]
| mother       = [[Waldrada (Lombard)|Waldrada]]
}}

'''Theodelinda''' also spelled ''Theudelinde'' ({{c.}} 570–628 AD), was a queen of the [[Lombards]] by marriage to two consecutive [[List of kings of the Lombards|Lombard rulers]], [[Autari]] and then [[Agilulf]], and [[regent]] of [[Kingdom of the Lombards|Lombardia]] during the minority of her son [[Adaloald]], and [[co-regent]] when he reached majority, from 616 to 626. For well over thirty years, she exercised influence across the Lombard realm, which comprised most of Italy between the [[Apennines]] and the [[Alps]]. Born a Frankish [[Catholic]], she convinced her first spouse [[Autari]] to convert from [[Paganism|pagan]] beliefs to [[Christianity]].{{sfn|Silva|1913}}

==Life==
She was the daughter of duke [[Garibald I of Bavaria]] and [[Waldrada (Lombard)|Waldrada]].{{sfn|Wolfram|1997|p=295}}
Born a Bavarian princess to King Garibald, Theodelinda's heritage included being descended on her mother's side from the previous Lombard king, Waco, whose family had ruled seven generations prior according tradition.{{sfn|Collins|1999|p=208}}

===First marriage===
Theodelinda was married first in 588 to Authari, king of the Lombards, son of King [[Cleph]]. There are indications that [[Pope Gregory I]] may have had an interest in encouraging this marriage as it would tie a Bavarian Catholic with the Arian Lombards,{{efn|Maintaining a relationship with Theodelinda was in the interest of the Catholic papacy as it provided Gregory with a toehold on the Lombard court.{{sfn|Duffy|2006|p=65}}}} something he did previously, when he promoted the marriage between the Frankish princess Bertha—great-granddaughter of [[Clovis I]]—and the Kentish Aethelbehrt.{{sfn|Wallace-Hadrill|2004|p=53}} Theodelinda's time with Authari was brief for he died in 590.{{sfn|Marina|2013|p=386}}

===Second marriage===
[[File:Map Longobard-Byzantine Italy- Touring Club Italiano CART-TRC-43 01.jpg|thumb|Map of Italy in 603 a.C.]]
So highly esteemed across the Lombard kingdom was Theodelinda that when Authari died, she was asked to remain in power and to choose a successor.{{sfn|Frassetto|2003|p=341}} Historian Roger Collins has misgivings with this claim—which stems from [[Paul the Deacon]]{{efn|Despite frequently and consistently pointing out the flaws and political antagonism of queens and duchesses throughout his texts, Paul the Deacon makes an exception with Theodelinda, who he depicts in a very favorable light, making her into a heroine.{{sfn|Wickham|2009|p=197}}}}—and instead, asserts that both political bargaining or naked force were more likely attributable to her choice.{{sfn|Collins|1999|p=209}} Whatever the real situation, a mere two months after Authari's death, Theodelinda picked Agilulf as her next husband and the two were wed.{{sfn|Hartmann|1913|p=201}}{{efn|The same year that Agilulf assumed the Lombard throne, the Pope Pelagius II had died and [[Pope Gregory I|Gregory the Great]] became pontiff.{{sfn|Bauer|2010|p=256}} }} She thereafter exerted much influence in restoring [[Nicene Christianity]] to a position of primacy in [[Italy]] against its rival, [[Arianism|Arian Christianity]]. Her reach extended across most of the Italian peninsula between the Apennines and the Alps.{{sfn|Marina|2013|p=386}}

While her husband Agilulf retained his Arian faith, he allowed his son with Theodelinda to be baptized a Catholic.{{sfn|Todd|2004|p=228}} The Lombard king faced trouble from his dukes, who were convinced that he had consigned himself instead to the faith of the conquered.{{sfn|Silva|1913}} Agilulf did not permit Theodelinda's faith to shape his policies against the Byzantines.{{sfn|Todd|2004|p=228}}  Frequently, Theodelinda corresponded with Pope Gregory (590–604) in letters, some of which are recorded by the eighth-century historian, Paul the Deacon.{{sfn|Frassetto|2003|p=341}} Some of the content in these letters concerned her husband's conversion.{{sfn|Brown|1995|p=42}} To further promulgate the Christian faith of the Catholics, she also welcomed Catholic missionaries across her realm.{{sfn|Frassetto|2003|p=341}} Taking full advantage of her piety and possibly to incentivize her continued Catholic proclivities, Pope Gregory sent her a series of silver ampullas of Syro-Palestinian craftsmanship, a gospel casket, and a golden cross from Byzantium.{{sfn|Wallace-Hadrill|2004|pp=53–54}} The cross was gem-encrusted and was meant as a symbol of the "impending Kingdom of God".{{sfn|Fried|2015|p=28}}{{efn|Historian Johannes Fried relates that this cross is known as the "Gregory crucifix" and is well preserved to this day.{{sfn|Fried|2015|p=28}}}}

===Regent===
Shortly before Agilulf's death in 616, he named Theodelinda co-regent for their son [[Adaloald]] and once he reached maturity, she remained co-ruler over the kingdom.{{sfn|Hartmann|1913|p=202}}{{sfn|Frassetto|2003|p=341}}

For a period of some thirty-five years Theodelinda was queen of the Lombards.{{sfn|Wolfram|1997|p=298}} Perhaps to further exhibit her faith, she constructed a Catholic cathedral dedicated to [[Monza Cathedral|St. John the Baptist at Monza]] (near Milan) and richly endowed it. Her support for the Catholic faith also included the establishment of monasteries—one at Bobbio,{{sfn|Frassetto|2003|pp=341–342}} and later one at Pedona, among others according to Paul the Deacon.{{sfn|Wallace-Hadrill|2004|p=54}}

Within "the treasure house" that is the cathedral at Monza, one finds a splendidly detailed sculpture of a mother hen and her chicks made of gilded silver, which was likely another gift from Pope Gregory.{{sfn|O'Donnell|2008|p=346}}{{efn|The famous treasure of Monza contains the [[Iron Crown of Lombardy]] and the ''theca persica'', enclosing a text from the [[Gospel of John]], sent by Pope Gregory to her for her son [[Adaloald]]. Another of the gifts of this pope to the Lombard queen was a cruciform [[encolpion]] (reliquary) containing a portion of the [[True Cross]].

The history of the queen and her connection with the famous [[Iron Crown of Lombardy]] are narrated in the frescoes painted in the Theodelinda Chapel in the [[Monza Cathedral]], work by Ambrogio and Gregorio [[Zavattari]] (1444).}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
*{{cite book| last=Bauer | first=Susan Wise | year=2010 | title=The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade | place=New York | publisher= W. W. Norton & Company | isbn=978-0-39305-975-5}}
*{{cite book | last=Brown| first=Thomas | year=1995 | chapter=The Transformation of the Roman Mediterranean, 400–900 | title=The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval Europe | editor=George Holmes | location=Oxford and New York | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19960-582-8 }}
* {{cite book | last=Collins | first=Roger | year=1999 | title=Early Medieval Europe, 300–1000 | place=New York | publisher=St. Martin’s Press | isbn=978-0-31221-886-7}}
*{{cite book | last=Duffy | first=Eamon | year=2006 | title=Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes | location=New Haven; London | publisher=Yale University Press | isbn=978-0-30011-597-0 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/00book1593273669 }}
* {{cite book| last=Frassetto | first=Michael | year=2003 | title=Encyclopedia of Barbarian Europe: Society in Transformation | place=Santa Barbara, CA |publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-263-9}}
* {{cite book | last=Fried | first=Johannes | year=2015 | title=The Middle Ages | place=Cambridge and London | publisher=The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press | isbn= 978-0-67405-562-9}}
* {{cite book | last=Hartmann | first=L.M. | chapter=Italy under the Lombards | editor1=H.M. Gwatkin| editor2=J.P. Whitney | year=1913 | title=The Cambridge Medieval History | volume= III [The Rise of the Saracens and the Foundations of the Western Empire] | location=New York | publisher=Macmillan & Co. }}
* {{cite journal | last=Marina | first=Areli | year=2013 | title=The Langobard Revival of Matteo il Magno Visconti, Lord of Milan | journal=I Tatti Studies in the Italian Renaissance | volume=16 | issue=1/2 | pages=377–414 | publisher=University of Chicago Press | jstor=10.1086/673405 | doi=10.1086/673405 | s2cid=194035594 }}
* {{cite book| last=O'Donnell | first=James | year=2008 | title=The Ruin of the Roman Empire | place=New York | publisher=Harper Collins | isbn=978-0-06-078741-7}}
* {{cite encyclopedia | last=Silva | first=Paolo | year=1913 | title=Lombardy  | encyclopedia=Catholic Encyclopedia | editor1=Charles G. Herbermann | editor2=Edward A. Pace | editor3=Conde B. Fallen | editor4=Thomas J. Shahan | editor5=John J. Wynne | volume=9 | publisher=Robert Appleton Company and Encyclopedia Press | url=https://www.ecatholic2000.com/cathopedia/vol9/volnine308.shtml | access-date=29 July 2013 }}
* {{cite book| last=Todd | first=Malcolm | year=2004 | title=The Early Germans | place=Oxford and Malden, MA | publisher=Blackwell publishing | isbn= 978-1-40511-714-2 }}
* {{cite book | last=Wallace-Hadrill | first=J. M. | title=The Barbarian West, 400–1000 | year=2004 | place=Malden, MA | publisher=Wiley-Blackwell | isbn=978-0-63120-292-9 }}
* {{cite book | last=Wickham | first=Chris | title=The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages, 400–1000 | year=2009 | place=New York | publisher=Viking | isbn=978-0-67002-098-0 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780670020980 }}
* {{cite book| last=Wolfram | first=Herwig | year=1997 | title=The Roman Empire and its Germanic Peoples | place=Berkeley and Los Angeles| publisher=University of California Press | isbn= 0-520-08511-6}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://regineditalia.net/en/theodelinda_choose.html Queens of Italy – Women in Power in Medieval Italy: Theodelinda]

{{Italian consorts}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:570 births]]
[[Category:628 deaths]]
[[Category:6th-century Lombard people]]
[[Category:7th-century Lombard people]]
[[Category:Queens consort of the Lombards]]
[[Category:Bavarian dynasty]]
[[Category:People from Monza]]
[[Category:People from Brianza]]
[[Category:Remarried queens consort]]
[[Category:6th-century Italian women]]
[[Category:7th-century Italian women]]
[[Category:7th-century queens regnant]]
[[Category:German female regents]]
[[Category:7th-century women regents]]
[[Category:7th-century regents]]