Thread by @Arby_K

A Bavarian Princess connecting two foreign royal dynasties.

A fragmented Kingdom makes small steps to recovery.

A Queen becomes its guide for a stable future.

Story in the evening ...

Theudelinda was born around 570 to Garibald of the Baiuvarii (Bavarians) and Waldrada of the Langobard (Lombards). The Bavarians were a Germanic tribe that was associated with the Franks, another Germanic tribe, to their west. 1/10

Around 555, Garibald had been named the Duke of the Bavarians by the Frankish King, Clothaire. It was around the same time Garibald married Waldrada, who had earlier been married to Theodebald, King of Franks at Reims, and later possibly Clothaire as well. 2/10

Waldrada was the daughter of Wacho, King of the Lombards. Her brother, Waltari, succeeded their father as King in 540, but after Waltari's death in 547, the Lombards chose Audoin as King. Under Audoin and his son, Alboin, the Lombards moved into the Italian peninsula. 3/10

The Lombards conquered a large part of the peninsula under Alboin and his successor, Kleph. But after Kleph's death in 574, the Lombards were left to be ruled by a set of independent Dukes. Within a decade, Constantinople was plotting reconquest of the fragmented peninsula. 4/10

In 584, the Lombard Dukes finally yielded to a central authority. Kleph's son, Authari, was elected King. He was able to push back the Franks and the Byzantines when they came to attack. In 589, Theudelinda married King Authari and became the Queen of the Lombards. 5/10

But the marriage was short, since the King died in 590. The Duke of Turin, Agilulf, became the new King, either elected by Lombards or selected by Queen Theudelinda. Either way, the former Queen married the new King and played an active role during her new husband's reign. 6/10

Although many Lombards were Christians, they followed the Arian sect deemed heretic by the Roman Church. But Queen Theudelinda was of Catholic origin and during King Agilulf's reign, she played an important role in converting the Lombards to Catholicism. 7/10

By 605, Lombards obtained peace with Constantinople. Adaloald, son of King Agilulf and Queen Theudelinda, had been baptized as a Catholic earlier. The young Prince became King after his father's death in 615, but under the very watchful eye of his mother. 8/10

In 625, King Adaloald was removed from throne, apparently for going insane. He was replaced by Ariowalt, Duke of Turin, who married Gundberga, Theudelinda's daughter. After King Ariowalt's death in 636, Gundberga married Rothari, who then became the new King of Lombards. 9/10

King Rothari expanded the Lombard nation capturing Genoa and Liguria. He also codified Lombard law in 643 with Edictum Rothari. Queen Theudelinda died in 628, but her familial connections would continue to rule the Lombards till 712. 10/10