Grimoald Ier de Bénévent

Grimoald Ier de Bénévent is a duke of Bénévent become king of the Lombards.

Born before 610, wire of the duke lombard Gisulf II of the the Friuli and the princess bajuvare Ramhilde, girl of Garibald, duke of Bavaria. He succeeds his brother Rodoald with the head of the duchy of Bénévent in 647 and marries the princess Théodota, girl of the catholic king lombard Aripert.

In 662, after the inversions of the kings brothers Perctarith and Godepert, he becomes king of Lombards, leaving the duchy bénéventin with his oldest son Romuald. Good chief of soldier, his reign is marked by many wars at the borders. He is victorious on several occasions Byzantine directed by the emperor Constant II in person, which had besieged Bénévent, of the Francs, combined of king Perctarith, with Asti, of the Avars, at which he had been hostage in his youth and finally tribes Slaves of the North-East of the Italy, while subjecting the rebellious nobility and the duchies separatists like those of Spolète and of the Friuli. To subject this last, it calls upon of Avars to devastate the duchy. He dies naturally in 671. Its death marks the beginning of the power of the nobility vis-a-vis it royal capacity.

On the religious level, it seems that Grimoald remained a arien still strongly impregnated of paganism lombard, in spite of its union with a catholic princess; in any case, there only feels far from concerned by the religion in general and remains rather hostile with the Église and the Papauté. It is however at the origin of the worship of holy Michel among Lombards, the latter perceiving it like a protective warlike saint of their people. It seems also that holy Michel replaced probably their old god of the war, Wotan (or Odin).

The Bulgarian ones of Bénévent

King Grimoald is at the origin of the presence of Bulgares in bénéventin. After having accommodated towards 665 the latter like simple Mercenary S with their Khân Alzec (Alzek, Alzeco), this last decides to remain in Italy and becomes duke and “gastald” lombard. For the rendered services, Grimoald installs them in the duchy of Bénévent with women and children and they are established in Molise, rather hard area located at the north of Bénévent, in the sorry grounds comprising the towns of Boiano, Campobasso, Iserno, Sepino, Roccamandolfi, Morionne, Vicenne; the Bulgarian chief town was located in the current village of Cantalupo nel Sannio, whose name would come from Bulgarian “the Khân-Teleped” which signifit the “Base of Khân”.

These Bulgarian forms a grouping distinct at least until the beginning from the 9th century, preserving their customs and habits and even their language (this can inform us on an important fact: one century and half after their arrival in Italy, these Bulgarian, however very few, continued to speak the language about their ancestors). The scholar lombard Paul Diacre also mentions them in his invaluable “Histoire of Lombards” (completed towards 789), specifying that this detachment of the known Bulgarian people under the name of “Bulgarian of Bénévent”, always practiced their language while speaking the local dialect or Latin. Slavic detachments follow the Bulgarian ones and are also fixed in the area. They probably cease forming a distinct group during the 9th century. However, it still seems that in full time of Italy Norman (11th century/12th century), certain groups are still defined as being the Bulgarian ones, precisely in the area of Weakens, unless it are not about a Bulgarian immigration arrived later.

Heritages

Of many tombs characteristic of the people of the steppes (tombs with burial of the horses, with or without warrior) was found Weakens about it and in the the Abruzzi.

Genetically, it seems that there still nowadays exists a considerable number of Italians of the area of the Molise and the neighborhood having preserved a physical type “exotic”, heritage of these old Asian riders established in this withdrawn and enough désertifiée area.

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