Alboin

Alboin or Alboïn (died 572 or 573) was king of the Lombards, and conqueror of Italy. He succeeded his father Audoin about 565. The 7th-century Anglo-Saxon kings who bore these names were probably named after the Langobardic rulers, who had by their day assumed a near-mythical status. The name Alboin literally translates to "elf-friend", cognate to Old English Aelfwine and Old High German Albwin, Elbwin. The Lombards were at that time dwelling in ... more

Alboin or Alboïn (died 572 or 573) was king of the Lombards, and conqueror of Italy. He succeeded his father Audoin about 565. The 7th-century Anglo-Saxon kings who bore these names were probably named after the Langobardic rulers, who had by their day assumed a near-mythical status. The name Alboin literally translates to "elf-friend", cognate to Old English Aelfwine and Old High German Albwin, Elbwin. The Lombards were at that time dwelling in Noricum and Pannonia (the plain of eastern Austria south and east of the Danube, modern-day Slovenia and Croatia). As a young man, Alboin condemned the Gepids. During the time his father, Audoin, was king, Alboin slew Turismond, the son of the Gepid king Turisind, in combat. The Gepids fled at this display of dominance. At Audoin’s hall that night, the Lombards argued for Alboin’s right to a seat at Audoin’s table. Audoin stated that first according to custom, Alboin must gain arms from a foreign king. Alboin immediately left with forty men to... less