Ask a Frenchman.

[Conrad_Jalowski]

I still disagree with your assessment in regards to the Regnum Langobardorum. The Langobards purposefully sought to unite the entire Italian Peninsula. Initially, the Exarchate of Ravenna divided the Lombard Kingdom into two distinct parts: Langobardia Major and Langobardia Minor. In the northern portion of the Regnum Langobardorum, monarchical rule was dominant with royal hegemony emanating from the city of Pavia. To the south of the Byzantine controlled Exarchate of Ravenna, the territorial possessions of the Langobards were under the sway of the two largely autonomous duchies of Spoleto and Benevento. However, with the conquests of Aistulf culminating in the seizure of Ravenna which was the seat of the Exarchate, Langobardia Major and Langobardia Minor were united although the Principality of Benevento continued to possess a considerable degree of autonomy from the core territory of the kingdom. With the capture of Ravenna in 751 CE, Aistulf had territorially succeeded the Byzantines as the dominant power in the Italian Peninsula. However, the Lombards under Aistulf also united Italy politically as the capture of the imperial city of Ravenna had an important effect: it demonstated the Lombard succession to the Byzantine administration of Italy as their capture of Ravenna allowed them to legitimize their claims to hegemony of the entire peninsula. The capture of Ravenna in 751 demonstrated the Lombard succession to the Byzantines as the sovereign rulers of Italy. Though the conquests of Aistulf proved to be ephemeral as they unraveled at the intercession of the Franks, the Lombards had territorially and politically unified the greater portion of the Italian Peninsula. With the fall of Byzantine Ravenna, the Lombards sought legitimacy from the Italian Romans and considered themselves to be the political representatives of the emperor residing in Constantinople. In addition, during the apogee of Lombard rule in the eighth century, Lombard law intermingled with Roman law. The Regnum Langobardorum was subject to an amalgamation of Roman and Germanic administration which sought to further legitimize its conquests.