Loop (Duke of Spoleto)

None of the medieval narrative sources report on Magnifier. All information about the activities of this duke of Spoleto is contained in legal acts related to Farfsky Abbey ^[1] .

There is no reliable information about the origin of the Magnifier. Based on the testimony contained in the charter of February 26, 845, regarding the founding of the Santa Maria in Organo monastery in Verona by the duke and his wife Ermelda, it is assumed that Loop may have come from these places. In any case, among historians there is a prevailing opinion that the duke was not a Spoletian native ^[1] .

The first mention of Loupe as ruler of the Duchy of Spolet is dated July 745. He probably gained power over the duchy shortly before this date, since it follows from a document from February this year that the throne of Spoleto was still vacant at that time. Lup's predecessor in the ducal office was Trasimund II , the last evidence of which in medieval sources dates back to 744 ^{[1] [2] [3]} .

The circumstances of Lupu's gaining power over the Duchy of Spoleta are not exactly known. It is assumed that the ducal position could have got him as a result of rebellion or military conflict ^[4] . Perhaps Loop proclaimed himself a duke without the consent of King Rathis , since in a document drawn up in early March 746, the monarch threatened with confiscation of property and executions of some unnamed soviet rebels. However, soon (probably no later than October of that year) Loop managed to prove his loyalty to the Lombard monarch, and in later documents the duke is represented by the faithful vassal of Rathis. In April 747, the presence of a royal official ( lat. Missi ) was mentioned in Spoleto , while earlier the dukes here were completely independent in their rule. The duke of Loop himself visited the royal court in Pavia that same year ^{[1] [2] [4]} .

Patronizing the Farfsky Abbey, Loop repeatedly endowed this monastery with rich gifts, passing them to the abbot ^[5] . He also founded the St. George Convent in Rieti in April 751 for natives not only from the Kingdom of Lombard , but also from the State of the Franks ^{[1] [2]} .

Soon after the founding of the monastery in Rieti, Loop lost power over the Duchy of Spoleta. It is believed that he could have been deprived of his possessions by the Lombard king Aistulf . It is not known whether Loop was executed if he lost Spoleto, or just sent to exile. This event probably occurred in the summer of 751, as in one of the royal charters dated July of this year, Loop is already mentioned as a ruler who has lost his title. Although Lupa is called Unulf in the medieval lists of the dukes of Spoleta , according to the documents of the 8th century, Aistulf personally ruled the duchy from 751 until his death in 756 ^{[1] [2] [6]} .

• Hartmann LM Geschichte Italiens im Mittelalter . - Leipzig: Friedrich Andreas Perthes, 1903. - Bd. 2.2. - 387 S.
• Menghin W. Die Langobarden. Archäologie und Geschichte. - Anzeiger des Germanischen Nationalmuseums Wissenschaftliche Beibände 4. - Stuttgart: Theiss-Verlag, 1985 .-- ISBN 3-8062-0364-4 .

• Central Italy Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. Date of treatment January 25, 2015.