Grimoald I of Benevento

Who was Grimoald I of Benevento?

Grimoald I was duke of Benevento and king of the Lombards.

Grimoald was probably born before 610 to Duke Gisulf II of Friuli and the Bavarian princess Ramhilde, daughter of Duke Garibald I of Bavaria. He succeeded his brother Radoald in 646/7 as duke of Benevento. In 641–42, he and Radoald had served as regents for their mentally incapable adoptive brother, Duke Aiulf I. Grimoald married the princess Theodota, daughter of King Aripert I. Their son was Garibald.

In 662, after being called to assist King Godepert in a war with his brother King Perctarit, Grimoald gave Benevento to his eldest son Romuald and, removing the fraternal impediments to his kingship with the aid of Duke Garibald of Turin, assassinated Godepert and forced Perctarit to flee. He sent Perctarit's wife and son to Benevento and took over the kingship of the Lombards. It was then that he promptly married Godepert's sister in order to relate himself to the Bavarian Dynasty of Theodelinda.

His martial prowess and skill in the field of battle secured his victory in many border wars. He led his armies to victory personally against the Byzantines under Emperor Constans II at the siege of Benevento, where they had been besieging the young Romuald, who betrothed his sister Gisa to Constans. Romuald then took Taranto and Brindisi, much limiting the Byzantine influence in the region during the rebellion of Mezezius in Sicily, which had distracted the Byzantines after Constans' death. Grimoald himself took Forlì, in the north, from the Greeks and razed Oderzo, where his brothers had been murdered years before. His capture of Forlì was shameful, however, for he took it on Easter Day, slaughtering worshippers during the festivities.