This book provides a new analysis of the Lombards in Italy from their first arrival in the peninsula towards the end of the sixth century until the end of their contribution to Italian politics in the eleventh century.

Focusing on the environmental and human parameters of the Lombard contribution to Italy in the Early Middle Ages, Heath provides a new and up-to-date analysis. Rather than considering traditional political developments alone, the book weaves together discussion of the spatial aspects of Lombard settlement; their impact on urban and rural landscapes; their responses to religious praxis and belief, and through this, the creation of a revived identity in a new context, which was embodied in law-one of their most enduring legacies. The book restores the Lombards to a position of central importance in early medieval Italy.