Facts of Faith

The Lombards

It has been claimed by some that the Lombard nation was one of the three horns of Daniel 7:8, which were rooted up by the Papacy. We shall therefore investigate this claim carefully before leaving this subject. It is true that the Lombards, who settled in Italy, 568 A. D., were at first Arians, but they soon became converted to the Roman Catholic faith (615 A. D). Professor J. B. Bury says: FAFA 49.4

“In the century which intervened between the death of Gregory 1 [604 A. D.] and the accession of Gregory II [715], the Lombards had been transformed from Arian heretics into devout Catholics, so that the religious difficulty which parted Roman from Lombard had disappeared.” — “The Cambridge Medieval History,” Vol. II, p. 694. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1913.

That the Lombards were not subdued on account of any opposition to the papal church is also witnessed by the following quotation: FAFA 50.1

“Slowly however the light of faith made way among them and the Church won their respect and obedience. This meant protection for the conquered.” — The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. IX, art. “Lombards,” p. 338. FAFA 50.2

Even though the Lombards were subdued by Pepin (755 A. D.), and later by Charlemagne (774), yet they were not destroyed. The Lombard kingdom in Italy had long been divided into smaller “duchies,” and Charlemagne allowed several of these to continue, while they nominally recognized him as emperor (such an arrangement became common for centuries in Italy). FAFA 50.3

“The Lombards, having now been two hundred and thirty two years in the country, were strangers only in name; and Charles, wishing to reorganize the states of Italy, consented that they should occupy the places in which they had been brought up, and call the province after their own name, Lombardy.... FAFA 50.4

“In the meantime, the Emperor Charles died and was succeeded by Lewis, ... [and] at the time of his grandchildren, the house of France lost the empire, which then came to the Germans. [During these changes] the Lombards [were] gathering strength.” — “The History of Florence,” N. Machiavelli, pp. 15, 16. Washington and London: Universal Classics Library, 1901. FAFA 50.5

In 1167 A. D., the different Lombard cities were organized into separate republics, and combined into the famous Lombard League. Being devoted to the pope they fought the excommunicated German emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, who would subjugate them, and who “endeavored to force upon the church an anti-pope in the place of Alexander III.” FAFA 50.6

Finally in 1176 A. D., the combined armies of the Lombard League met the emperor’s forces in a decisive battle on the plains of Legnano. FAFA 50.7

“The imperial army was so utterly overthrown and dispersed, that for some time the fate of the emperor was uncertain. Three days after the battle he appeared in Pavia, alone, and in ... disguise.... For twenty one years Frederick had been struggling against the independence of Lombardy. With seven armies he had swept their doomed territory, inflicting atrocities the recital of which sickens humanity. The fatal battle of Legnano left him for a time powerless, and he was compelled to assent to a truce for six years. At the expiration of this truce, in the year 1183, by the peace of Constance, the comparative independence of Lombardy was secured; a general supremacy of dignity rather that of power being conceded to the emperor.” — “Italy from the Earliest Period to The Present Day,” John, S. C. Abbott, p.438, 439. New York: 1860. FAFA 51.1

Not only had the kingdom of Lombardy maintained its independence, but “the generous resistance of the Lombards, during a war of thirty years, had conquered from the emperors political liberty for all the towns in the kingdom of Italy. “A History of the Italian Republics,” J. C. S. de Sismondi, p. 61. New York: 1904. FAFA 51.2

If space permitted, we could trace the kingdom of Lombardy for nearly two centuries more, but this will suffice to prove that the Lombards were not destroyed by Charlemagne, when subdued by him in 774, neither could they be one of the three powers plucked up by the roots to give place for the Papacy. (Daniel 7:8.) A people plucked up by the roots in 774 would hardly fight so heroically for four hundred years afterwards to maintain their independence till mighty emperors had to yield. But even if the Lombards had been destroyed by Charlemagne in 774, they could not be reckoned as one of the three nations plucked up to give place to the Papacy; for, if we reckon the 1260 years of papal supremacy from 774, they would end in 2034 A. D., which would entirely dislocate the prophetic reckoning, as we shall see in the next chapter. FAFA 51.3