Lombards

Lombards, Germanic people who moved from northwestern Germany toward Italy in the fourth century. In 568 they crossed the Alps and conquered most of northern Italy, dividing it into dukedoms until 584, when they united into a kingdom against the threat of Frankish invasion. The kingdom reached its height under Liutprand in the 8th century, but was soon overrun by the Franks under Charlemagne in the 770s.