Arechis II of Benevento
Duke of Benevento (734-787)
Arechis II (also Aretchis, Arichis, Arechi or Aregis) (born c. 734 – died 26 August 787) was a Duke of Benevento, in Southern Italy. He sought to expand the Beneventos' influence into areas of Italy that were still under Byzantine control, but he also had to defend against Charlemagne, who had conquered northern Italy.
Genealogy
Arechis was descended from the Lombards, who had invaded the Italian Peninsula in the late sixth century. The Lombards established their kingdom in northern Italy. Its capital was at Pavia, and it also included two independent southern duchies—the Spoleto and Benevento.
Arechis was the son of Duke Liutprand, whom he succeeded in 758. Arechis continued to use the title Duke of Benevento until the Lombard kingdom fell to Charlemagne in 774. Arechis adopted the title Prince of Benevento after the fall of the kingdom—probably as a gesture of independence—and continued to use it until his death in 787.
Family
Around 757, Arechis married Adelperga, a daughter of the northern Lombard king Desiderius. Arechis established friendly—but largely independent—relations with Desiderius.
“Arechis II of Benevento” enters the record as duke of Benevento (734-787). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Arechis, Benevento and Duke can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Arechis II of Benevento” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.