Duchy of Benevento

The Duchy of Benevento was a Lombard duchy in the Italian Peninsula, founded in 570 CE and centered in the city of Benevento. Lombard dukes ruled the duchy from 571 until 774, when the Kingdom of the Lombards was conquered by the Franks. Due to its separation from other Lombard territories by the papal Duchy of Rome, Benevento maintained a degree of independence. After the fall of the Lombard kingdom in 774, it continued to exist as the sole remaining Lombard territory, functioning as a rump state and maintaining de facto independence for nearly 300 years as the Principality of Benevento, until its dissolution in 1081.