Adelperga

Adelperga (8th century) was the daughter of Desiderius, King of the Lombards, and his wife Ansa.

Desiderius arranged a strategic marriage between his daughter and the Duke of Benevento, Arechis II, to secure his power in Italy. The marriage produced several children.

After the fall of the Kingdom of the Lombards to Charlemagne, the ex-husband of Adelpurga's sister Desiderata,(who may have been really called Gerperga) Adelperga's parents and sister were exiled to Francia, where they were imprisoned in religious houses. Adelperga and her sister, Liutperga then embarked upon a struggle to regain their patrimony, and take revenge upon Charlemagne. Liutperga ultimately brought ruin upon herself and her family by encouraging her husband, Tassilo, Duke of Bavaria, to rebel against Charlemagne, his cousin: Charlemagne discovered Tassilo's plots, and confiscated all his goods; Tassilo, Liutperga and their children were then banished to monasteries.

Adelperga was more successful; her husband, Arechis, resisted Charlemagne for some time, until in 787 he agreed to make peace with Charlemagne; at the encouragement of his wife and the Byzantines, he refused the peace treaty, which would have entailed surrendering part of his duchy to the Papacy. When he died on 26 August 787, Adelperga continued his policies, supporting her brother, Adalgis, long an exile in Constantinople, when he returned to southern Italy with an army. Adeleperga's son, Grimoald, the heir to the Duchy, returned from captivity in the Frankish court, and, siding with Charlemagne, defeated his uncle and the Byzantines. But he then broke loyalty with Charlemagne, and Benevento remained on uneasy terms with Charlemagne.