Conquest of the Lombard Kingdom

The Conquest of the Lombards was carried out by Charlemagne and his Frankish army at the request of Pope Adrian I
It ended after Charlemagne surrounded Pavis, starving out the Lombards after no help arrived and no food was left available. At the same time Charlemagne had met Pope Adrian I and had his father's old Right to Land recognised by the latter. Wit starvation and no other hope, King Desiderius of the Lombards opened the gates and surrendered in 774 AD.

The Conflict

Prelude

When Pope Adrian I succeeded to the Papal Throne in 772 AD he ordered that any cities in Exarchate of Ravenna, held by the Lombards, to be returned to the Papal States. The Lombard leader Desiderius refused and then invaded a number of Papal States and the Pentapolis. He was intending to move on Rome itself. During this period Pope Adrian I sent ambassadors to Charlemagne looking for him to enforce the policies created by Pepin, Charlemagne's father. Charlemagne upheld the side of the Pope, while Desiderius refused while they met at Thionville. At this point Charlemagne and his uncle Bernard, crossed over the Alps and started to chase the Lombards as far as Pavis, which resulted in a siege.

Deployment

During this time, Pavis was pretty much surrounded, and the Franks built camps around the settlement. This was hampered initially by the fortifications built by King Desiderius' troops. The Frankish scouts eventually found alternate routes and the outnumbered Lombards laid siege. It must be mentioned that the Franks had superior numbers that helped to surround Pavis.
Unfortunately both combatants had problems. The Franks had no siege weapons and the Lombards had insufficient food stockpiles.

Battlefield

The battlefield was the Lombard city of Pavis.

Conditions

The conditions was to be expected for a city attached to the Alps. Warmish weather throughout the year, snow in the winter, and rain, plenty of rain. The Lombards had a problem, their main food supplies were the fields outside the city and these were turned into muddy encampments by the surrounding Franks.

The Engagement

As a siege, little direct warfare took place. The odd sortie out of the city, and towards it took place but that was it. It was dragged out into 774 due to the nature of it.

"Long old slog that. Had to fight our way through the Alps first harassed by the tail end of the Lombards. Then we found the right passes after that. That was the scouts, thankfully.
When we got there, the city of Pavis stood out. Farmed fields surrounded the city, and we knew where to camp then. Unfortunately for us we had no siege weapons handy so we had to make do with waiting it out. Destroyed the fields were we could, make it hard for the Lombards to sally forth for food. As for the food that was left, many of us were from farming communities. We took over what we could and made use of it. Done a bit of hunting & fishing too. We ate well enough, but just couldn't get the nagging cold of the Alps out of us.
Yes we felt bad, about starving Pavis. Yes it was morally ambiguous but that's siege warfare lass. We had to. Long & gruelling, and in need of seeing home. So we waited. Waited for the day that Pavis got to breaking point and Charlemagne got those Land Rights. They opened the gates, and we entered. Killed some of their troops to make a point, and booted the rest out. They had to leave the land now, but were free. At least they could find somewhere where they weren't bothering us or Mother Church."
An unknown soldier talking to Agelo the Goliath.

Conflict Type

Siege

Start Date

772 AB

Ending Date

Spring 774 AD