La Longobardia, i Longobardi e Pavia nei geografi arabo-islamici del Medioevo

The present study aims at tracing the historical evolution of the image of Longobardia and of the Longobards (as well as Lombardy and the Lombards) in the works of mediaeval Arab-Islamic geographers (9th-15th c.). Longobardia is represented in different ways, depending on periods, contexts and perspectives; sometimes it is identified with the Italian Peninsula of the Longobards, and sometimes with the Longibardia or Lagobardia of the Byzantines. It was not until the 12th century that a clear distinction was made, from an onomastic point of view also, between Lombardy (Anbard. iyah) and Longobardia (Ankubardah), with the latter understood exclusively in reference to the south, which derives from the geographical idea of the Byzantine thema of the same name. The Longobards, as a people, appear both in Langobardia Minor and in Langobardia Maior; the capital of the latter was Pavia, a city defined by its palace and a renowned equestrian statue: the Regisole. The Lombards too were undoubtedly present in the territory that extends from the Alps to the Po, well established in their main towns, in Pavia and Milan, but also in Monferrato and Ferrara.