Regina Teodolinda

Biography

Biography

The origins of Monza cathedral are bound up with the figure of Theodolinda, a devout Roman-Catholic princess from Bavaria who married Authari, king of the Lombards in May 589. Not long after being widowed, in September 590, the queen married Agilulf, duke of Turin, who in turn became king of the Lombards. Theodelinda chose to base her court in Monza. In 595-600 she had a palace built there and a chapel dedicated to St John the Baptist, later turned into a basilica, at first used also as royal mausoleum: here king Agilulf (died 616), Theodolinda’s son Adaloald (died in 626) and Theodelinda herself, after spending 28 years as a Queen and, later, after her husband died, as a regent for her still under age son.