Theodelinda

Theodelinda (c. 570-628) was a Bavarian princess who became queen of the Lombards, first as wife of King Authari and then, after his death in 590, of his successor Agilulf, whom she chose as her new husband and co-ruler. A devout Catholic in a kingdom largely Arian and pagan, she worked to draw the Lombards toward Nicene Christianity and corresponded with Pope Gregory the Great, who addressed several letters to her urging her influence over her husband and the religious upbringing of their son. She founded the basilica of San Giovanni Battista at Monza, near Milan, endowing it with treasures including the famed Iron Crown of Lombardy, and her piety and political skill made her one of the most consequential royal women of early medieval Italy.