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extract from: http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/10878

Lombards

Lombards

The Lombards (Latin "Langobardi", whence the alternative names Langobards and Longobards) were a Germanic people originally from Northern Europe who settled in the valley of the Danube and from there invaded Byzantine Italy in 568 under the leadership of Alboin. They established a Kingdom of Italy which lasted until 774, when it was conquered by the Franks. Their influence on Italian political geography is plainly visible in the regional appellation Lombardy.

Early history

Legendary origins and name

The fullest account of Lombard origins, history, and practices is the "Historia gentis Langobardorum" ("History of the Lombards") of Paul the Deacon, written in the 8th century. Paul's chief source for Lombard origins, however, is the 7th-century "Origo Gentis Langobardorum" ("Origin of the People of the Lombards").

The "Origo" tells the story of a small tribe called the "Winnili" [Priester, 16. From the Old Germanic"Winnan", meaning "fighting", "winning".] dwelling in southern ScandinaviaHarrison, D. & Svensson, K. (2007). "Vikingaliv" Fälth & Hässler, Värnamo. 978-91-27-35725-9 p. 74] ("Scadanan") (The "Codex Gothanus" writes that the Winnili first dwelt near a river called "Vindilicus" on the extreme boundary of Gaul.) [CG, II.] The Winnili were split into three groups and one part left the native land to seek foreign fields. The reason for the exodus was probably overpopulation. [Menghin, 13.] The departing people were led by the brothers Ybor and Aio and their mother Gambara [Priester, 16. Grimm, "Deutsche Mythologie", I, 336. Old Germanic for "Strenuus", "Sybil".] and arrived in the lands of "Scoringa", perhaps the Baltic coast [Priester, 16] or the Bardengau on the banks of theElbe. [Hammerstein, 56.] Scoringa was ruled by the Wandals, and their chieftains, the brothers Ambri and Assi, who granted the Winnili a choice between tribute or war.

The Winnili were young and brave and refused to pay tribute, saying "It is better to maintain liberty by arms than to stain it by the payment of tribute." [PD, VII.] The Wandals prepared for war and consulted their god Godan (Odin), who answered that he would give the victory to those whom he would see first at sunrise. [PD, VIII.] The Winnili were fewer in number [PD, VII.] and Gambara sought help from Frea (Frigg), who advised that all Winnili women should tie their hair in front of their faces like beards and march in line with their husbands. So it came that Godan spotted the Winnili first, and asked, "Who are these long-beards?" and Frea replied, "My lord, thou hast given them the name, now give them also the victory." [OGL, appendix 11.] From that moment onwards, the Winnili were known as the "Langobards" (Latinised and Italianised as "Lombards").

When Paul the Deacon wrote the "Historia" between 787 and 796 he was a Catholic monk and devoted Christian. Therefore, he thought the pagan stories of his people "silly" and "laughable". [PD, VIII.] [Priester, 17] Paul explained that the name "Langobard" came from the length of their beards, that the Latin word "longus" meant "Lang" and "barba" meant "Bart". [PD, I, 9.] A modern theory suggests that the name "Langobard" comes from "Langbarðr", a name of Odin. [Pohl and Erhart. Nedoma, 449–445.] Priester states that when the Winnili changed their name to "Lombards", they also changed their old agricultural fertility cult to a cult of Odin, thus creating a conscious tribal tradition. [Priester, 17.] Fröhlich inverts the order of events in Priester and states that with the Odin cult, the Lombards grew their beards in resemblance of the Odin of tradition and their new name reflected this. [Fröhlich, 19.] Bruckner remarks that the name of the Lombards stands in close relation to the worship of Odin, who wore the epithet "the Long-bearded" or "the Grey-bearded", and that the Lombard given name "Ansegranus" ("he with the beard of the gods") shows that the Lombards had this idea of their chief deity. [Bruckner, 30–33.]

Pizza as a food has its roots in some Greek flatbread dishes, as later developed primarily in Naples (now Italy). The addition of tomato sauce came about a century after the first tomatoes were brought back from Central America by Spanish explorers.

The precise history of the pizza and its origin will never be known, but here is what we know about the Italian pizza history:

• The history of pizza goes back to the time of Virgil, who died in the first Century BC, but not before writing down a pizza recipe for posterity.
• Around 1000 AD the word "picea" started to appear in historical records in Italy , it was a circle of dough and the topped with a variety of fillings then baked. The word pizza came into common usage at about the same time.
• It was some time later before pizza became to be made from leavened dough, as we know it today. At the same time the pita type bread schiacciata was made.
• Towards the end of the eighteenth Century historical records show an early record of the "Calzone" it was rolled with the stuffing completely encased inside it, and it was then shaped like a crescent, and baked.
• The pizza as we know it today began to originate in Naples; they were flavored with oil and garlic, cinciielli (a small fish), or anchovies, and mozzarella cheese.
• Up to 1830 the pizzas were sold from Neapolitan market stalls. The first pizza restaurant was called Port' Alba. It had installed an oven fired by volcanic rock from Mount Vesuvius as these reach the high temperatures that help to make the best pizza.
• Salvatore di Giacomo, the Naples poet and dramatist, dedicated several poems to pizza.
• Alexander Dumas, the author of the three musketeers was inspired to write about pizza. Dumas referred to a pizza that was not eaten for eight days. However he had obviously never tried one. He mentions that it was called an "Otto", the Italian word for eight, but in this he got it wrong, it was eaten immediately but the baker got paid eight days later. There were still a few bakers in Naples that carried this tradition until the seventies and it is possible this tradition exits even today.
• " The pizza is a kind of stiacciati which is round in shape and made with bread dough, at first glance it looks like a simple food, but when examined more closely it looks more complicated". Dumas
• By the nineteenth century the pizzas in Naples were garnished with pork fat, oil lard cheese, tomatoes and tiny fish, surprisingly enough not the recipe for a winning pizza!
• The sixteenth century Bourbon Queen Maria Carolina loved the tri-colored green red and white pizza (the forerunner of the Margherita pizza) so much that she convinced her husband King Ferdinand IV to allow the pizzas to be made in the royal ovens. She had a problem because pizza as a food was associated very much with the peasants.
• No history of pizza would be complete without the classic story of the pizza Margherita. Modern pizza history was made in 1889 when Queen Margherita Teresa Giovanni, the consort of Umberto I, visited Naples with her king. Don Raffaele Esposito, who owned Pietro Il Pizzaiolo, was asked to prepare a special dish in honour of the Queen's visit. Esposito consulted his wife who was the real pizza expert and together they developed a pizza featuring tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and basil. He named it the Margherita Pizza, after the city's guest of honor.
• Mozzarella is made from buffalo's milk and had never before been used to make a pizza. Ironically a cheese, basil and tomato pizza was already popular in Naples, but it did not have quite the same impact in the annals of pizza history .
• Baker's shops in Pompeii show evidence of flat breads that could have been amongst the world's first pizzas. If they are, they must qualify to be the world's most preserved pizza, enshrined in lava forever.