Editing Lombards (section)

====Migration Period society====
During their stay at the mouth of the Elbe, the Lombards came into contact with other western Germanic populations, such as the Saxons and the [[Frisians]]. From these populations, which had long been in contact with the [[Celts]] (especially the Saxons), they adopted a rigid social organization into castes, rarely present in other Germanic peoples.<ref>{{harvnb|Cardini|2019|p=82}}</ref>

The Lombard kings can be traced back as early as c. 380 and thus to the beginning of the [[Migration Period|Great Migration]]. Kingship developed among the Germanic peoples when the unity of a single military command was found necessary. Schmidt believed that the Germanic tribes were divided into [[canton (country subdivision)|cantons]] and that the earliest government was a general assembly that selected canton chiefs and war leaders in times of conflict. All such figures were probably selected from a caste of nobility. As a result of the wars of their wanderings, royal power developed such that the king became the representative of the people, but the influence of the people on the government did not fully disappear.<ref>{{harvnb|Schmidt|2018|pp=76–77}}</ref> Paul the Deacon gives an account of the Lombard tribal structure during the migration:
<blockquote>
... in order that they might increase the number of their warriors, [the Lombards] confer liberty upon many whom they deliver from the yoke of bondage, and that the freedom of these may be regarded as established, they confirm it in their accustomed way by an arrow, uttering certain words of their country in confirmation of the fact.
</blockquote>
Complete emancipation appears to have been granted only among the Franks and the Lombards.<ref>{{harvnb|Schmidt|2018|p=47}}</ref>