Agilulf

Agilulf is a king whose authority is tested in private, when a horsekeeper deceives his wife, Theodolinda, by copying the king’s nighttime routine. Agilulf’s response turns the episode away from public punishment: he detects the imposture, tries to identify the offender quietly, and finally chooses discretion over revenge, protecting the queen’s honor as well as his own.

Identity and Rule

Agilulf has established the seat of his kingship at Pavia. Under his leadership, the affairs of the Lombards have for some time prospered and remained peaceful. He is married to Theodolinda, the widow of a former king, whom the story describes as beautiful, discreet, and virtuous. The private deception that follows intrudes upon this ordered royal household, but Agilulf’s conduct shows that he understands kingship to involve not only the power to punish but also the judgment to contain a scandal.

The Deception Discovered

A horsekeeper in the royal household, low in birth but notably able and handsome, becomes passionately enamored of Theodolinda. He keeps his feelings secret and serves her attentively, taking particular pride when she rides the palfrey in his charge. Knowing that a direct declaration would be futile, he studies how Agilulf visits the queen: the king wears a cloak, carries a lighted taper and a small wand, and taps at her door without speaking.

The horsekeeper imitates these details. He obtains a similar cloak, taper, and wand, washes himself so that the smell of the stables will not betray him, and enters the queen’s chamber in the king’s guise. Theodolinda takes him for her husband; the deception allows him to lie with her without her knowing his identity. He leaves quietly, but Agilulf comes to the chamber soon afterward. When Theodolinda remarks that he has returned after already taking pleasure with her, Agilulf understands that someone has impersonated him.

A Quiet Investigation

Agilulf does not reveal the deception to Theodolinda or demand that she explain herself. He sees that she was misled, and judges that making the matter known would needlessly distress her, invite further harm, and turn a concealed offense into public dishonor. Instead, he leaves the chamber appearing to accept her explanation and sets about finding the culprit without alerting the household.

He searches the sleeping attendants in a long gallery above the palace stables, feeling each man’s breast for a still-elevated heartbeat. When he reaches the horsekeeper, whose pulse remains quick from exertion and fear, Agilulf recognizes him. Yet he does not arrest or strike him. With scissors, he clips the man’s hair on one side, intending to identify him the next morning by this mark.

The Mark and the King’s Judgment

The horsekeeper understands what the haircut means. Before dawn, he quietly clips the hair of the other men sleeping in the gallery in the same fashion. When Agilulf summons the household and inspects their uncovered heads, the identifying mark has become useless: many of the attendants now bear it. The horsekeeper’s quick countermeasure turns the king’s private sign into a mark shared by the whole group.

Agilulf recognizes the intelligence behind the move and accepts that he cannot single out the culprit without causing a commotion. He could punish or interrogate the household, but doing so would expose the deception and deepen the dishonor he sought to avoid. Instead, he tells the assembled men that the one responsible must not do it again, then dismisses them in peace. The horsekeeper understands the warning, keeps the secret throughout Agilulf’s lifetime, and never again risks a similar venture.

Narrative Role and Significance

Agilulf’s restraint is the decisive action of the episode. He is affronted by the imposture, but neither anger nor royal authority governs his response. His efforts to identify the horsekeeper are deliberate and private; when the culprit defeats his practical test, Agilulf limits the consequence rather than converting the affair into a public spectacle.

The episode sets the king’s judgment against the horsekeeper’s ingenuity. Agilulf notices what has happened, reads the evidence correctly, and understands that revenge could magnify the injury by exposing both the queen’s deception and the king’s humiliation. His final warning preserves the household’s silence, while the horsekeeper’s lasting compliance closes the incident without a public punishment or further scandal.