Teodolinda was queen consort of the Lombards and of Italy from 589 to 616. Regent from 616 to 624 during the minority of her son Adaloaldo.
The daughter of the Duke of the Bavari, Teodolinda was a princess of royal lineage, descending on the maternal side of the Lombard lineage, the main bearer of the royal "charisma", the Letingi. To seal the alliance between Bavari and Longobardi was given in marriage to Autari, king of the Lombards, ascended the throne after a phase of absence of royal power. Died Autari, after only a year of marriage, Teodolinda remarried with Agilulfo, duke of Turin, from whom he had a son, Adaloaldo, future king of the Lombards and the first to be baptized in the Catholic faith. Theodolinda, in fact, being Catholic, even if adherent to the schism of the Three Chapters, represented the first stable link between the Arian Lombards and the Church of Rome, thanks to her friendly relations with Pope Gregory the Great.
Beautiful and intelligent woman, she was much loved by her people, who could enjoy during her reign and that of Agilulfo of prosperous and fruitful years. The queen was a great patron and provided Monza - the city she made the summer capital of the Lombard Kingdom - of a rich basilica dedicated to St. John the Baptist, a royal palace and numerous art objects, including many relics. He founded many other religious buildings in the whole Brianza area and favored the preaching of San Colombano.
After the death of Agilulfo (616) he was regent for his son Adaloaldo, but when he was deposed by a court conspiracy - after ten years of reign - the queen retired to private life and shortly thereafter died. He was buried with all the honors in the Basilica of San Giovanni, now the cathedral of Monza, where he was venerated by the local people as a saint. His figure, which became legendary, was beloved and became the focus of many legends and popular stories. His fame reached its peak in the fifteenth century when the Zavattari frescoed in the Cathedral of Monza a famous series of frescoes with the Stories of Queen Teodolinda, the largest Italian cycle of international Gothic.