Lombards

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In Paradiso VI the expression «dente longobardo» (Lombard tooth) indicates the attack of the Lombards against the Church, described as a bite. The authorized note on the verse clarifies that the term «dente» (tooth) is of biblical flavor and that Charlemagne intervened in defense of the Church by defeating the Lombards, marking the continuity between the Roman eagle and the new Holy Roman Empire. The reference closes the historical survey of the eagle given by Justinian and introduces the prophetic section of the speech. A specific placement in a circle, terrace, or heaven is not attested by the verses—still an individual location, as it is a people evoked as a collective historical subject.