PAULUS DIACONUS (also called PAULUS LEVITA, both surnames being derived from his ecclesiastical office), one of the most learned men of his time, and the greatest Lombard historian, was born of a noble Lombard family at Friuli about 730. His father's name was Warnefrid. He received a superior education at Pavia, at the court of the Lombard king Ratehis, and appears to have continued at court during the reigns of his successors, Aistulf and Desiderius, and to have accompanied Adelperga, the daughter of Desiderius, whose education lie had conducted, to the court of her husband, dnke Ari•his of Ben ventum. For her he wrote, in 791, after he had become an ecclesiastic, one of his prin cipal works, his Iiistoria Romana, a work of no authority, as it is a mere compilation from works which we possess, but which was greatly used during the whole of the mid dle as the many manuscripts, recensions, and continuations of it attest. An edition of the genuine text is still awanting, but a great part of it is given in Muratori's _Heroin Italicarata Scriptures. vol. i. (Milan, 1728). In 781 Paulus became a monk of Monte Casino; lint afterwards went to France, and won the esteem of Charlemagne in a high degree by his character and learning. He aided that monarch in his schemes for the promotion of learning, and introducedthe study of the Greek language into France.
He made a collection of homilies from the best sources, at the emperor's desire, known as the Homilarium, often printed between 1482 and 1569, and translated into German and Spanish. At the request of Angilrin, bishop of Metz, he also wrote a history of the bishops of Metz, Ge.sta Ek.'scoporarn ilattensium (printed in Pertz's Morumenta (lermonfol historical, vol. ii.), the first work of the kind on the n. of the Alps, but the example of which was soon very generally followed, In 787, he returned to his convent, where he remained till his death, which is said to have taken place in 797. In the latter years of his life he wrote his history of the Longobards (De Gestbr longobardunt, Libri 6), but did not live to complete it, bringing down the history only to the (lath of Liutprand in 744. There are several editions or this work, the best of which is contained in the work of Muratori. It is characterized by remarkable candor, and a style unusually pure for that age. The high repute in which this work also was long held is attested by the great number of manuscripts and continuations. Paulus was likewise the author of a number of theological works, and of some hymns and letters still extant.