Paul the Deacon's Writings

Paul the Deacon (c.720s – 13 April c.796-799) has many writing attributed to him (some probably erroneously, like a life of Gregory the Great, that was written much earlier than Paul). He was in the household of Adelperga, a daughter of King Desiderius of the Lombards.Adalperga, upon reading a history by a 4th century Roman named Eutropius that covered the founding of Rome to Eutropius' lifetime, was not pleased that it covered only pagan Roman achievements and not any Christian topics. She asked Paul to amend it, so he added extracts from Scripture to a version for her.Another request for a history came from Angilram, the Bishop of Metz, to write a history of the diocese of Metz, giving Paul access to the diocesan records. Paul finished it by 784, noting that Angilram's own entry would be completed later. Paul also refers to Angilram in his Historia Langobardorum ("History of the Lombards"), calling him a "very gentle man and distinguished by holiness."Paul also wrote a summary of De…