Gastald

A gastald (Latin gastaldus or castaldus, Italian gastaldo or guastaldo) was a Lombard official in charge of some portion of the royal demesne (a gastaldia or castaldia) with civil, martial, and judicial powers. By the Edictum Rothari of 643, the gastalds were given the civil authority in the cities and the reeves the like authority in the countryside. Under the Lombard dominion, territories were delimited by giudicati or "judgments" among the several gastaldi. From the immediate region of Parma and of Piacenza, numerous such giudicati survive, which cover the range of Lombard rule. The documents follow the same formalized structure, of which one between the gastaldo Daghiberto and the gastaldo Immo was adjudged by Adaloald, at Ticino, November 615.