Grasulf I was a brother of Alboin

Alboin

Alboin was king of the Lombards from about 560 until 572. During his reign the Lombards ended their migrations by settling in Italy, the northern part of which Alboin conquered between 569 and 572...

, the first Lombard

Lombards

The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...

 King of Italy

King of Italy

King of Italy is a title adopted by many rulers of the Italian peninsula after the fall of the Roman Empire...

, and possibly the first Duke of Friuli

Duke of Friuli

The dukes and margraves of Friuli were the rulers of the Duchy and March of Friuli in the Middle Ages.The dates given below, when contentious, are discussed in the articles of the respective dukes.-Lombard dukes:* 568–c.584 Grasulf I...

. Grasulf's son, Gisulf

Gisulf I of Friuli

Gisulf I was probably the first duke of Friuli , a nephew of Alboin, first king of the Lombards in Italy. Alboin appointed him duke around 569 after the Lombard conquest of the region, though some scholars believe he appointed Gisulf's father, his brother, Grasulf, duke.Before this, Gisulf had been...

, is the other candidate for first Duke of Friuli. Paul the Deacon

Paul the Deacon

Paul the Deacon , also known as Paulus Diaconus, Warnefred, Barnefridus and Cassinensis, , was a Benedictine monk and historian of the Lombards.-Life:...

 names Gisulf, but some scholars have favoured Grasulf based on a diplomatic letter which refers to him as duke.

This letter was written by Gogo

Gogo (mayor of the palace)

Gogo was the mayor of the palace of Austrasia and nutricius for the young Childebert II from 576 until his death....

, Frankish

Franks

The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...

 mayor of the palace

Mayor of the Palace

Mayor of the Palace was an early medieval title and office, also called majordomo, from the Latin title maior domus , used most notably in the Frankish kingdoms in the 7th and 8th centuries....

 of Austrasia

Austrasia

Austrasia formed the northeastern portion of the Kingdom of the Merovingian Franks, comprising parts of the territory of present-day eastern France, western Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Metz served as its capital, although some Austrasian kings ruled from Rheims, Trier, and...

 under Sigebert I

Sigebert I

Sigebert I was the king of Austrasia from the death of his father in 561 to his own death. He was the third surviving son out of four of Clotaire I and Ingund...

 and Childebert II

Childebert II

.Childebert II was the Merovingian king of Austrasia, which included Provence at the time, from 575 until his death in 595, the eldest and succeeding son of Sigebert I, and the king of Burgundy from 592 to his death, as the adopted and succeeding son of his uncle Guntram.-Childhood:When his father...

, sometime between Gogo's rise to power in 571 and his death in 581. Sadly it is undated and unattached to the name of either king he served. It has traditionally been assigned to around the year of his death (581), but an alternative solution put forward by Walter Goffart

Walter Goffart

Walter Andre Goffart is a historian of the later Roman Empire and the early Middle Ages who specializes in research on the barbarian kingdoms of those periods. He is a senior research scholar and lecturer at Yale University....

 places it as early as 571–572 around the time of Sigebert's embassy to Constantinople

Constantinople

Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

. In it Gogo urges Grasulf to ally himself with the Franks to oust the infestantes (presumably the Lombards) from Italy in league with the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 and the Papacy. Ambassadors were waiting in Austrasia for Grasulf's reply in case he wished to delay his response to the emperor.

While the exact location of Grasulf's seat of power is unknown, if he did rule, the letter from Gogo is evidence that the "Friulian court" was capable of handling sophisticated imperial correspondence less than a decade after the Lombard arrival on Italian soil.