[4] The history covers the story of the Lombards from their mythical origins to the death of King Liutprand in 743, and contains much information about the Eastern Roman empire, the Franks, and others.

As his primary sources, Paul used the document called the Origo gentis Langobardorum, the Liber pontificalis, the lost history of Secundus of Trent, and the lost annals of Benevento; he also made free use of works by Bede, Gregory of Tours, and Isidore of Seville.

[5] The oldest manuscript is the Palimpsest of Assisi, written in the uncial script towards the end of the 8th century, almost immediately after Paul's work was completed.

[6] According to Waitz, F1's age makes it the most reliable of the Historia's codices, a view which has been challenged by Antonio Zanella and Dante Bianchi, both of whom hold that the F1 does not correctly reflect Paul's original.

Foulke (Philadelphia, 1906), the German by O. Abel and R. Jacobi (Leipzig, 1878),[4] the Polish by Ignacy Lewandowski (1995, Warszawa), Henryk Pietruszczak, (2002, Zgorzelec), the Spanish by P. Herrera (Cádiz, 2006), and the Swedish by Helge Weimarck (Stockholm, 1971).