illegitimate marriages. Then in 723, the longstanding dispute between the patriarchs of Aquileia and Grado flared up again. Upon the request of the Lombard king, Liutprand, Gregory had given the pallium to Bishop Serenus, granting him the patriarchate of Aquileia. Soon afterward, however, Gregory received a letter from Donatus, Patriarch of Grado, complaining that Serenus had overstepped his authority, and was interfering within what was Grado’s ecclesiastical jurisdiction. At the same time, Gregory reprimanded Donatus for complaining about Gregory’s decision to grant the pallium to Serenus in the first place. Then in 725, upon Donatus’ death, the Grado patriarchate was usurped by Peter, the Bishop of Pola. Gregory responded by depriving Peter of both sees, and he wrote to the people of the diocese, reminding them to only elect bishops in accordance with church law, whereupon they elected Antoninus, with Gregory’s approval. Gregory also mandated a number of practices within the Church. He decreed that in Lent, on Thursdays, people should fast, just as they were required to do during the other days of the week. Apparently, the practice had been frowned upon by popes of previous centuries, as pagans had fasted on Thursday as part of their worship of Jupiter. He also prescribed the offices be said during church services on Thursdays in Lent, as prior to this, the Mass of the preceding Sunday was said on those Thursdays. Relations with the Lombards Gregory attempted to remain on good diplomatic terms with the Lombards, and especially with their king, Liutprand. In April 716 he managed to get Liutprand to agree not to retake the Cottian Alps, which had been granted to the Roman Church in the reign of Aripert II. However, the semi-independent Lombard Duchy of Benevento, under the expansionist duke Romuald II, resumed hostilities by capturing Cumae in 717, cutting Rome off from Naples. Neither threats of divine retribution nor outright bribery made an impression on Romuald, and so Gregory appealed to Duke John I of Naples, funding his campaign to successfully retake Cumae. That same year saw the Lombard duke Faroald II of Spoleto, capture Classis, the port of Ravenna. Gregory brokered a deal with Liutprand, who forced Faroald to return it to the Exarch of Ravenna. Perceiving that the Lombard threat would continue to fester and they would take imperial territory in Italy a piece at a time, in around 721 Gregory appealed to the Franks,