c.920-c.972. Bishop and church historian. Of noble Lombard stock and educated at the court of Pavia, he was ordained deacon in that city. In 949 King Berengar II appointed him envoy to Constantinople. Subsequent disaffection with the king led him to the court of Emperor Otto I, who made him bishop of Cremona in 961. On Otto's behalf, Liutprand paid diplomatic visits to Rome and Constantinople, the latter to contract the marriage of the future Emperor Otto II with a Byzantine princess. Liutprand's reputation as a historian rests on three highly rhetorical though biased works. Antapodosis treats Italy, Rome, and Byzantium between 887 and 949. Historia Ottonis describes Otto I's vicissitudes with the papacy from 960-64. Relatio de legatione Constantinopolitana recounts Liutprand's second visit to Constantinople.