 So highly esteemed across the Lombard kingdom was Theodelinda that when Authari died, she was asked to remain in power and to choose a successor.Historian Roger Collins has misgivings with the reliability of this claim—which stems from Paul the Deacon—and instead, asserts that both political bargaining or naked force were more likely attributable to her choice.Whatever the real situation, a mere two months after Authari's death, Theodelinda picked Agilulf as her next husband and the two were wed. She thereafter exerted much influence in restoring Nicene Christianity to a position of primacy in Italy against its rival, Arian Christianity.