After conducting the premiere of I masnadieri in London, Verdi traveled to Paris, where he hoped to finally lead the life he wished. He had little time to relax, however: within a week of his arrival on July 28, 1847, the new directors of the Opéra, Nestor Roqueplan and Charles Duponchel, succeeded in convincing the composer to provide an opera for the fall season. Such short notice did not allow Verdi time to compose a new work, and so he negotiated a contract that would let him rework I lombardi, an opera first performed in 1843. Eugène Scribe suggested that Verdi collaborate with librettists Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz, who agreed to fit a modified plot to existing music. We know very little about the collaboration between librettists and composer. With Verdi living in Paris, the parties involved could discuss emerging issues face to face and did not have to rely on the postal system. Unfortunately, the constant presence of two librettists, two impresarios, and two editors (Léon and Marie Escudier) not only deprived posterity of insightful correspondence regarding the project but sufficed to drive Verdi mad, as he himself confessed in a letter to a friend. As to the music, Verdi rearranged some of the numbers, omitted others, composed a few new ones, and replaced transitions where necessary.

Although the librettists had to adapt the Lombardi libretto to a modified plot, they aimed at a free translation, often preserving only key words and the overall sense.