Saxon Wars
Saxon Wars | |||||||||
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Frankish expansion from 481 to 814 | |||||||||
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| Widukind | ||||||||
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Unknown |
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The Saxon Wars were the campaigns and insurrections of the thirty-three years from 772, when Charlemagne first entered Saxony with the intent to conquer, to 804, when the last rebellion of tribesmen was defeated. In all, 18 campaigns were fought, primarily in what is now northern Germany. They resulted in the incorporation of Saxony into the Frankish realm and their forcible conversion from Germanic paganism to Christianity.[1]
The Saxons were divided into four subgroups in four regions. Nearest to the ancient Frankish kingdom of
First phase
In mid-January 772, the sacking and burning of the church of Deventer by a Saxon expedition was the casus belli for the first war waged by Charlemagne against the Saxons. It began with a Frankish invasion of Saxon territory and the subjugation of the Engrians and destruction of their sacred symbol Irminsul near Paderborn in 772 or 773 at Eresburg. Irminsul may have been a hollow tree trunk, presumably representing the pillar supporting the skies — similar to the Nordic tree Yggdrasil and apparently a common belief among the Germanic peoples. Charlemagne's campaign led all the way to the Weser River and destroyed several major Saxon strongholds. After negotiating with some Saxon nobles and obtaining hostages, Charlemagne turned his attention to his war against the Lombards in northern Italy; but Saxon free tenants, led by Widukind, continued to resist and raided Frankish lands in the Rhine region. Armed confrontations continued unabated for years.
Charlemagne's second campaign came in the year 775. Then he marched through Westphalia, conquering the fort of Sigiburg, and crossed Engria, where he defeated the Saxons again. Finally, in Eastphalia, he defeated them, and their leader Hessi converted to Christianity. He returned through Westphalia, leaving encampments at Sigiburg and Eresburg. All of Saxony except Nordalbingia was under his control, but the recalcitrant Saxons would not submit for long.
After warring in Italy, he returned very rapidly to Saxony (making it to
The chief purpose of the diet was to bring Saxony closer to Christianity.
's word should be spread not by the sword but by persuasion; but the wars continued.In summer 779, Charlemagne again went into Saxony and conquered Eastphalia, Engria, and Westphalia. At a diet near
Middle phase
Charlemagne returned in 782 to Saxony and instituted a
Final phase
In 792, the Westphalians rose up against their masters in response to forcible recruitment for wars against the Avars. The Eastphalians and Nordalbingians joined them in 793, but the insurrection did not catch on as previous ones and was completely put down by 794.
An Engrian rebellion followed closely in 796, but Charlemagne's personal presence and the presence of loyal Christian Saxons and
The war that had lasted so many years was at length ended by their acceding to the terms offered by the King; which were renunciation of their national religious customs and the worship of devils, acceptance of the sacraments of the Christian faith and religion, and union with the Franks to form one people.
Towards the end of the wars, Charlemagne had begun to place more emphasis on reconciliation. In 797, he eased the special laws, and in 802, Saxon
Religious nature
Alluding to the Saxons, the contemporary poet of the
One of Charlemagne's famed capitularies outlined part of the religious intent of his interactions with the Saxons. In 785, he issued the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae which asserted, "If any one of the race of the Saxons hereafter concealed among them shall have wished to hide himself unbaptized, and shall have scorned to come to baptism and shall have wished to remain a pagan, let him be punished by death."[4]
See also
References
- ^ Jennifer R. Davis (2015), Charlemagne's Practice of Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), p. 179. The Royal Frankish Annals record battles in the years 772–780, 782–785, 793–799, 802 and 804.
- ISBN 978-0-520-23943-2.
- ^ Mary Garrison, "The Emergence of Carolingian Latin Literature and the Court of Charlemagne (780–814)," Carolingian Culture: Emulation and Innovation, ed. Rosamond McKitterick (Cambridge, 1994), 133.: Quod mens laeva vetat suadendo animusque sinister, / Hoc saltim cupiant implere timore coacti.
- ISBN 978-1-4179-6511-3
Sources
- Reuter, Timothy. Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056. New York: Longman, 1991.
- Oman, Charles. The Dark Ages 476–918. London, 1914.
- Einhard, translated by Samuel Epes Turner. The Life of Charlemagne. New York, 1880.
- McGrath, Freddie. The Longevity of the Saxon Wars. at Leeds University
- König, Daniel G.. Charlemagne's Jihad Revisited. Debating the Islamic Contribution to an Epochal Change in the History of Christianization, in: Medieval Worlds 3 (2016), p. 3-40.