Widukind, Saxon thorn

Widukind is one of those odd characters from history whose historical personae is much larger than his own achievements probably merited. Regular readers may remember mentions of him here and here, when he led various rebellions against the Franks during their decades-long conquest and Christianization of the Saxon people. He was a fearsomely effective military leader, as we shall see, and must have been a powerful force in Saxon society. In the end, however, even he submitted to Charlemagne, and then faded from view. More than a thousand years later, in a bizarre twist of fate, he became a hero to the nascent Nazi regime. A tangled path indeed.

Widukind first appears in history in 777, at the fateful spring assembly at Paderborn that launched King Charles on his path to Roncevalles. “All the Franks gathered there and, from every part of Saxony whatsover, the Saxons too, with the exception of Widukind, who, with a few others, was in rebellion and took refuge in Nordmannia with his companions.”1.Royal Annals, year 777, King, p. 79. “For they all came to him with the exception of Widukind, one of the primores of the Westphalians, who, conscious of his numerous crimes, had fled to Sigfred, king of the Danes.”2.Revised Royal Annals, year 777, King, p. 113.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 Royal Annals, year 777, King, p. 79.
2 Revised Royal Annals, year 777, King, p. 113.

Saxon Wars 2: Charles, lawgiver and butcher

We can’t know Charles’ state of mind as he made his way home after the Spanish debacle in 778, but you can be sure he was not happy. What would have been a long and difficult journey home was made so much worse by the massacre in the Pyrenees. He must have been angry, frustrated, and saddened as the miles passed by and the weeks elapsed. At some point in the late summer, but definitely not before September1.The Roncevalles ambush occurred on August 15, he had made it as far as Auxerre, which is almost 500 miles from Roncevalles. It was at Auxerre, as he was “demobilising the rest of the troops,”2.Revised Royal Annals, year 778, King, p. 114. that the king received word that the Saxons were again in revolt.

This would not have been surprising. As we’ve seen, Franks and Saxons had been fighting for generations, and while the Franks usually held the upper hand in battle, the Frankish armies withdrew to Francia after combat. That gave the Saxons the opportunity to regroup, foment rebellion, and launch counterattacks. Prior to the Spanish expedition, however, King Charles had determined to complete the conquest and conversion of the Saxon people, and so he could not let this latest insurrection go unpunished, no matter how late in the year, or tired the army.

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Footnotes

Footnotes
1 The Roncevalles ambush occurred on August 15
2 Revised Royal Annals, year 778, King, p. 114.