a quiet dignity which heightened the impression of his intellectual power; he was terrible and inflexible in crushing all who attempted to interfere with his work; but at the chase, the banquet, or in the circle of his family and friends, no one was more frank, joyous and kindly than he.
771. CHARLEMAGNE.
His dynasty is called in history, after him, the Carolingian, although Pippin of Landen was its founder. The name of Charlemagne is extended backwards over the Royal Stewards, his ancestors, and after him over a century of successors who gradually faded out like the Merovingian line. He stands alone, midway between the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages, as the one supreme historical landmark. The task of his life was to extend, secure, regulate and develop the power of a great empire, much of which was still in a state of semi-barbarism. He was no imitator of the Roman Emperors: his genius, as a statesman, lay in his ability to understand that new forms of government, and a new development of civilization, had become necessary. Like all strong and far-seeing rulers, he was despotic, and often fiercely cruel. Those who interfered with his plans—even the members of his own family—were relentlessly sacrificed. On the other hand, although he strengthened the power of the nobility, he never neglected the protection of the people; half his days were devoted to war, yet he encouraged learning, literature and the arts; and while he crushed the independence of the races he gave them a higher civilization in its stead.
Charlemagne first marched against the turbulent Saxons, but before they were reduced to order he was called to Italy by the appeal of Pope Adrian for help against the Longobards. The king of the latter, Desiderius, was the father of Hermingarde, Charlemagne's second wife, whom he had repudiated and sent home soon after his accession to the throne. Karloman's widow had also claimed the protection of Desiderius, and she, with her sons, was living at the latter's court. But these ties had no weight with Charlemagne; he collected a large army at Geneva, crossed the Alps by the pass of St. Bernard, conquered all Northern Italy, and besieged Desiderius in Pavia. He then marched to Rome, where Pope Adrian received him as a liberator. A procession of the clergy and people went forth to welcome him, chanting, "Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord!" He took part in the ceremonies of Easter, 774, which were celebrated with great pomp in the Cathedral of St. Peter.
775.
In May Pavia fell into Charlemagne's hands. Desiderius was sent into a monastery, the widow and children of Karloman disappeared, and the kingdom of the Longobards, embracing all Northern and Central Italy, was annexed to the empire of the Franks. The people were allowed to retain both their laws and their dukes, or local rulers, but, in spite of these privileges, they soon rose in revolt against their conqueror. Charlemagne had returned to finish his work with the Saxons, when in 776 this revolt called him back to Italy. The movement was temporarily suppressed, and he hastened to Germany to resume his interrupted task.
The Saxons were the only remaining German people who resisted both the Frank rule and the introduction of Christianity. They held all of what is now Westphalia, Hannover and Brunswick, to the river Elbe, and were still strong, in spite of their constant and wasting wars. During his first campaign, in 772, Charlemagne had overrun Westphalia, taken possession of the fortified camp of the Saxons, and destroyed the "Irmin-pillar," which seems to have been a monument erected to commemorate the defeat of Varus by Hermann. The people submitted, and promised allegiance; but the following year, aroused by the appeals of their duke or chieftain, Wittekind, they rebelled in a body. The Frisians joined them, the priests and missionaries were slaughtered or expelled, and all the former Saxon territory, nearly to the Rhine, was retaken by Wittekind.
Charlemagne collected a large army and renewed the war in 775. He pressed forward as far as the river Weser, when, carelessly dividing his forces, one half of them were cut to pieces, and he was obliged to retreat. His second expedition to Italy, at this time, was made with all possible haste, and a new army was ready on his return. Westphalia was now wasted with fire and sword, and the people generally submitted, although they were compelled to be baptized as Christians. In May, 777, Charlemagne held an assembly of the people at Paderborn: nearly all the Saxon nobles attended, and swore fealty to him, while many of them submitted to the rite of baptism.
777. ASSEMBLY AT PADERBORN.
At this assembly suddenly appeared a deputation of Saracen princes from Spain, who sought Charlemagne's help against the tyranny of the Caliph of Cordova. He was induced by religious or ambitious motives to consent, neglecting for the time the great work he had undertaken in his own Empire. In the summer of 778 he crossed the Pyrenees, took the cities of Pampeluna and Saragossa, and delivered all Spain north of the Ebro river from the hands of the Saracen Caliph. This territory was attached to the Empire as the Spanish Mark, or province: it was inhabited both by Saracens and Franks, who dwelt side by side and became more or less united in language, habits and manners.
On his return to France, Charlemagne was attacked by a large force of the native Basques, in the pass of Roncesvalles, in the Pyrenees. His warriors, taken by surprise in the narrow ravine and crushed by rocks rolled down upon them from above, could make little resistance, and the rear column, with all the plunder gathered in Spain, fell into the enemy's hands. Here was slain the famous paladin, Roland, the Count of Brittany, who became the theme of poets down to the time of Ariosto. Charlemagne was so infuriated by his defeat that he hanged the Duke of Aquitaine, on the charge of treachery, because his territory included a part of the lands of the Basques.
Upon the heels of this disaster came the news that the Saxons had again arisen under the lead of Wittekind, destroyed their churches, murdered the priests, and carried fire and sword to the very walls of Cologne and Coblentz. Charlemagne sent his best troops, by forced marches, in advance of his coming, but he was not able to take the field until the following spring. During 779 and a part of 780, after much labor and many battles, he seemed to have subdued the stubborn race, the most of whom accepted Christian baptism for the third time. Charlemagne thereupon went to Italy once more, in order to restore order among the Longobards, whose local chiefs were becoming restless in his absence. His two young sons, Pippin and Ludwig, were crowned by Pope Adrian as kings of Longobardia, or Lombardy (which then embraced the greater part of Northern and Central Italy), and Aquitaine.
783.
After his return to Germany, he convoked a parliament, or popular assembly, at Paderborn, in 782, partly in order to give the Saxons a stronger impression of the power of the Empire. The people seemed quiet, and he was deceived by their bearing; for, after he had left them to return to the Rhine, they rose again, headed by Wittekind, who had been for some years a fugitive in Denmark. Three of Charlemagne's chief officials, who immediately hastened to the scene of trouble with such troops as they could collect, met Wittekind in the Teutoburger Forest, not far from the field where Varus and his legions were destroyed. A similar fate awaited them: the Frank army was so completely cut to pieces that but few escaped to tell the tale.
Charlemagne marched immediately into the Saxon land: the rebels dispersed at his approach and Wittekind again became a fugitive. The Saxon nobles humbly renewed their submission, and tried to throw the whole responsibility of the rebellion upon Wittekind. Charlemagne was not satisfied: he had been mortified in his pride as a monarch, and for once he cast aside his usual moderation and prudence. He demanded that 4,500 Saxons, no doubt the most prominent among the people, should be given up to him, and then ordered them all to be beheaded on the same day. This deed of blood, instead of intimidating the Saxons, provoked them to fury. They arose as one man, and in 783 defeated Charlemagne near Detmold. He retreated to Paderborn, received reinforcements, and was enabled to venture a second battle, in which he was victorious. He remained for two years longer in Thuringia and Saxony, during which time he undertook a winter campaign, for which the people were not prepared. By the summer of 785, the Saxons, finding their homes destroyed and themselves rapidly diminishing in numbers, yielded to the mercy of the conqueror. Wittekind, who, the legend says, had stolen in disguise into Charlemagne's camp, was so impressed by the bearing of the king and the pomp of the religious services, that he also submitted and received
