Enemies and Recovery

Enemies and Recovery Charles the Great Information found in the Royal British Annals, some by Einhard(770-849), lived in the court of Charlemagne, witnessed many events he describes, was educated at the palace school, became trusted advisor and friend to the king, wrote Life of Charles(829-835), described his intent  Character o Large man, Loved feasting and hunting, good swimmer(uncommon), drank in moderation, liked steam baths, spoke Latin(significant for a Germanic), spoke some Greek, native tongue was a form of German, was illiterate, dominant figure of his day o Became a legendary hero o Practiced serial monogamy, had many concubines with numerous children o Wouldn’t let his daughters get marriage, loved them too much and wanted to keep them close since marriage would mean they would leave the court  Military Activities o Lombards blinded Pope Leo III, used as excuse to capture the Lombard capital and sent the king to a monastery, took the crown of Lombardi for himself o Major campaign in Saxony, attempt to complete what his father Kevin the Short had tried to do • Wanted to tame the wild Saxon borderlands • 775 Charles subdued the Saxons, as soon as Charles left the Saxons rebelled and refused any authority, proud pagans and violent anti- Christian • They linked Christianity with the Frankish monarchy, resisted this • Charles had to fight the Saxons for 23 years. 780 parts were conquered, 780-785 campaigns to the North, these wars helped to subdue the area we know as the Netherlands • 792-last Saxon revolt, effectively crushed and end of resistance, faced with problem of how to stabilize the area • Built garrison fortresses, brought in Frankish counts and gave lands to them for permanent presence, mass deportation of Saxons to the West in Frankia, sent Frankish peasants to the east(broke up their ties with each other) • Calming effect of the church, forced them to accept Christianity • 787-invaded Bavaria, already Christian, came into direct contact with the Avars, • 791, led army against the Avars, 805, leader of them converted to Christianity and became ally of Charles • 778-Army to northern Spain, fighting Christian Basques, failed in rearguard action to the Muslims, most important defeat here(found in the song of Rolland) Battle of Roncevaux Pass, eventually Charlemagne won strips of land • Almost every year the army was mustered to some frontier area to fight • Wars were profitable due to booty, unscripted warfare, peasants were fair game, all booty was split among all soldiers according to rank • Avar conquest of 795, more loot than any other campaigns combined, 15 wagons need just for gold and silver  Administration o Administrative network, peaceful core in Frankia taken care of by local counts o Border regions needed defence, had rank of official called Margruff, was count of a borderland, supervised by small group of lieutenants who would report to the king o System of loyalty to the king o Established system of missi dominici, messengers from the king, always 2 and work as a team • One is a cleric and one is a nobleman, sent to survey area and take orders to the borderlands • Neve