145 



CHARLEMAGNE. 



hut, in the decisive moment, deserted his brother, j 

 who was obliged to sustain, alone, an unequal con- 

 flirt. His great courage and conduct, after a long 

 aii 1 doubtful contest, procured him the victory, in 

 770, and the insurgents submitted. In this cam- 

 paign, the youthful hero displayed such distinguished 

 military talents, that the fear of his name curbed his 

 fiercest vassals. This contest convinced Charle- 

 magne of the necessity of repressing the nobles, and 

 employing them thenceforward in important enter- 

 pri>es, in order to divert their attention from the in- 

 ternal all'airs of Uie empire. Had he not, therefore, 

 himself been inclined to wars of conquest, in which 

 his talents could be exhibited in all their splendour, 

 lie would have l>een induced to undertake them by 

 the internal condition of the empire. At Carlo- 

 mnn's death, in 771, and after the flight of his 

 wife and her two sons to her father, in Italy, Charle- 

 magne made himself master of the whole empire, 

 the extent of which was already very great, as it 

 embraced, besides France, a large part of Germany. 

 He now formed the plan of conquering the Saxons, 

 for .which his zeal for Christianity and its diffusion 

 served him as a tolerable pretence. The Saxons, 

 a nation of German heathens, were in possession of 

 Holstein and Westphalia, between the rivers Wesrr 

 and Elbe, and, like other barbarians, preferred pil- 

 laging to peaceful occupations, and a wandering to 

 a settled mode of life. They had several leaders, 

 and constituted various tribes, which were seldom 

 disposed to co-operate. An invasion of the Saxons 

 into the territory of the Franks was the alleged 

 cause of the first war which Charlemagne began 

 against them in 772. The other wars were produced 

 by the rebellions of this warlike nation, which, over- 

 powered, but not entirely vanquished, was never re- 

 duced to complete submission till the peace of Seltz, 

 in 803, after it had embraced Christianity. A part 

 of the Saxons Charlemagne removed to Flanders 

 and Switzerland, and their seats were occupied by 

 the Obotrites, a Vandal tribe in Mecklenburg. The 

 famous pillars called Jrminsaule were destroyed by. 

 Cliarlemagne, as monuments of pagan worship. 

 Thus for thirty-two years did the Saxons resist a con- 

 queror, who, at times indulgent to imprudence, 

 often severe to cruelty, striving, with equal eager- 

 ness, to convert and to subdue them, never became 

 master of their country till he had transformed it 

 almost entirely into a desert. The Saxons might 

 have made a more successful defence against the 

 power and genius of Charlemagne, had they not 

 been distracted by internal dissensions. The most 

 celebrated of their leaders was Wittikind, and, next 

 to him, Alboin, who finally embraced Christianity in 

 783. To explain the protracted resistance of the 

 Saxons, we must remember that the manner in which 

 the armies of those days were organized produced 

 an armistice every year (the levy of troops being only 

 for one campaign) ; that Charlemagne was obliged 

 to wage wars at the same time against the Lombards, 

 the Avars, the Saracens, and the Danes ; and that 

 the magnitude of his states facilitated the rebellions 

 of his vassals, on which account all his attention was 

 often required to preserve internal tranquillity, and 

 maintain his own authority. 



While he was combating the Saxons on the banks 

 of the Weser, pope Adrian implored his assistance 

 against Desiderius, who had torn from him the exar- 

 chate of Ravenna, which Pepin the Short had pre- 

 sented to the holy see, and who was urging the pope 

 to crown the nephews of Charlemagne, that Charle- 

 magne himself might be considered a usurper, and his 

 subjects be induced to renounce their allegiance. The 

 danger was urgent. Charlemagne immediately left 

 Germany, and marched with his army to Italy. De- 



siderius fled to Pavia, which was bravely defended 

 by the Lombards. The city finally fell, and Deside- 

 rius. with the widow and sons of Carloman, were (ju- 

 ried prisoners to France. Desiderins emled his life 

 in a monastery. Respecting the fate of the other-. 

 history is silent. In 774, Charlemagne was crowned 

 king of Italy with the iron crown Although the 

 kingdom of Lombardy was now extinct, the provin- 

 ces of which it consisted were allowed to retain their 

 former laws and constitutions, it being a general 

 maxim of the great monarch not to deprive the con- 

 quered nations of their usages and laws, nor tu 

 vern them all under one form. In this he followed the 

 dictates of sound policy, which, in so turbulent times, 

 led him to beware of consolidating all his vassals into a 

 political body with equal rights, which might render 

 a general combination against their ruler practicable. 



In 778, he repaired to Spain, to assist a Moorish 

 prince. He conquered Pampeluna, made himself 

 master of the county of Barcelona, and spread tlu 

 terror of his name everywhere. But, on his return, 

 his troops were surprised in the valley of Roncesval les 

 by the Saracens, in connexion with the mountaineers: 

 (the Gascons), and suffered a severe defeat ; remark- 

 able from the circumstance, tliat Roland, one of the 

 most famous warriors of those times, fell in the Ixittle. 

 (See Chivalry.) ' The disaffection of the tribes of 

 Aquitania induced Charlemagne to give them a sepa- 

 rate ruler : for this purpose he selected the youngest 

 of his sons, Louis (called le Debonnaire). The Lom- 

 bards were no less turbulent, and the Greeks made 

 incessant efforts to reconquer Italy ; and the nobles, 

 to whom he had intrusted a part of the sovereignty 

 of this country, evinced little fidelity. He therefore 

 gave them his second son, Pepin, for a monarch ; his 

 eldest son, Charles, remaining constantly with him, 

 and assisting him in his manifold undertakings. In 

 780, he caused these two sons to be crowned by the 

 pope in Rome, hoping, by this means to render the 

 royal dignity inviolable in the sight of the people. 

 Charlemagne had another son, also called Pepin, who 

 was the oldest of all his children, being the son of his 

 divorced wife. This circumstance probably inspired 

 the monarch with an aversion to Pepin, and prevent- 

 ed him from admitting him to participate in the go- 

 vernment. Pepin, therefore, became the instigator 

 of a conspiracy against his father, and finally died in 

 a monastery. 



After returning from Spain, Charlemagne was 

 again obliged to take the field against the Saxons. 

 Exasperated by the defeat of his generals in 782, he 

 caused 4500 Saxons to be massacred at Verden a 

 measure which urged to fury the hatred of the peo- 

 ple. The year 790, the twenty-second of his reign, 

 was the only one which he passed without taking up 

 arms. As liis power increased, he meditated more 

 seriously the accomplishment of the plan of his an- 

 cestor, Charles Martel, to restore the Western em- 

 pire. To prevent the partition of the empire, the 

 empress Irene, who then reigned at Constantinople, 

 proposed to Charlemagne to marry then- children, by 

 which means the world would again have been unit- 

 ed under one dominion. Her proposition was accept- 

 ed ; but Irene's ambition carried her so far, that she 

 dethroned her own son, to render herself supreme 

 and offered her own hand to Charlemagne, who did 

 not seem averse to this singular union, which would 

 have afforded the world an unparalleled spectacle, 

 had not Irene herself been deposed. In the year 800, 

 Charlemagne was crowned emperor of the West by 

 pope Leo. III. ; and, although his journey to Rome 

 had, in all probability, no other object, he professed 

 himself much surprised at this ceremony. On Christ- 

 mas-day, he was proclaimed Czesar and Augustus ; 

 he was invested with the ornaments of the ancient 



