While Charles’ intervention in Italy may be considered as the logical outcome of the policy inaugurated by his father, his long struggle with the pagan Teutonic tribes, spoken of loosely by contemporary historians as the Saxons, was part of a program of expansion for which he alone was responsible. Dwelling in a territory extending from the Elbe, on the East, nearly to the Rhine, on the West, the Saxons in three tribes formed a primitive confederation occupying the various divisions of Germany known in modern times as Hanover, Brunswick, Oldenburg, and Westphalia. Beyond the Elbe there was a fourth section of the Saxon stock extending over a territory nearly coextensive with the modern Duchy of Holstein. Though the name suggests a plausible identity, the Saxon territory of the eighth century had no connection with the present kingdom of Saxony, which only to a small extent comprises land that once belonged to these ancient Saxons. Though unlike their kinsfolk to the West, the Saxons held to their old tribal creed, they were in no sense savages, for they had long since abandoned a nomadic life and had become settled tillers of the soil. But probably the primitive institutions of the Germans described by Tacitus still existed among them, and, from the point of view of the Franks, they must have seemed undesirable neighbors, largely because of their obstinate attitude toward all attempts to convert them to Christianity. As the missionaries who undertook the task were either Franks themselves or acted under the patronage and support of Frankish rulers, the feeling toward the Saxons was anything but friendly, especially as since the time of the Merovingians on several occasions the Saxons had recognized the Franks as their overlords, by paying tribute. It is probable, too, that the Saxons were not very scrupulous in respecting the frontier of their Western neighbors. There must have been frequent raids to annoy the Franks, though there is absolutely no proof that the Saxons ever contemplated invading Frankish territory by expeditions organized on a large scale. The situation had, however, been serious enough to call forth active intervention from Charles’s father Pippin, who, in 753, had advanced as far as the Weser, where, by an overwhelming display of military strength, he had forced the Saxons to pay tribute and not to oppose the preaching of Christian missionaries in their territory.

Five years later, in another expedition, Pippin advanced beyond the Weser, occupying the Saxon strongholds between that river and the Lippe, and again securing from the Saxon chiefs promises that the terms on which peace had been made should be carried out.

The religious conditions of the peace were especially obnoxious to the Saxons, who were firmly attached to the faith of their fathers. They had a simple form of nature worship, that displayed itself in a passionate reverence for trees and mountains, regarded as the concrete expression of the powers governing the world. The new expedition of the Franks practically took the form of a crusade; for Charles saw in the gods of the Saxons only demons inimical to the Christian faith. Starting from Worms and accompanied by a large number of ecclesiastics, who were to war against Saxon paganism, the Frankish army, seemingly, met not resistance, and Charles took and destroyed without difficulty the Saxon shrines Irminsul and Eresburg. He withdrew, satisfied now that there was no hindrance in the way of winning the land to Christianity. The character of the expedition is accurately indicated in a brief sentence from the life of Sturm: “He [Charles] gave the servants of the Lord power for teaching and baptizing.”

The Saxons, before the Franks retired beyond the Rhine, renewed the terms of peace previously concluded with Pippin, gave hostages for their good behavior, and seemingly made no protest against the introduction of the Church hierarchical system in their land. But the war with the Lombards gave the Saxons the opportunity of casting aside their pledges; they did not desire Frankish ascendancy, and, still less, Christian missionaries. The real situation on his Eastern frontier was so patent that as soon as the Italian expedition had ended with the annihilation of the Lombard kingdom, Charles (775) set out to war on the Saxons, resolved either to force them to accept Christianity or to destroy them as a people. His attack was skilfully and rapidly managed; one of their strong places, Sigiburg, was taken, and Eresburg, previously captured, was turned into a Frankish citadel. The Saxons hesitated to strike back until the Franks were withdrawing across the Weser. Near Brunisberg, where they contested the passage of the Frankish army, the Saxons were outnumbered and decisively beaten. Marching with picked troops Charles advanced into the territory of the Eastphalians, where their leader, Hessi, hastened to take the oath of fidelity to the Frankish monarch and gave hostages. The same method of forcing a capitulation was tried successfully with the Saxon tribe, the Angarians.

But meanwhile, the Westphalians had assaulted the Frankish camp in their land, and had been able to occupy it partially. They were forced, however, to withdraw, and while they were retreating they were met by the division of the Frankish army under Charles, and were defeated; so they were obliged to accept the same terms as the Eastphalians and the Angarians. Within a short period the overlordship of the Franks had come to be recognized by the three leading tribes of the Saxon people.

It only needed the outbreak of fresh disturbances in Italy to show how imperfect had been the so-called pacification of the Saxons. When Charles was drawn away beyond the Alps by an attempt to revive the Lombard kingdom, his absence was immediately taken advantage of by the Saxons, who rose in revolt against the Franks. Even the fortress at Sigiburg was hard pressed. An imposing army was gathered by Charles at Worms in 776, with which he crossed into Saxon territory and again occupied Eresburg. His authority was soon restored. Bands of Saxons comprising whole families came to the Frankish camp as humble petitioners and willingly allowed themselves to be baptized. There were evidently two parties among the Saxons, one willing to carry out the conditions of peace, the other ready by any subterfuge to reject them. The irreconcilable faction finally lost heart and withdrew.

In 777, Charles held in Paderborn his first general assembly; here appeared Saxons from all parts of the land and solemnly pledged themselves willingly to give up their freedom and their property if they denied the Christian faith and broke their oath of allegiance. But such verbal assurances were not more binding than they had been before.

More expeditions (779 and 780) were necessary, and in 780 specific steps were taken to intensify the ecclesiastical organization already felt as a burden by the unwilling converts. The land was divided into parishes, and provision was made for systematic preaching and for the administration of baptism.

Along with the expansion of the Church, the secular organization of the Franks went hand in hand. The country was placed under the supervision of counts, the leading Saxon chiefs being appointed to the positions. In one of the capitularies assigned to this time, the slightest deviation from Christianity is treated as a most serious crime. The murder of a deacon is punished by death, while an assault on a count only entails confiscation of property. Similar severity is exercised against those who are guilty of sacrilege, who break into churches, or who violate the rule of fasting.

There seemed to be a fear at this time lest the popular Saxon leader, Witikind, who had failed to appear at the assembly, might organize a pagan revival, and so head a successful revolt against the Franks. This fear was realized, for the drastic character of the new religious legislation only provoked the opposition it was designed to meet. Witikind soon returned to his people and quickly organized a revolt. The character of the struggle showed itself in attacks on the Christian missionaries, and in the destruction of the newly erected churches, the places selected for bishoprics and abbeys suffering most. This insurrection was for a time successful, and a Frankish army, through the divided counsels of those who were leading it, was defeated and forced to retreat. But the personal appearance of Charles on the field was enough to turn the tide and was followed by the defeat of the Saxons and by pacification according to the familiar terms.

The question was what to do with those who had taken up arms. It was decided to put to death all who had united with the heathen against the Christians. This merciless penalty was applied in its fullest rigor. Those who were taken captive in the revolt numbered in all four thousand; and of these, five hundred were beheaded at Verden, a savage act of retaliation which disgraces the memory of Charles, and which even the crudeness of the times cannot excuse. Besides, it did not accomplish its purpose, for it only embittered those who were related by kin or by friendship to the massacred Saxons. The revolt against the Franks hitherto had never been universal, but now the whole people rose en masse with sudden determination. Yet even with this temper they were not hardy enough to take the offensive; so, while they were preparing to resist, Charles, by a quick movement, surprised them, and divided their army by his unexpected onslaught. But the first battle, though unfavorable to the Saxons, was not decisive. The second ended in a complete victory for the Franks, who took many prisoners and much booty. The backbone of Saxon resistance was now broken, and Charles with his army marched through the whole territory as far as the Elbe.

In all these Saxon campaigns, three victories stand out above the rest, dividing the monotonous levels of revolt, conquest, and pacification. The first, at Brunisberg, opened a way into Saxon territory for the Frankish army; the second, at Bocholt, brought about the suppression of a partial insurrectionary movement; the third, on the Hase, settled the fate of paganism in Germany. But the state of the Saxon country required constant watching, and we find Charles taking up his station at Eresburg in 784-85, ready to repress any incipient movement of revolt.

At Paderborn the Frankish assembly was attended by the Saxons, and this meeting was signalized by further extreme measures to protect the Church. The defenders of their independence met with all the more harshness because they were sturdily loyal to a primitive ancestral faith. Charles saw in them only worshipers of evil spirits,—men who are charged in the capitularies with the practice of offering human sacrifices and with eating human flesh. In his ruthless dealings with the Saxons, Charles was the champion of a higher civilization fighting against a lower, but one must at least question the legitimacy of his policy, specifically because it claimed Christian aims and professed Christian sanction. But we know it seemed righteous in Charles’ own eyes, and his satisfaction was increased when he received, after the long military campaigns were over, the Saxon Witikind, and his companion in arms, Abbio, as voluntary converts to the Christian faith. With his baptism (785) Witikind drops into obscurity, and we only hear that his descendants became known for their loyalty to the new religion.

From 785 to 792 the Saxons did not stir; they sent regularly their assigned contingents to the army of the Franks, and they took no part in the Bavarian troubles. However, at the beginning of the expedition against the Avars in 793, there was a fresh revolt, marked, as the previous ones had been, by the destruction of churches, the massacre of priests, and the return of the people to idolatry. From 794 to 799 the Franks under Charles were busy each year in enforcing Frankish rule in Saxon lands by a specially thorough military occupation of the country.

Further drastic measures of pacification were required, for whenever Charles returned West to his own domains, he took with him a large contingent of the conquered people, men, women, and children. Lands were given them, and so the natural racial traits of Saxon unity were destroyed and their fidelity to paganism broken. It is estimated that a third of the population was removed, and the extent of this enforced emigration may be judged from the fact that in 804 ten thousand men were deported from two districts of Saxony and their land given over to some of Charles’ Slavic allies who had rendered efficient services to him during these wars against their hereditary enemies. The Saxons gave up the fight only when their strength was broken, and when the last adherents of paganism yielded to superior force. Only then was the country from the Elbe to the Atlantic under the sway of a single sovereign, and united by the profession of the same faith. The conquered land was effectively occupied, and the loyalty of the inhabitants to Charles’ empire was secured by the establishment of three richly endowed bishoprics, Bremen, Münster, and Paderborn, under whose supervision the work begun by the Frankish armies was completed.