With a great army he (Charlemagne) crossed over into Saxony, and this is the way he began his work. There was in the
western part of Saxony, near the Frankish border, a sacred grove, the grove of Eresburg, which was situated at the top of
a hill. Here the Saxons came to worship. They believed that the world was shaped like a great tree: the rays of the sun
were the branches, the earth was the trunk. On the branches and at the roots lived the gods,—the sun and moon and
stars, the wind, the thunder, the water gods, and many more. So they worshiped this all-sustaining world tree, and made a
wooden likeness of it. They had been a wandering people before they settled between the Rhine and the Elbe, but
wherever they went they had always kept with them this pillar of wood, called the Irminsul, which was carved in the
likeness of the earth tree. Now, when they lived over a wide stretch of country and were split up into many tribes, they
had put the Irminsul in the sacred grove at Eresburg, and here they came together as a nation, at certain seasons of the
year, to pay honor to the symbol of their common faith.
Charlemagne had heard of this custom, and it seemed to him a terrible thing that these heathen should come together and
worship an idol.
"If I destroy this idol," he said to himself, "I shall have done a service to God, and I shall have attacked at its source this
terrible heathen belief."
Frankish soldiers scaled the hill of Eresburg and stepped within the sacred circle where only the priests of the Saxons
might stand. They found there a hoard of gold and silver and many ornaments, deposited before the Irminsul as offerings
by many generations of Saxons. These they distributed in the army. The sacred pillar they cut in pieces. In three days the
work of destruction was finished,—the sacred grove had been cut down and a Frankish fort rose in its place.
That was the way Charlemagne went over to Christianize Saxony and to add it as a province to his empire. Do you
wonder that he did not find it easy? Do you wonder that the Saxons rose up against this conqueror who had insulted their
gods and threatened to take away their freedom, and that it Was thirty-three years from the time of his first entrance into
Saxony before he felt that the province was surely his? That is a side of the matter which the Franks could not see, but
which we can see very plainly.
In the first two years Charlemagne thought that he had conquered Saxony, as he had conquered other lands, by a few
battles and marches and a show of Power. He had the chiefs come together and offer him allegiance. To the great king,
accustomed to be obeyed, it seemed as if the story of independent Saxony was closed, and so perhaps it would have
been if it had not been for one thing which the historian records in eight words, "Wittekind, chief of the Westphalians, was
not there." Charlemagne did not know it; he did not care. He went back to Italy, rejoicing that another great section of
Europe had been added so easily to his empire.
But Wittekind, chief of the Westphalians, had not been there. He had not intended to be there; he had urged the other
chiefs not to be. In the breast of this Saxon chief burned a passion for independence which was like a torch shining out in
these days of gloom and despondency and giving forth its light and heat till all Saxony caught fire and was aglow with the
passion for freedom.
"The Franks think they have conquered us. The king has gone away and left his men to rule over us. He has burned down
the sacred places of our religion. Shall we let any man, however strong, place us under the rule of foreigners and take
away our gods, giving us a foreign god in their place?"
So spoke Wittekind; and so men began to speak all through the land; and the people rose, with him as their leader, and
threw off the hated yoke of the Franks and tore down the forts which had been built. Then Charlemagne came back, and
again he conquered. Again he summoned the chiefs of the defeated people to come and give him their allegiance, and
again they dared not stay away; but again "Wittekind, chief of the Westphalians, was not there." When he saw that the
people were yielding and that he could do his country no good by staying, he had crossed over to Denmark, to whose
king he had given his sister in marriage, there to get help for the Saxons. This time Charlemagne wanted him; he had
learned that it mattered that he was not there; but he could not get him.
Charlemagne stayed longer this time. He had found out that these people could not be subdued by one victory. He gave
them laws which they hated very much,—laws taxing them one tenth of their income and of their labor to build Christian
churches, and decreeing that every one who did not submit to be baptized must be killed. Along with the hateful laws he
showed them his power and riches. "For the first time," says the chronicle, "the needy Saxons learned to know the
abundance of wealthy Gaul, for Charles gave to them many lands, and costly vestments, heaps of silver, and rivers of
mellow wine."
Still the people were very angry at the laws and taxes, which seemed to them like tribute, the badge of slavery. When
Charlemagne went away to Spain to fight the Saracens, they sent to Denmark for Wittekind, and once more they
rebelled. This time, however, many chiefs would not join in the fight for Saxon independence, because they had seen that
under Charles they could be rich and prosperous.
For a short time Wittekind and his armies carried all before them. If his nation had stood by him, it would have gone hard
with the Franks. They would have been forced to let the Saxons be an independent allied people. The people were with
Wittekind; the chiefs were not. So the Saxons were defeated, and Charlemagne ruled once more in the land. "At last, with
open roads and no man to gainsay him, he went where he would through Saxony."
The province seemed at last to be his, but Charlemagne was not satisfied, for, as before, "Wittekind, chief of the
Westphalians, was not there." He was still at large, sheltered by the people, who were his devoted followers, in the
wilderness beyond the Elbe. No man of the common people could have been bribed or tortured to give him up to the
conqueror. Now we see the real Charlemagne, Charles the Great, the wise emperor whose name has been honored for
all the centuries. He did not send soldiers to take the patriot. His anger was passed, and he did not desire to put him to
death. He sent envoys—not Frankish envoys, who would have been suspected of some plot, but men of Saxon blood—
to treat with the chief and ask him to come to a conference, and he bade them offer hostages as a pledge of good faith.
Wittekind met the emperor's offer in the same spirit. As Charlemagne knew that with Wittekind on his side there would be
no leader of Saxon independence, so Wittekind had learned to his sorrow that with the other chiefs of the Saxon nation
supporting Charlemagne resistance would be useless. With only one companion, his friend Abbio, he came to the royal
palace. There on Frankish soil, at the river which separated Saxony from the Frankish kingdom, he submitted to Christian
baptism. The emperor himself stood sponsor for the Saxon convert, loading him with christening gifts. Wittekind returned
to Westphalia, where he lived to a good old age. Other chiefs, who had gone over to Charlemagne's side from love of
wealth or desire for favor, deserted the emperor when they could no longer get these rewards. Amid all the later
rebellions Wittekind remained faithful to his vow of allegiance.
Therefore when you honor Charlemagne, who built up a great united empire and spread civilization and Christianity over
Europe, give honor also, as did he, to Wittekind, who was first his brave enemy and then his faithful subject. Charlemagne
took away from the Saxons their laws and gave them better; he took away their heathen religion and gave them a better;
he conquered them for the time, and it was well that he did; but he could not harm them, for he could not take away the
spirit of independence, whose great hero was the patriot Wittekind.
western part of Saxony, near the Frankish border, a sacred grove, the grove of Eresburg, which was situated at the top of
a hill. Here the Saxons came to worship. They believed that the world was shaped like a great tree: the rays of the sun
were the branches, the earth was the trunk. On the branches and at the roots lived the gods,—the sun and moon and
stars, the wind, the thunder, the water gods, and many more. So they worshiped this all-sustaining world tree, and made a
wooden likeness of it. They had been a wandering people before they settled between the Rhine and the Elbe, but
wherever they went they had always kept with them this pillar of wood, called the Irminsul, which was carved in the
likeness of the earth tree. Now, when they lived over a wide stretch of country and were split up into many tribes, they
had put the Irminsul in the sacred grove at Eresburg, and here they came together as a nation, at certain seasons of the
year, to pay honor to the symbol of their common faith.
Charlemagne had heard of this custom, and it seemed to him a terrible thing that these heathen should come together and
worship an idol.
"If I destroy this idol," he said to himself, "I shall have done a service to God, and I shall have attacked at its source this
terrible heathen belief."
Frankish soldiers scaled the hill of Eresburg and stepped within the sacred circle where only the priests of the Saxons
might stand. They found there a hoard of gold and silver and many ornaments, deposited before the Irminsul as offerings
by many generations of Saxons. These they distributed in the army. The sacred pillar they cut in pieces. In three days the
work of destruction was finished,—the sacred grove had been cut down and a Frankish fort rose in its place.
That was the way Charlemagne went over to Christianize Saxony and to add it as a province to his empire. Do you
wonder that he did not find it easy? Do you wonder that the Saxons rose up against this conqueror who had insulted their
gods and threatened to take away their freedom, and that it Was thirty-three years from the time of his first entrance into
Saxony before he felt that the province was surely his? That is a side of the matter which the Franks could not see, but
which we can see very plainly.
In the first two years Charlemagne thought that he had conquered Saxony, as he had conquered other lands, by a few
battles and marches and a show of Power. He had the chiefs come together and offer him allegiance. To the great king,
accustomed to be obeyed, it seemed as if the story of independent Saxony was closed, and so perhaps it would have
been if it had not been for one thing which the historian records in eight words, "Wittekind, chief of the Westphalians, was
not there." Charlemagne did not know it; he did not care. He went back to Italy, rejoicing that another great section of
Europe had been added so easily to his empire.
But Wittekind, chief of the Westphalians, had not been there. He had not intended to be there; he had urged the other
chiefs not to be. In the breast of this Saxon chief burned a passion for independence which was like a torch shining out in
these days of gloom and despondency and giving forth its light and heat till all Saxony caught fire and was aglow with the
passion for freedom.
"The Franks think they have conquered us. The king has gone away and left his men to rule over us. He has burned down
the sacred places of our religion. Shall we let any man, however strong, place us under the rule of foreigners and take
away our gods, giving us a foreign god in their place?"
So spoke Wittekind; and so men began to speak all through the land; and the people rose, with him as their leader, and
threw off the hated yoke of the Franks and tore down the forts which had been built. Then Charlemagne came back, and
again he conquered. Again he summoned the chiefs of the defeated people to come and give him their allegiance, and
again they dared not stay away; but again "Wittekind, chief of the Westphalians, was not there." When he saw that the
people were yielding and that he could do his country no good by staying, he had crossed over to Denmark, to whose
king he had given his sister in marriage, there to get help for the Saxons. This time Charlemagne wanted him; he had
learned that it mattered that he was not there; but he could not get him.
Charlemagne stayed longer this time. He had found out that these people could not be subdued by one victory. He gave
them laws which they hated very much,—laws taxing them one tenth of their income and of their labor to build Christian
churches, and decreeing that every one who did not submit to be baptized must be killed. Along with the hateful laws he
showed them his power and riches. "For the first time," says the chronicle, "the needy Saxons learned to know the
abundance of wealthy Gaul, for Charles gave to them many lands, and costly vestments, heaps of silver, and rivers of
mellow wine."
Still the people were very angry at the laws and taxes, which seemed to them like tribute, the badge of slavery. When
Charlemagne went away to Spain to fight the Saracens, they sent to Denmark for Wittekind, and once more they
rebelled. This time, however, many chiefs would not join in the fight for Saxon independence, because they had seen that
under Charles they could be rich and prosperous.
For a short time Wittekind and his armies carried all before them. If his nation had stood by him, it would have gone hard
with the Franks. They would have been forced to let the Saxons be an independent allied people. The people were with
Wittekind; the chiefs were not. So the Saxons were defeated, and Charlemagne ruled once more in the land. "At last, with
open roads and no man to gainsay him, he went where he would through Saxony."
The province seemed at last to be his, but Charlemagne was not satisfied, for, as before, "Wittekind, chief of the
Westphalians, was not there." He was still at large, sheltered by the people, who were his devoted followers, in the
wilderness beyond the Elbe. No man of the common people could have been bribed or tortured to give him up to the
conqueror. Now we see the real Charlemagne, Charles the Great, the wise emperor whose name has been honored for
all the centuries. He did not send soldiers to take the patriot. His anger was passed, and he did not desire to put him to
death. He sent envoys—not Frankish envoys, who would have been suspected of some plot, but men of Saxon blood—
to treat with the chief and ask him to come to a conference, and he bade them offer hostages as a pledge of good faith.
Wittekind met the emperor's offer in the same spirit. As Charlemagne knew that with Wittekind on his side there would be
no leader of Saxon independence, so Wittekind had learned to his sorrow that with the other chiefs of the Saxon nation
supporting Charlemagne resistance would be useless. With only one companion, his friend Abbio, he came to the royal
palace. There on Frankish soil, at the river which separated Saxony from the Frankish kingdom, he submitted to Christian
baptism. The emperor himself stood sponsor for the Saxon convert, loading him with christening gifts. Wittekind returned
to Westphalia, where he lived to a good old age. Other chiefs, who had gone over to Charlemagne's side from love of
wealth or desire for favor, deserted the emperor when they could no longer get these rewards. Amid all the later
rebellions Wittekind remained faithful to his vow of allegiance.
Therefore when you honor Charlemagne, who built up a great united empire and spread civilization and Christianity over
Europe, give honor also, as did he, to Wittekind, who was first his brave enemy and then his faithful subject. Charlemagne
took away from the Saxons their laws and gave them better; he took away their heathen religion and gave them a better;
he conquered them for the time, and it was well that he did; but he could not harm them, for he could not take away the
spirit of independence, whose great hero was the patriot Wittekind.
Excerpt from Patriots and Tyrants, by Marion Florence Lansing; Ginn and Company; 1911.
The borders of Charlemagne's Christianized people, the Franks, were
surrounded by heathen Saxons causing endless conflict. Charlemagne
therefore set out to conquer them. The Saxons had a sacred statue on
a high pillar of a brave warrior named Irminsul, probably representing
Arminius. Priests offered sacrifices to it, often prisoners of war, and
priestesses practiced incantations and soothsaying here. Charlemagne
destroyed the Irminsul as he attempted to subdue the Saxons but they
revolted again and again, destroying the churches, tearing down crosses
and leaving convents in ruins. Once in a position of ultimate power,
Charlemagne gave them the Saxons the choice of baptism or death.
Those who converted were taken to the banks of the Lippe River and
baptized.
surrounded by heathen Saxons causing endless conflict. Charlemagne
therefore set out to conquer them. The Saxons had a sacred statue on
a high pillar of a brave warrior named Irminsul, probably representing
Arminius. Priests offered sacrifices to it, often prisoners of war, and
priestesses practiced incantations and soothsaying here. Charlemagne
destroyed the Irminsul as he attempted to subdue the Saxons but they
revolted again and again, destroying the churches, tearing down crosses
and leaving convents in ruins. Once in a position of ultimate power,
Charlemagne gave them the Saxons the choice of baptism or death.
Those who converted were taken to the banks of the Lippe River and
baptized.
Even Wittekind, leader of the Saxons, finally became a Christian convert. In fable, he had sneaked
into Charlemagne's camp as a spy, but when he entered the tent where mass was being held he saw a
vision of the Christ Child surrounded by a glorious light. Wittekind then begged to be baptized and
thereafter became an ardent and zealous Christian. The Baptism of Wittikind, above
into Charlemagne's camp as a spy, but when he entered the tent where mass was being held he saw a
vision of the Christ Child surrounded by a glorious light. Wittekind then begged to be baptized and
thereafter became an ardent and zealous Christian. The Baptism of Wittikind, above
| The Baptism of Wittikind |
Ancient Saxon poem, left, begs the Gods for deliverance from
Charlemagne: "Great and Holy Wotan, help us and our field general
Wittekind and the captains to defeat Karl the Butcher. I give you
an aurochs, two sheep and a beehive. I slaughter all your prisoners
in your holy mountain realm."
Charlemagne: "Great and Holy Wotan, help us and our field general
Wittekind and the captains to defeat Karl the Butcher. I give you
an aurochs, two sheep and a beehive. I slaughter all your prisoners
in your holy mountain realm."
