Charlemagne – The Saxon Wars
Bibliography : "Charlemagne Empereur des temps hostiles" (Charlemagne Emperor in hostile times) by Olivier Hanne
"Charlemagne" by Jean Favier
"Charlemagne" by Georges Minois
Soundtrack from « Total War: Attila » video game
Bonuses :
Early Saxony was divided into several regions (including Angria, Eastphalia and Westphalia), each also divided in several chieftainships. Those are not cited in the video in order not to overcomplexify the story.
Some historians suggest that the virulence of Viking attacks against the Franks might be a retaliation to the forced conversions of their Saxon “cousins”. This hypothesis still remains uncertain, as Viking attacks were focused on Anglo-Saxon Britain during several decades.
Charlemagne’s armies were mostly composed of infantrymen (Milites) armed with spears (lancia) and sometimes swords (spata). Some still used the francisca.
The missions of the Frankish cavalry varied from reconnaissance to harassment and charge attacks. These latter were not performed with lances yet –it would start later as from the 11th century- but with the sword in hand. The cost of a horse and of equipment (helmet, ring armour, spear, sword – bow and arrows at the end of his reign) limited this military branch to the wealthiest.
The family name Brognard (or Brognart, Brogniard) is very common in France. It means “the one who wears the broigne” (ring armour).
Scarae belonged to the high nobility and were training all the year. They knew how to move very quickly on the battlefield, outclassing all their enemies at this time. During the campaign of Pannonia, they even outclassed Avar cavalrymen. These prestigious Frankish cavalrymen are directly at the origin of medieval knighthood and of its codes of honour.
The use of stirrups by the Franks has been confirmed, at least for the last third of Charlemagne’s reign. This technical innovation was probably taken from the Avars.
The equipment of Frankish warriors was the best of this time. Aware of this advantage, the exportation of swords and ring armours notably was strictly forbidden by the king. Traffics still existed, as it has been proved with Frankish swords of the 8th century found in Scandinavia.
Charlemagne’s contemporaries were astonished at the view of his army : “When you’ll see a harvest of iron rising on the fields, when the flows of Ticino and Po rivers will rise, all dark like iron, above the walls of cities, then you have to see Charles appearing” as wrote the biographer Notker the Stammerer.
Many of Saxon families deported by Charlemagne were settled in Flanders. In 1297, when Philip IV of France was at war against the Flemings, the French were opposed by a ferocious resistance and they remembered the events in the 8th century. The Iron King complained that “Of one scourge, Charlemagne made two of it !”.
Each year, the European Union awards a “Charlemagne Prize” to a person being involved in the unification of Europe. An odd choice from this atheist and disarmed political-economic entity.
During the reign of Charlemagne, should we talk about France or “Francia” ? The name of Francia(s) was invented by a few historians of the 20th century. Their desire was to put a distinction between Merovingian/Carolingian France and modern France. The continuity of the French state and the numbering of French Kings (which starts with the Merovingians) are therefore oddly ignored.
For the contemporaries of Charlemagne, “Francia” meant the original Frankish Realm (Regnum Francorum), located between the Rhine and Loire rivers. The overall Frankish Empire was named as “Universa Francia” or “Tota Francia”.