Saxons Pros And Cons

Out of all German tribes Saxons stood out not only as highly aggressive and warlike, but very also as much committed to pagan cults. The borderline between Saxons and Franks was very vague, “except in a few places, where large forests or mountain ridges intervened and made the bounds certain, the line between ourselves and the Saxons passed almost in its whole extent through an open country” (Einhard, 2013); murders, robbery and arson was a daily routine. In order to stop that Charlemagne waged the first war against Saxons in 772. During this period, Charlemagne successfully brought Christianity to Saxons and got them “destroyed as a culture, and they would never again rebel.” (Knox, 1999). He did it not only with fire and sword, but also with

Nevertheless, there was always a way to salvation: “If, indeed, for these mortal crimes secretly committed any one shall have fled of his own accord to a priest, and after confession shall have wished to do penance, let him be freed by the testimony of the priest from death.” (Halsall, 1996). Church made a smart move to show the base of the Christianity – forgiveness, but as we know, the devil always hides in details. What if priest said that the person confessed, but he or she wasn’t sincere? The Saxons, who could know that this person committed a crime, and there was no way that priest knew that, could have start thinking that priests actually have supernatural powers given by God, not their natural spirits. Charles desperately wanted Saxons to become Christians, and applied these fearsome laws. He should have known that every action has a reaction force. Even if he did know that, I am quite sure, he was expecting that after first successful campaigns, Saxons will accept anything to stop the

The second step for successful integration into a new society is to find or create common characteristics between them. If there are no differences – there are no reasons to fight. At that time, religion was the most powerful tool of uniting people, as it was used as a monumental idea, set of behavioral pattern to be followed, thus, to minimize cultural differences. As was discussed before, Capitulary of Saxony provided effective tools to manipulate the believes of people. Nevertheless, could it have a political impact? The answer is yes. Did it actually have impact on Saxons? It did, but the impact wasn’t good for Charlemagne. Indeed, religion defines the set of mind in one way or another, even in modern world. The local leader with same set of mind as yours will more likely listen to you, obey your will. The local people with same set of mind will start to approve your decisions but some time must pass first. I believe, he simply didn’t have enough time. Moses was travelling around the desert for 40 years, waiting for old Jews to die out, so he could create a new society, free of slavery memories. Charlemagne had only couple of years for that. And this is definitely not enough time for people to leave behind their old habits, even with such strict and nice structured set of rules, especially, when there is a strong leader that