Saxony to Christianity hardly made it easier to conquer them, which Wallace-Hadrill illustrates when he argues that “the destruction of Irminsul and the subsequent forced mass baptisms were never forgotten; whenever Charlemagne was far away the Saxons would The religious aspect that Charlemagne brought to the Saxon Wars was far from revolt.” beneficial, rather it gave the Saxons another focal point of rebellion, now they were not just fighting for their lands but for their culture, religion and their way of life. This stiffened the Saxon resistance and McKitterick argues that and 785 hardly a year passed “between 772 And Einhard without Charlemagne or his deputies leading an expedition into Saxony.” speaks of the forced baptisms of the Saxons only added to this on both “great hatred sides” hatred and made the Saxons rebellions even more difficult to quell. The view that wars had a more negative than positive impact on his Charlemagne’s empire is flawed. wars had a positive impact on his empire because they Charlemagne’s temporarily prevented its inevitable collapse. The negative impact came only when there was an absence of war; Charlemagne lost, what was effectively, his only source of revenue and his barons violence turned inwards. However, in assessing the question we must consider that, for Charlemagne the idea of positive or negative impacts did not occur to him. He had a cultural and political necessity to wage wars in all the corners of his empire. 1,934 Word Count –
Saxony to Christianity hardly made it easier to conquer them, which Wallace-Hadrill illustrates when he argues that “the destruction of Irminsul and the subsequent forced mass baptisms were never forgotten; whenever Charlemagne was far away the Saxons would revolt.” The religious aspect that Charlemagne brought to the Saxon Wars was far from beneficial, rather it gave the Saxons another focal point of rebellion, now they were not just fighting for their lands but for their culture, religion and their way of life. This stiffened the Saxon resistance and McKitterick argues that “between 772 and 785 hardly a year passed without Charlemagne or his deputies leading an expedition into Saxony.” And Einhard speaks of “great hatred on both sides” the forced baptisms of the Saxons only added to this hatred and made the Saxons rebellions even more difficult to quell. The view that Charlemagne’s wars had a more negative than positive impact on his empire is flawed. Charlemagne’s wars had a positive impact on his empire because they temporarily prevented its inevitable collapse. The negative impact came only when there was an absence of war; Charlemagne lost, what was effectively, his only source of revenue and his barons violence turned inwards. However, in assessing the question we must consider that, for Charlemagne the idea of positive or negative impacts did not occur to him. He had a cultural and political necessity to wage wars in all the corners of his empire. Word Count – 1,934
history_coursework_-_charlemagne_investigation.docx