Jihad oder Parusieverzögerung? Zur heilsgeschichtlichen Bedeutung eines Raumes außerhalb des Römischen Reiches

Abstract

This essay’s guiding thesis assumes that the Christianization of the Saxons as well as the spatial and legal integration of Saxony into the Frankish realm during the late 8th and 9th centuries was facilitated by the ordering or arrangement of space according to Roman models. These spatial orderings were accompanied and reinforced by historical and eschatological interpretations as well as, were implemented by the, more or less, voluntary acceptance of the new order by the Saxon nobility, who recognized the opportunities associated with the active integration into the Frankish system. Both the meaning of this process and the terms used to describe it are treated in this essay. On the one hand, in order to interpret these events and processes, it is useful – if not necessary – to take a look at the spread of Christianity within the territories of the former Roman Empire up till 800 (i. e., Charlemagne’s coronation as Imperator Augustus), for this development appears to serve as the constructive basis for Charles’ (and that of his contemporaries) interpretation of the course of history. On the other, it is just as important to compare the interpretations of these events (including contemporary perspectives) in order to do justice to the historical significance of Saxony’s integration into the Frankish realm as the successful successor to the Roman Empire.While this contribution primarily treats the historical sources, the title of this essay was decidedly inspired by more contemporary studies: Hans-Dietrich Kahl’s work on the escalation of the Saxon wars, Yitzhak Hen’s analysis »Charlemagne’s jihad« (2006), as well as several other equally influential contemporary works focusing on the eschatological meaning of the year 800 as well as on the continuity of the Roman Empire as a force delaying the Parousia of Christ in the theological debate since the Ascension Day almost two millennia ago.