Quasi una gens: Saxony and the Frankish world, c. 772–888

Abstract

AbstractThe Saxons were conquered by Charlemagne in 804, after 33 years of intermittent campaigning; they were converted to Christianity and incorporated into the Carolingian political order. Yet despite this history of conquest and incorporation, historians have largely viewed Carolingian Saxony as distinct from the Frankish world. To a large extent, this may be seen as a result of the politicization of Saxon history in the early 20th century. Early Nazi propaganda drew upon the Saxon wars as an example of German heroism and resistance, with particular attention paid to the history of conflict and warfare; unsurprisingly, there was little interest in such circles in delineating subsequent cooperation and coexistence. The postwar period, by contrast, saw a resurgence of local history, which, while serving as a corrective to earlier nationalistic approaches, did not seek to situate the history of individual Saxon Christian centres, whether monasteries or bishoprics, in their wider context. Only recently has an interest in Saxon regional history resurfaced, but even still, the connection of the region to the Frankish world remains relatively unexplored with a few notable exceptions. Recent work on the Carolingian empire has stressed its regionalism and variety, arguing for less top‐down control and more “grassroots” politics. In such a context, Carolingian Saxony need not stand as an outlier: rather, it should be analyzed both alongside, and as part of, the wider Carolingian world.