\ Glass X^ Book 'Qi2> v °«n ^trrm J w ]f pi n c c 5 © M. JlIE XL s mi a ©m m . From an original fflummatLon p-es erved in. lie Monastery of S! C alisTO.Rmna . Tuk.tyX<farper. THE HISTORY OP CHARLEMAGNE. BY G. P.*R.'' JAMES, Esq. n AUTHOR OF " HISTORY OF CHIVALRY AND THE CRUSADES," "RICHELIEU," "PHILIP AUGUSTUS," &C. NEW-YORK : PRTNTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. & J. HARPER, NO. 82 CLIFF-STREET, AND SOLD BY THE BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES. 1833. Monograph 7 i FRANCE, IN THE LIVES OF HER GREAT MEN. BY G. P. R. JAMES, Esq. * VOL. I. CHARLEMAGNE. TO THE REV. WILLIAM CARMALT, PUTNEY, SURREY. My dear Sir, I can dedicate this work to no person so well as to one from whom any knowledge that I may possess was originally derived ; and the only regret which mingles with the pleasure I feel in offering you this volume is, that the book does not do far more credit to all the kind care that you be- stowed upon my youth. The fault, however, was in the scholar, and not in the preceptor : and had the soil which you took pains to cultivate been wor- thy of your labour, the fruit which is now presented to you would doubtless have been of a superior quality. In regard to the book itself I have very little to say. It is going forth to meet eyes far less partial than yours ; and I await the decision of the world, — a decision often harsh, but seldom unjust, — not A2 VI DEDICATION. without anxiety, but not without hope ; for, although labour and research can never really supply the place of genius and judgment, yet I am unwilling to believe that the long study which, as you know, the work has cost me, can ever be wholly thrown away. One explanation should be given here, in regard to the distribution of events. Great obstacles pre- sented themselves, in the History of Charlemagne, either to proceeding chronologically, or to making a general classification of subjects, and treating each class distinctly. In respect to the first arrangement, such a multitude of wars, expeditions, and great public enterprises are found advancing at one time, in the latter years of the monarch's reign, that the mind of the reader would become fatigued, by flying from country to country, and from subject to subject, if the separate events of each campaign and each undertaking were to be noticed at the exact periods of their recurrence. On the other hand, were one to classify the various public acts of Charlemagne, the duration of his reign was so long, and the changes which took place so great, that each class would be- come a complete history ; and even then, the most extraordinary part of the picture would be nearly DEDICATION. Vll lost, — namely, the general, rapid, and continual advance of society under his exertions. In the first draught of the work, I proceeded chronologically throughout ; but in writing it out a second time, I deviated from that principle in a certain degree ; and though I conducted Charlemagne to the beginning of almost all his great undertakings, in the order in which they occurred, I pursued each war to its conclusion, as soon as I found that the reiteration of the same operations against the same nation was likely to become tedious to the reader. Whether I have done right or wrong, I do not at all feel sure ; but I imagine that I have gained something in brevity, without losing in perspicuity. I have always wished very much that the task had been undertaken by some one more competent than myself to do justice to such an enterprise ; but no accurate Life of Charlemagne had ever been written ; and I believe that in the following work I have corrected some of the errors to be found in former statements, and have added a few facts to the information which the world before possessed upon the subject. Should the book, by some fortunate chance, meet with greater success than it deserves, or than I ex- pect, no one, I know, will more sincerely rejoice VH1 DEDICATION. than yourself; and the pleasure which I am sure you will feel, will add infinitely to that experienced on his own account, by, My dear sir, Yours ever, sincerely and affectionately, G. P. R. JAMES. Maxi>offle, near Melrose, Roxburghshire, June 4, 1832. ADVERTISEMENT. It is the intention of the author of this work to follow up the present sketch of the Life of Charle- magne by a series of volumes on the same principle, illustrating the History of France by the Lives of her Great Men. Each volume, though forming a distinct work, will be connected with that which pre- ceded it by a view of the intervening period. In regard to the Engravings to be found among these pages, a few words of explanation may be necessary. The authenticity of the first is vouched in the strongest manner by Allemanni, though doubted by Mabillon. Perhaps the opinion of the former may be preferable, as that of a man who passed the greater part of his life in the study of the antiquities of the age to which the portrait is ascribed. The copy here given was procured from the original illumination in the monastery of Saint Calisto, in Rome, expressly for the present work, by X ADVERTISEMENT. the king exertions of a friend, to whom the author begs to offer his best thanks. The other Engravings are from seals of Charle- magne, preserved by Le Blanc and Blanchini, and in regard to their authenticity there is no doubt. In the lower, the band round the head of Charlemagne is supposed to represent the patrician crown ; and the inscriptions on both are given according to the readings of the learned antiquaries to whom we owe the preservation of the seals. The author cannot lay down his pen without expressing his deep sense of the kind and liberal aid he has received during his researches ; and begs especially to return his thanks to Professor Napier and John Dewar, Esq., to whom he is indebted for the means of obtaining much valuable information. CONTENTS. Pago HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION.— from a. d. 476 to a. d. 749 .. . 15 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. BOOK I. PROM THE BIRTH OF CHARLEMAGNE, TO HIS ACCESSION. — FROM A. D. 742 TO A. D. 768. Birth of Charlemagne — His Mother Bertha— Coronation of his Father — His early Education unknown — Is sent to welcome Stephen II. on his Arrival in France — The Cause of the Pope's Journey — The Oppression of the Lombards — Pepin resolves to defend the Romans — Demands that the Pope should repeat his Coronation— Charlemagne is crowned with his Father— First Conquest of Lombardy by Pepin— Union of the Exarchate and Pentapolis to Rome— Second Conquest of Lombardy— War in Aquitaine— Death of Remistan— Death of Pepin— Pepin com- pared with Charles Martel 73 BOOK II. FROM THE ACCESSION OF CHARLEMAGNE AND HIS BROTHER, TO THE DEATH OF CARLOMAN AND THE REUNION OF THE KING- DOM. — FROM A. D. 768 TO A. D. 771. The Accession of Charlemagne and his Brother— The Extent of their Do- minion—The Territories beyond the Rhine— The Nature of the Parti- tion between the Monarchs — Doubtful Sovereignty and Revolt of Aqui- taine— Its rapid Conquest by Charlemagne — Disunion between the Brothers— Events in Italy— Negotiations of Bertha— Charlemagne's first Marriage to the Daughter of the King of Lombardy — His Divorce —His second Marriage— The Enmity of Desiderius— The Death of Hunald— Of Car lorn an — The Widow of Carloman flies to Desiderius — The Nobles of Carloman elect Charlemagne — Reunion of the Monarchy 98 BOOK III. FROM THE DEATH OF CARLOMAN, TO THE CAPTURE OF PAVIA. — FROM A. D. 771 TO A. D. 774. Some Account of the Saxons — Their continual Aggressions on the French Frontier— Charlemagne invades Saxony— Destruction of the Idol Irminsula— Submission of the Saxons— Circumstances of Italy — Intrgties ofDesdenus — Adrian elected Pope— His firm Resistance of the Lombards — Demands Aid from France— Charlemagne endeavours to negotiate with Desiderius— Marches to the Deliverance of Adrian — Passes the Alps— Siege of Pavia— Capture of Verona— His Reception in Rome— Fall of Pavia— Fate of Desiderius 125 12 CONTENTS. BOOK IV. FROM THE CONQUEST OF LOMBARDY, TO THE BEGINNING OF THE SPANISH WAR. — FROM A. D. 774 TO A. D. 777. Charlemagne returns to France — Despatches a Force to punish the Saxons — His Habits of Business — He invades Saxony— His Rear- guard surprised- The Saxons defeated — Revolt of the Duke of Friuli — His Death — Treviso betrayed— Charlemagne returns to Saxony — Internal Administration — Character of the famous Witikind— His at- tempt to raise Saxony once more— Defeated by the Vigilance of Charle- magne—He flies to Denmark 160 BOOK V. FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE SPANISH WAR, TO THE INCOR- PORATION OF SAXONY WITH THE FRENCH DOMINIONS. — FROM A. D. 777 TO A. D. 780. TheStateof Spain— Charlemagne invited to invade Spain — His Prepara- tions — He passes the Pyrenees— Subjection of Arragon and Catalonia — Capture of Pampcluna— Battle of Saragossa— Establishment of the Spanish March — Charlemagne recalled to the North— Battle of Ronces- valles — Ravages committed by the Saxons— Battle of the Adern — Internal Regulations of Charlemagne— His Conduct to the Duke of Spoleto— Saxony incorporated with France — Retrospect of the Saxon War— The Saxon Capitularies 182 BOOK VI. FROM THE INCORPORATION OF SAXONY, TO THE HOMAGE OF THE DUKE OF BAVARIA. — FROM A. D. 780 TO A. D. 782. Conspiracies of the Family of Desiderins— Charlemagne proceeds to Pavia— State of Italy — Aquitaine and Ttaly raised into separate King- doms in favour of Louis and Pepin— Changes in theSiateand Policy of Greece— Alliance of Irene and Charlemagne— Slaie of Great Britain- Charlemagne visited by Alcuin— The French Monarch returns from Italy— Submission of Tassilo Duke of Bavaria 207 BOOK VII. FROM THE SUBMISSION OF THE DUKE OF BAVARIA, TO THE BAPTISM OF WITIKIND, AND THE SUPPRESSION OF THE REVOLT OF BRITTANY. — FROM A. D. 782 TO A. D. 785. Efforts lo conciliate the Saxons— Envoys from Denmark and Hungary — Incursion of the Sclavonians— Revolt of Saxony — The Franks de- feated at Sinthal— Charlemagne takes the Field— His unusual Severity —Of no effect- Battle of Dethmold — Battle on ihe Hase— Saxony once more subdued— Witikind and Albion visit the Court of France— Are baptized— Charlemagne, after the Death of Hildegarde, marries Fas- trada-The Thuringian Conspiracy— Discovered— Punished— State of Brittany— Revolt of that Province— Its Subjection 225 CONTENTS. 13 BOOK VIII. FROM THE PACIFICATION OF SAXONY, TO THE DEFEAT OP ADALGISUS AND THE GREEKS IN ITALY. — FROM A. D. 785 TO A. D. 788. The Conspiracy of Arichis Duke of Beneventum, and Tassilo Duke of Bavaria, renewed — The doubtful Conduct of Greece — Charlemagne marches into Italy — Advances towards Beneventum — Arichis submits — The Alliance between France and Greece broken off— The Intrigues of Tassilo— Charlemagne marches against Bavaria— Tassilo submits — Charlemagne's Efforts for the Revival of Letters— Interrupted by the Alliance of Tassilo, Arichis, and Irene— Death of the Duke of Bene- ventum and his eldest Son— Charlemagne bestows the Dukedom on the second Son Grimwald — Progress of the Conspiracy — Forces des- patched to Italy — Arrest and Condemnation of the Duke of Bavaria — Landing of the Greeks in Italy— Their Defeat 245 BOOK IX. FROM THE CONDEMNATION OF THE DUKE OF BAVARIA, TO THE DECREES OF THE COUNCIL OF FRANKFORT. — FROM A. D. 788 TO A. D. 794. Sketch of the History of the Avars— They invade both Friuli and Bavaria— Are defeated on both points— Again invade Bavaria, and are repelled -Charlemagne devotes himself to the Civilization of his Territories— Interrupted by the Attack of the Weletabes upon the Abo- drites— War against the Weletabes— Their Subjection— The Year of Peace— Progressive Improvement of France in the useful Arts- Negotiations with the Huns— Unsuccessful— Invasion of Hungary- Fortifications of (hat Country— Successes of the French Armies — The Felician Heresy— Synod of Ratisbon— Council of Frankfort— Libri Carolini '. 267 BOOK X. FROM THE CONSPIRACY OF PEPIN THE HUNCHBACK, TO THE FINAL SUBJUGATION OF THE SAXONS. — FROM A. D. 792 TO A. D. 804. The Conspiracy of Pepin the Hunchback— His Birth and Character— Dis- covery of the Designs of the Conspirators— Their Trial and Condem- nation—Constitution of the General Assemblies of the Franks under Charlemagne, and their Functions -Counts of the Palace— Fresh Revolt of Saxony— France invaded by the Saracens— Defeat of Wil- helm Duke of Thoulouse, and the Troops of the Spanish March— Con- duct of Charlemagne— Project for the Union of the Rhine and the Danube— The Attempt abandoned— Death of the Queen Fastrada — "Wars with Saxony— Expatriation of the Saxons— Obiect, Necessity, and Advantage of the Subjugation of Saxony 293 B 14 CONTENTS. BOOK XI. FROM THE RENEWAL OF THE HUNGARIAN WAR, TO THE ELEC- TION OF LEO III. — FROM A. D. 794 TO A. D. 796. Internal Dissensions of the Huns — Treachery of Thudun— Herric Duke of Friuli ordered to invade Hungary — His Success — Pepin King of Italy invades Hungary — Captures the Fortress of the Ring — Death of Adrian I. — Election of Leo — He sends the Keys and Standard as an Act of Homage — Building of the Palace at Aix-la-Chapelle — The Palace College — Studies of Charlemagne— Progress of Literature in France— In Saxony 312 BOOK XII. FROM THE RENEWAL OF HOSTILITIES IN THE SPANISH MARCH,. TO THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN LUIDGARDE. — FROM A. D. 797 TO A. D. 800. Piratical Expeditions from Spain and Barbary — Chastised by Charle- magne — Renewal of the War in Spain — Zatun does Homage for Barce- lona — Louis carries on the War against the Saracens — Powerful Diversion effected in favour of the Gothic Christians — Victories of Alphonso the Chaste — Warfare with the Huns— Revolt of Thudun — Gerold Count of the Marches of Bavaria, and Herric Duke of Friuli, slain — Hungary subdued — Embassies to the Court of Charlemagne — From Constantine VI. to treat for Peace — From Irene, announcing the Deposition and Blinding of Constantine — From Haroun al Raschid — Rise of his Friendship with Charlemagne— His Presents to the Mon- , arch of the Franks — Sends him the Keys of Jerusalem — Norman Pira- cies — Measures to repel them from the Coasts of France and Germany —Death of Luidgarde 329 BOOK XIII. FROM CHARLEMAGNE S LAST VISIT TO ROME, TO HIS DEATH. — FROM A. D. 800 TO A. D. 814. Affairs of Italy— Conspiracy of Paschal and Campulus— Attempted Mutilation of the Pope — His Recovery and Escape — Reinstated by Charlemagne— Examination of the Accusation brought against him — Charlemagne visits Rome — Investigates in person the Charges against Leo— They are unsupported— Charlemagne saluted and crowned Emperor of the Romans— War with Beneventum— Concluded— Nego- tiations concerning the Limits of the Eastern and Western Empires — With Irene — With Nicephorus— State of Venice — War with the Danes averted for a time — War with the Bohemians — Charter of Division between the Sons of Charlemagne— War with the Bohemians con- cluded — War with the Danes begun and ended— War with the Vene- tians — Death of the two elder Sons of Charlemagne — He associates Louis to the Throne— Death of Charlemagne— His Character... • 349 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. One of the noblest possessions of the Roman em- pire was the province of ancient Gaul. Much blood and treasure had been expended in its conquest; infinite wisdom, moderation, and vigour had been displayed in the means taken to attach it to the do- minion of the Cesars ; and the passing of several centuries had strongly cemented the union, and in- corporated the conquered with their conquerors. Unwieldy bulk, enfeebling luxury, intestine divi- sions, and universal corruption soon, however, began to draw down the impending destruction upon the head of the imperial city. Attack after attack, inva- sion following invasion, left her still weaker under each succeeding monarch ; province after province was wrested from her sway, till at length Odoacer,* chief of the Scyrri, raised his standard in Italy; Rom- * The history of Odoacer is very obscure, notwithstanding all that Monsieur de Buat has done to clear it up. That he was the son of Edi- con, the chief of the Scyrri, seems to be established ; hut what was the life he led after the defeat of his nation by the Ostrogoths is not at all ascertained. My own belief is, that with the remnant of his people he joined the predatory Saxons who infested the coasts of France, and was the same who, in company with Childeric(Greg. Tur. lib. ii.), plundered the town of Angiers, and established himself at the mouth of the Loire, after the death of iEgidius. It would seem, that from that time he con- tinued a wandering and uncertain life, followed by a body of desperate adventurers, till the struggle between Nepos and Orestes, the weakness of the Roman state, and the turbulent rising of the barbarian mercena- ries by which it had been long supported, opened a new field to his ambi- 16 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. ulus Augustulus yielded the empty symbols of an authority he did not possess ; and the Roman empire was no more. Previous to this period,* however, Gaul had been in fact, though not in name, separated from the fall- ing monarchy, and portioned out among a thousand barbarous tribes. t The country between the Rhone and the Alps had long been possessed by the Bur- gundians ; the Goths held the whole territories sit- uated between the Loire and the Pyrenees ; Brittany, or Armorica, was divided between fresh colonies of Saxons and the remains of the aborigines ; great part of the east of Belgium was in the hands of the Franks ; and the Roman legions that were still left to maintain the almost nominal possession of Gaul, cooped up in a narrow space, and threatened daily by active and warlike enemies, thought of nothing but casting off the control of their enfeebled country, and finding strength in independence. In the mean time the larger cities were filled with a mixed population, consisting partly of the Roman colonists, partly of the ancient Gauls, partly of their savage conquerors. Some few, indeed, either by accident or courageous resistance, had escaped the fury of the invaders and remained free, while all around them had been subdued; some had been sacked and left desolate ; and some, having been ceded by the falling emperors themselves to the Goths, or to any other of the tribes in temporary alliance with Rome, had passed more mildly under the sway of the barbarians, and enjoyed as much protection as could be afforded in times so disas- trous. Such was the general aspect of the province a tion. I cannot in any way receive the account of Theophanes, who mis- takes his history altogether, and calls him a Goth ; and still less the interpretation of Gibbon, who says that the words "nursed in Italy" must be understood to mean, " having served long in the imperial guards." * A.l>. 476. t Gregor. Turon. lib. ii. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 17 little previous to the final overthrow of the Roman empire. But those were days of change, when nothing was fixed ; and the nation which ruled to- day, to-morrow had passed away, and was unknown ; and all that continued with unaltered force was ravage, disorder, and destruction. Each of the savage tribes of the north, in its pas- sage to more fertile regions, had expended its first fury on the plains of Gaul, and had contributed to sweep away letters, and institutions, and arts. " Innumerable nations of barbarians," says St. Je- rome, in his letter to Aggerunchia,* " took posses- sion of the whole of Gaul. The Quadi, the Vandals, the Sarmatians, the Alani, the Gepidas, the Herculi, Saxons, Burgundians, Germans, and Panonians — horrible republic ! — ravaged the whole country be- tween the Alps, the Pyrenees, the ocean, and the Rhine. Assur was with them. Mayence, formerly a famous city, was taken and sacked, and thousands of its inhabitants massacred. Worms was ruined by a long siege ; the people of the powerful cities of Rheims, Amiens, and Arras, the Morini, situated in the far parts of Belgium, and the inhabitants of Tour- nay, Spires, and Strasburg, were transported into Germany. Aquitaine, the Lyonaise, and the Nar- bonaise were entirely devastated, except some few of the towns ; and these the steel smote without, while famine desolated them within." The Goths, the Vandals, and the Huns added, one after the other, a fresh load to the mountain of calamities piled up on unhappy Gaul ; and often left scattered colonies behind, still to devour the land, and to carry on the work of barbarism so signally begun. With such a picture before our eyes, it is scarcely possible to conceive the existence of any thing like •a state of society regulated, even in the slightest * Flodoard, cap. vi. B 2 18 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. degree, by fixed principles. In what relationship could man live with man, when all ties were broken, and when the discordant elements of the population offered a chaos of different nations, languages, man- ners, and ideas, precluding the possibility even of that simple form of government common among savage nations 1 In the fields and plains, then, it is probable that the whole was chaotic confusion, and that for a long time all rule was at an end, except that rule which it is the object of every law to cor- rect, — the rule of the strong over the weak. "Within the larger cities, however, two or three principles of security still existed. In those towns which had resisted the barbarians, it seems that the institutions of Rome yet remained almost entire ; and that, though the inhabitants were cut off from the source of their laws, the necessity of combina- tion for the general defence maintained at least some internal regularity and order. The extent to which the Roman law was preserved during the middle ages is a question of great difficulty, and one on which I am not called to enter at large in this place, more especially as the subject has been argued ably elsewhere. That it was preserved in a considerable degree is evident from the continual reference made to it by all the barbarian codes ; and the cause of the permanence of the municipal institutions of Rome, while all other principles of government were swept away, may probably be dis- covered in the popular and independent character of the civic constitution throughout the whole empire. This independent civic constitution originated in Italy itself; but being extended more or less to all the provinces by the emperors, it was especially per- fected in Gaul; and it is worth while to examine what was really the municipal government of a Gallic city under the sway of Rome, in order to form some opinion of the conservative influence which those HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 19 institutions still exercised in the midst of the con- vulsions which rent the empire at its fall. The model of each provincial city was Rome itself; and as the institutions of the great capital varied by the progress of time, so the forms of local administration changed. The general assemblies of the people were the original source of power ; in them the laws were at first enacted, and a popular council or senate chosen, which gradually took the whole authority into its own hands. The name of this municipal council was, in the early days of the empire, Ordo Decurionum ; but at length it was termed simply Curia; and its members were called decurions, or curiales. Sometimes, also, they re- ceived the name of senators, although this would seem to have been an appellation of courtesy. The internal management of the affairs of the city, combining both the legislative and the executive authority, was the chief function of the Curia ; but, in Italy itself, the magisterial jurisdiction was in- trusted to an officer sometimes called duumvir, sometimes quatuorvir, or magistratus, who was cho- sen by the decurions from their own body, though the imperial governors, and often the retiring magis- trate, exercised great influence in the election. In the provinces, however, no such magistrate existed, except in a few cases ; and the presidency of the council was intrusted to the eldest decurion, while the magisterial functions were exercised by the whole as a body. Thus, at the time of the barbarian invasions, a popular power and an individual gov- ernment was found in each of the cities, independent of the state. Its conservative influence was great while suffered to exist, and it was easily renewable when casually overturned by any passing torrent of barbarians. These, in general, contented themselves with plunder and massacre, and neither strove for nor desired a lengthened possession of the places they 20 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. captured. Even those cities which were taken by the Vandals and the Huns were generally abandoned by them as soon as they were pillaged ; so that such of the inhabitants as had effected their escape to any place of refuge came back when the desolating force had passed by, and possibly resumed their habits as well as their dwellings. Such was the case when the city of Rheims was besieged and taken by the barbarians.* Satisfied with their plunder, and by no means disposed to remain stationary in any one spot, the body of Van- dals by which it had been subdued speedily left the city, which afforded them no further object for their rapacity ; and the inhabitants who had fled to the mountains returned, taking care to ascribe their de- liverance from their cruel enemies to a miraculous interposition of Heaven. There was another power also which acted to pre- serve the seeds of order in the cities, to bind at least a portion of the population together by strong and indissoluble ties, and to maintain one species of authority while every other authority was at an end, — I mean the Christian religion, and the power cast into the hands of the church by an influencing feeling totally apart from the frail and falling insti- tutions of humanity whereby it was surrounded. Christianity had then been long preached in Gaul ; and, in spite of the barbarous ignorance which ob- scured it, and the dark superstitions with which it was mingled, its innate principles of union, benevo- lence, and peace were felt where every other good feeling was overwhelmed, and tended potently to preserve order in the midst of a thousand causes of disorganization. Perhaps even the very blind and enthusiastic superstition of the Christians of that age, the multitude of miracles which they sup- posed themselves capable of performing, and the * Flodoard, cap. v.i. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 21 many wonderful interpositions of Heaven which they reported in their own favour, was not without its use, both in commanding respect for the only chas- tening principle that yet remained, and in preparing the minds of the semi-barbarous Romans, and of the deeper savages with whom they were now min- gled, for a religion the least superstitious in its own nature of any doctrine that ever was promulgated on earth. Far is it from my object to countenance deceit, or even policy, in any matter of religion — a matter which neither requires nor admits of prop or guid- ance from mortal man. But still, it is the business of the historian not only to state events but to ex- amine their causes, and to trace their effects ; and it appears to me an indisputable fact, that the supersti- tion with which the vivid imagination of a barbarous people clothed the simplest and purest of doctrines served to assimilate it to their own minds, and to ensure easier reception to principles calculated in the end to elevate, to purify, and to correct. In a worldly point of view it did much more : it added an imaginary dignity in the eyes of the people to the real dignity of devotion and a holy life ; and by makingthe clergy respected and reverenced, it called those who were great and powerful, not only to em- brace the faith, but, on interested motives, to solicit those stations in the church which added to their consideration with their countrymen, in an age when the multitude of followers and adherents was the only means of safety. Thus we find the various; bishoprics of Gaul as strenuously solicited and in- trigued for in the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries as any mundane honour of our latter days ; and the writers of those ages, in general, state all the great dignitaries of their church to have sprung from families which they qualify as possessing senatorial rank, or great wealth and possessions.* * Greg. Tur. passim, Ann. Bertiniani, Flodoardus. 22 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. It is true, that to counterbalance in the eyes of the worldly any advantages which the higher stations of the church might possess, there were to be thrown into the opposite scale frequent persecutions, tortures, and even martyrdom ; but it must be re- membered that such a fate rarely fell on any but the more zealous, who made themselves prominent by their enthusiasm, and like elevated points in a thun- der-storm, drew down the fire upon themselves by their very pre-eminence. To these, however, their zeal was a sufficient support. They coveted the name of martyr ; and it is probable that the heroic constancy with which they bore the most excru- ciating suffering did more to strengthen and confirm the faithful, and to convert all who possessed that nobler fire of the mind which is so easily exalted into enthusiasm, than the prospect even of honours, dignity, and power did to attract the worldly and interested. Thus spread the Christian religion through a great part of Gaul; and the power given by it to the bishops, the remains of the municipal senates estab- lished by the Romans, together with the few and simple laws of the barbarians, formed the whole guarantee of order, of property, and of life, in that day, — a frail tenure by which to hold both existence and tranquillity, it is true ; but still it was some check upon man's unruly passions — some barrier in the way of absolute anarchy. The laws of the barbarians just mentioned were of course very different, according to the habits and degree of civilization of the various nations which had formed them. In most cases they were simply traditionary, and frequently depended in all points on the will of the chief by whom the tribe was led. An exception, however, to this want of regular writ- ten institutions is to be found in the case of the Bur- gundians,who seem to have been influenced by more settled habits than the rest of the invaders of Gaul. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 23 They first set the example of establishing written laws.* This undertaking — one of the greatest steps in the progress of civilization — was begun, if not completed, by Gondebald, King of Burgundy, who, somewhere about the year 500,f caused to be pub- lished part of the loi Gombette,J as it is now called, about a century after the compilation of the Theo- dosian, and about thirty years prior to the Justinian code. Remarkable in itself as the first of the barbarous codes of law, this composition is still more so in two other points of view. In the first place, the very cause of its institution, as stated by Gregory of Tours, shows, in a melancholy degree, to what a pitch of degradation the great overthrower of all dynasties had already reduced the mighty Romans, — the conquerors and oppressors of the world. "Gondibert," says the historian, " having recovered his dominion over all that part of the country now called Burgundy, he therein instituted milder laws, that the Romans might not be oppressed !"§ Two cen- turies before, who had dared to oppress a Roman ? In the second place, this code is not a little curious as fixing the origin of judicial combats ;|| for here do we find, for the first time, that barbarous and unjust mode of judgment authorized as a law. Among a * I have embraced the opinion of Monsieur Guizot, that the loi Gom- bette was compiled prior to the Salique law. The preface to the Bur- gundian code makes mention of the second year of Gondebald, which refers to A. D. 468, several years before the accession of Clovis, and it does not appear demonstrated that either the Salique or Ripuarian codes were committed to writing before the conversion of that monarch to Christianity, many years after the publication of the first Burgundian code. The subject, however, is involved in much obscurity, and it is probable will ever remain in doubt. For various opinions, see Guizot, Mably, Savigny, Heineccius, Boulainvilliers, &c. t The various laws of this code appear to have been published at many distinct times, and we find references therein to different events, dated from A. D. 467 to A. D. 517. } On examining this law as it has come down to us, it evidently ap- pears to be formed of two distinct parts; the first referable to the reign of Gondebald, and the second probably to that of Sigismond, his son. $ Greg. Tur. lib. ii. || Loi Gombette, cap. 45. 24 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. people whose manners, wishes, arts, and knowledge were all referable in some way to the idea of attack and defence, whose acquisitions had been made by the sword, and by the sword alone could be main- tained, it was not wonderful that strength and courage should have been ranked as virtues, and weakness and cowardice should have been in them- selves looked upon as crimes ; but when to this was added a firm belief in the immediate and apparent interposition of Heaven in all human affairs, the trial by battle was the natural result both of national feeling's and religious impressions. Long before the fall of the western empire, as I have already stated, the doctrines of Christianity had been promulgated in Gaul, and had obtained many and powerful followers in each of the large cities. Nevertheless, over the face of the country in general, religious opinions were as various as the various nations who possessed the soil. The grand division was of course between the idolaters and the Chris- tians ; but even among the Christians themselves existed a vast and distressing schism, which neu- tralized the efforts of zeal, and wasted the powers which should have been applied solely to promote the great objects of Christianity, in profane contests, and most unchristian persecutions. It is not my purpose here to examine, even curso- rily, the tenets of Arius, or to trace the extension of his doctrine. Suffice it, that, though condemned by the ecumenical council of Nice, and attacked by the whole powers of the Roman church, the fol- lowers of the Arian heresy in Gaul were far superior in numbers, if not in zeal and talent, to those who adhered to the Nicene creed. The Goths, possess- ing the country from the Loire to the Pyrenees, and the Burgundians, on the other side of the Rhone, were almost universally Arians, while the rest of the population of France was divided between Ca- tholics of the Roman church, the remains of the HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 25 ancient tribes of heathen Gaul, and the various na- tions of idolatrous Franks, who were now rapidly extending their dominions in the northern and east- ern parts of Flanders. In the choice between those who differed with them on certain doctrinal points, and those who re- jected their religion altogether, the followers of the council of Nice, of course, hesitated not a moment. The universal weakness of human nature on such subjects made them look with an infinitely more favourable eye upon heathens than they did upon heretics ; and consequently the progress of the Franks was hailed with gladness by all the Catholic clergy of Gaul. Cabals and intrigues of every kind were carried on to facilitate their conquests ; and their coming was anticipated with joy, even in the very dominions of the Goths.* As it is to be my task, henceforward, to trace the course of the Franks, I must be permitted for a mo- ment to look back upon their prior history as far as I find it clear and uninvolved, without, however, entering upon any of those long and laborious dis- cussions concerning the origin of nations, which rarely do aught but exercise the writer's imagina- tion, without proving either pleasing or instructive to the reader. The nation of the Franks was evidently composed of many distinct tribes, and originally inhabited some district of Germany, probably not far from the Rhine. Their first settlements in Gaul took place during the military government of the Emperor Julian ;f but in that age they presented themselves on the Roman territory, not so much as conquerors or aggressors, as refugees, driven from their native land by a more powerful tribe. J * Greg. Tur. lib. ii. t Tnen only Cesar. Ammian. Marcelin. lib. 17. \ These facts are so clearly established by Ducange, in his seven- teenth dissertaiion, that I have admitted them with confidence, though somewhat different from the vague but sonorous aocount of Gibbon. c 26 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. The vigorous mind of Julian was at that time oc- cupied in endeavouring - , by every earthly means, to uphold the vast but decaying fabric of the Roman empire, to restore to it its pristine lustre, and to renew its ancient force. The advantages of min- gling with the corrupted legionaries of Rome fresh troops, whose savage strength and wild courage had not yet been in the least degree affected by the en- feebling power of luxury, did not escape him ; and he permitted the tribe of Franks who had been com- pelled to seek refuge in the Roman territory, to settle quietly in Brabant. More prudent, however, than his successors, he took care that the barbarians whom he admitted should be too few in number to prove dangerous ; and thus, though he received that tribe called the Salii,* who had been driven across the Rhine by their enemies — though he attacked and slaughtered the Quadi, who pursued them — though he assigned the emigrants lands, and granted them every hospitable privilege,! — he drove back the Cha- mavi, another tribe of the same nation, who fol- lowed, expelled the rest of the savage hordes who had already passed the Rhine, and closed the bound- aries of the Roman empire against any further influx of barbarians. After this period, we continually find the Salii serv- ing in the Roman infantry, and remarkable for their activity as foot soldiers. J Every thing, indeed, leads us to suppose, that as long as the empire existed, they were distinguished by the Romans from the other tribes of Franks,^ with whom the imperial generals waged a continual and devastating warfare on the confines of Gaul and Germany. It is certain, also, that on their settlement at Tessander Lo, in Brabant, the tribe of the Salii were assigned certain districts; and, as we afterward find them fighting * Liban. Orat in Mort. Julian, Ducange Dissert, xvii. t Julian, Epist. t Sidonius Carmin. $ Greg. Tur. lib. ii HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 27 conspicuously among the forces of the empire, it is more than probable that these lands were granted on the condition of military service, — by no means an uncommon practice among the Romans. Called upon himself to bring a certain number of men into the field, the Duke, as he is named, or chief of the Salii,* to whom the territory was granted, of course portioned it out among his followers on the same condition; and the proprietor of every estate thus acquired was obliged to appear in arms at the call of his leader. f Women, not being able to fulfil the warlike duties of such a tenure, were cut off from possession of the soil in the country of the Salii ; and hence, probably, the motive and the origin of that part of the Salique law which declares that, on Salique ground, no part of the land can descend in heritage to a woman, — a law which, though appa- rently unjust, was only the natural consequence of the terms on which the territories were originally granted. For many years this law, now confined in its ap- plication to royal successions, was extended nomi- nally to all noble feoffs. Its rigour, however, was moderated ; and on the occasion of lands falling by inheritance to a woman, the heiress was obliged to marry, at the will of her feudal lord, such a person as could fulfil the duties of her feoff. In the case of mi- nors, the spirit also of the law was adhered to, and the guardian was required to serve in place of his ward, becoming, at the same time, absolute lord of the es- tate till such a period as the heir was able to accom- plish its feudal duties in person. These modifica- tions did not take place for many centuries after the period of which I speak; and it seems certain, that the strict terms of the Salique law, though then but a traditionary custom, were enforced in all the lands either originally granted to the Franks by the mere * Greg.. 'fur. apud Sulpic. Alexand. fDucange, Dissert. xviL 28 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. bounty of the emperors, or afterward wrung- from the Romans as their power hurried onwards in its decline. By what accidental difference in national charac- ter, or what superior wisdom in their institutions, it is difficult to say, but it appears that, while the greater part of the invaders of the Roman empire contented themselves with hasty inroads, and tran- sitory conquests, the Franks, animated by a more regular and persevering spirit, pursued slowly, but steadily, that system of territorial aggrandizement which in the end rendered them masters of all Gaul. In the year 453, we find a large body of Franks as- sisting the consul iEtius against Attila, at the famous battle of Mauriacum,* or Mery sur Seine, in which that great Roman completely triumphed over the Huns. The Franks here, however, appeared no longer in the inferior station of foreign auxilia- ries, fighting under a Roman chief, f but as great and powerful allies, led by their own king; and we find that iEtius was obliged, though strong in his own * Other authorities give this battle the name of Chalons ; and though it is perfectly impossible to fix upon the precise spot which afforded a field for the contest of the Huns and Romans, it is more than probable that the final struggle took place between the Seine and the Marne, and between Chalons and Mery, which are about thirty miles apart. A previous con- flict had occurred between the Franks — who seem lo have formed the ad- vance guard of the Roman army — and the Gepida? of Attila, in which an incredible slaughter of barbarians is said to have taken place. This first battle appears to have occurred between the Loire and (he Seine, and probably the Gepida? made a stand to enable Attila, with his chief force, to pass the latter river; but all these events are most obscure, and proba- bly will ever remain so. Few of these vacuities which occur in the tract of history are more to be deplored than the want of authorities at this period. Sidonius, probably the only historian who could have done jus- tice to the subject, proposed atone time to write a detailed account of these wars, but he either never executed his design, or the manuscript has been lost. Gregory of Tours is confused ; Jornandes is more precise, but often incorrect ; and we are obliged to collect and assimilate scattered facts from the poetry Of Sidonius, and the doubtful lives of bishops and saints. tGreg. Tur. lib. ii. ; Jornandes; Sidonius. For various dissertations on this battle, see De Buat, Hist. Anciennedes Peuples de l'Europe, vol. vii. ; Dubos, Histoire Critique; and the Notes of the Benedictine editors of the French Historians. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 29 genius and the attachment of the troops he com- manded, to have recourse to stratagem for the pur- pose of delivering himself from the presence of friends who might have become more dangerous than the enemies whom he had just defeated. Orderic Vital,* in his history of Normandy, is, I believe, the first who mentions a race of monarchs somewhat antecedent to the period of jEtius, and deduces them from Francus Duke of Sens, proceed- ing with Ferramond, or Pharramond, Clodius, Mero- veus, and Childeric: but nothing certain is to be learned concerning any of the chiefs or kings ex- cept the two last ; and it is much better to leave what is obscure in its original state of doubt, than, by recording what careless writers have invented on the subject, to perpetuate fables where truth cannot be obtained. We are too likely, in following even the written history of remote times, to be led into error by the follies and the prejudices of the historians, espe- cially if they themselves lived in ages of darkness and ignorance ; for where we have reason to complain once of the scantiness of the facts transmitted to us, we have cause a thousand times to regret the addi- tions that imagination has made to reality, and the distortion with which human weakness, passion, and superstition have represented events, that we have now no means of ascertaining. Of Childeric, however, we possess at least such knowledge as can be obtained from the writings of an author who lived scarcely a century and a half after his reign; and as upon his conquests was based all that vast extension of power gained by the Franks during the succeeding reign, it may not be amiss to pause an instant upon his history. Like most men of a very enterprising turn of mind, concerning whose lives we have an early ♦Order. Vit. lib. i. C2 30 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. record, he seems to have been animated by strong passions and vehement desires.* These, in the un- governed days of youth, led him into errors and de- baucheries, which, by irritating and disgusting even his barbarous subjects, caused his expulsion from the throne, and had very nearly cost him his life. He fled, however, for safety to the kingdom of Thu- ringia; and, foreseeing that, as anger subsided, as death laid his hand upon his enemies, and as time obliterated the first sharp memory of his faults, a period might come when his people would regret him, he divided a piece of gold with a faithful attend- ant whom he left behind, bidding him watch the changes of popular feeling during his absence, and when the Francs should desire his return, to send him as a sure token, the half of the broken coin. After his departure, iEgidius the Roman Master- general of Gaul, was elected by the Franks for their king ;f and reigned for eight years over them, during which time the western empire hurried rapidly on towards its fall. At length, from what cause it does not appear, whether from the oppression of iEgidius, or from the intrigues of Childeric, the Franks be- came discontented with the government which they had established, the half of the piece of gold was transmitted to the exiled monarch, the Roman was in his turn dethroned, and Childeric once more en- tered into peaceable possession of his kingdom. In the mean-while, iEgidius retired to Soissons, where he fixed the seat of his government, and ap- pears to have exercised an authority almost inde- pendent of Rome. But our accounts of Gaul in that day are so obscure, that it is impossible to dis- cover with precision how far any tie still existed between the imperial general and his declining country. Certain it is, that while, indignant at the *Greg. Tur. lib. ii. t Greg. Turon. lib. ii. From A. D. 457 to A. D. 465. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 31 assassination of Majorian, iEgidius resisted the tyrannical authority of Ricimer, the barbarian who then commanded Italy, he acknowledged his own dependence on his country, and only rejected the fetters by which it was enthralled. But the precise degree of connexion which still remained between Rome and Gaul, and in whose name, or in what manner the master-general continued to govern the Gallic province, will probably ever be hidden from research. Nor is it more possible to ascertain, what part Childeric played in the various struggles which took place between the Romans of Gaul and the various barbarian tribes which surrounded them. Sometimes we find him joined with their friends, sometimes with their enemies, but always fighting on the victorious side, establishing his power and increasing his dominions. The tribes of Franks who now possessed apart of Gaul were no longer confined to the Salii. Fresh bodies had poured in from Germany as the Roman power declined; and, though maintaining a strict alliance with each other, they seem to have been governed by different monarchs, till after the reign of Childeric, who was probably King of the Sicam- bri.* Each tribe must necessarily have been but scanty in numbers, and the domains apportioned to each but small; for we find the chief town of Childeric to have been Tournay,f while Cambray, Cologne, and Terouane had distinct hordes and chiefs ; and it is probable that many others may have escaped my notice. No one of these tribes, however, could have sup- plied a sufficient body of men to have aided the Ro- * Notwithstanding; several reasons which exist for believing Clovis, the son of Childeric," to have been chief ofthe Salii, yet the address of St. Remigius to the Frankish monarch, " Bow thy head, Sicamber," can scarcely be explained by any other suppos tion, than, that of his having originally belonged to that tribe.— Flodoard, cap. xiii. fGreg. Tur. lib. ii. 32 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. mans in so signal a manner at the battle of Mauri- acum, or to have gained such victories as we find recorded, over large bodies of Goths, Huns, and Saxons ; and thence I would deduce that some gen- eral principle of union existed between them ; and that the command over the whole was deferred to the king of one particular branch : which branch — as well from Meroveus having commanded on the vic- tory over Attila, as from the continual mention of Childeric, without any notice of the other Frankish kings — I should certainly conclude to have been, by accident, if not by custom, the tribe of Sicambri. Misfortune does not always teach wisdom ; but in the case of Childeric, either adversity or years ap- pear to have cured his follies ; and from the time of his reinstatement, he seems to have turned the cur- rent of a quick and impetuous spirit to the purposes of ambition, if not of virtue. In Childeric we find the real architect of the power of the Franks in Gaul ; and though it was another who united all the separated parts into the one great fabric of the French kingdom, he led the way and laid the founda- tion-stone. After a reign of twenty-four years, Childeric died at Tournay. His rival, JEgiddus, had preceded him to the tomb several years, leaving a son, named Syagrius, to occupy the anomalous post which by his death became vacant, — a substitute without a prin- cipal — a viceroy deputed by no king. Gregory of Tours, indeed, calls this Syagrius King of the Romans ; and as the good bishop is himself very curious in the investigation of what titles were bestowed upon the first chiefs of the Franks, it is more than probable that, in this instance, he made use of an honorary epithet that the Roman himself had assumed, when the western empire was abso- lutely at an end. Childeric also left a son to succeed to his power ; but, before proceeding with the following reign, HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 33 which saw the conversion of the Franks to Chris- tianity, and produced many changes in their national customs, it may be as well to state, in as few words as possible, all that is known of their religion and manners at the period of which I write. Idolaters, like ail the rest of the northern nations, the worship of the Franks was of that simple class which first presents itself to the mind of man, when finding, by the sense of his own feebleness and dependance, the necessity of adoring some object, he sees the Godhead in every thing that contributes to his comfort, or supports his existence, mistaking the gifts which maintain life and happiness for the power that bestows. The forests that gave them shelter — the waters that fertilized their land — the savage beasts, the object of their chase — together with the more glorious parts of the wonderful crea- tion, the sun, the moon, and the stars, — were all subjects for their worship,* and the prototypes of their idols. Of their forms of adoration and reli- gious ceremonies we know little, except that they offered sacrifices. Various of the customs of the Druids and the ancient Gauls have been attributed to them also ; but whether correctly or not, I do not know, as I have personally met with the assertion alone, in the works of authors who wrote long after the manners of the Franks had become little more than matter for conjecture. In regard to the degree of perfection to which they had brought various arts and manufactures, we have reason to believe that the Franks themselves, previous to their establishment in Gaul, had not pro- ceeded farther in this branch of civilization than in any other. That, with all the tribes of the north, they were skilful and ardent huntsmen, cannot be doubted ; and in the Salique lawf we find the pro- tection of the chase as strictly attended to as the , * Greg. Tur. f Cap. xxxv. 34 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. descent of lands, or any other case in which man is brought in relationship with man. They had also, it appears, made great progress, at an early period, in the domestication of all those useful animals whose subjection by any nation is generally consid- ered as marking a considerable advance in civiliza- tion. The horse was in common use among them, and that no small trouble and skill was expended in rearing dogs for the field, we learn from the fact, that the penalty decreed, by the above-cited law, against any person stealing a dog which had been trained, was infinitely higher than that attached to the theft under other circumstances. Stags, also, were domesticated among them, and were specially named in the laws for the protection of property. It is probable that, in regard to the other useful sciences, the most prominent inventions which the Romans had introduced into Gaul were eagerly adopted by the nations that followed them, though their refinements and more elegant arts were lost ; and thus we find, that the Franks, — who, in all likelihood, had not proceeded farther themselves than the application of the hand-mill for grinding their corn, or, at farthest, the mill turned by some animal of draught, — immediately upon their conquest of the Gallic territory multiplied regulations for the preser- vation of the water-mills with which the country was plentifully supplied. Nevertheless, it may be necessary to remark, that, even previous to their having crossed the Rhine, they had advanced so won- derfully in agriculture, that Claudian* declares it was not possible to distinguish, by the aspect of the land, which was the Roman, which the barbarian bank of that river.f The only circumstance which could lead us to suppose that, at a period previous to the * He makes use of the curious expression, — flexosque Sicambri, In falcem curvent gladios. t Claudian, de laud. Stilic.lib. i. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 35 fall of the Roman empire, the Franks had made any- considerable progress in other arts, was the discov- ery of a tomb at Tournay, in the year 1653, which various circumstances indicated as the burial-place of Childeric, of whose history we have given a slight sketch. Besides a quantity of the bones of horses — probably sacrificed on the death of the king — a great many ornaments of gold were found, together with various medals, a style, the figure of a bull's head, and several other things manufactured in gold, as well as a number of rings, on some of which appeared the effigy of Childeric, with the inscription, in Latin. Childericus Rex. The remains also of a tunic, a sword, and part of an axe were discovered, as well as some tablets, on which, I believe, no writing was to be traced. The most curious, however, of the objects contained in this tomb were a multitude of bees, wrought in gold, some with eyes, and some without, — a symbol of empire which Childeric had probably derived from the Romans. To the same source also is to be attributed that degree of progress in several manufactures which was exhib- ited in the various objects discovered.* It is not likely, however small was the portion of energy which remained with the Romans of Gaul, that JEgidius should have reigned as king for nearly eight years over the Franks, without endeavouring to communicate to them, — if but in ostentation, — the arts and inventions of his native country ; nor is it more probable that the Franks should remain, for many generations, in near alliance and continual contact with a polished nation like the Romans, without acquiring some knowledge of their more * Not having seen these objects, it is not in my power to form any judgment concerning the state of art which must have produced them. The Abbe Lenglet Dufresnoy, who mentions that they were then still preserved in the Bibliothequedu Rot, does not give any account of their perfection. From the discovery of the bees, however, no small progress in working metals may be inferred ; for the first efforts of art are, in general, confined to subjects not so purely superfluous. 36 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. necessary manufactures; though their mental im- provements they neglected, and their refined arts they despised. Thus, it would seem that when the Franks first came in contact with the Romans, they were mere barbarians, living by the chase, dwelling in huts, and governed by a military chief; but, gradu- ally, the proximity of luxurious civilization, the ser- vice of some of their tribes in the Roman armies, the alliances, and even the wars, of some others with the empire, changed their manners and improved their arts. They grew dwellers in cities, their kings became hereditary,* customs were fixed into laws, and, without losing their warlike and enterprising spirit, they received all such of the Roman inven- tions and manufactures as were consistent with the character of a young, conquering, and yet unsettled people. Such was the state of the Frankish nation at the death of Childeric, in the year 481. To him suc- ceeded his son Clovis, at the age of fifteen, endowed with all those qualities of mind and body necessary to the leader of a warlike nation, in a barbarous age, — strong, bold, hardy, determined, with an ambi- tious spirit calculated to rise in times of change and conquest, and at that precise period of life when the fire of enterprise burns most brightly in the human breast. Chief of a tribe of Franks probably superior to the others in power, and distinguished by its monarchs having led the whole confederacy with success for many years, Clovis was further assured of support from his fellow-kings — at least inasmuch as the ties of kindred could assure it among barbarians — from the circumstance of each of the other chiefs being related to himself in a nearer or more remote de- gree. The first five years of his reign he seems to have spent in tranquillity, consolidating his power, * I mean by custom albne, not by law. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 37 habituating himself to dominion, and strengthening and securing his own possessions before he attacked those of others. At the end of that period his active life commenced, and he prepared for the series of conquests which rendered him the master of the whole of Gaul. Whether hereditary enmity prompted him, or the more politic consideration of destroying at once a foreign power in the heart of dominions which, be- yond all doubt, he designed, frcm a very early period, to annex to his own, we have no means of ascertain- ing ; but the first aggression of the young monarch of the Franks was directed against Syagrius and the Romans. That he originally contemplated the conquest of the whole of Gaul is not at all what I wish to ad- vance ; for with him, as well as with every other man, it is probable that his views extended with the extension of his power, and that those things which at first were too vast for even ambition to grasp, soon appeared to court his endeavours, as victory took one great step after the other on the road to general dominion. Nevertheless, that the spirit and intention of conquest was in his heart, there can be no doubt ; and even if he proposed to bound his acqui- sition of territory to the banks of the Meuse, the Seine, and the shores of the ocean, the remnant of the Roman power was the first obstacle that in policy he was bound to overcome. Aided, then, by the principal tribes of Franks, he marched directly upon Soissons.* Syagrius was prepared to meet him ; but, after a severe conflict, the Romans were routed, and their unhappy leader, flying from the field of battle, took refuge with Ala- ric, king of the Visigoths. Daring in his own na- ture, and elated with his victory, Clovis instantly sent messengers to the Gothic king, demanding that * A. D. 486. D 38 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. Syagrius should b,e given up to him, and boldly threatening war in case of refusal. Alaric had lately succeeded Euric or Evaric in the kingdom of the Goths ;* and, on what motive it is hard to say, he stained the first years of his reign by violating a]l the duties of hospitality in regard to the unhappy Roman, and by yielding him to the de- mand of his barbarous enemy. His after-life showed that Alaric neither wanted courage, nor firmness, nor activity ; and yet, by one of those strange contradictions which are sometimes found in the human character, he began his career with au action which can be accounted for on no other principle than the basest timidity. With Syagrius in his hands, Clovis soon made himself master of all that remained of the Roman possessions in Gaul ; and then, with the same bar- barous spirit which he evinced in many an after-cir- cumstance, he caused his captive to be butchered in prison. Such an action, however, was quite in har- mony with the feelings of the age ; and the often- repeated anecdote of the silver vase, the circum- stances of which occurred at this period, is chiefly valuable as a proof of the uncivilized state of the Franks even then; showing how little, except in number, their armies still differed from a horde of plundering savages. The facts, as related by Flo- doard and Gregory of Tours,f are as follows : The cities of the Romans which fell into the hands of the Franks after the death of Syagrius were all more or less subjected to pillage ; and even if Clo- vis, from political motives, extended a share of pro- tection to the great body of his new subjects, he does not seem in any degree to have respected the Christian churches, which were stripped of all the rich plate and ornaments that had decorated them under the imperial government. The sacred build- * Greg. Tur. . f Flodoardus ; Greg. Tor., HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 39 ings of Rheims, one of the first cities that had em- braced Christianity in Gaul, were not exempt ; and, among other articles of value carried off was a sil- ver vase, of immense size and exceedingly curious workmanship. At that time, the fame of St. Remi, the most elo- quent and talented* churchman of the day, was spreading far and near through Gaul ; and even the idolatrous monarch of the Franks either felt or affected no small veneration for the virtues of the Christian prelate. As bishop of Rheims, St. Remi, either from some particular idea of sanctity attached to that vase, or from its great value, sent messen- gers to Clovis to complain of the violence which had been committed,! and to beg the restitution of that particular urn at least, which he described. " Follow me to Soissons," replied the king to the messengers ; " there the booty is to be divided, and, if it be in my power, the prelate's;}; desire shall be gratified."^ On their arrival at Soissons, the troops were assembled ; and the whole mass of plunder being displayed before the army, the king, pointing to the urn, which lay conspicuous on the glittering heap, turned to the soldiers whom he had led so often to battle and to victory, and, before proceeding to deter- mine by lot, as was customary, the part which each man was to have in the spoil, he begged that the vase might be assigned to him. Many of the soldiers instantly expressed their consent ; but one, either jealous of the invasion of established customs, or coveting the splendid prize * Sidonius, Appol. t Flodoard. t Gregory of Tours makes use of the word pope, "papa," where I have substituted prelate ; but it is to be remarked, that, till a much later period, the title of pope was very generally applied to all bishops. It is on the authority of Flodoard, in his History of Ike Church of Rheims, that I have made St. Remi the petitioner in this anecdote. Gregory of Tours neither names the church from which the vase was taken, nor the prelate who required it at the hands of Clovis. $ Greg. Tur. lib. ii 40 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. himself, raised his axe, and, dashing it down upon the vase, exclaimed, in answer to the king's demand, " Thou shalt have nothing here but that which for- tune shall give to thee by lot."* For a moment all were dumb with astonishment ; but at length, the general voice having assigned the vase to Clovis, he returned it to the messengers of the bishop, in the state that the axe had left it. The passions that swelled in the heart of a barba- rous monarch at such an outrage as had been offered to him on this occasion may be easily conceived. He smothered them, however, for a time, although both his power and his popularity might have supported him had he given way to his resentment and possibly in this very instance of the strong command he possessed over himself is to be traced the source of that great influence he acquired over others. It must not be thought that his anger was forgotten, though it slept ; and, after lying dormant for a whole year, it suddenly awoke, the instant that a pretence of justice was afforded to his wrath, by the miscon- duct of him who had been so severely exact in his allowance to the king. At the general assembly pf the people, called the Champ de Mars, when, by old custom, all the warriors of the nation presented themselves before the monarch, to show that their arms and equipments were kept bright and in good condition, the young soldier who had struck the vase appeared, with evident signs of negligence in the state of his weapons. The king paused before him with a frowning brow, remarked the slothful careless- ness evinced in his rusted arms ; and catching his battle-axe from his hand, cast it down upon the ground disdainfully, exclaiming, " None show them- selves here with such ill-ordered arms as thine. Thy * Flodoard, cap. xiii, HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 41 lance, thy sword, thy battle-axe, are all disgraceful to a soldier." The young* man stooped in silence to pick up his axe, but, as he did so, Clovis, with a blow of his weapon (called a francisque), smote him to the ground never to rise again, crying, " So didst thou strike the vase at Soissons !" The true motive of the blow spoke out in the words that accompanied it ; but, as he had refrained when the offence was given, and retaliated not till justice was joined with ven- geance, his followers admired rather than murmured, and saw nothing in their barbarous leader but a chief who knew equally well when to bear and when to punish. A modern people would have looked deeper ; but the separation of motives from actions is the art of a much more refined nation than that of which I write. Pursuing steadily his ambitious purposes, Clovis went on from conquest to conquest. At first, the dominions which he had won from the Romans seemed to have bounded his designs towards the south ; and we find the scene of all his wars, for the first fifteen years of his reign, in the northern and western parts of Gaul, on the banks of the Wahl and the Rhine. Even passing those rivers, he subdued part of the country beyond ; and, in the midst of such continual struggles for increase of territory, his marriage took place with Clotilda, niece of Gondi- bert King of Burgundy, a circumstance which affected his fortunes more than any of his victories Not that Clotilda brought him any fresh possessions for she seems to have had no dower but her beauty and her virtue. She was a Christian, however ; and, with the zeal of love and conviction, she endeavoured incessantly to inspire her own faith into the bosom of her husband. For long the monarch resisted all her entreaties, and there were indeed many obstacles * Flodoard. ; Greg. Tur. D2 42 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. to his conversion. The people he commanded were fervent idolaters, and it might be dangerous and difficult to stand among them alone in a new reli- gion. Under his nation's gods, he had fought and conquered ; and we must not, in our own imagina- tions, endow Clovis with a spirit so much superior to his age, as not to be affected by superstitions then common to all men of all creeds. The very manner of his conversion was super- stitious, and, if I may make use of the term, heathen. After resisting for years the solicitations of Clotilda, the monarch, on seeing his army giving way in every direction before the Germans at the battle of Tolbaic, — now Zulpich, near Cologne, — suddenly addressed a prayer to his wife's God, vowing to abandon all other gods, if he would yield him the victory. As he spoke the Franks rallied, — the Germans were defeated ; and Clovis, beholding a miracle in his rapid change of fortune, determined to adhere to the vow he had made in the time of danger. On considering this event, I was inclined at first to suppose, that Clovis, perceiving the great influence of the Catholic clergy, and how much they might aid him in the schemes of Conquest that he medi- tated, had embraced their faith upon political motives ; and that the superstitious historians of the day had decorated his conversion with a miracle. This hypothesis, though specious, and yielded, I own, with reluctance, will not bear closer observation ; for if we take care to avoid the common error of looking at events characterized by the spirit of a different age through the medium of modern feelings and manners, we shall find that, unless we attribute to Clovis extended views and schemes of policy far beyond any recorded of those times, the motives for his conversion to the Christian faith must remain as they are stated by the historians, — the solicitations of his wife, acting upon superstitious feelings com- mon to the age, and enforced by an extraordinary HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 43 coincidence, at a moment of danger and excite- ment. Nevertheless, the act of embracing the Christian religion at a time when his whole people were heathens, — when all the independent tribes of his own nation, and the kings that governed them, were in the daily habit of destroying the temples and per- secuting the ministers of that doctrine which he was about to receive, — was a bold and a great measure ; and, joined with the success that accompanied it, showed a mind, however uncivilized, powerful in itself, and confident in its own powers. It was not* without some examination that Clovis professed the faith, nor without precaution in regard to his people. After having listened attentively to the eloquent predication of St. Remi, he declared himself satisfied, and ready to receive baptism ; but, at the same time, he assembled his army, and com- municated to them his design. It is more than probable that the troops were already aware of the intentions of the king, and that means had been used to induce them to follow his example, for three thousand of the most illustriousf persons of his army instantly avowed their willing- ness to abandon the idols of their forefathers, and to embrace the doctrine of salvation. This number was sufficient, though the greater part of the army still remained obstinately heathens. The first stone was laid — the conversion of his people begun — and Clovis trusted for the rest to time, and his own powers of mind. Easter being near when this occurrence took place, that festival was appointed for the ceremony of baptizing the newly converted monarch and his followers ; and a strange and interesting sight it must have been, to see the splendid barbarians, who con- quered, not only the Romans, but the conquerors of * Flodoard, cap. xiii ; Greg. Tur. lib. ii. t Orderic. Vital, lib. i ; Greg Tur. ; Flodoard. 44 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. Rome, present themselves at the altar of God, to solicit pardon in the name of the divine teacher of peace and good-will. The account of the baptism of Clovis, as given by Flodoard, and confirmed by the still earlier account of Gregory of Tours, is curious in various points of view. In the first place, it shows the high pitch of power, of boldness, and of wealth to which the Church of Rome had, even then, arrived ; and it puts in strong contrast therewith the barbarous simplicity of the Frankish king. On the morning appointed for the ceremony, we read, that " The streets, from the dwelling of the monarch to the cathedral, were decorated, and hung with fine linen and rich carpets ; tapestry and white vails were suspended from the portals of the church ; a thousand perfumed tapers filled the temple with both odour and light ; and the people, in an atmo- sphere of balm, imagined that they breathed already the air of Paradise." At the hour determined, the procession set out from the palace, commenced by the clergy, bearing in pomp the holy evangelists, with banners and crosses, and singing the hymns and can- ticles of the church. Next appeared St. Remi, leading the royal convert by the hand, accompanied by the queen and the monarch's sister, with an immense multitude of the most distinguished Franks, eager to follow the example of their chief. As they proceeded onwards towards the cathedral, Clovis, struck with the splendid ceremonial of the Roman church, which had been displayed in all its full magnificence to honour his baptism, turned to the prelate, and betrayed the state of his religious knowledge by asking, if what he saw were the king- dom of God which had been promised to him. " No," replied St. Remi ; " it is but the beginning of the road which conducts thither." The king then entered the church, and approached the baptismal font, when the bishop, with a burst of that impas- HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 45 sioned eloquence for which he was celebrated, exclaimed, with a loud voice, — "Bend thy head humbly, Sicamber, before thy God ! Destroy that which thou hast adored ! Adore that which thou hast destroyed !" After this bold address, he took the monarch's profession of faith, gave him baptism, and received him into the Christian church,* baptiz- ing at the same time the warriors who followed the king to the font, as well as an immense number of women and children. His conversion to the Christian religion had, as I have already said, an immense influence upon the fate of Clovis. The clergy of the Roman church, thickly spread over every part of Gaul, without excepting' the dominions of Aquitaine and Burgundy, had already courted the Franks, even when governed by a heathen monarch ; but now that he professed the same faith with themselves, they spared neither exertions nor intrigues to facilitate the progress of his conquests. It does not enter into the plan of this Introduction, which necessarily must be as brief as is consistent with perspicuity, to follow the reign even of the founder of the French monarchy through all its cir- cumstances; suffice it, that in a short time the event of several wars left the Franks masters of the whole of that part of Gaul situated within the Rhone, the Rhine, the ocean, and the Loire. In Burgundy their warfare had been successful, but not advantageous. They had gained battles, but acquired no territory ; and though their policy had been conducted with much barbarous art, it bad proved as fruitless as their victories. Clovis then turned hisdesigns against Aquitaine, and, after several years of preparation befitting so great an enterprise as the conquest of that vast tract of country lying between the Loire and Pyrenees, he put himself at * Flodoard. ; Greg. Tur. 46 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. the head of his army, and marched directly towards Poictiers.* In the neighbourhood of that city, Alaric, King of the Visigoths, who had collected an immense army in Spain, and crossed the Pyrenees with as hostile intentions towards Clovis as those which Clovis entertained towards him, had paused in his advance, to wait the arrival of Theodoric the Great, and the Goths of Italy. With such a powerful ally, joined to his own over- whelming forces, it is probable that Alaric doubted as little of success as the monarch of the Franks. The stake for which they played was great, — no less than the empire of the whole of Gaul. Each had much to lose, and each had much to win ; and each cast his whole power upon the chance. But though the troops of the Franks are said to have been inferior in number, they possessed, in •other respects, great advantages over the Goths. A long series of wars, with scarcely an interval of peace, had rendered them firm, hardy, and skilful ; and a long series of victories, without a check, had given them confidence in themselves, and in their leader. If we are to believe the Catholic historians, no miracles were wanting that might encourage Clovis on his march, But having purposely abstained hitherto from citing any of the puerile superstitions with which the clergy of that day either deceived themselves or others, I shall not pause to do so on the present occasion. It is nevertheless difficult to abstain from saying something on the subject, when these pretended miracles, however distinct in object and in nature from the great and glorious manifestations of power that accompanied the di- vine Author of our religion, or even from those which vouched the inspiration of the prophets of * I have found it perfectly impossible to discover with which of the two monarchs the design of invasion and conquest originated. The character of Clovis, however, leads me to attribute it to him. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 47 old, have been too often confounded therewith by the weak, the malicious, and the vain of latter days, for the purpose of sneering at the one while they ridiculed the other. Alaric remained inactive, while Clovis advanced with rapidity; and thus the Goths lost and the Franks gained the great advantage of being the attacking party. The two armies met on the plains of Vou- gle,* within a few miles of Poictiers, and in a very short space of time the empire of Gaul was decided. The Goths gave way on every side ; and, though Alaric made the most immense exertions to conquer fortune, and win the great stake for which he strove, the route of his troops was soon complete. Both monarchs fought in person, like common soldiers ; and it is said that they met hand to hand in the battle, when Alaric fell beneath the sword of his rival. The death of their king rendered the confusion of the Goths irremediable. They fled from the field in every direction. The fallen monarch's son, with what forces he could collect, retired into Spain, where he succeeded to the throne of that country; while Clovis, with his victorious army, marched on through the territories which the Goths had pos- sessed in Gaul, and subjected the whole land to the sway of the Franks. The Pyrenees became now the southern boundary of Clovis's dominion, and the kingdom of France may be said to have begun. The Frankish king had yet rivals to subdue in the heart of his kingdom. I have already mentioned the various tribes of the nation which inhabited the north of France, and pointed out, that though they seemed, by prescription, to consider the chief of the Sicam- bri as the head of the confederate nation, yet each was governed by its own monarch, and probably by * See Note I. 48 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. its own laws, of which we have instances in the Salique law, and the Loi ripuaire* It was not, however, to be supposed that an am- bitious warrior like Clovis, who had conquered all that opposed him, and extended his dominions in such an immense proportion, would leave the petty chieftains of his race — over whom he had risen so high by victory and genius — in tranquil possession of the territories which they held parcelled out through his kingdom. To seize upon their lands was an injustice ; but it was an injustice so common in the age, that it followed as a matter of course ; and the only choice seemed to be in the manner of performing it. Clovis, following the bent of his natural disposition, selected, in all instances, the most sure means of obtaining his object, without at all considering whether it was cruel, or whether it was base. *Each of the German nations, as they advanced and became fixed in any part of the ancient territories of Rome, introduced its own laws, and the Franks, who eventually rendered themselves masters of the whole of Gaul, of course brought their own codes along with them. These multifarious judicial systems naturally created great confusion, and might have been made dreadfully oppressive to the vanquished inhabit- ants of the country. But it is a singular fact, that such was the broad and general feeling of justice among the very barbarians whose sole right to legislate in those provinces was the right of unjust conquest, that they almost universally suffered the conquered people to be judged by their own laws. In the traces of legislation which each of the bar- barous nations has left behind it, we find the general principle more or less admitted, that the parties in any cause could claim their national code. There were, of course, various modifications ; and the exact mode of adapting the principle to particular cases does not seem to me to be clearly ascertained, notwithstanding the learned, laborious, and acute investigations of Savigny. It would appear, however, that in most civil causes, the defendant-had the right of choosing whether he would be judged by his own law, or by that of his rulers ; but in criminal cases, in general, the law of the injured person was followed. The church, with very few exceptions, claimed the Roman law. After the entire subju- gation of Gaul by the Franks, it appears, that though the party having the right of choice might make his election between his own national code and that of his conquerors, he could shelter himself under the laws of no other tribe. The subject, however, is very obscure. It may be found discussed at large, with talent, ingenuity, and research, in the translation of Savigny's History of the Roman Law in the Middle Ages, with the learned notes of Mr. Cathcart. HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 49 Sometimes he advanced to his purpose of over- throwing his kindred kings, with the boldest, some- times with the most artful, steps ; but the termina- tion was ever bloody and barbarous. In one in- stance he incited the son to murder the father, and then himself caused the assassination of the son.* In another, he stirred up the Leudes, or Companions of the King of Cambray against their sovereign ; and when, after an ineffectual struggle, the unhappy mon- arch was seized by his army and given up with his brother to their barbarous relation, Clovis slew them both with his own hand, saying they were a disgrace to his family for suffering themselves to be chained ; adding, that it was better to die than en- dure ignominy. Thus, having found means, by the slaughter of all his kindred, to annex their domin- ions to his own, the monarch of the French, who had begun life but the chieftain of a barbarous tribe, found himself, in the prime of his manhood, the sovereign of one of the richest and most extensive kingdoms of the world. What plans he would have formed to secure and improve his conquests, and to what uses he would have applied his power, had his life been extended to the usual period allotted to man, it is impossible to say. From the means he employed to acquire, however, it is probable that his measures of security would have been bloody and remorseless. But, at the same time, we may fairly presume that he would have used the immense authority he had so cruelly obtained, for the general good of his subjects and the benefit of his succes- sors, both from the instances of wisdom he evinced in the collection and publication of the Salique law, — certainly one of the best and most comprehensive of the barbarous codes, — and from the influence he exercised over the council of Orleans, which founded the liberties of the Gallic church. * In the caae of Sigebert, King of the Ripuarian Franks of Cologne. E 50 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. That he was famous among even the people of his age, when rumour and fame had not, as in the present day, wings as rapid as the wind, may easily be judged from the fact of the Emperor Anastasius having bestowed on him consular honours, and sent him the purple. That he was great, his conquests and his acquisitions announce sufficiently. But that he was happy in his fame, or secure in his greatness, is more than doubtful. To the last day of his life, his mind seems to have been tormented with fears of rivalry ; and he is reported to have complained to his assembled people, after having destroyed all his kindred, that he remained, like a traveller among strangers, having no relation to succour him if ad- versity should arise. " Not that he was sorry for their death," says the Bishop of Tours, with em- phatic simplicity ; "he spoke thus only from cun- ning, that he might discover if he had any relations still living, to the end that he might kill them." I translate the words almost literally ; and they are those of one of his eulogists. Could such a man be happy 1 No. It was time for him to die ; and he expired at Paris in the forty- fifth year of his age, five years after the overthrow of Alaric. It unfortunately remains a fact, notwithstanding all that has been said on the subject, that a monarch who is by no means a good man may be a very good king. To be really great, he must be both. Clovis had many of the requisites for greatness ; but not the whole. His higher qualities and his brighter talents were those least to be expected from his situation. His vices were those of a barbarian. Cruel, cunning, remorseless ; he was the northern savage endowed with power. Clear-sighted, tem- perate, firm, — with grand purposes, extensive views,, and steadiness of execution, he was worthy of a better age. All laws are apparently susceptible of a division HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 51 into two great classes. The first embraces those laws which — instituted to provide against cases that may or may not happen, or may be qualified by various accessory circumstances — must ever be more or less vague, undefined, and varying, accord- ing to the varying circumstances of society. The second is that class of laws by which certain events are regulated that must necessarily occur in the course of nature ; and which, consequently, may be provided against by clear and established rules, in every nation, according to its wants and situation. Of this last class are the laws respecting the suc- cession to kingdoms and inheritances; but, of course, it is not in the infancy of a nation that great preci- sion can be given to rules, even concerning inevi- table events ; and accordingly, we find, during the reign of the first race of French monarchs, very little regularity obtaining in respect to the transmission of the sceptre. Indeed, the only absolute law upon this point, acting invariably during their dynasty, seems to have been that article of the Salique code by which women are excluded from inheritance. At the death of Clovis, his four sons succeeded him, and parted among them that kingdom which it had been the business of his life to unite. It is not, however, my purpose to trace here the tedious series of the Merovingian kings. It is sufficient for my present object to mark three circumstances of interest in their history ; namely, the first appli- cation of the Salique law in the succession to the throne, — the first shadowy outline of a Court of Peers, — and the rise and progress of that im- mense power, which converted the maires of the palace into kings. It may not be unnecessary, however, to pause for one brief moment on the general state of the coun- try. The population, which covered the face of Gaul, was now more mixed and confused than ever; consisting, however, of two distinct bodies. One 52 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. of these, the Franks, was indeed pure and separate from the allay of any foreign blood ; and, already pos- sessing all civil and military power, was gradually advancing to the appropriation of all lands and ter- ritorial privileges. The other consisted of a thou- sand different races, — the original Gauls forming a great proportion. With these were the descend- ants of the Romans, their conquerors ; the Leti,* and other nations to whom the Romans had apportioned various parts of the Gallic province ; several tribes of Goths, such as the Taifali,f who had submitted after the defeat of Alaric; Saxons, Huns, Germans; and, in short, portions of all the swarms of barbarians that had aided to dismember the falling empire of Rome. These, however, exclusive of the Armori- cans, constituted but one class, — the conquered; and for them the choice of but two sorts of fate was open, — the church or slavery.^ There were excep- tions, but exceptions prove nothing against a gene- ral rule. Even before their emigration from Germany, in common with the rest of the German tribes, each nation of Franks^ was distinguished by two grades, or classes, in their society. The common bulk of the nation formed the first; but from these were selected a number of persons, called by the name of leudes, or fideles. Probably, in the first in- stance, they were but the voluntary warriors who accompanied the chief of their tribe upon any of his warlike expeditions.! They grew into more im- portance, however, as the nation acquired territo- rial possessions ; tracts of land were assigned them, as the recompense for their services ; and an oath was exacted from them,^[ on their admission to the *Ammian. Mareelin. tOreg. Tur. J The conquerors claimed as an undeniable right two-thirds of the whole soil ; and frequently usurped the rest. $ Tacit, de mor. Ger. lib. xiii. || Montesquieu, Esp. des Lois, 1. xxxiii. cap. 16. ft Marculfus, Formul. lib. i. form. 18.- HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. 53 order, which, accompanied as it was by various sol- emn ceremonies, would seem the origin of feudal investiture. Although persons were no longer elevated to the station of leudes by talents and courage alone, under the successors of Clovis the order still continued. It is very difficult to say, though we find them often mentioned in history, what were the duties, and what the privileges, of these leudes. Certain it is, that their prerogatives were not hereditary be- fore the year 695 ; and whatever services they, by their oath, promised to the monarch, it appears that he, in return, gave them especial protection. The Salique law calls them Homines qui sunt in truste re- gis ; and the formula of Marculfus mentions, that six hundred sous, then an immense sum, was the penalty for killing one of the anstrustions — a title I believe to have had the same signification with leudes * At all events, it is clear that we have here an order of nobility ; and it is little less clear that this order has proceeded gradually, with various changes, but without intermission, to the present day. I have said this much from a belief, that to trace institu- tions and to mark each step in the progress of so- ciety can never be uninteresting to the reader or the writer. On the same principle I shall also pause to remark, that during the reign of Clovis the arts and manufactures of the Romans became more familiar to the Franks. Their works in gold and silver we find carried to a very high pitch of perfection prior to the days of Charlemagne ;f and from the pro- gress of the surperfluous and ornamental arts we *See Guizot, Essais sur l'Histoire, ?'.- Bertha— Coronation of his Father— His early Education unknown— Is sent to welcome Stephen II. on his Arrival in France — The Cause of the Pope's Journey — The Oppression of the Lombards — Pepin resolves to defend the Romans— Demands that the Pope should repeat his Coronation — Charlemagne is crowned with his Father— First Conquest of Lombardy by Pepin— Union of the Exarchate and Pentapolis to Rome— Second Conquest of Lombardy — War in Aquitaine— Death of Remistan — Death of Pepin— Pepin com- pared with Charles Martsl. The precise birthplace of the greatest man of the middle ages is unknown ;* neither have any records come down to us of his education, nor any particu- lars of those early years which are generally orna- mented by the imagination of after biographers, eve- i when the subject of their writing has left his infancy in obscurity. Eginhard, who possessed the best means of know- ledge, frankly avows that he was himself ignorant ;f and the manuscript of a contemporary author,! whose * The Monk of St. Gall implies that Aix-la-Chapelle was the birth place of Charlemagne.— Lib. i cap. 30. t Eginhard, in Vit. Caroli Magni, cap. 4. j The preface to the First Book of the Deeds of Charlemagne, by the Monk of St. Gall, is lost. G 74 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. propensity to anecdote gives a value to his details which neither the style of his composition nor the accuracy of his statements could bestow, is defect- ive in that part which might have afforded some infoimation, iiowever vague, regarding the youth of Charlemagne. The year of his birth, however, as ascertained by computation from other data, seems undoubtedly to have been A. D. 742, about seven years before his father, Pepin the Brief, assumed the name of king. His mother was Bertha,* daughter of Charibert Count of Laon ; and concerning her early union with Pepin a thousand pleasant fables have supplied the place of all accurate information. Although one of the papal epistles to Charlemagnef insinuates that Pepin at one time contemplated a separation from Bertha, for the purpose of marrying another woman, it is evident that she was loved and honoured by her husband, from the fact of her having shared in the new and solemn spectacle by which Pepin attempted to consecrate, in the eyes of the people, his usurpa- tion of the supreme authority. To the forms usually observed on the accession of a new monarch of the Franks, Pepin added various ceremonies which had never before been used in Gaul. Among these, the ' most striking, from its novelty, was the unction which had been instituted for the kings of Israel, and which was readily per- formed for the Frankish usurper by the famous Boni- face, Archbishop of Metz. In all the solemnities which dignified the elevation of her husband Bertha was a partaker ; and many have been the laborious struggles of historians to discover, or invent, various complex and political motives for so very natural an .occurrence ; but it would seem, that the simple desire * Annates Bertiniani, ann.747. t Codex Carolinus, Epibt. .\lv. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 75 of distinctly marking: that his personal elevation to the royal station implied the elevation of his whole family, and the permanence of the kingly office in his race, was the sole view of the new sovereign of the Franks. The influence which she exercised over her hus- band, and the reverence which her children always displayed towards her, render it probable that to Bertha herself was intrusted the early education of Charlemagne. Still it is greatly to be regretted that we do not possess any details of the tuition under which the mind of that prince put forth, between infancy and manhood, those grand and splendid qualities which, hidden in the darkness that overhangs his youth, shine out immediately on his accession to the throne, like the rising of a tropical day, which, we are told, bursts forth at once in its splendour, unannounced by the slow progress of the dawning twilight. Nevertheless, although nothing is known of the minute particulars either of his domestic instruction or his early habits, there was a grander species of education to which he was subject, and of which we have better means of judging : T mean the education of circumstances. It is a common influence of troublous times, not alone to bring forward, but to form, great intellect. The familiarity with scenes of danger and excitement — the early exercise of thought upon great and difficult subjects — the habit of sup- porting, encountering, and vanquishing, the very proximity of mighty schemes and mighty changes, must necessarily give expansion, vigour, and activity to every faculty of the mind, as much as robust exercises and habitual hardships strengthen and improve the body. In the midst of such uncertain and eventful times, and surrounded by such grand and animating circumstances, was passed the youth of Charlemagne ; and though we cannot discover 76 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. whether paternal or maternal care afforded the means of cultivating his intellect or directing his pursuits, to a mind naturally great and comprehensive, like his own, the world was a sufficient school — the events by which he was surrounded sufficient instructers. The first act* performed before his eyes was the consummation of all his ancestors' ambitious glory, by the mighty daring of his own father :f and this instance of the ease with which great deeds are achieved by great minds was a practical lesson and a powerful incitement. The firstj act of his own life — a task which com- bined both dignity and beneficence- -was to meet, as deputy for his father, the suppliant chief of the Roman church, and to conduct him with honour to the monarch's presence. The event in which he thus took part, and which afterward affected the current of his whole existence, originated in the unhappy state of Rome, which I have before slightly noticed, and in the continual and increasing pressure of the Lombards upon that unstable republic which had arisen in Italy, after its separation from the empire of the East. The second and third Gregory had in vain implored the personal succour^ of Charles Martel to defend the Roman territory from the hostile designs of their encroaching neighbours ; and Zach- arias, who had succeeded to the authority and diffi- culties of those two pontiffs, had equally petitioned Pepin for some more effectual aid than remonstrances sddressed to the dull ear of ambition, and menaces which began to be despised. * A. D.752. Chron. Fredigar. cap. cxix. t Various dates are given by the best authorities in regard to these events. The elevation of Pepin is stated to have taken place in 749 by some, in 752 by others ; but 1 am inclined to believe, that though the pope's sanction was demanded in 749-50, the coronation of the new monarch did not really take place till March, 752, notwithstanding the positive assertion of Eginhard. t A. D. 754. $ Muratori, Rer. Script. Italic. ; Codex Carolinus HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 77 Under Stephen, who followed Zacharias, and ascended the papal chair soon after the elevation of Pepin to the sovereign power, the danger of Rome became still more imminent ; for Astolphus, the Lombard king, contemning alike the threats of an avenger who did not appear, and the exhortations of a priest who had no means of resistance, imposed an immense tribute on the citizens of Rome, and prepared to enforce the payment by arms.* But by this time the popes or bishops of Rome had estab- lished a stronger claim upon the rulers of France than that which they had formerly possessed. The instability of Pepin's title to the crown had made him eager to add a fictitious authority to the mutable right of popular election ; and having, as we have before seen, joined to the voice of the people the sanction of the pope, he divided between two a debt which might have been dangerous or burdensome while in the hands of one. By this means, however, he gave to the Roman pontiffs a claim and a power ; and Stephen now resolved to exert it in the exigence of his country. In the moment of immediate danger, when Rome was threatened by hostile armies, and her fields swept by invading barbarians, the prelate, with a worthy boldness, set out from the ancient queen of empires, as a suppliant,! determined to apply, first for justice and immunity at the court of Astolphus, the King of the Lombards, and, in case of rejection, then for protection and vengeance at the hands of the new monarch of the Franks. Astolphus was deaf to all petitions, and despised all threats. Ravenna had fallen, and Rome he had determined to subdue. But the pope pursued his way in haste ; and, traversing the Alps, set his foot with joy on the territories of a friend and an ally. The French monarch was then returning from one * Codex Carolin. ; Chron. Fredigar. ; Ann. Eginhard. t Annales Mettens, A. D. 754. G2 78 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. of his victorious expeditions* against the Saxons ; and the messengers from Stephen met him on the banks of the Moselle. The most common of all accusations against the human heart, and, I might add, against the human mind, is ingratitude. But in an uncivilized state of society, where rights are less protected, and man- kind depend more on the voluntary reciprocation of individual benefits and assistance than on fixed rules and a uniform government, the possession of such emotions as gratitude and generosity would seem to be more necessarily considered as a virtue, and the want of them more decidedly as a crime, than in periods or in countries where the exertions of each man is sufficient for his own support, and the law is competent to the protection of all. Besides a feeling of obligation towards the Roman pontiffs, which the new sovereign did not hesitate a moment to acknowledge and obey, the call of the pope was perfectly consonant to Pepin's views and disposition, as a man, a king, and a warrior. To welcome the Bishop of Rome, therefore, the mon- arch instantly despatched his eldest son Charles, then scarcely twelve years of age, and every honour was paid to the head of the Catholic church that reverence or gratitude could inspire. f This is the first occasion on which we find Charle- magne mentioned in history ; but the children of the Franks were trained in their very early years to robust and warlike exercises ; and there is every reason to believe that great precocity, both of bodily r ' * Chron. Fredigar. Continuat. ; Ann. Eginhard, 753. t The honours shown to the pontiff on his arrival are made the most of by the after historians of the popes. Amalricus describes the event as follows :— " Cui venienti Pippinus cum magna militia occurrit, et ipse statim de suo equo descendit in terram, et postea per spatium trium mil- liariorum vice ac modo stratoris, cum magna humilitate et devotione, exstitit in terra postratus."— Mutator. Rer. Script. Hal. torn. ii. A cor- rupt extravagance, expressed in barbarous language, and written for the purpose of magnifying the antiquity of the papal power. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 79 and mental powers, fitted the prince for the office which was intrusted to him by his father. From the distinction with which Pepin received the prelate, and from the bold and candid character of that monarch, little doubt can exist that he at once determined to protect the Roman state from the exacting monarch of the Lombards, by the effectual and conclusive interposition of arms. The King of the Franks, however, had still something- to demand at the hands of the pope ;* and the remon- strance of Astolphus, who pleaded hard by his en- voys against the proposed interference, raised Pepin to the character of umpire and judge, enhanced the value of his mediation, and gave him a claim, not likely to be rejected, for some return on the part of Stephen. In regard to many of the particular circumstances of this time contemporary historians are silent ; and Anastasius, who lived at a later period, when the papal power had obtained in a great measure the ascendency which it so long possessed, is so evidently incorrect in regard to several of the numerous details he gives, that great caution is necessary in receiving his account. With those anxious fears for the stability of his authority which must always attend usurpation, Pepin eagerly sought every means of strengthening his title to the throne of France ; and, not content with the pontifical sanction already given, deter- mined on obtaining from the pope, during his visit of supplication, some new act of recognition and consecration. On a positive pre miscf of aid from the monarch of the Franks, Stephen formally ab- solved him for the breach of his oath of allegiance to Childeric; and repeated the ceremony of his * The manner in which Eginhard describes this transaction gives it, I am sorry to say, somewhat the air of a bargain. See Annal. Eginhard, ann. 754. t Annal. Eginhard, ann. 754. 80 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. coronation in the church of St. Denis. Nor were precautions wanting to guard against any future exercise of the same popular power which had snatched the crown from one monarch, and bestowed it on another. The pope launched his anathema at all those who should attempt to deprive the Carlo- vingian line of the throne they had assumed ; and Charles* and Carloman, the two sons of Pepin, were crowned together with their parents by the hands of the Roman pontiff. As he had chosen by the papal sanction to prop his authority, originally raised upon the sandy found- ation of popular election, the French monarch was of course moved by every principle of prudence, as well as by the remembrance of his promise, to strengthen and support the Roman church. Almost immediately on the arrival of the pope, Pepin de- spatched messengers to Astolphus, requiring him to abandon his demands upon the city of Rome,f and to cease his aggressions on the Roman territory. Astolphus refused to comply ; but, as he well knew the power of the Frankish nation, he sought to avert the storm which threatened him before he prepared to encounter it. Carloman, the brother of Pepin, who had resigned his inheritance in France, aban- doned the world, and sought the best desire of hu- man nature, peace, in the shade of the cloister, was at that time dwelling in a monastery within the * Afterward called Charlemagne by the easy corruption of Carolus Magnus " The appellation of Great,'" says Gibbon, " has often been bestowed, and sometimes deserved ; but Charlemagne is the only prince in whose favour the title has been indissolubly blended with the name." t Monsieur Gaillard, by following Anastasius, and other writers of an after period, has confused the events, and has given a specious theory, instead of historical fact. He represents Carloman as willingly and eagerly opposing his brother's views, and makes the embassy to the King of the Lombards subsequent to the meeting of the Champ de Mars. The continuators of Fredigarins, however, who wrote by the direction and under the eye of Childebrand the uncle, and Nibelung the first cousin of Pepin, declare, that the monarch despatched messengers to Astolphus the year of the pope's arrival ; and Eginhard represents Carloman as acting against his own will. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 81 limits of the Lombard dominions. The eye of Astol- phus immediately fell upon him as a fit messenger to his brother ; and he was compelled by the orders of his abbot* to journey into France, and to oppose at the court of the French monarch the wishes and designs of the pontiff. A custom, which must be more particularly no- ticed hereafter, existed at this time among the Franks, of determining upon war or peace at the great assembly of the nation in what was called a Champ de Mars ; and though the maires of the pala.ce had frequently violated this ancient institution, Pe- pin, who courted popularity, called upon his people, in almost all instances, to sanction any warfare he was about to undertake. In the present case, where greater and more im- portant interests were involved, he did not fail to add the consent of the nation to his own determina- tion ; and, at the Champ de Mars, held after his coronation, he announced to the nobles of the land his resolution of defending Rome from her enemies by force of arms. In the same assembly, his brother Carlomanf is said to have remonstrated publicly against this purpose ; but the assertion is founded on the faith of after historians, whose evidence is doubtful, if not inadmissible. In the dim obscurity which hangs over these far ages the more important facts only appear distinct ; and those which are clearly known, in regard to the transactions of which we speak, are simply! that the nobles of France concurred completely in the views of the king, and that Pepin marched with an immense army towards the frontiers of Italy ; leaving Bertha his wife,§ and * Eginhard Annates, ami. 753. t The writer who makes this statement does not cite his authorities on these points ; but probably he derived his views from Anastasius, and from the Annals of Metz, both of which works were composed consider- ably after the period of the transactions referred to. X Chron. Fredigar. Contin. § Annal. Eginhard, ann. 755. 82 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. Carloman his brother, at Vienne,* in Dauphiny, where Carloman died before the monarch's return from his Italian expedition. The Lombards, warned of the approaching inva- sion, immediately occupied the passes of that moun- tain barrier which nature has placed for the defence of the Italian peninsula. A battle was fought among the hills ; the Lombards were defeated ; and the Franks poured down into the ancient territories of the Romans. Pepin marched* forward with that bold celerity which distinguished all his race ; and at once laid siege to Pavia, within the walls of which Astolphus had taken refuge. The war was carried on by the Franks with all the unsparing ac- tivity of a barbarous nation : and, while the Lombard capital was invested on all sides, bands of plunderers were spread over the country to ravage, pillage, and destroy.f Astolphus at length submitted to the power he was in no condition to resist ; and, opening a nego- tiation with Pepin, he agreed to yield the exarchate and the Pentapolis, which the monarch of the Franks had pledged himself to reannex to the terri- tories of Rome. Forty distinguished hostages were given to ensure the performance of the treaty ; and Pepin retired from Italy, satisfied that he had com- pelled the restitution of possessions which had been unjustly withheld. Perhaps the most important point of discussion * The Annals of Eginhard — the authenticity of which has never been doubted but by theorists who had some doctrine to maintain opposed to the facts which they furnish — never hint that Pepin forcibly confined his brother, as subsequent authors have asserted. That writer positively states that Carloman remained behind with Viertha his sister-in-law, left at Vienne by Pepin on his march. The continuators of Fredigarius offer collateral testimony, though they do not mention Carloman, stating that Pepin took his way to Lombardy by Vienne. A long history of Car- loman's ill usage and death has been put forth by various authors, which is much more akin to fable than to fact, and is in no degree upheld by that only. certain support, contemporary authority, which uniformly repre- sents the disease of which Carloman died as a fever. t t Chron. Fred i gar. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 83 in the history of the middle ages is now before us, and one in regard to which a greater variety of dif- ferent opinions has been offered and maintained than any other question has elicited. The formal and distinct connexion of the exarchate of Ravenna and the territories of the Pentapolis with the Roman domains forms the basis of the temporal throne of the popes, and consequently has been a subject of warm contestation in all i f s parts, between the friends and the enemies of the Romish church. It is neither necessary nor fitting here to state even the most prominent of the many conclusions to which authors have come upon this question : nor to endeavour to refute errors or correct mistakes further than by a simple statement of the ascertained facts, and a few deductions from them. When Italy threw off the dominion of the empe- rors of the East, its language was more submissive than its actions ; and the authority of the empire was acknowledged long after its aims were resisted, and its power was at an end. As some iort of gov- ernment, however, was absolutely necessary, the Romans, as I have already stated, recalled many of the forms of the old republic,* and though tacitly submitting to their popes, or bishops, who led, coun- selled, and protected them, they still, as a senate and people, named their own governors, and intrusted that portion of their freedom which they were obliged to sacrifice for defence to whomsoever their own wisdom or necessities might dictate. f The * See all thehir: viansand Mialists of that age, collected by Muratori. Each ill turn speaks of the senate and people of Rome. t The popes, though possessing great influence with the people of Rome, — sufficient lostopihe payment of tribute to the emperors, — never pretended to independent sovereignty till a much later period. Anasta- sius himself, though most anxious to magnify the papal power, declares that Gregory II. prevented the Roman people from violating the faith and duty they owed to the emperor; and long after the virtual separa'h: 1 . of Italy from the dominion of Constantinople, the popes continued to date their letters in the year and reign of the monarchs whose spiritual authority they had cast off" Anastasius also shows that Stephen applied 84 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. office of exarch, which had been instituted by the emperors for the government of their Italian prov- inces, was still continued by the Roman people as a means of obtaining protection ; and the persons who filled it were by them elected under the names, which had become synonymous, of exarch or patrician.* By fraud or violence, and probably by both, the Lombards, who had first armed in defence of the Romans against the emperors, took possession of Ravenna and its dependencies ;f but the popes never ceased to claim that territory, originally in behalf of the Roman people, and ultimately in the name of the Roman church. The rulers of the Franks, beginning with Charles Martel, had been successively elected by the senate and people of Rome to the post of patrician,;}; or exarch ; and, consequently, were bound, by the fact of accepting that office, to maintain the integrity of the Roman territory. Pepin, therefore, in his ex- pedition against Astolphus, was only fulfilling one of the duties of the exarchonate, and reannexed the recovered tract to the rest of the appendages of Rome, rather as an act of restitution, than of do- nation. As the separation of Italy from the em- pire of the East had originated in an ecclesiastical dispute, the interests of the state became identified with that of the church. Gradually, in after ages, the popes acquired the supreme power over the whole territory ; and, anxious to find a title of more weight than mere possession, they assumed that the act of Pepin was the gift of a province, conquered to the Emperor Constantine V. in the first place, before he solicited the aid of Pepin. The whole question is keenly discussed in the historical dissertation of Le Blanc, who, with a touch of party prejudice, combines considerable vigour of intellect and depth of research. * Ducange, Glossary ; Muratori Annali. tPaulus Diaconus; Anastasius, in Vit. Stephan. III. t Codex Carolinus ; Liber Pontif.; Epit. Chron. Casinensium; Chron. Fredigar. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 85 by the Frankish king, directly bestowed upon the see of Rome, rather than a successful campaign of the exarch for the recovery of a province belonging to the republic* They afterward attempted to support this pretence by a supposititious donationf of a part at least of the same district by Constan- tine ; and the pontiffs, in their letters, alluded more and more strongly, as the progress of years ob- scured the memory of realities, to fictitious rights which fictitious gifts had created. Whatever was the nature of Pepin's restoration of the exarchate and Pentapolis, the terms in which it was expressed were verbal ; and even in the famous letter of Pope Adrian to Charlemagne,! wherein he boldly declares the donation of Constantine, which was supposed to have taken place in remote and indistinct times, he touches most tenderly upon those after gifts of the same territory which were subject to immediate examination and refutation. Individual ambition continually defeats its purpose, by hurrying too rapidly towards its object ; but a number of men, in long succession, conducting a *This course of policy was easily pursued. The popes were so much in the habit of speaking in the name of Saint Peter, and mingling the apostle with all matters, whether spiritual or temporal, that the claims they gradually established in his name passed at first tor the mere figura- tive language of the pontifical style. Thus, even Stephen the Second, soon after the victories of Pepin, writes of Desiderius, — Pollicitus est, restitue itdum Beato Pelro civitates, &c — Codex Carol. Epist. viii. Simi- lar expressions are to be found long before, and no proof is thence to be derived that Pepin actually bestowed any territory upon the church, in opposition to the distinct fact of Charlemagne having practically de- nied such a gift, by there exercising the supreme power as patrician even before he was acknowledged as emperor. The only direct authority to establish a gift to the church on the part of Pepin is that of Anas- tasius, the papal scribe, who wrote after the claim had been made, and when refutation was difficult ; but the assertion of a party writer (even were not the archives of Rome notorious for fabrication) cannot be put in opposition to a long series of indisputable facts ; and it can be easily proved that Arfastasius was incorrect in many of his statements, especially concerning the restoration of the cities by Astolpnus, by comparing his account with the letters of the popes. Besides, if Pepin had given the territories, how came Charlemagne to give them over again. t Codex Carolinus, Epist. 49. % Ibid. H 86 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. permanent establishment, in which their own per- sonal interests are entirely merged, often acquire a fearful superiority to those around them, by the calm regularity of their progress in advance, and the pas- sionless caution by which they secure each advan- tage as it is obtained. The march of the papal power was slow and gradual. The exarchate was rean- nexed to Rome ; the pontiffs subsequently chose to believe it bestowed upon the church,* and on that hypothesis founded their temporal dominion, while, by similar means, they extended the limits of their spiritual authority. Nevertheless, events, which will soon come under review, will show that the monarchs of the Franks looked upon the whole transaction in a different light, and considered all the temporal, and part even of the ecclesiastical,! power in the provinces which they had restored to Rome, as still vested in themselves in their quality of patrician, or exarch. J Although the youth of the Frankish nation were often permitted to bear arms at a very early period of life, it does not appear whether Charlemagne did or did not accompany his father in the first expedi- tion against the Lombards. Several years follow, in the records of that period, without mention of the future monarch. During that lapse of time, Pepin again invaded Lombardy,§ in order to enforce the *The Liber Pontificalis, which positively mentions the donation of the exarchate, is decidedly an authority of less value than the Codex Carolinus, inasmuch as the former was preserved in the libraries of the popes alone, where every sort of corrupt interpolation was practicable, and practised. fPaulus Diaconus. 4: It would seem that the Emperor Constantine entertained some hope of inducing Pepin to restore to the Eastern empire the territories he wrested from the Lombards in Italy, and that he sent ambassadors for that purpose to France, bearing various presents, among which an organ is specified.— Fredigar. Contin. §1 have been purposely as brief as possible on all those details, which, though necessarily connected with my subject, do not absolutely form part of the history of Charlemagne. It may be proper to state, however, that the pope solicited the second expedition of Pepin, by several vehe HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 87 execution of the treaty which Astolphus had entered into the year before, and which he had unscrupu- lously broken, as soon as the sword of the Frank was withdrawn from his throat. The Lombard king was again driven to submission, and forced to begin the restitution which was demanded ; but he did not live to complete it ; and after his death, which took place in consequence of a fall from his horse, Desi- derius, who had commanded a part of his troops, was elected King of the Lombards, by the influence and support both of Pepin and the pope,* — a sub- ject of which I must necessarily speak more here- after. In the mean time, Charlemagne continued to advance towards manhood. Successive wars, the fruits of a barbarous and unsettled state of society, where rights were undetermined, and law was in its infancy, afforded a continual school for the acquisi- tion of that military knowledge and that corporeal strength which, in those times, supplied the place of science in government, and talent in command. Early taught by his father all that was then known of warfare as an art, Charlemagne had but too fre- quent opportunities of gaining practical experience. It is more than probable, from the known habits of his nation, that he accompanied his father in most of his campaigns ; but the first occasion on which he is decidedly stated by the chronicles to have fol- lowed the king to any of the many military expedi- ment epistles, filled with a barbarous sort of eloquence, the fruit of anger and fear (Codex Carolinus, Epist. iii iv.). In one of these epistles he boldly assumes the voice of the Apostle Peter; and, with the strange mixture of heavenly and earthly language which this impersonification naturally produced, he exhorts Pepin, Charles, and Carloman to arm in defence of Rome. The apostle addresses his letter to the sovereign of the Franks, and his two sons, " tribus resibvs ;" hut he does not style them patricians, though the follcwin<: letter, it) which Stephen speaks in his own person, contains that appellation. I have attempted to prove, in an after note, that the popes themselves considered the interference of the Frankish monarch merely as their duty as exarchs. * Muratori, Rer. Script. Ital. vol. ii. iii. 88 HISTORY OP CHARLEMAGNE. tions which consumed the reign and the talents of Pepin, was on the renewal of the war with Waifar, Duke of Aquitaine,* whose ambitious turbulence neither clemency could calm nor punishment re- press. This struggle with the Dukes of Aquitaine, which continued with greater or less activity during two hundred years, is. worthy of some attention. At that time, as already remarked, the right of succes- sion was, in most cases, vague and undefined, and in none more so than in the transmission of the crown. Indeed, there are many reasons for be- lieving that the chiefs of the Franks were originally elective,! as was the case also with the Lombards,| and that the royal office became hereditary by the progress of gradual innovation and customary sub- mission. However this might be, it seems clear that the Dukes of Aquitaine had some immediate connexion with the Merovingian kings of France, and some collateral claim upon the throne itself, — the existence of which claim and connexion, has caused much greater disputes among the antiqua- ries of modern times^ than it did among the princes of their own day. It does not appear, in any degree, that this title was put forth, or considered of consequence, in the times to which this book refers. Pepin was seated safely on the throne; the Dukes of Aquitaine are never found to have disputed his right: and their consanguinity with the Merovingian kings would be unworthy attention, were it not necessary to show that they stood in a different relationship to the French monarchs from the other dukes or govern- ors of provinces, and claimed the territory they pos- * Ann. Eginhard, A. D. 761. t Fredigariani Chron. ; Annates Bertiniani. ; Eginhard, in Vit. Carl. Magn. % See Muratori, Dissertat. ; Giannone, Storia Civile ; Paulus Diaco- nus, &c. § Vaissette, Hist, de Languedoc ; La Bruere, Gaillard, &c. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 89 sessed, not indeed as independent sovereigns, but as hereditary, though subordinate, princes, holding their feoff, — or beneficium, as it was called under some circumstances, — not by the will of the reigning mon- arch, but in right of clear descent. On various occasions, the Merovingian kings themselves endeavoured to restrict the power of the Dukes of Aquitaine to the same limits as that enjoyed by the simple governors of a province ; and the charter of Charles the Bald expressly states, many years afterward, that they only possessed the duchy of Aquitaine in the name of the kings of France.* Nevertheless, it is beyond doubt that Dagobert, to end the continual claims of the chil- dren of his brother Charibert, granted to his ne- phews the whole of Aquitaine as 'd perpetual lordship, on condition of tribute and homage ; which is the first clear instance of a direct hereditary feoff.* Standing thus in a position totally different from that of any other of the French nobles of the time, the Dukes of Aquitaine were continually trying the new and unascertained power which they held, against the monarchs by whom it had been con- ceded, and still more frequently against the maires of the palace, who afterward governed in their name.f In the time of Charles Martel, Eudes, Duke of Aquitaine, was constantly in revolt, J whatever phantom king shadowed the Merovingian throne; and all the moderation of the hero of that age could never bind the turbulent prince to his alli- ance, nor all the exercise of his tremendous power, * Aquitanice ducatu pofiti sunt, nomine tamen Francorum regum. t 1 have adopted ihe opinion of Dom. Vaissette, in the greater part of this digression ; though it must be remarked, that the fact of Charibert having had any children except Chilpenc, who was killed in infancy, rests on one authority alone,— that of the charter of Alaon. M. Gaillard, however, is mistaken in representing the concession, of Dagobert in the light of what is called an apanage. 1 Chron. Fredigariam. H2 90 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. awe him to obedience and to peace. Continually defeated, Eudes still rose from his temporary sub- mission, and, the moment that the presence of his conqueror was removed, allied himself to any one who would aid him in the breach of those promises and treaties which fear and necessity had alone ex- torted. Charles, on the contrary, still triumphed and forgave ;* and, although the Duke of Aquitaine had even leagued with the Saracens, at once the enemies of his faith and his country, their defeat was followed by his pardon. After the death of Eudes, the same turbulent spirit descended with the inheritance ; and, though the territories he left were divided between his three sons, the rulers of the French found that the enmity of the Dukes of Aquitaine was transmitted entire. Hunald, who, as eldest of the three, had received Aquitaine for his portion, was soon forced to submit, by Charles Martel, and did homage, not to the kings of France, but to the maire of the palace. Yet the spirit of revolt subsisted still ; and no sooner had death unnerved the hand of the victor, than Hunald was once more in arms, plundering the provinces of Pepin and Carloman.j Again subdued the cour- age of the duke sank. Remorse for having blinded his brother Hatton operated, together with su- perstition and disappointment, to give him a tem- porary disgust to the world ; and, resigning his ter- * Chron. Fredigariani. The hyperbolical account of these transactions, given by Anastasius and Paul Warnfred, both of whom wrote a century after the events, cannot be put in opposition to the Fredigarian Chronicle, a contemporary record, compiled under the t,es of the French princes themselves. The assertion of Fredigarius, that the Saracens were called into France by the vengeance of Eudes, is positive and direct ; and we have no contemporary proof to the contrary. The historian was living at the time, and chronicled the events as they were then known to have occurred. Thus, though we find continual errors in that part of the Fredigarian Chronicle which refers to periods anterior to that of the author himself, yet from A. D. 600 to 641, his manuscript is the most valuable record we possess concerning the history of France. t Chron. Fredigar. continuat. ; Annal. Eginhard, ann. 742. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 91 ritories to his son Waifar, he retired into the cloister.* No greater degree of tranquillity accrued to France from this change in the government of Aquitaine ; for Waifar proved still more rebellious and turbulent than his predecessor ; and Pepin had soon to take arms, in order to put an end to his in- cursions. Several of these expeditions against Aquitaine are mentioned in the chronicle of the time ; but that in which Charlemagne first appears in a military character is marked as having been preceded by two years of peace, — an extraordinary duration of tranquillity in times when the sceptre ever implied the sword.f The nominal cause of warfare on the present occasion was the plunder of church property by Waifar; and, on the approach of Pepin, the duke promised immediate restitution, at the same time giving hostages for his future conduct. In those days, falsehood seems to have been sufficiently frequent to teach caution to the most unsuspecting; yet credulity— always a quality of an infant state of society — was carried to a very extraordinary height. Pepin, after having been repeatedly de- ceived, again trusted his rebellious subject ; and Waifar, who, by his apparent submission, had alone sought to gain time for preparation, forgot his prom- ises as soon as he could collect ar nrmy, threw off his allegiance, and, adding outrage to revolt, advanced into the territories of France, ravaging the country with fire and sword. But the vengeance of the monarch was prompt and powerful. Accompanied by his eldest son, Pepin took the field, entered Aquitaine at the head of immense forces, and, with rapidity almost in- credible,! subdued the whole province, from Au- * Vit. S. Bertharii. ; Duchesne, vol. ii. t Chron. Fredigar. continuat. X Eg in hard, Aonal. ; Chron. Fredigar. continuat. 92 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. vergne to Limoges. Here Charlemagne had one of those examples of grand and extraordinary cele- rity in the movement of immense armies, which he afterward so often practised himself with magnifi- cent success. In the course of a very few weeks, many hundred miles of an enemy's territory were conquered. Speed set preparation at defiance, and surprise changed resistance into terror. In this, as in almost all other wars, the people were made the expiatory sacrifice, to atone for the faults of their rulers. Blood and flame wrapped one of the finest districts in France,* and ruin and destruction marked the consequences of the vassal's revolt, and the vengeance of the sovereign. During four years Pepin pursued the war against Aquitaine, displaying many instances of extreme clemency and extreme rigour, the causes of which dissimilarity of conduct at different times must re- main in darkness, as the chronicles of that age do not explain the motives, and the historians of after- years have only substituted hypotheses for facts. The greater part of the revolted country at length submitted, and Remistan, the uncle of Waifar, him- self joined the party of the king, and bound himself, by the most solemn oaths,f to aid the monarch as a vassal and a friend. His engagements, though vol- untary, were as frail as those of the rest of his fam- ily ; and but a short time elapsed before he was again in arms against the sovereign who had trusted him, pursuing his designs with all the acrimonious virulence of conscious treachery. The territory of Limoges and Bourges, where Pepin had built himself a palace, and established his residence, was ravaged by the orders of this faithless ally ; and, not content with simple ag- gression, Remistan had the criminal boldness to appear, with hostile purposes, within sight of the * Eginhard, Annales, ann. 761. t Cfiron. Fredigariani, continual, cap. 128. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 93 monarch he had insulted, and the friend he had be- trayed. The fate he courted soon overtook him. Not long after he had presented himself before Bourges, he was taken in an ambush laid by some of the offi- cers of the king, and was brought bound into the royal presence. The character of Pepin might doubtless have de- rived a fictitious air of magnanimity in the eyes of after-ages from a display of clemency on this occa- sion ; but it can hardly be denied, that mercy to Re- mistan, after the gross treachery he had committed, and the blood he had caused to flow, would have been any thing but mercy to the rest of France. The justice of his execution, which has been de- nied, depended upon whether he maintained rights as an independent monarch, and was a conquered king, rather than an arrested subject. The fact, however, is clear, that, whatever were his original claims to royalty, his ancestors had renounced them in a thousand instances ; and also that, whatever force had been used to compel that renunciation on their part, he himself had acknowledged voluntarily the sovereignty of Pepin, and had actually served him as his liegeman. Unless, therefore, rights are to be looked upon as mere matters of caprice, and obedience to an established government is to be granted and withdrawn at the pleasure of each in- dividual, Remistan was in reality the treacherous and revolted vassal of the French king ; and, while his pardon would have been an act of folly, his punishment was but a deed of justice.* No clemency was shown : Remistan was instantly condemned and hung; and the war of Aquitaine was soon after terminated for the time by the death of Waifar, who appears to have been slain by the * Monsieur Gaillard has given so different an account of the war in Aquitaine from that furnished by contemporary history, that I can hardly believe he had read the continuation of Fredigarius. 94 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. hands of his attendants, probably instigated by Pepin himself. On this point, it is true, we have no cer- tain information, the only passage in the ancient* chronicles which hints at the agency of the French monarch in the death of his rebellious vassal, leaving the matter still as a doubtful report. Such means of destroying an enemy were but too common at that period ; and though the frequency of the fact can in no degree be brought forward to justify or even palliate a great moral offence, it at all events gives more probability to the rumour of its having been committed. Pepin had many motives for seeking to bring the war in Aquitaine to as speedy a conclusion as pos- sible, among which was the defection of Tassilo Duke of Bavaria, who, but a short time before, had sworn allegiance to him, and acknowledged himself in the most solemn manner a vassal of the crown of Franc e.f The precise duties which he took upon himself by this oath and acknowledgment we do not discover; nor is it easy to distinguish what was the distinction at that time between this higher class of vassals, and the inferior nobles more immediately within the jurisdiction of the monarch. The feudal system, the seeds of which had been long sown, was beginning to rise in different direc- tions ; but was far from possessing that great and extraordinary form which it afterward assumed. * Chron. Fredigar. continuat. cap. cxxxv. t The annals of St. Bertimis, which copy and confirm those of Egin- hard, mention this fact as follows:— " lbique Tassilo venit, Dux Bajoa- riorum, in vassatico se commendans, per manus. Sacramenta juravit multa, et innumerabilia, reliquiis Sanctorum Mariyrum manus imponens: et fidelitatem promisit Regi Pippino, et supradictis filiis ejus, domino ■Catolo et .Carlomanno, sicut vassus recta inente et firma devotione per juslitiam domino suo esse deberet * * * Sic et ejus homines major es natu, qui erant cum eo, firmaverunt, sicut dictum est, in locis superius nominatis et in aliis mtiltis." — Ann. Bertinian. ami. 757. By this it will be seen, that, not only the vassal himself, but what in an after-age would have been called his vavasours, or sub-vassals, took the oaths of allegiance, and did homage to Pepin and his sons. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 95 Each particular age in the world's history brings forth the peculiar institution suited to the character of society at the time ; but it does so slowly and by degrees, as necessity prompts the desire of altera- tion and experience presents the mode. No sudden and general changes have ever been attended with permanent success ; for although, by reiterated ex- periment, and the accumulated experience of many, it is impossible to say what degree of perfection may be ultimately reached, it would seem that the mind of man is incapable of conceiving at once any great and universal system. Each age may im- prove upon the last ; and each individual epoch may produce and perfect the scheme of society necessary for itself, — at once the consequence of its existence and the type of its character. But still the creation of great institutions is like the sculp- ture of a statue, and a thousand slight blows from Time's chisel are required to change the marble ruggedness of the mass into the perfect and harmo- nious form. At the time of which I now speak, the feudal system, the chief institution of the middle ages, was yet in its first rudeness, and a number of accidental circumstances were still required to give it consist- ency, solidity, and extent. It is impossible, and would be of little use, to trace all the events which contributed to that effect. The revolt and subjec- tion of vassals — the power of some monarchs, and the weakness of others — the rights of different or- ders, mutually wrung from each other — and the im- perative necessity of some fixed barrier, however frail, between the claims of various classes, — gradu- ally produced a state of society fitted to those times, and those times alone. Among these causes were such insurrections as those of Waifar and of Tassilo. But though Pepin succeeded in subduing the former, and in annexing almost the whole of Aquitaine to the crown, the 96 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. complete subjection of the dukedom of Bavaria was reserved for his successor. On his return from his last and most successful expedition against Waifar, the monarch of the Franks was seized with a low fever at Saintes, which preyed severely upon a constitution shaken by mighty cares and never-ceasing activity. His first resource under the depression of sickness was an humble petition for aid at the shrine of St. Martin of Tours, which had been rendered famous as a place of marvellous cure, by the folly and ignorance of the age, and the impudence and talent of its pre- lates. But the malady of the king was not one of those in which mental medicine can prove effica- cious ; and, however great might be his faith or superstition, Pepin returned weaker and nearer to death than he went. He then proceeded to Paris ; and took up his abode in the monastery of St. Denis, where his sickness each day advanced more and more rapidly. At length, the period came when the approach of death forced itself upon his conviction ; and after having, with the consent of the principal men of the kingdom,* divided his whole dominions between his two sons, Charles (afterward called Charlemagne) and Carloman the younger,f he died at the age of fifty-three. Between Pepin and his father, Charles Martel, there existed a strong point of resemblance in their excessive promptitude of resolution, and their won- derful rapidity of execution, which qualities com- bined formed the great secret of their power and their success. In other respects they differed from each other essentially. Charles Martel, despising the superstition of the day, oppressed the church ; and, contented with his own power, contemned and circumscribed that of the nobility. Pepin, on the contrary, with greater ambition and greater piety, * Fredigar. Chron. continuat. cap. cxxxvi. t Annates Eginhard. Sept. A. D. 708. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 97 courted both the clergy and the nobles ; and easily did away the phantom king - , under the shadow of whose name Charles Martel had been satisfied to rule severely the other orders of the state. Charles Martel left to his sons the regal power. Pepin transmitted to his children both the power and the name, — which is in all ages a great addi- tion. As in war, an earthen mound, which an in- fant could crawl over with ease while unopposed, becomes, when defended, an important post ; so in policy a mere title, which, abstractedly considered, is but air, very ofte iA becomes, in Lie struggle of contending parties, a mighty barrier and a strong defence. In assuming the hereditary title of his Merovin- gian predecessors, however, Pepin unfortunately adopted also their system of dividing the succes- sion — a system which had distracted the dominion of their race, and proved the destruction of his own.* * In the end of the reign of Pepin the Brief, the period of the g»*eat military assembly of the nation was changed from March to May, in order that forage might be more easily procured for the horses, as the Carlovingians had endeavoured, with much success, to increase the cavalry of the Franks, which gave them the opportunity of acting with greater rapidity. 1 wish also to notice here, though somewhat out of place, a passage of Fredigarius, which never struck me forcibly till this book was passing through the press, but which tends strongly to prove that the mai^e of the palace, at a very early period, possessed much greater power than has generally been supposed, — that he was, in fact, in the provinces, what the popes style him in their various epistles, Subregulus ; and that the people had a potent voice in his appointment. The passage refers to the reign of Clotaire, called the Great, at the year 626; and it is important to observe, that it was written by Fredigarius himself,— not by his continuators, — that it referred to his own times, and to that particular district of France of which he was a native. It may be rendered as follows : — " This year Clotaire called together at Troyes the great men and leudes of Burgundy, and asked them if they wished to create another maireof the palace, in place of Warnacharius, who was dead. But they generally refused, saying that they would never elect another rnaire of the palace, and begging earnestly of the king the favour of communicating with himself alone." 98 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. BOOK II. FROM THE ACCESSION OF CHARLEMAGNE AND HIS BROTHER, TO THE DEATH OF CARLOMAN AND THE REUNION OF THE KINGDOM. FROM A. D. 768 TO A. D. 771. The Accession of Charlemagne and his Brother— The Extent of their Do- minion — The Territories beyond the Rhine— The Nature of the Parti- tion between theMonarchs — Doubtful Sovereignty and Revolt of Aqui- taine — Its rapid Conquest by Charlemagne — Disunion between the Broi hers— Events in Italy— Negotiations of Bertha — Charlemagne's first Marriage to the Daughter of the King of Lombardy— His Divorce — His second Marriage— The Enmity of Desiderius — The Death of Hunald— Of Carloman — The Widow of Carloman flies to Desiderius — The Nobles of Carloman elect Charlemagne— Reunion of the Monarchy. The two sons of Pepin, — Charles, known in mod- ern history by the name of Charlemagne, by which title I shail in future designate him, and Carloman, his younger brother, — succeeded at the death of their father to one of the most fertile, the most ex- tensive, and the most powerful kingdoms which Europe has beheld since the fall of the Roman em- pire. The Pyrenees, the Alps, the Mediterranean, and the ocean were boundaries supplied by nature to defend it from aggression and to limit its extent ; and the Rhine seemed intended for the same pur- pose by the same beneficent disposer. But rivers, however large, are ever very feeble and inefficient barriers between nations; and continual struggles had taken place upon the German frontier of France, from the period of the first establishment of the Frankish dominion in ancient Gaul, to the acces- sion of the Carlovingian race, the consequences of which struggles affected the whole reign of Charle- magne. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 99 Without attempting to trace the progress of ag- gression on either side, and without joining in the censure often cast upon the barbarian tribes, for pur- suing that system of migration which nature her- self dictated, and for giving way to that thirst of conquest which was the first motive in their advance towards civilization, I must touch briefly on the causes which, during so long a period of the middle ages, rendered the north-eastern limit of France the scene and subject of incessant contention. The spirit of predatory migration affected the whole people of the north of Europe from the mo- ment that the population became so general and so dense, in relation to the means of support, as to re- quire a relief and force an outlet. The first impulse might be given by some accidental circumstance, unconnected with any regular design of seeking more abundant fields, or more extensive hunting grounds. It might be afforded by the vagabond habits of the Scythian herdsmen, who peopled a great part of the north, and by their pressure upon the more settled nations, whom they either infected with their own desire of wandering, or drove forth by their superior power. However that may be, it is not necessary to ex- amine the remote and difficult question of national origins,* in order to discover among the various tribes who quitted the north to conquer and plunder the more civilized and enfeebled parts of Europe, two very distinct modifications in their principles of action, which led to great and important results. Some of these nations, whether they derived such a peculiar character from their native stock, or from some fortuitous circumstance, passed rapidly from country to country, contenting themselves with * Those feelingan interest in such intricate but important discussions are already, in all probability, well acquainted with the learned and in- genious theory of Sharon Turner (Hist, of the Auulo-Saxons, vol. i.), and the equally learned, but more hypothetical works of the Count de lia&t (Histoire Ancienne das Peoples do l' Europe). 100 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. pillage, rapine, and destruction ; sometimes return- ing to their own country after a successful expedi- tion ; sometimes proceeding to ravage some other land ; but never dreaming of settling themselves anywhere, till centuries of roaming had obliterated the first character of their savage state, and gradu- ally blended with them different races of a milder blood. Other tribes again, whether driven from their na- tive habitation by strife with a superior power, or actuated by the general spirit of migration, seemed still to covet some fixed abode ; and though often forced by circumstances to change from place to place, showed at each step the same inclination to settle, like a swarm of bees, which congregate upon a thousand various points before they find a spot where they can hive at last. The first-mentioned class of invaders appear to have been animated in their expeditions by the desire of moveable plunder alone ; the second class seemed to have acquired the more refined idea of territorial acquisition : + hough both were at the same time inspired by the spirit of conquest, the first great passion of a savage people. Of those who seem more or less to have felt the wish for permanent establishment, the Goths, the Burgundians, the Lombards, and the Franks were the principal. The Franks fixed their dominion in the last portion of that civilized and fertile territory, towards which the stream of barbarian invasion was continually tending. The same desires which had led them forth still animated the nations they had left behind ; and on taking possession of the Roman dominions in Gaul, they had to turn upon those who followed in the very same path by which they had entered, and to defend what they themselves had wrung from the Romans against the tribes of kin- dred* plunderers which trod upon their steps. * Dr. Percy has established, almost to a certainty, that the Franks and Saxons were but branches springing from ihe same original root. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 101 Thus the German frontier became a scene of in- cessant strife ; but the Franks were a young and warlike people, mighty in adolescent energies, and tremendous in indefatigable activity. Far from con- tenting themselves with the barrier of the Rhine, the desire of conquest, which had made them masters of Gaul, led them to strive for dominions beyond the natural limits of the land they had obtained; and in their struggles against the nations which fol- lowed — with forces concentrated for one great ob- ject, and with regularity of government ensuring stability of purpose — though sometimes defeated, and often repelled, they restrained the barbarians with whom they had to contend, and retained as well as acquired extensive territories on the farther bank of the Rhine. The boundaries of these terri- tories were, from the very manner in which they were held, vague, uncertain, and varying from day to day, so that it is now impossible to draw with any precision the line of frontier which in this direc- tion separated France from the uncultivated tribes of the north at the epoch of the death of Pepin, and the accession of his sons. The provinces beyond the Rhine, however, were considerable ; and together with the rest of the Frankish possessions formed the most extensive, as well as most powerful, of the European monarchies. This descended without dispute to Charles and Car- lo man; but several circumstances accompanied the transmission of the supreme power to their hands which are worthy of notice. I have before had occasion to point out the uncertain character of the succession to the crown of France during the domi- nation of the first race ; nor is it very easy to dis- cover any universal principle by which this import- ant point was regulated. The will of the dying monarch* seems, to have been of some effect in the * Chron. Fredigar. 12 102 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. allotment of his dominions among - his children ; but the general assembly of the nation was always called upon to confirm or explain the dispositions of the former king.* It is difficult also to conceive the permanent unity of the people as a nation, while the territory was divided between two or more monarchs ; and the only means we have of accounting for the long ex- istence of such a state of things, is to look back to the original constitution of the Franks as a German tribe, and to remember that, in that day, nations, not countries, formed the true divisions of mankind. This was a natural consequence of the migratory habits of the northern hordes, who, having no fixed habitation during many years, were long before they suffered the spirit of national union to deviate in any degree into local attachment. The French, therefore, remained one people, how- ever the state might be divided, or the country allotted ; and the inheritance which Pepin trans- mitted to his sons was not a united rule over the whole, but the government of a certain portion of the nation, and the possession of a certain portion of territory, severally assigned to each, while the general coherence of the Franks, as a people, re- mained unbroken. The exact division of the country which took place upon the death of the great overthrower of the Merovingian race is involved in much obscurity ; for the two best authorities of the time are in direct opposition to each other. Eginhard, the friend and servant of Charlemagne, assigns to him that portion * Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Magn. The preservation of the popular rights in the succession of the early kings of France is strongly evinced in several parts of the Life of Charlemagne by Eginhard. The very opening words of his book afford one example. And afterward, speak- ing of Charles and Carloman, he says, "Franci siquidem, facto solen- niter generali conventu, ambos sibi reges constituunt," &c. I shall mark from time to time, as I proceed, the different instances in ■which this right was recognised, even after the accession of Charle- magne. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 103 of France called Neustria,* with its usual depend- encies ; while the continuators of Fredigarius give him Austrasia, declaring Neustria to have been the portion of Carloman. The latter prince, however, according to both accounts, was crowned at Soissons, which was sometimes included in the kingdom of Austrasia ; and Charles was, on the same day,f in- augurated at Noyou, which always formed apart of Neustria.}: The question in regard to these two provinces is indeed of little moment; as the difficulty is only an historical doubt of the present day, concerning a point which, notwithstanding the discrepancy of contemporary statements, seems to have been per- fectly clear in those times, and gave rise to no con- sequences of any import. Charlemagne and his brother appear to have been perfectly satisfied with the division of the northern part of France, and each took possession of his own ; but the sove- reignty of Aquitaine, reunited to the crown by the arms of Pepin, proved a cause of doubt and dis- agreement between the two princes, which might have ended in open warfare, had not the early death of the younger intervened. On this subject also the Fredigarian Chronicle and the account of Eginhard are totally at variance. The first declares that Pepin, in dying, divided Aquitaine between his sons ; but Eginhard positively states that that province was attached to the portion of Charlemagne. In all probability the matter was left in doubt, both by Pepin and the national assembly ; but even a doubt where equal partition was regarded as a right very * The extent of these two divisions of France varied in almost every different reign. Neustria, however, or the western part of France, in general, comprised the whole country from the mouth of the Scheldt to the source of the Marne and the mouth of the Loire. t 9th Oct. A.D. 768. Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Magn. ; Annal. Ber- tinian.; Chron. Fredigar. t This fact seems to decide the matter, especially as the continuator of Fredigarius himself states that the two kings were each crowned in the capital of his own kingdom. 104 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. naturally created coolness and jealousy towards his brother in the mind of Carloman, and loosened the bonds of kindred affection.* The quarrels of those persons in high stations between whom Heaven, for their mutual defence and support, has established the close ties of blood, afford to the interested and ambitious so many means of gain or aggrandizement, that there would be ever found many to foment them, even were vanity, weakness, and malice not continually ready in a court to promote hostility, and render disunion irreparable. Carloman, apparently a feeble and easily-governed prince, found plenty, both of knaves and sycophants, in his palace to prompt his anger against his brother, and drive him on to acts of un- kind ness, if not aggression. Thus their reign be- gan in coldness and suspicion ; but peace was still maintained by the influence of their mother, Bertha; and the insurrection of a part of their dominions seemed to furnish a motive for union and for mutual support. It unfortunately happened, however, that the war, to which they were thus called as allies by every principle of good policy, had for its site and its motives the very territory of Aquitaine which had been the cause of their own dissension. Hunald, the father of that turbulent and unfortunate prince from whom Pepin had wrested, after a nine years' contest, both his feoff and his life, no sooner beheld the throne of France once more occupied by two young and inexperienced monarchs than, encouraged by the too evident disunion which existed between them, he issued forth from the cloister to which he had devoted himself; called Aquitaine to arms ; and, working upon the mind of a warlike but inconstant people, easily raised an army, and declared his sove- reignty and independence. * Eginhard, in Vit. Carol! Ma$nl. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 105 Charlemagne instantly prepared to repress his rebellious subjects, and called upon Carloman to aid him in his design. Carloman promised his support ; and even advanced into Poitou* to confer with his brother on the conduct of the war ; but their meeting terminated in a manner unsatisfactory to either ; and Carloman returned to his own dominions, refusing to take any share in the expedition.! In regard to his reasons for thus withdrawing the assistance he had promised to his brother we have no information ; and though it has been supposed that he wished to make the partition of Aquitaine the price of his support, and retired in resentment on refusal, it is better not to venture a conjecture in the utter absence of recorded fact. His defectionj in the hour of need drew forth at once the great and overpowering energies of his brother's mind. The revolted duke was at the head of a large and increasing army, and was carried on by the power of a fresh and hitherto successful enthusiasm in a bold, adventurous, and excited | ople. The forces of the young monarch, on the contrary, were but scanty in number ;§ and, suddenly deprived of the aid on which he had confidently relied, he was left alone, unknowing alike the extent of his own powers, and of the attachment of his people, to lead the Franks to the field for the first time, against a warlike race and a desperate enemy. He paused not, however, for a moment ; but pursued his expedition undaunted ; and combining in his own person all the military talents of his ancestors, with » high qualities entirely his own, he subdued the revolted provinces with a celerity of movement, and a decision of action, hardly equalled in ancient or * The Chronicle of St. Bertinus, and the Annals of Eginhard, say that the princes met, " in loco qui dicitur Duasdives," a place at present unknown, but generally supposed to have been situated in Poitou. t Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Magni. { A. D. 769. $ Annates Tiliani. 106 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. in modern times. Notwithstanding the small army* which he brought into the field, it would appear that the energetic activity of the young monarch surprised and terrified his opponent. Ilunald fled without fighting ; and, hard pressed by Charlemagne, only escaped into Gascony by his superior know- ledge of the country, the complicated mazes of whose mountains were unknown to those by whom he was pursued. The place of refuge which he chose was the court of his nephew, Lupo Duke of Gascony, who joined in the revolt of Aquitaine, although his rebellion had never proceeded to actual warfare with the young nionarchs of France. This asylum proved any thing but a secure one. The ties of blood, indeed, connected the fugitive chief strongly with him whose protection he claimed ; but it must be remembered, that Hunald, in the day of his power, had, in a fit of ambitious jealousy, deprived his own brother Hatton, the father of Lupo, of his sight. In almost all barbarous nations, where law is not sufficient for the chastisement of crime and for the reparation of wrong, revenge is considered as a virtue, and principle gives permanence to what is originally but a transitory passion. Lupo at first received his uncle with an appearance of hospitality ; but Charlemagne, advancing to the banks of the Dordogne, sent on messengers to summon his vassal the Duke of Gascony f to yield the rebellious sub- ject who had taken refuge at his court, and to make atonement for his own revolt by instant submission and compliance. J Obedience waited the command of the king ; and Lupo, notwithstanding the ties of kindred and the rights of hospitality, made no scruple to deliver up the man who had robbed his father of his sight ; thus at once avenging the ancient * Ann. Bertinian. ann. 769. ■^Eginhard, in Vit. Caroli Magni, cap. v. t Ibid, Annal. ann. 769, HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 107 injury of his house, and securing both pardon and favour from the young monarch, to whom he at the same time acknowledged his homage and depend^ ence. Clemency was a natural quality in the mind of Charlemagne. It seldom if ever deserted him, even when age had taken from the first softness of the heart ; and, in the whole course of a long life, we find few or no instances of cruelty recorded against him, while every historian rings with the praises of his moderation and gentleness. The single exam- ple of great severity which I shall have to notice hereafter was the effect of that stern, though perhaps necessary, policy from which the mind of youth impetuously revolts. But in the present instance, young and happy himself — in the posses- sion of those physical powers, and that ease of cor- poreal sensations which give natural amenity to the disposition, and also blessed with that inexperience of abused lenity and of unrequited kindness, which leaves the heart free to act — cruelty could scarcely form a part in the character of Charlemagne. No bloodshed stained his triumph over Hunald, gratified the revenge of Lupo, or blackened the Gascon's treachery by its consequences ; and the young monarch spared his rebellious subject, though prudence, and even humanity, taught him to guard against future insurrection. While waiting the return of his envoys from the court of Lupo, Charlemagne dedicated his time to the construction of a fortress on the banks of the Dordogne,* in order both to employ his own troops, and to overawe the turbulent people of Aquitaine ; and, after Hunaldf had been delivered bound into his * E Bouquet, vol. v. p. 4,60. t Anastasius, Biblioth. in Vit. Hadrian, HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 149 reaped from any measure, taught him to look upon a visit to the ancient capital of the world as a means of extending his power, and deriving the greatest benefit that could accrue from his expedition to Italy. Lombardy, except the capital, whose resistance could not be effectual, was already conquered ; and the Frankish monarch regarded that country as his own, by the right which, with very few exceptions, had hitherto alone bestowed dominion, and trans- ferred the sceptre from one race to another. He was King of Lombardy by force of arms ; but at Rome he was to be received as patrician, and Ra- venna looked upon him as exarch, — titles which had previously been mere names, but of which he now intended to exercise the rights. The people of Rome, by their voluntary act, had named him patri- cian, or military governor ;* and both his father and himself had been called upon to perform the most arduous duties of that station, without exercising any of the power which the office implied. But Italy was now at the monarch's feet ; and Charlemagne, without the least desire to trample on it, prepared to take upon himself the full character of patrician, and to govern, though his government was of the mildest quality. The news of his approach flew rapidly to Rome ; and the supreme pontiff, at once animated by origi- nal feelings of regard and esteem, grateful for ser- vices rendered, and mindful of benefits to come, prepared to receive the conqueror of his enemies, in the ancient queen of empires, with all the sclemn splendour which suited the man, the occasion, and the scene. In the mean time Charlemagne set out from Pavia,f accompanied by a considerable army and an im- mense train of bishops, priests, and nobles ; and, passing through Tuscany, he advanced by rapid. * See Ducange, Gloss, torn. v. p. 149. {• Annal. Tiliani. ; Annal. Fuldenses, A, D. 774. N2 150 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. journeys upon Rome. Shouts and songs of triumph greeted him on the way; towns, castles, and vil- lages poured forth to see him pass; the serf, the citizen, and the noble joined in acclamations which welcomed the conqueror of the Lombards ; and dead Italy seemed to revive at the glorious aspect of the victor.* Thirty miles from the city he was met by all those who could still boast of generous blood in Rome, with ensigns and banners ; and at a mile's distance from the walls the whole schools came forth to receive him, bearing in their hands branches of the palm and the olive, and singing in the sweet Roman tongue the praises and gratulations of their mighty deliverer. Thither too came the standard of the cross, with which it had been customary to meet the exarchs on their visits to the city; and truly, since the days of her ancient splendour, never had Rome beheld such a sight as entered her gates with the monarch of the Franks. It was now no savage army come to ravage and to spoil, with hunger and hatred in their looks, and foulness and barbarism in their garments. On the contrary, a long train of the princes and nobles of a warlike and beautiful nation, mingling, in the bril- liant robes of peace, with all the great of a people they had delivered, entered the gates of Rome, and, amid songs of victory and shouts of joy, were led forward through all the splendid remains of ancient art, the accumulated magnificence of centuries of power and conquest, by a monarch such as the world has seen but once. Abovej the ordinary height of man, Charlemagne * Anastas. Biblioth. in Vit. Hadrian. t Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Mag. cap. xxii. Marquhard Freher, de Statura, Car. Mag. The dissertation of Marquhard Freher on the height of Charlemagne (and on the question whether he wore a beard or not) does not satisfy me as to his precise stature. Eginhard declares that he was in height seven times the length of his own foot, which we have rea- son to believe was not very small, at least if he bore any resemblance to his mother, who was known by the name of " Bertha with the long foot * HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. I5t was a giant in his stature as in his mind ; but the graceful and easy proportion of all his limbs spoke the combination of wonderful activity with immense strength, and pleased while it astonished. His countenance was as striking as his figure ; and his broad high forehead, his keen and flashing eye, and bland unwrinkled brow, offered a bright picture, wherein the spirit of physiognomy, natural to all men, might trace the expression of a powerful in- tellect and a benevolent heart. On so solemn an occasion as his entry into Rome, the general simplicity of his attire was laid aside ; and he now appeared blazing in all the splendour of royalty, his robes wrought of purple and gold, his brow encircled with jewels, and his very sandals glittering with precious stones.* As he approached the church of St. Peter, and was met by the exarch's cross, the monarch alighted from his horse, and, with his principal followers, proceeded on foot to the steps of the cathedral. The marks of his reverence for the shrine of the apostlef were such as a sovereign might well pay whose actions and whose power left no fear of respect being construed into submission. In the porch, near the door, he was met by Pope Adrian, attended by all his clergy, clothed in the magnificent vestments of the Roman church ; and while loud shouts rent the air of " Blessed be he who comelh in the name of the Lord /" the pontiff held his deliverer to his heart, poured forth his gratitude, and loaded him with blessings. The meeting was one of great interest, both to the priest and the monarch. I know no reason * Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Mag. cap. xxiii. t Anastasius says that Charlemagne kissed the holy steps, one after another, as he ascended: but this is not confirmed by the contemporary writers ; and though the librarian is a full and good authority where the clerical influence is not concerned, his assertions always need collateral evidenoe to give them authenticity on points where the power or dominion of (he church is implicated. 152 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. why, in examining the characters of princes, we should endeavour to set them apart in their senti- ments from the rest of human beings, and not believe them to be actuated by the same affections as their fellow-men. Though Charlemagne was a great conqueror and a clear-sighted politician, an ambitious king and a dauntless warrior, we know that he had a heart full of the kindest and the gentlest feelings ; and there is every reason to believe that all the finer emotions of his bosom were affected by his meeting with the Roman pontiff.* That he revered Pope Adrian as a prelate, and loved him as a man, his after-life sufficiently evinced ; and when he met him, for the first time, in the midst of Rome, he must have remembered that, sooner than bring discord and strife into his dominions, the old man before him had dared the enmity of a powerful and vindictive mon- arch, had seen his country wasted and destroyed, and had exposed himself to be besieged in a vast, but ruined and depopulated city. We may well believe, then, that the feelings of reverence and affection he expressed were the genuine emotions of the young sovereign's heart. Such feelings on his part, while the pope, on the other hand, acknowledged in him the saviour of Rome, and the deliverer of the church, could not fail to create between them a bond of sympathy and regard such as circumstances seldom suffer to exist among the great of the earth. The friendship thus begun continued through their mu- tual lives ; and, with the invariable fortune of union between the good and wise, tended immensely to the safety and prosperity of both. After the arrival of the monarch, several days were spent in celebrating the solemnities of Easter ; but neitherf the pope nor the king neglected those matters of temporal jurisdiction, which were now * Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Mag. t Anastasms, Biblioth. in Vit. Hadrian. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 153 tending towards a more clear and decided establish- ment than Italy had known for many years. Charle- magne was evidently received as sovereign by the pope himself, and by the whole people of Rome. He was crowned with the diadem of the patricians, or exarchs,* and exercised, for the first time, the extensive sway with which that office invested him. In whatever manner Pepin had reannexed the exar- chate and Pentapolis to Rome, that act, it is clear, was in no degree such as to exempt those territories, or even Rome itself, from the dominion of the pa- trician. On the entrance of Charlemagne into the city, there was no struggle, dispute, or misunder- standing about authority. It was assumed by him at once, and granted by the clergy and the people as the undoubted right of the patriciate : nor did he ever cease to use the supreme power, first as patri- cian, and afterward as emperor, from his arrival in Italy to the close of his life and reign. To him all great causes were referred ; the pope himself ap- peared before him as before his judge ; and we find repeated instances of his having extended his juris- diction to ecclesiastical! as well as civil affairs, throughout the whole of the Roman territory. Nevertheless, there is every reason to believe that Adrian solicited, and that the monarch granted, considerable territories, to be held by the Church of Rome, though solely conceded as by lord to vassal, and by no means independent of the patrician. A great variety of forms had by this time been intro- duced among feoffs and benefices ; and what were the feudal privileges granted on the present occa- sion, what those reserved, is very difficult to ascer- * SeeChronicon Anonymi Salernitani, cap. xxvi. ; and note 50 in Mu- ratori Rer. Scrip. Ital. torn. ii. part ii. It is also worthy of remark, that Theophanes, the Greek chronographer, himself mentions Pepin by the name of exarch, where he describes the journey of Stephen. f Eginhard, in Annal. ; Codex Carolinus, Epist. Hadriani. 154 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. tain; for, though the popes have since asserted* that the donation of Charlemagne was written, the original deed has never been seen by any. one ; and through the whole correspondence of the pontiffs with that monarch, we find no mention made of such an instrument. So far from it, indeed, that, within a few months of the gift, a contest took place be- tween Adrian himself, and Leo, Archbishop of Ra- venna,! concerning the limits of the district granted by Charlemagne to the Church of Rome, which would have been at once determined by the produc- tion of the monarch's charter. This, however, was never done, and the pope was obliged to apply to the King of the Franks, in order to* establish the facts. Such an event seems to determine the question ; for it must not be forgotten, that the dispute was not about a small portion of frontier land, which the am- biguity of language might render difficult to define ; but about cities and provinces, in regard to which no doubt could have been entertained, if any written deed had existed to establish the papal claims. The limits of the territory granted remain equally uncertain to the present day. The papal historians^ declare, that the gift of Charlemagne included, besides the exarchate and Pentapolis, the whole of Corsica, Parma, Mantua, Reghio, and Bardi, with the Venetian provinces, and a considerable part of the Tyrol, as well as Spoleto and Beneventum. But the popes themselves, with more moderate wisdom, never, in their letters to the donor, speak of any thing beyond the exarchate and Pentapolis, except the territory of Spoleto ; and though it is not improb- able that Charlemagne might, as Gibbon asserts, give that to which he had no right— for rights were then but badly defined — it is not at all likely that lie * Anastas. Biblioth. in 'Vit. Hadrian. t Codex Carolimis, Epist. liv. j Anastasius, Biblioth. in Vit. Hadrian, HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 155 should give what he did not possess, which is im- plied by the more than doubtful account of Anasta- sius. Some slight mention appears to have been made about this time, of a prior donation* from Pepin to the holy see ; but not in such terms as to call for op- position or confutation, even had Charlemagne been inclined to resist the transfer of the property from the people to the church. That he was not so is sufficiently evident from his own gift to the popes of those provinces which his father had reannexed to the Roman state, with the addition of Spoleto. But, at the same time, it is to be remarked, in regard to this famous donation, that even then existed the custom of granting considerable territories to the principal churches and monasteries under the do- minion of the sovereign, as a feudal property to be held of the crown ; nor can I look upon the gift of Charlemagne in any other light, though various after circumstances seem to prove that the people of the city of Rome still continued to regard them- selves as an independent republic till the hour that the patrician was saluted emperor. f To hold these * The fact of the donation being mentioned at this period depends upon very doubtful assertions, on the one hand, and letters, the date of which is by no means clear, on the other. If mentioned at all, however, it was with very tempered caution ; and only held out as an inducement, in all probability, for the young monarch to imitate or exceed the sup- posed liberality of his father. t Whether Charlemagne so far forgot or misunderstood his faculties as patrician, in his notions as a Frank, as to imagine that he could give away at his pleasure the country which had chosen him for its governor and defender ; or whether he acted only as a conqueror — which is more probable — and, leaving to Rome its original government, bestowed upon the popes that part of the territory alone which he had acquired by force of arms, — is impossible todiscover, in the confusion created by the mis- statements of the papal tribes, and the silence of the Carlovingian annal- ists. At all events, the advocates of the pontifical dominion prove too much. If Pepin had, as they say, absolutely and entirely bestowed the Roman territory on the church, Charlemagne could not do so too, for the territory was not his to bestow ; and if Constantine had conferred the provinces on St. Peter's successors, the gift of Pepin was as unnecessary as that of his son. 156 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. territories even as a vassal of the Frankish monarch, was still, in the opinion of the pope, a great step gained ; and we never find that he made any opposi- tion, or offered any remonstrance, to the many acts of sovereignty exercised by Charlemagne within the very provinces bestowed, although those acts were, in several instances, such as were seldom justified by the feudal tenure of any lands in that day. Satisfied with the assertion of his authority by a temporary exhibition of the patrician power, Charle- magne seems to have required little immediate return from the pontiff for the services he had ren- dered to Rome and the church. After regulating some clerical affairs of little interest, he hastened back to Pavia, where his presence at the head of the army had become necessary, for the purpose of supporting and encouraging his soldiers under the wearisome labours of the longest and most difficult siege which the Franks had ever undertaken. At the same time, many circumstances imperatively re- quired that he should press the Lombard capital to its immediate fall, and turn his steps towards his own paternal dominions. One of the most urgent of these circumstances was the state of his north-eastern frontier, from which continual accounts of the most alarming char- acter reached him in the heart of Italy. It appears, that no sooner had the news of his absence from France spread abroad, than the Saxons hastened to take advantage of so favourable a moment, and to avenge their recent subjection, by ravaging the borders of their conqueror's territory. Flame and the sword desolated the land ; and though, on one occasion, a panic, which the monks willingly mistook for a miracle,* caused the barbarians suddenly to fly, at the very moment they were advancing to burn the church of St. Boniface, at Fridislar, their terror * Annal. Fuldenaes ; Annal. Eginhard. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 157 was soon forgotten, and their devastation recom- menced. With these motives for activity stimulating his mind, Charlemagne took vigorous measures to ren- der the blockade of Pavia more severe than ever. No living thing was suffered to enter or to quit the city but the birds of the air ; and though Desiderius still resisted with desperate resolution, famine soon began to undermine the courage of the Lombards. The hopelessness of rescue, the subjugation of the whole country round, the weariness of restraint, the known clemency of the victor, and the miseries of a protracted siege, all acted on the hearts of the Pavians, and at length, about the middle of the year, they threw open their gates to the Franks. To compensate for the obstinate resistance, which they feared the conqueror might construe into crime, the Lombards in the city delivered up Desiderius, his wife, and daughter, to Charlemagne, without any stipulation in their favour ; and, indeed, seem them- selves to have relied entirely on the mercy of their conqueror. Their reliance was not in vain;* no cruelty stained the glory of the triumph. Pavia did not even suffer from plunder ; and the treasures! found in the palace of the vanquished Desiderius repaid the Franlrish soldiers for their long fatigues, though no part went to swell the stores of their own liberal monarch. A medalj was struck upon the occasion of the fall of Pavia, but Charlemagne did not permit any painful act of triumph to crush the iron into the flesh of the Lombards. Their institu- * The simple words of Paul Wamfrid, a Lombard himself, are very striking, in speaking of the conduct of Charlemagne on this occasion, — " Et quod rard fieri adsolet, dementi moderatione victoriam tempera- vit."— Paulus Diaconus, de Episcopis Mettensibus. t Ann. Fuldens. % It bore, Devicto Desiderio et Papia recepto, and on the reverse the date 774. It is difficult to imagine what made Gibbon assert that the siege of Pavia continued two years. Not fifteen months elapsed from the period of Charlemagne's march for Italy, till he again set out upon his return to France. o 158 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. tions were still left to them inviolate ; and the monarch of the Franks appeared among them less as a conqueror than as a father. He instantly, however, took the title of King of Lombardy,* and was crowned with the iron circle which the monarchs of that country had assumed after their settlement in Italy ; but the choice was still left to the people of the land,f in all cases, whether they would be judged by their own, the Roman, or the Frankish law. A few additions, indeed, were made to the Lombard code ; but even this was done with a sparing and judicious hand, and was softened with the pretence of supplying the laws which had been lost or forgotten.! The disposition, also, which the Lombards had shown to amalgamate themselves with the Franks met with every encouragement from the great French monarch, whose desire was ever to win, rather than to compel. He received the oath of homage from the Lombard nobles ; and, as if that oath could not be broken, trusted them, in general, with the entire government of their towns and provinces, confided in their faith alone, and strove in every thing to smooth the way for the complete union of the two nations, taking care that the humiliation of over- throw should not impede the progress of pacification and concord. These regulations required some time to perfect ; but at length Charlemagne once more set out for France, and reached it in the middle of August, leaving but few troops in the Lombard kingdom. Pavia, the capital, and a small number of frontier towns, received garrisons ; but the people in general had evinced a willingness in their submission ; and * It would appear, that, even before the fall of Pavia, Charlemagne took the title of King of Lombardy ; but the question is unimportant, t Savigny, Hist, of the Roman Law in the Middle Ages. i Capitularia Car. Mag. ; Recueil des Hist, des Gaules, torn, v. p. C5& HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 159 Charlemagne, too strong to be fearful, was too noble to be suspicious. Adalgisus, however, was now at the court of Con- stantinople, whose emperor still looked towards Italy with envy and regret ; and it was not at all unlikely that the peace of Charlemagne's new kingdom might soon be troubled by the intrigues of the Em- peror of the East. Desiderius, with his wife and daughter, were carried or sent into France by the conqueror, and, apparently, were obliged to embrace the monastic life ; for we find that the dethroned monarch was first committed to the charge of Agil- fred, Bishop of Liege, and was afterward conveyed to the monastery of Corbie, where he lived for some time in the practice of mild virtues and superstitious observances, and died at an unknown period.* Whether the peace that he now enjoyed com- pensated for the splendour that he had lost, and the calm contemplations of the cloister were sufficient occupation, after the troublous ambitions of the palace, history does not mention, though it insinu- ates that he was happy. But still, there can be little doubt, that the consciousness of having cast away empire for revenge must have mingled re- morse with memory, and forced many a regret upon his mind, — especially when he reflected that his own intrigues had worked his downfall, and learned from the moral voice of the irretrievable past, that had he been virtuous, he might have con- tinued great. * Chron. Sigiberti, ann. 774 ; Ann. Hepidan. Duchesne Script;. Franc torn. ii. p. 472. 160 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. BOOK IV. FROM THE CONQUEST OF LOMBARDY TO THE BEGINNING OF THE SPANISH WAR. FROM A. D. 774 TO A. D. 777. Charlemagne returns to France— Despatches a Force to punish the Saxons— His Habits of Business— He invades Saxony— His Rear- guard surprised— The Saxons defeated— Revolt of the Duke of Friuli — His Death— Treviso betrayed — Charlemagne returns to Saxony — Internal Administration — Character of the famous WUikind— His at- tempt to raise Saxony once more— Defeated by the Vigilance of Charle- magne—He flies to Denmark. The life of a monarch, at all times one of diffi- culty and care, is ever, in barbarous ages, an exist- ence of continual labour and incessant strife. Nor can even a degree of civilization greatly superior to the age in which he lives raise a king above a con- stant war with the barbarism around him, nor grand views for the weal of human nature effect any thing for his own peace and tranquillity. On the contrary, every general effort to benefit the race of our fellow-creatures must always have to struggle against narrow prejudices and petty in- terests ; and there is unhappily too much reason to believe that very extended views in royal bosoms only afford new cause for strife, added to the many which unceasingly assail a throne. Neither, in an uncultivated state of society, before reason had learned to curb desire, or long expe- rience had shown the fruitlessness of contention, could even predominant military power and the gift of victory ever secure the duration of peace — unless, indeed, some one man could, by a godlike mind, render conquest universal, and obedience perma- HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 161 nent. And yet, peace being, as the great Span- iard* beautifully says, the true object of war, so warfare must still, in a barbarous age, be the only means of peace, however vain the treaties obtained may prove, however transitory be the tranquillity that follows. The most pacific disposition, joined to the most benevolent mind, would never have won for Charle- magne the repose of his German frontier ; but, in fact, the disposition of that monarch, by the habits of his nation — by the circumstances of his country — by the character of his age — by the education of his youth — by the constitution of his body — by the very qualities of his mind — was warlike. His be- nevolence showed itself continually, in his govern- ment, in his laws, in his efforts to soften and to civilize, in his treatment of enemies, in his affection for his friends, in his placability after personal of- fence, and in his active intercession for the unhappy and the unfortunate. In all these points, the bene- ficence of his heart rose above the rudeness of his age, trampled on its prejudices, and cast away its passions ; but still by nature he was a warrior, and he could not have remained a king unless he had been a conqueror. f The nations around never suffered him to with- draw his hand from the sword ; and as fast as by victory he had crushed one of the hydra heads of war, another was raised to attack him at a differ- ent point. J Scarcely had he entered Italy to the succour of Pope Adrian ere, as already mentioned, * "Armas . . las quales tienen por objeto y fin, la paz, que es el mayor bien que los hombres pueden desear en esta vida Esta es el verdadero tin de la guerra, que lo mismo es decir armas que guerra," &c. — Don Quixote. t I have been led into this digression by some remarks tending to cen- sure the French monarch for not sitting still, and suffering the Saxons to plunder his provinces, with philosophical tranquillity. t Annates Tiliani. ; Ann. Fuldens, A. D. 774. ; Ann. Mettens. A. D. 773. 02 162 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. the Saxons, whom he had so lately subdued, were again in arms ; and, secure in the absence of their conqueror and the difficult warfare before him, were ravaging at their leisure the transrhenane provinces of France, and burning all that they could not carry away. No sooner, however, had Pavia surrendered, and Italy received his law, than Charle- magne hastened to the scene of danger. Pausing, himself, at Ingelheim, on finding that the enemy had disappeared he despatched four armies into the heart of Saxony, to punish the aggression of the people, while he made preparations to attempt their com- plete subjugation in the ensuing year. For fifteen months his kingdom had been without his presence, and a great accumulation of internal business had, of course, taken place during his ab- sence. The immense activity of the young monarch, however, left nothing long unconcluded, although all the affairs of his extensive dominions, which were in any degree important, were transacted by him- self alone. To conceive the possibility of such an undertak- ing, the habits of that great monarch must be con- sidered, and also the extraordinary constitution both of his body and his mind. Gifted with a frame the corporeal energies of which required little or no relaxation, and which consequently never clogged and hampered his intellect by fatigue, Charlemagne could devote an immense portion of his time to business, and, without taking more than a very small portion of sleep, could dedicate the clear thoughts of an untired mind to the regulation of his king- dom, even while other men were buried in repose. He was accustomed, we are told, to wake sponta- neously, and rise from his bed four or five times* in the course of each night ; and so great was his economy of moments, that the brief space he em~ * Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Mag. cap. xxiv. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 163 ployed in putting on the simple garments with which he was usually clothed was also occupied in hearing the reports of his count of the palace, or the plead- ings of various causes, which he decided at those times with as much clear wisdom as if listening to them on the judgment-seat. Some lighter exercise of the mind was neverthe- less necessary even to him ; but this was principally taken during his repasts,* when he caused various works to be read to him, which did not require the severe attention that he was obliged to besto.w on judicial investigations. The subject of these read- ings was, in general, the history of past times, and works upon theology, among which the writings of St. Augustin are said to have afforded him the greatest pleasure. By the constant employment of moments which would otherwise have been wasted to the intellect, an extraordinary mass of business was easily swept away ; and, at the end of the very year in which he returned from Italy ,f a number of acts, diplomas,! charters, letters, judgments, and affairs of all kinds, can be traced to Charlemagne himself, the despatch of which, together with all those that must have es- caped research, would be utterly inconceivable, were we ignorant of what were the habits of that great and singular man. While Charlemagne was thus employed in France, the armies sent against the Saxons penetrated into their territory in four different directions. Three of these hosts met with considerable opposition ; but, after contending for some time successfully with the enemy, they returned, to pass the winter in their own country,^ loaded with spoil and crowned with victory. The fourth army found the land abandoned by the Saxon troops ; but a great part * Eginhard. in.Vit. Car. Mag.- cap. xxiv. f A. D. 774. t See De Bouquet, Recueil, vols. v. and vj. $ Ann. Tiliani. ; Ann. Eginhard. 164 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. of the wealth of the nation had been left behind, and the Frankish soldiers amply repaid themselves for the ravages which had been committed on their own frontiers during their absence in Italy. The Saxons, however, were still unsubdued ;* and a fortress which Charlemagne had repaired at Eresburg had been attacked, the garrison defeated, and the walls razed to the ground. The frontiers of Hesse, which had suffered the most from the Saxon inroads during the preceding year, were still open to the enemy ; and every thing in the state of Germany called for immediate attention and exer- tion on the part of the French king. As soon, there- fore, as the general assembly of the people could be held, he collected his forces, and entering Saxony at the head of a considerable army, he captured the Castle of Sigisburg, restored the fortress of Eres- burg, and, marching on to the Weser, forced the passage of that river, which a multitude of the enemy attempted for a time to defend. He thence pursued the Ostphalians, or Eastern Saxons, to whom he was for the time opposed, across the country towards the Ocker, on the banks of which river he arrived without impediment. The extraordinary rapidity of his movements seems to have daunted and surprised the Saxons even more than his power or skill ; and on his sudden appearance at the Ocker, Hasson,f chief of the Ostphalians, with the other leaders of his tribe, met him, in order to tender hostages for their submis- sion. The clemency of the conqueror was not yet exhausted. The hostages were once more re- ceived ; and, turning towards the sea, Charlemagne, in like manner, accepted the promises of the Angra- rians, another tribe, which had likewise been in arms against him. Notwithstanding the bold and daring character of * Eginhard, Ann. ann. 775. t Ann. Loiseliani, ann. 775; Ann. Tiliani, ann. 776. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 165 all his military movements, the Frankish monarch had not thus left behind him an immense tract of hostile country without taking measures to keep open the communication with his own resources ; for while he advanced into the very heart of Sax- ony, he stationed a considerable body of Franks upon the banks of the Weser, to guard the passages of that river, and to secure the means of retreat. None of the dangers which surrounded him, however, escaped the Saxons ; and that part of the nation who, inhabiting the western side of the Weser, were called Westphalians, soon perceived all the advantages which their position in the rear of the monarch's army afforded them.* It was evident, that in the midst of an inimical country, covered with woods, and intersected with rivers, a thousand perils and difficulties would attend his retreat, if the force left to maintain the communi- cation with France were once cut off. To this purpose, then, the first efforts of the Saxons were directed ; and as the Franks on the Weser were in possession of an intrenched camp, stratagem was employed to render that advantage of no avail, f In the absence of the monarch, the dis- cipline of the troops who had remained behind was a good deal relaxed ; and with that national want of caution which may be still traced in their de- scendants, the Franks of the reserve suffered a con- siderable body of the enemy to mingle with some of their foraging parties, which were returning towards nightfall. The Saxons thus penetrated into the heart of the camp ; and in the darkness easily opened a way for the entrance of their com- panions. The Franks, suddenly attacked in their sleep, be- fore they were aware of the proximity of an enemy found myriads of hostile swords at their throats ; * Eginhard, Annal. ; Annal. Loisel. t Annales Mettensis. 166 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. and before they could recover from their first sur- prise, a great number were sacrificed to their own imprudence. But discipline in that day was of less consequence than in the present times ; and in a hand-to-hand fight, such as then raged in the encamp- ment of the Franks, the individual exertions of each man were of almost as much consequence as the union of the whole. Gradually, the Franks forgot their first panic, roused themselves, rallied, resisted, overcame; and before morning, the Saxons were defeated, and in full flight. Nevertheless, flight did not bring them security ; for Charlemagne himself, who never yielded one unnecessary instant to repose, was by this time returning towards his rear-guard. Rumours of the attack upon his camp reached him on his march, and gave such speed to his movements that he arrived on the spot as the Saxons were in the act of flying from the scene of their overthrow. A hundred thousand fresh swords were added to those which already smote the fugitives ; and a fearful number of the enemy paid with their lives the pen- alty of their bold attempt. This defeat entirely dispersed the Westphalians for the time ; the rest of the hostile tribes had already given hostages for their future tranquillity ; the whole land was bowed in apparent submission ; and Charlemagne, leaving garrisons at Sigisburg and Eresburg,* now led his victorious army back to their native country. The repose of Germany was only temporary; but, in the mean while, the joy which the capture of Pavia and the fall of the Lombard kingdom had occasioned in Rome,f began to be obscured by storms in Italy itself, and gathering clouds in other quarters of the political horizon. Scarcely had Adrian, after Charlemagne's return to France, writ- ten to his great protector a letter full of blessings * Chron. Moissiac. t Codex Carolinus, Epist. lv. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 167 and thanks, than he had cause once more to solicit his presence in Italy,* and to address him as a sup- pliant, rather than congratulate him as a friend. The first disquietude which the pope was destined to suffer proceeded from that contest which I have already noticed, with Leo, Archbishop of Ravenna, who persisted in detaining the whole of the Penta- polis, and various cities of (Emilia. These he de- clared he had received as a donation from the mon- arch of the Franks ; and a long and tedious dispute ensued, which could never have taken place had a written deed existed to authenticate the right of the holy see. But more serious and general dangers soon began to menace Italy ; and two after epistles of Adrianf are found full of matter affecting the im- mediate interest of Charlemagne. The state in which Lombardy had been left must here be considered, at the risk of repeating some facts which have been before mentioned. On the fall of that kingdom, Charlemagne, instead of pur- suing the course of policy common both in the days which preceded and those which followed his reign, by dividing great part of the territory he had just acquired among such of his followers as he de- sired to reward or promote, left the Lombard nobles in full possession of. their land, and merely claimed their homage as their new sovereign. J This was instantly yielded, with every sign of joy and willing- ness ; for to escape with life, liberty, and fortune was an event which seldom, at that period, befell a conquered people. At first, the Lombard lords, feeling no compassion for their former king, who, for his own ambition and revenge, had exposed them all to spoliation and abasement, gladly saw the sceptre transferred to a clement and generous prince, and joyfully welcomed * Codex Carolinus, Epist. lxiii. lviii. lix. t Ibid. Epist. lviii. lix. j Paulus Diaconus, de Episcopis Mettensibus. 168 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. the unexpected termination of the war. But con- quest had loosened, if not broken, the bonds of soci- ety. Charlemagne left them to their own counsels. The steel-clad myriads of the Franks, which had spread terror* and dismay among them, were withdrawn ; fear was forgotten ; a distant monarch was despised ; ambition sprang up in the heart of every one ; and each of the Lombard nobles enter- tained some project of breaking his vows of homage, and making himself independent. It was some time before unity of purpose rendered general disaffection formidable. The first attempt was conceived with no extended views, and was the simple effort of a turbulent vassalf to free himself from his engagements, and establish a separate state. This took place in the case of Hildebrand Duke of Spoleto, the homage of whose duchy had been resigned by the king in favour of the holy see. Possibly, encouraged by the resistance of the Archbishop of Ravenna, that noble learned to de- spise the rule of the Roman prelate, and hoped to emancipate himself from the oaths which bound him to Charlemagne, now that the monarch had trans- ferred his allegiance to a weaker power. He seems at first, to have laid no more comprehensive plan than that of resisting an authority whose temporal force was small, and whose spiritual thunders were then feeble and almost untried. Greater schemes, however, soon followed. Rod- gaud Duke of Friuli,J one of those in whom Charle- magne had placed the greatest confidence, and to whom he had intrusted the greatest power, began to conclude that he also might free himself from the authority of him to whom he had pledged his faith.ty * Motiach. Sangallens, cap. xxvi. t Codex Carolines, Epist. lviii. X Armales Loiseliani ; Annales Eginhardi, 776 ; Codex Carolin. Epist. lix. § The terms of the annals of Loisel are strong in regard to the treach- ery of Rodgaud : — " Rotgaudus Langobardus fraudavit fidem suam, et HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 169 Although his duchy was powerful and important, including a considerable portion of the Tyrol, and stretching far round the Venetian gulf, he very well knew that a force which had crushed the Lombard kingdom while entire could not be successfully op- posed by any detached part. But yet he hoped, that — by leaguing together once more all the dis- jointed members of the state, and by giving to all the energy of a common cause, and of individual danger — he might be able to recover the independ- ence of those territories which had been lost by the general apathy, under the reign of Desiderius. Gradually these views extended and changed.* He found that his personal influence was not sufficient to form that bond of union which he desired; he doubted that the activity of his confederates would be equal to his own; and he naturally turned his eyes elsewhere to seek for further support and assist- ance. At length, trusting to chance and his own skill to reap the greatest benefit from the enterprise,! the Lombard chief conceived the design of calling back Adalgisus from his exile at Constantinople; and proposed to him the total subjugation of Italy, by the aid of the Eastern empire. Such negotiations passed rapidly between Lom- bardy and the Grecian capital. Adalgisus, who had omnia sacramenta rumpens voluit Italiam rebellare."— Annates Lois©- liani, ann. 775. * Eginhard, Ann. ; Annal. de Gestis Car. Mag. Metrice Script, t The Saxon metrical annalist gh«s the clearest account extant of the revolt of the Duke of Friuli :— "Cumque domum rediens, prhveps iter acceleraret Cornperit Ausoniis in partibus esse tyrannum Nomine Hrodgaudum, nova qui molimina tentans Nee, quern rex illi dederat, contexuus honore, Italiae latum voluit sibi subdere regrmm. Quippe Ducem Comitemque Forojulensibus ipsum Constituit Carolus, prima cum clara triumpho De Longobardis victor vexilla revexit, Huic nimis ingratus dono male solicitabat Urbibus ex multis populos, ac fecit ut ad se Deficerent, justo Caroli spreto dominatu," &c. See Recueil des Historiens Frangais, torn. v. page 141. P 170 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE* been received with favour, and invested with pa- trician honours* by the emperor, welcomed with gladness the hope of recovering the territory of his father; and the Emperor Leo, who had suc- ceeded Constantine Copronymus, joyfully perceived a chance of reuniting under his sway the long-divided empire of Rome. But Leof was neither by mind nor by body fitted for great undertakings. Had his father Constantine been still alive, it is probable that the enterprise would have been accomplished, or at least com- menced, before the monarch of the Franks was aware of the conspiracy. The preparations of Leo, on the contrary, were weak and dilatory. The sloth with which he proceeded gave full time for rumour to use her wings. Pope Adrian, watchful on all occasions, obtained information of the impending danger, and instantly despatched messengers! to France, beseeching aid for himself, and pointing out the perilous situation of the Frankish monarch's new dominions. The envoys of the pontiff reached France while Charlemagne was still absent, pursuing his success- ful expedition against the Saxons ; and the news of the conspiracy of Rodgaud, and the danger which menaced his Italian territories, met him as he re- turned towards his own country. Perils with him were always encountered as soon as known ; and, without loss of time, he crossed the Rhine with a select body of troops, and advanced rapidly towards Italy, hoping to effect his passage before the snows had blocked up the roads. The year, however, had too far proceeded in its course towards winter for the monarch to make much progress ; and he was forced to pause at Shlestadt, in Alsace. § This * Eginhard, Annal. ann. 774. t Gibbon, chap. 48. t A. D. 775. Codex Carolin. Epist. lix. $ Aran. Loiseliani. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 171 i delay was nevertheless productive of no evil conse- quences. The torpid slowness natural to the Em- peror Leo far more than outdid the necessary halt of the King- of France ; and, at a moment when ac- tivity was the great requisite to success, days, weeks, and months were wasted in idleness by the court of Constantinople. Not so with Charlemagne : the first melting of the snows saw him once more across the mountains, and in full career against his enemies. Pavia had been secured by the troops he had formerly left there ; and, traversing the country with immense speed, he left behind him Treviso, though strongly garrisoned for the revolted chiefs, advanced upon Friuli, and attacked the faithless Lombards before they knew that he had passed the Alps. Immediate destruction overtook the conspirators, and the death of Rodgaud, their leader, followed. Whether he was taken in arms, and executed afterward, or was slain in battle,* is by no means clear; but whichever way it occurred, his fate was undeserving of pity. He had broken the oaths which he had voluntarily plighted, and he had abused the confidence of a gen- erous monarch. The clemency of a conqueror — a * The accounts of this matter differ, but it is probable that Rodgaud was decapitated. The Tilian Annals, those of Loisel, and those of Ado Archbishop of Vienne, who died in A. D. 860, make use of the word occisus. The Annals of St. Fulda, those of Eginhard, and the Chroni- cles of Moissiac employ the verb interficere to express the death of the revolted Lombard. The Annals of Meiz, however, in speaking of Charle- magne, say, " Rothgundum cepit et decollare prcecepit." It is to be remarked that these last annals are of a later date than several of the others. No one, at the same time, mourned the fate of a man who, if he was not a rebel to his legitimate sovereign, was a perjured traitor to his generous benefactor ; and it was reserved for the historical puritan- ism of the present age to blame a monarch for punishing a vassal who, after voluntary submission, plighted homage, solemn vows of fidelity, and many benefits received, had nearly plunged the whole land into war and bloodshed for the gratification of his restless ambition. There is only one authority that I know of which states positively that Rodgaud was killed in battle— that called the Chrouicon Verdunensis ; which, upon consideration, however, I should judge better than any I have cited, as the Lombard priest who betrayed Treviso, and was upon the spo^ &t the time, afterward became Bishop of Verdttn. 172 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. virtue then rare — he had repaid with ingratitude; and the power and property which had been left him he had used as weapons against him who had spared them. He had risked all for ambition, was conquered, and died. In leaving behind him so large a city as Treviso, strongly fortified and garrisoned, while he struck the decisive blow at the chief of his adversaries, Charlemagne seems to have followed a system of warfare which has appeared new and bold when ex- ecuted by an extraordinary general even in our own day. But the moment he had disconcerted the plans of Rodgaud, the monarch turned from Friuli, and, with the brilliant celerity which characterized all his exploits, marched directly upon Treviso, where Stabilinus,* the uncle of the fallen duke, had shut himself up, resolved to hold out the city to the last. The strength of the place and the desperation of its defenders promised to render the siege as long as that of Pavia ; but an Italian priest, of the name of Peter, who happened to be in the fortress, agreed to betray the gates of the Lombards to the Franks, and before Easter Treviso also was taken. No severity followed ; and although the priestf who had de- livered up the town was rewarded in a manner which the magnitude of the service he had rendered, more than his own honesty, deserved, no reason exists for believing that Charlemagne punished the revolt of Stabilinus in proportion to the value which he set upon the conquest. The submission of all the other Lombard nobles was prompt and complete; but the monarch who had once so confidently trusted, and had been so speedily betrayed, now took more rigid precautions. * Ann. Petaviani; Chron. Poetse Saxon.; Chron. Verdunens. t He was created Bishop of Verdun, much against the will of the flock. The clemency of Charlemagne, however, towards Stabilinus, and all tho other revolted Lombards, would favour the opinion that Rodgaud was lulled in battle. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 173 The cities* which he had found absolutely in revolt he consigned to Frankish governors, and provided with Frankish troops ; but those vassals whose share in the conspiracy was not ascertained by any open act of rebellion he wisely left unpunished, permit- ting them either to attribute their escape to his ignorance of their crime, or to the clemency of his nature. The garrisons throughout Lombardy were strengthened and increased ; and before the spring could be said to have fully commenced, the whole country was reduced to obedience, restored to tran- quillity, and secured by every provision for its gov- ernment and defence. The rapidity with which he had executed all these great acts was not more than necessary to the monarch of the Franks ; for -during the very same year he was called upon for a display of his extra- ordinary powers of activity, both in resolution and performance, such as Europe has seldom beheld. But small space of time was allowed him for se- curing his Italian dominions against fresh commo- tions. At Treviso, the news reached him that the Saxons were again in arms upon his northern fron- tier ; and before he could pass the Alps, which he accomplished with inconceivable rapidity,f he found that the fortress of Eresburg had been once more attacked and taken, and that the castle of Sigisburg was besieged. Not a moment was lost by the sovereign of the Franks ; but, traversing his own country with the speed of lightning, he added what reinforcements he could gather to his Italian army, and, to use the words of the annalist of Metz, entered the territory of his pertinacious enemies like a mighty tempest. * Ann. Loiselian.; Ann. Poet. Saxon.; Ann. Eginhard; Ann. Mettens. t There is something striking in the manner in which the barbarous Saxon poet describes the rapidity of the monarch's movements, — " Jussit, et ut venit velox, sic inde recessit." P2 174 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. The garrison of Sigisburg had already repulsed the Saxon force which had attacked it ; and the presence of Charlemagne himself, who, before the Saxons were fully aware that he had quitted Italy, was sweeping the whole country, from the Rhine to the Lippe, with the rapidity of the wind, spread terror and consternation through the land. Once more subdued,* the Saxons met him in great numbers, on the banks of the Lippe, supplicating peace and pardon ; and again offering hostages, they declared their resolution of embracing the Christian faith. Charlemagne, with unwearied clemency, in- stantly acceded to their demand; but, determined to take greater measures of security, he added sev- eral fortresses to those he had before built, and em- ployed his troops in again restoring the often-de- molished castle of Eresburg. While thus employed, the Saxons presented themselves in immense num- bers, with their wives and children, for the purpose of receiving baptism ;f and the French monarch — imagining that the greatest step which had yet been taken towards their civilization, and the tranquillity of his own dominions, was now gained — left them in peace, and returned to France. Thus ended the warlike operations of a year of extraordinary activity, during the course of which Charlemagne had carried on the strife in person, on the shores of the Gulf of Venice, and on the banks of the Weser, had crossed the Alps and the Rhine, and had led an immense army more than three thou- sand miles in different directions. Such exertions, wonderful in themselves, are the more remarkable, when the arms of the Franks at that time are taken into consideration, and when it is remembered that hfwVy cavalry and men loaded with iron were thus marched over a vast extent of country, at a time * Annals of Metz ; Annals of Eginhard. t Annales Eginhard ; Armales Mettens. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 175 when every obstacle impeded the free communica- tion of different parts of the world. The war-dress of Charlemagne himself was wholly composed of steely consisting* of the casque, breast and back plates, together with greaves, gauntlets, and cuissards, formed likewise of iron plates. Nor were inferior warriors less cumbrously defended ; for though the arms of the earlier Franks were light in comparison with this heavy panoply, yet we find that, in the days of Charlemagne, each man in the army, whose means permitted it, was protected by a suit of armour similar to that of the monarch. Such rapid and continued movements as those in which the Frankish king had been occupied in the field, and the many dangers to be averted, and diffi- culties to be overcome, which had constantly be- sieged his mind, might be supposed to employ his whole thoughts, and leave him no time for the more pacific affairs of government. But during all these wars, though, of course, the absence of the sove- reign necessarily left some opportunities of abuse in the administration of justice, and in the civil polity of his realm, the arrears of business were much less than might be imagined. The general government of the state remained, as I have before observed, in the hands of the monarch, who, without any minister to divide the fatigues, or support the responsibility, devoted every spare moment to its affairs, and soon learned to carry it on in whatever part of the world he hap- pened to be. But the local administration was dis- tributed among provincial officers,! having the title * Monachus Sangallensis, cap. 26, lib. ii. t This brief account of the internal government of the country is, of «ourse, general, and not applying alone to the particular period of the monarch's reign of which I now speak. The few regulations which I have here noticed were either framed or con finned by capitularies at different times ; and are only mentioned in this place to show that the tranquillity of the state and the administration of justice were provided for during the long wars which I have described. 176 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. of duke, to the care of each of whom twelve coun- ties were intrusted. The counts placed under these officers were, in fact, the judges of the land,* and had power to summon to their co.urt any one within the territory subject to their jurisdiction.! Neglect or refusal to obey this summons was visited with a severe penalty. At the same time, the counts them- selves were forced to render justice by their station; and any denial or perversion of right was punished by loss of land and rank.J The distant menace of such punishment, however, would have been little effectualin procuring the constant and clear admin- istration of the law, had not ambulatory magistrates been appointed to proceed through the kingdom, to render judgment themselves in particular cases — to take cognizance of the conduct of the dukes and counts — and to see justice impartially executed. These officers were called Missi Dominici $ and, though I do not find it anywhere expressly stated that- their times of visitation were uncertain, and, consequently, their reception by the counts unpre- meditated, yet many reasons exist for believing such to have been the case.|| * The dukes, the counts, and the patricians (a name still retained) were all called upon to administer justice, which is made evident by the following words, from a formula of Marculfus : " Ergo, dum et fidem et utilitatem tuam videmur habere compertam, ideo tibi actionem. (a) Comitates, ducatus, patriciates, in pago illo, quern antecessor tuus ille usque nunc visus estegisse, tibi ad agendum regendumque commisimus; ita ut semper erga regimen nostrum fidem inlibatam custodias, et omaes populi ibidem commanentes, tarn Franci, Romani, Burgundionts, qu«tm i eliquae nationes sub tuo regimine et gubernatione degant, et moderentur : et eos recto tramite secundum legem et consuetudinem eorum regas, Tiduis et pupillis maximus defensor appareas; latronum et malefac-* torum scelera A te severissime reprimantur; ut populi bene viventes sub tuo regimine, guadentes debeant consistere quieti," &c. — Marculf. Form, xxxii. Lindenbrogius. t Oapitul. Car. Mag. xlvi. cap. 38. I Capit. A. D. 779, cap. ix. and xxi. § Capit. Ann. Imper. xi. || It appears, also, that the administration was even then intrusted to the vassals of the crown in general, as well as to the counts, who were at tha,t time mere officers, removeable at pleasure. In almost all the. capitularies, the vassal is represented as administering the law as well &s, tfte count. (a) Id est, Officium. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 177 Their interference proved, of course, a great safe- guard to the people ; but still, as the provision of forage for the troops, as well as the maintenance of bridges, highways, prisons, passage-boats, and, in short, all the internal regulations of the country, both civil and military, were in the first instance intrusted to the counts and dukes, peculation and exaction were undoubtedly practised, notwithstand- ing the active vigilance of the monarch. Although the general administration of law was thus provided for, many cases, especially affecting the great vassals of the crown, or affairs of high ecclesiastical property, were reserved for the deci- sion of the king himself, or the count of his palace. These causes Charlemagne appears never to have neglected on any account ; and, in all his wars, the suiters might follow to his tent, and obtain an imme- diate decision. Thus, in the heart of Saxony, he judged the cause of the Bishop of Treves and the Abbot of Pruim ; and in the course of that very year* in which he accomplished the two expeditions into Lombardy and Saxony, he heard and determined an extraordinary number of general pleas. Among other affairs brought under his immediate notice about this time was that of the pope and the Archbishop of Ravenna, whose dispute, it appears, was not easily concluded ; as the prelate of the ex- archate undertook a journey to France for the sole purpose of justifying himself in the eyes of Charle- magne, f Whatever was the decision of the king, in regard to which we have no clear information, it would seem that the award was not very unfavourable to the archbishop, who, after his return to Italy, con- ducted himself with such overbearing insolence as to give more offence to Adrian:}; than ever. In con- sequence, the great amity which had hitherto existed * A. D. 776. t Codex. Carolinus, Epist. liii. \ Ibid. li. lii. , 178 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. between Charlemagne and the supreme pontiff was diminished for a short time, and the papal epistles breathe a tone of complaint and discontent very different from the usual tenor of Adrian's communi- cations with his great protector.* Before long, however, either Charlemagne removed the cause of dissatisfaction, or the pontiff perceived the impolicy of alienating such powerful friendship by fruitless importunity and impotent resentment. The acerbity of Adrian's style soon mellowed again into more genial expressions — his language became once more that of praise and benediction ; and Italy remaining in peace and security, left the monarch of the Franks to oppose his whole force to the inveterate enemies who still hovered upon his north-eastern frontier, eager for revenge. Time for collecting his energies, and opportunity to apply them undivided, was now, indeed, absolutely necessary to Charlemagne ; for though at the end of the last year he had left the Saxons with a more reasonable prospect of peace than had ever termi- nated any of his former campaigns, that prospect was soon destined to be obscured. The immense tract of country occupied by the Saxons, the warlike habits of the people, and their fierce and indomitable courage, while it made even their temporary subjection by the Franks extraor- dinary, in reality left little hope of their permanent tranquillity. The apparent cause of their easy and continual overthrow by the armies of Charlemagne was their division into various tribes, and their want of that unity of purpose which can only be obtained by the action of a general and continuous govern- ment. The war-kingf of to-day was no longer war- king to-morrow ; his military projects ended with his command ; and the nation had to adopt new schemes, and habituate itself to a new leader, while no fixed! * Codex Carolinus, Epist. I. T ^haron. Turner, Hist, of Anglo-Saxons, vol. i. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE 179 principles in the art of war served to counterbalance the constant change of commanders. Had one man of great and comprehensive genius appeared, who could have held in his hands for a length of time the united energies and resources of the people, he might at any period have found means to oppose to the monarch of the Franks a more equal and steady- resistance than had hitherto been attempted. Such a man was now rising into light ; and, though greatly inferior to Charlemagne in talent, in firm- ness, in civilization, and in magnanimity, his powers were sufficient to give an entirely new character to the Saxon war.* He was a chief of the Westpha- lians ; whether duke of the whole of those who took that name or only of a tribe is obscure and unim- portant. His name, which has come down with honour in every history of Germany as that of one of the greatest patriots of that time, was Witikind ; and to personal couragej warlike abilities, and great powers of exertion, he added — as is proved by his influence on the minds of his countrymen — the force of eloquence and the talent of command. During the greater part of the wars which had pro- ceded this epoch, we have seen that the campaigns on both sides had been little better than devastating incursions into the territories of the enemy, wherein the Saxons had ever committed the first aggression, and fled before they could be strongly opposed. On the other hand, the Franks ravaged in retaliation, and retired as soon as submission and promises of future peace had been wrung from the enemy. Pre- vious to the accession of Charlemagne, means of retribution, but not of coercion^ had been employed : but he, finding that no reliance was to be placed on empty vows, had acted on a different principle ; and at the termination of each campaign, had taken new measures to repress the Saxons, by building for- * Eginhard, Annates, 777. 180 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. tresses beyond his own border ; by which precaution, though as yet he pretended no dominion over them, he learned the first movements which preceded an incursion upon his territory, and broke the force of the torrent at its source. In return for continual ag- gression and violated promises, he held out frequent menaces of total and permanent subjection on the next breach of tranquillity ; and in his last expedi- tion, after having brought his enemies to his feet, he had commenced the erection of a fortified* town within their limits. Far from showing any indigna- tion at this proceeding, the Saxons — who, with the common craft of barbarians, were always profuse to meanness in their acts of submission when con- quered — had not only given hostages, but, as before mentioned, had demanded baptism,! which they knew would be pleasing to the victor. Not so, however, Witikind, who, unconscious of any right but liberty, while he robbed and destroyed the property of his neighbours, viewed with insur- mountable wrath the least infringement of his own. The measures of defence which Charlemagne was in a maimer compelled to take he looked upon as an ambitious aggression upon the liberties of the Saxons ; and no sooner had the winter of A. D. 777 placed a barrier between his nation and the monarch of the Franks, than he stimulated his countrymen once more to violate their lately renewed engage- ments. Before any active efforts coold be made,! the pre- cursory movements of the Saxons were communi- cated to Charlemagne, and, with his usual promp- titude, he marched directly to the point of danger. The plans of Witikind being thus disconcerted by the rapid energy of the French king, that chief, find- ing himself without any force to oppose the immense army suddenly led against him, fled into Denmark * Annates Petaviani, ann. 776. f See Note III. t Eginhard Annates ; Chron. Adonis, 777. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 181 to seek aid and support from Sigifrid, the Danish monarch then reigning. In the mean time, the whole Saxon population thronged to Charlemagne, and, protesting their in- nocence of the plots of Witikind, as well as their perfect submission, demanded eagerly the mainte- nance of peace. Charlemagne, though probably not deceived by the declaration, once more agreed to withdraw his army, but, at the same time, only did so upon the express condition, that if the Saxons again violated their faith they should lose both their country and their liberty.* I use the words of Egin- hard, and shall not attempt to investigate far whether this was a condition which a conqueror had a right to demand, or which was any way obligatory upon the conquered. It must, indeed, be considered more as a threat than a condition ; and it appears to me that no measure was unjustifiable that might, in the failure of all other means, procure peace lor France from a nation which, for two hundred years, had kept her frontier provinces in a state of constant strife and desolation. By this time — although in those days the wings of fame were slow and feeble — the renown of the monarch of the Franks had penetrated to all the quarters of the earth ; and even while repressing the turbulent Saxons in the north, the deputies of another nation, and of a different religion, came from the very opposite extreme of Europe to solicit suc- cour and protection. These were a body of Saracens from Spain ; and a few words must be said in explanation of the state of the country from which they were sent, as, on their representations, a new war and new conquests were undertaken and completed. * Annales Eginhard, ann. 777 Q JL82 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. BOOK V. FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE SPANISH WAR, TO THE INCORPORATION OF SAXONY WITH THE FRENCH DO- MINIONS. FROM A. D. 777 TO A. D. 780. The State of Spain— Charlemagne invited to invade Spain — His Prepara- tions — He passes the Pyrenees — Subjection of Arragon and Catalonia — Capture of Pampeluna — Battle of Saragossa — Establishment of the Spanish March — Charlemagne recalled to the North — Battle of Ronces- valles — Ravages committed by the Saxons — Battle of the Adern — Internal Regulations of Charlemagne — His Conduct to the Duke of Spoleto — Saxony incorporated with France — Retrospect of the Saxon War— The Saxon Capitularies. A twofold traitor to his religion and his country had, about the year 710, courted the Arabs from Af- rica into Spain. Whether revenge or ambition was the motive is a question of little import here ; it is sufficient that Count Julian betrayed his country and his God. A divided people and a feeble king on the one hand, and a daring commander with a veteran host on the other, decided the fate of the Gothic throne ; and by the close of the year 714, Spain, with the exception of a few remote districts, was subdued by the Arabs, from the columns of Hercules to the chain of the Pyrenees. The government of the conquered country was intrusted to the lieuten- ants of the caliphs ; and the spirit of war had then so strong an influence on the Arab race, that few of the Spanish governors contented themselves with- out adding something to that which their predeces- sors had acquired. The Pyrenees were thus soon passed ; and a short time before the close of the Merovingian dynasty in France, a considerable portion of the southern dis- HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 183 tricts of that country was under the Saracen do- minion. The celebrated Abderraman, seeking to extend his power still farther, fell before the arm of Charles Martel; and the Saracens, retiring from France, contented themselves with their territories in Spain. For the space of fifty years, the Iberian peninsula remained dependent upon the throne of the caliphs ; but domestic dissensions soon began to diminish the vigour of the race of Mohammed. A powerful faction sprang up against the children of Omar, who had for so long possessed the great oriental throne. Two bloody battles decided the fate of the caliphat ; and a cruel system of extermination destroyed the major part of the unfortunate Omaides. While the house of Abbas, however, — the greatest which ever swayed the sceptre of the East, — estab- lished itself firmly in the heart of the Mohammedan world, one of the rival race of Omar escaped to Spain, where the party of his family was predomi- nant ; and about the same period at which the Mero- vingian dynasty ended in France, and Pepin assumed the throne of that country, Spain separated from the dominion of the caliphs, and placed herself under a monarch of her own. This state of independence, of course, was not established without a contest ; but the officer sent against Abdalrahman, now caliph of Cordova, was defeated and slain, and the power of the new sovereign was confirmed by victory. The subjects over whom he was called to reign were divided between Jews, Christians, and Moham- medans of the two sects of Abbas and Omar. Clem- ency and protection were, in general, shown to the Christians, and favour and regard to the Jews ; but, according to the common course of human feeling, the very suspicion of being one of the party of Ab- bassides — the heretical usurpers of the caliphat — was enough to call down every species of severity and intolerance. 184 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. Besides those Christians who had submitted to the Arab yoke, and lived contented under the do- minion of their conquerors, a portion of the ancient Gothic race still remained unsubdued in the heart of the Asturias, strong 1 in bold, free, and independ- ent hearts, but weak in number and in means. Such were the inhabitants of Spain, when, in the heart of Saxony, the monarch of the Franks* was visited by one of the Saracen emirs of Arragon, praying for protection and redress, and offering to hold the whole of his territories from Charlemagne, rather than from the crown of Cordova. In all revolutions, such as those which had lately taken place in Spain, the natural tendency of private ambition is to divide the state, rather than to con- solidate it. Selfishness, joined with talent, has, in all political convulsions, the greatest room for exer- tion ; and each man who possesses the power, the activity, and the courage to struggle aims at indi- vidual independence, if not at general dominion. In many instances this took place in Spain ; and we find a multitude of petty princes rendering them- selves wholly or partially free from the domination of the monarchs of Cordova. Whether this desire was the motive of Ibn al Arabi,f as the Saracen who visited Charlemagne is termed by the annalists, or whether he was one of the hated Abbassides, whom oppression had driven to revolt, does not ap- pear. His vengeance or his ambition, however, took larger views than that of his fellows, when it led him a thousand miles across a strange and Christian country, to seek support from the conquer- ing monarch of the Franks. To that monarch he held out a prospect of easy victory, extended do- minion, and vast advantage ; and his petition met with immediate attention. * Eginhard, Ann. 777. t Ann. Petaviani ; Ann. Eginbard. His name is differently written by the different annalists, and is probablv corrupt in all. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 185 Charlemagne undertook to invade Spain; and it must be here remarked, that this was the first war in which that great warrior ever engaged, with the sole view to conquest. The war of Aquitaine had been the act of a sovereign to correct and repress a revolted vassal, — that of Saxony, to defend his frontier, and punish the aggressors on his land, — the invasion of Italy, to fulfil the duties of an office he had long before accepted, and to deliver and pro- tect a devoted friend. But the Saracens had com- mitted no new infringement of the French territory, — no old and dear ally was to be defended by his expedition, — and, making every allowance on the score of Christian zeal,* and the desire of protecting the oppressed Goths of Spain, this remains still the most unjustifiable war in which Charlemagne was ever engaged. But the desire for conquest and aggran- dizement, like every other passion of human nature — and even more than any other — increases by habit and indulgence. Charlemagne had been educated to war, and pampered by victory ; yet, through his life, his moderation is much more conspicuous than his excess. In order that no long march might fatigue his troops and delay his progress, Charlemagne passed the winter in Aquitaine ,f collecting all his forces on the frontier he meant to violate. In the spring, * Som^ of the late French historians praise this expedition ; call the con- quest of Spsiin much more noble and worthy of his regard than that of his indomitable enemies the Saxons; represent all that passed in the mind of the monarch,— his hesitation to ally himself with Mohammedans, and his aspirations for the benefit of the Christians ; and end by calling the desires which led him to invade a country with which he had no subject of offence, which had never injured him, violated his frontier, or oppressed his allies, " religious and humane."(a) The whole account of what passed in the mind of Charlemagne on this occasion is a wild hypothesis, which is unsupported even by a casual word in contempo- rary history ; and the reasoning will appear absurd or not, to every one, as they may judge it wisest and best to attack a peaceful neighbour, or to repel an armed thief. t A. D. 778 ; Ann. Loiseliani. (a) Gaillard, Hist, de Charlemagne, vol. i. p. 329l Q2 186 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. as soon as the defiles of the Pyrenees were passable, he led one large division of his army through the mountains into Spain, and advanced rapidly upon Saragossa. At the same time,* a considerable force, raised in Burgundy, A ustrasia, and even Lom- bardy,f passed the mountains of Roussillon, and made themselves masters of Catalonia. Their pro- gress and success were rapid and extraordinary; and, after taking possession of Barcelona, Huesca, Gerona, and other neighbouring towns, they ad- vanced across the country, and joined their monarch at Saragossa. Though the whole of that part of the country is highly defensible — though the Arabs of that day possessed more military skill and warlike energy than perhaps any European nation — and though the cities of Arragon and Catalonia were both strongly garrisoned and fortified, yet little or no resistance was offered by any place except Pampeluna. From these circumstances, and from a number of active military operations, which were almost immediately after undertaken by the Goths of the Asturias, it is more than probable that the Mohammedan monarchs, embarrassed with doubtful friends and internal ene- mies, were unprepared with any sufficient means to oppose the formidable army of the invaders. Whe- ther the resistance of Pampeluna itself was at all vigorous is not distinctly stated in any contempo- rary account ; but it may be inferred that the strug- * Ann. TilianL; Ann. Petaviani. t Whether the imitation was intentional or accidental— whether Charlemagne was followed as a prototype, or studied as a master in the art of conquest — a great and ambitious man of modern days has left behind him a strong resemblance in many of his military actions to the monarch of the middle ages. The custom of immediately amalgamating a eonquered nation with the legions of the conqueror, and binding the two nations together by a union of endeavour and community of glory, had been practised before either Charlemagne or Napoleon; but a simi- larity in many other respects may be traced, by reading the history of each, but with this striking difference, that in the life of Napoleon, indi- vidual ambition was the whole, in Charlemagne it was only a part. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 187 gle* was severe, from the marks of triumph and precaution which followed its fall. A medalf was struck, to commemorate the capture of the city; and the walls were razed to the ground, to guard against the consequences of future revolt. The rest of Navarre and Arragon was soon reduced to submission. Ibn al Arabi| and his com- panions were restored to their dominions, whatever those dominions were, and,§ giving hostages and tribute, rendered themselves in some degree vassals of the crown of France. The pledges, either offered by Abu Taurus, one of the Saracen emirs, or exacted from him, were his brother and his son ; and it is but reasonable to suppose that the degree of protection granted was in proportion to such a high price as the exile of two near and dear relations. Garrisons were now placed in particular cities, to secure the country which had been Avon; every measure of precaution and defence was adopted ; and what has been called the " Spanish March," comprising a broad band of country, extending along the southern foot of the Pyrenees, was added to the dominion of Charlemagne. It is not easy to say whether the acquisition and preservation of this territory by the Frankish mon- arch was designed from the first by cautious policy, or merely originated in the spirit of conquest. In a political point of view, however, it was infinitely well judged. The passages of the Pyrenees, which had ever been a refuge for the turbulent and treach- erous Gascons, were thus secured. A barrier was * Ann. Poet. Saxon, ann. 778. | It bore, Captd excisdque Pampelond. The Saxon poet is the only annalist who marks that the city was forcibly taken, and even he goes no further than to say, "id ceperat armis." The Annals of Metz imply that Saragossa also resisted ; but the whole detail of these circumstances is so very brief in the old historians, that modern writers have been obliged to supply the want of facts from the stores of imagination. tHe was apparently Emir of Saragossa. § Annates Mettensis ; Chron. Moissiac. 188 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. placed between them and their old allies, the Sara- cens of Spain. The keys of the southern frontier of France, which had been heretofore in the hands of the Arabs, were thenceforth intrusted to, Charle- magne's own subjects ; and while the complete and final reduction of the whole of Aquitaine to law and submission was ultimately ensured, his Pyrenean provinces, from the Gulf of Lyons to the Bay of Biscay, were secured from invasion. Although the conquest of the Spanish March had been easy and nearly unopposed, Charlemagne was not suffered ultimately to fix his power in so import- ant a district without a struggle. The time he was forced to employ in perfecting the various arrange- ments for incorporating the acquired territory with the rest of France, and in providing for its govern- ment, both civil and ecclesiastical, gave room for preparation on the part of the Saracens. A large army was collected, and poured down into Arragon. The Franks* were attacked near Saragossa, but after a battle of several hours, in which many thou- sands of the Mohammedans were slain, victory declared hi favourf of the French monarch; and his new dominions in Spain were secured. After this success, Charlemagne proceeded calmly to complete that regular organization in the state of the province which he always endeavoured to intro- duce into every country he conquered. But before long, the news from his northern frontier became! of such a nature as to call him back from the scenety before him, with all the rapidity which never failed * Recueil des Hist. Franc. D. Bouquet, vol. v. p. 70, Note G. ■fl have admitted the account of this battle, though it stands only upon one authority in regard to the details (Chron. Moissiac, Cod. Reg. D. Bouquet, vol. v. p. 70), because every other writer implies that battles were fought, though without entering into particulars. t Both the Annals of Loisel and those of Eginhard say, that the news of the Saxon invasion reached Charlemagne at Auxerre ; but it seems certain, as stated by the Chronicle of Moissiac, some information of dan- ger on his northern frontier recalled him so hastily from Spain. § Chron. Moissiac. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 189 to attend his movements on every occasion of im- portance. Dangers of the most pressing kind were repre- sented as threatening the provinces on the Rhine ; and the monarch's march was immediately directed towards the Pyrenees. Dividing his forces into two bodies, he advanced in person at the head of the first division, and, for the sake of greater speed in his own progress, left all the baggage with the rear- guard, which was strong in men, and commanded by some of the most renowmed chieftains of his army. The names* of Eggiard and Anselm have come down to us, together with that of Rolando, or Orlando, the nephew of Charlemagne,! as the com- manders of the second division, which had to suffer much from unforeseen hostility. It must be remembered that Lupo Duke of Gas- cony, on delivering up his rebellious uncle Hunald, had been suffered to retain his duchy, which, from its position among the Pyrenean mountains, fully as much as its tenure, was but slightly dependent upon the crown of France. Lupo was ambitious as well as treacherous, and was filled with the same turbu- lent and rebellious spirit which had animated his an- cestors. The sovereignty of the French monarch was alone tolerable so long as it was distant and un- exercised ; and tranquillity was only to be expected while powerful armies enforced obedience, or sus- pended authority left the shadow of independence. To a man of such a character the acquisition of a large territory on the southern side of the mountains by Charlemagne was any thing but agreeable. He * Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Mag. cap. ix. t He was the son of Milo Count of Angiers, and Bertha sister of Charlemagne. The word paladin, or palatine, afterward so common in poetry, as the characteristic designation of Charlemagne's warriors, is first applied to them on this occasion hy the Saxon poet, who wrote in the reign of the Emperor Arnulphus, about seventy years after the death of Charles. It was probably adopted from the circumstance of more than one count of the palace having fought in the Pyrenees. 190 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. saw himself surrounded on all sides by the dominions of a monarch against whom he eagerly sought an opportunity of revolt ; and, with the mad miscal- culation of his own powers which had ruined every other member of his family, he prepared to offer an outrage to his sovereign which could only be pro- ductive of temporary advantage to himself, and could never be forgiven by the king. It is probable that he had only suffered Charlemagne to enter Spain without molestation because he had no power of opposing him. But when he found that the ravages of the Saxons called the monarch imperatively to the north, and that the rear-guard of his army, loaded with baggage and treasure, was separated from the rest of the troops, he resolved* upon an undertaking for which punishment seemed remote, and in which success was probable, and rapine sure. The Pyrenees, extending in a continuous line from the Bay of Biscay to the borders of the Medi- terranean, rise in a long straight ridge, the superior points of which are but a few yards lower than the summit of Mont Blanc. In the highest part of the chain there are occasional apertures ; and from the main body of the mountains long masses of inferior hills are projected into the plain country on either side, decreasing in height as they proceed, till they become imperceptibly blended with the level ground around. Between these steep natural buttresses, narrow valleys, sometimes spreading out into grand basins, sometimes straitened into defiles of a few yards in width, wind on towards the only passes from one country to another. The roads, skirting along the bases of the hills — which, to the present day, are frequently involved in immense and track- less woods— have always beneath them a mountain torrent, above which they are raised, as on a terrace, upon the top of high and rugged precipices. A thou- * Eginhard, Annales, 778. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 191 sand difficulties beset the way on every side, and nature has surrounded the path with every means of ambush and concealment. Mounted on heavy horses, and loaded with a com- plete armour of iron,* the soldiers of Charlemagne returned from their victorious expedition into Spain, and entered the gorges of the Pyrenees, without ever dreaming that an enemy beset their footsteps. The monarch himself,! with the first division of his host, was suffered to pass unmolested ; but when the second body of the Franks, following leisurely at a considerable distance, had entered the wild and narrow valley called the Roscida Vallis (now Ron- cesvalles), the woods and mountains around them suddenly bristled into life, and they were attacked on all sides by the perfidious Gascons, whose light arms, distant arrows,! and knowledge of the coun- try gave them every advantage over their opponents. In tumult and confusion, the Franks were driven down into the bottom of the pass, embarrassed both by their arms and baggage. The Gascons^ pressed * Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Mag. cap. ix. t On the subject of this defeat almost all the annalists are silent ; whether they wrote in the time of Charlemagne himself, or at a period when they could no longer offend the feelings of the man, or the vanity of the monarch. They in general, on the contrary, represent the Gas- cons as defeated, using the expressions, " Wasconen subjvgatos (Ann. Tilianiet Loiseliani), subjugatis Wasconibus (Chron. Adonis), Wasconi- bus subactis (Ann. Fuldenses). Indeed, I should have imagined, and should also have stated, that after the defeat of his rear-guard, Charle- magne pursued and overcame the Gascons, had not the statement of Eginhard been precise, that the monarch could not take vengeance upon his treacherous subjects at that time (Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Magn. cap. ix.) ; and again, in his Annals, that the Gascons avoided all pursuit (Egin. Annates, 778). ♦ Ann. Poet. Saxonici ; Ann. Eginhard, 778. § I have used the word Gascons alone, because it is evident that the Goths of Spain had no share in this battle. Neither did the Saracens participate in the victory. The Spanish accounts, which claim the glory of having defeated a part of Charlemagne's army, are unworthy of refu- tation or notice. The only nation or tribe who have any claim to the doubtful honour of having overthrown, by perfidy, a body of brave men, taken at a disadvantage, are the Basques, inhabiting a district on both sides of the Pyrenees, and still possessing all the agility, without the treachery, of their ancestors. 192 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. them on every point, and slaughtered them like a herd of deer, singling them out with their arrows from above, and rolling down the rocks upon their heads. Never wanting in courage, the Franks fought to the last man, and died unconquered. Ro- lando* and his companions, after a thousand deeds of valour, were slain with the rest ; and the Gascons, satiated with carnage, and rich in plunder, dispersed among the mountains, leaving Charlemagne to seek for immediate vengeance in vain. The battle must have been fierce and long, and the struggle great, though unequal ; for, during the lapse of many centuries, tradition has hung about the spot, and the memory of Rolando and his com- panions is consecrated in a thousand shapes through- out the country. Part of his armour has there given name to a flower ;f the stroke of his sword is shown upon the mountains ; the tales and supersti- tions of the district are replete with his exploits and with his fame ; and even had not Ariosto, on the slight basis which history affords, raised up the splendid structure of an immortal poem, and dedi- cated it to the name of Rolando, that name would still have been repeated through all the valleys of the Pyrenees, and ornamented with all the fictions of a thousand years.! * The multitude of fables which have been ingrafted on the battle of Roncesvalles are too well known to need any particular notice. M. Gail- lard loses temper with the English romance writers on the score of Arthur, and wishes to prove that they have pilfered largely from the fab- ulous annalists of Charlemagne. Mr. Leyden and the Abbe Vellet con- found all sorts of historical facts in their reasoning on the romances of this period — prove Charles Martel to have been a Breton, make him institute an order of knighthood, and bestow the patrimony of St. Peter on the pope. Beyond all doubt, however, the first romance written on the life of Charlemagne was that falsely attributed to Archbishop Tur- pin : but it will be very difficult, I am afraid, to prove its having been composed before the twelfth century. t The casque de Roland, a species of hellebore, I believe, and the br&che de. Roland, a deep fissure in the crest of the Pyrenees. X In the last century a chapel stood in the immediate neighbourhood of Roncesvalles, which tradition pointed out as the burial-place of the chiefs who fell by the treacherous attack of the Gascons. Thirty tombs HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 193 The news of this disaster soon reached Charle- magne, and he immediately paused on his march to seek vengeance for the death of his followers. But the Gascons had dispersed amid the impenetrable* fastnesses of their mountains ; no present enemy was to be found ; the Saxons were ravaging the territories of France ; and the monarch, with the joy of all his Spanish triumphs clouded, was obliged to continue his journey towards the north. Other circum- stances, however, clearly establish that the per- fidious duke of the Gascons was afterward taken, and forfeited his life as a punishment for his trea- son,! although it is difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain at what precise period this retribution was accomplished. It was some consolation to the French monarch to find that the evil consequences which this signal defeat of a part of his army might have produced -did not follow. Notwithstanding the death of so great a number of their conquerors, the Saracen in- habitants of Navarre and Catalonia did not attempt to throw off the yoke which had been imposed upon them. The Spanish March remained for the time without inscriptions were to be seen in the vicinity ; and a quantity of bones were shown in a cave under the chapel. (See P. Daniel, Hist, de France.) At the same lime, it is to be remarked, that traditions can never be properly received in history, except to the extent of corrobora- tion or elucidation, and are never precise in regard to particular facts. The multitude of local traditions concerning the fight of Roncesvalles prove the terrific nature, of the struggle and the importance of the event, but nothing more. Three places have been pointed out to me as the burial-place of Roland,— one at Cordouan, one at Blaye, and one at Bor- deaux. What earth is now incorporated with the clay of the hero matters not, and is unknown. * Eginhard, Annales. t This is shown by the charter of Alaon, cited in the Histoire de Lan- guedoc of Vaissette. Charlemagne, though punishing the treason of his vassal Lupo by (he severest penalty of the law, left to his children a part of the territory which their father had enjoyed. This is expressly stated to have been misericord iter ; for, according to every custom, his feoff was forfeited, as well as his life, in consequence of his rebellion. Mezeray says that Lupo was not executed, but deprived of his estates, and sought refuge in Spain. He places the era of Lupo"s punishment in 819, prob- ably bv mistake. See Abrege Chronologique, vol. iii. p. 298. R 194 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. in tranquillity, and Charlemagne pursued his journey towards the north. The events which called him from the scene of his late conquests were such as admitted no unne- cessary delay. His absence during the winter in Aquitaine, and his march into Spain, had removed from the Saxons* the terror of his immediate neigh- bourhood, and had given both time for preparation and opportunity of revolt. Such an occasion was not lost by a nation whose habit was to wander, whose delight was war, and whose occupation was pillage. Witikind returned from Denmark almost immediately after Charlemagne's departure ; and soon, by his eloquence, roused the whole mass of his countrymen to throw off the indifference with which they had beheld the precautions taken by the monarch against their future irruptions. The visit of the Saxon chief to the savage courts of the north had not tended at all to civilize his mind, or to open his eyes to the general principles of equity. Still forgetting the aggressions his own nation had com- mitted, to him the forts built by the French king appeared as fetters on the Saxon people. The act of repelling or chastising their irruptions he viewed as ambitious encroachment, or triumphant insult; and, animated himself by a wild spirit of liberty and a desire of vengeance, he found his purpose seconded among his countrymen by the predatory habits of ages, and the warlike character of barbarism. In a short timef the whole of the Westphalians were in arms ; and while Charlemagne was still in Spain, they were ravaging all the German provinces of France, even to the very banks of the Rhine. Often as they had invaded the Frankish territory, and little as they were accustomed to show mercy, their present irruption left all their former ones far behind in cruelty and depredation. Nothing was * Ann. Tiliani. ann. 779 ; Ann. Loisel. ann. 778 ; Chron. Moiasiac. t Chron, Moissiac. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 195 spared, — neither age, nor sex, nor condition. The child was murdered* at the breast, the priest at the altar, the peasant by his hearth. Fire and death ac- companied them on their way, and ruin and desola- tion spread out behind their footsteps. Finding that they could not pass the Rhine in safety, they ravaged the whole territory from Cologne to Cob- lentz. The monks fled from their monasteries, the citizens quitted the towns ; nothing resisted their approach, nothing survived their passage ; and all was confusion and destruction, rapine, massacre, and flame. f Such were the tidings that every day met the ear of Charlemagne, as he advanced from the south of France towards the north ; and, finding that he could not lead forward his heavier forces with all the ce- lerity that the occasion instantly demanded, he des- patched his lighter troops from Auxerre, with orders to make all speed, and, if possible, to over- take the Saxons on the territory of France, that their aggression might be punished where it had been committed.! The troops chosen for this pur- pose were all either of the eastern tribes of Franks, * Eginhard, Annates ; Annales Poetae Saxonici. ann. 778; Annales Mettensis ; Vit. S. Sturmii. Abb. Fuldensis; Ann. Fuldensis. t The wars of Charlemagne against the Saxons have, as I before stated, been called unjust, and his severity on one occasion, after many years of abused clemency, has been stigmatized as iniquitous cruelty. A sickly affectation of humanity has blinded the eyes to a perception of justice, and historical truth has been concealed or distorted to favour a vain hypothesis. On this account, I subjoin the brief but expressive words in which the old annalists relate those outrages which compelled Charlemagne to forget the mercy he had extended to the Saxons for many years, and, in justice to his own subjects, to terminate the war by any means, however severe : " Saxones — ad Duiarn castrum — usque vmerunt, ccedibus, rapinis, et incendiis omnia devastantes." — Ann. Mettensis, A. D. 77S. " Quicquid a Duiciti civiiate usque ad Jluenta Moselles vicorum, villarumque fuit, ferro et igne depopulate sunt. Pari modo sacra profanaque pessundata. Nullum aetatis aut sexus discrimen ira hostis fecerat."— Eginhzrd, Annales, A. D. 778. Non aliquod sexus, cetatis, conditionis Ullius, furor immitis discrimen agebat. Omnia sed/errum, vel edax consumpserat ignis." Annales Poetae Saxonici. X Annal. Eginhard. 196 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. or of the German* tributaries, whose lands and dwelling-places were the first on every occasion to fall a prey to the Saxon invasions. Every personal inducement to speed, therefore, was added to the injunction of the monarch; but ere their arrival, the enemy, sated with blood and gorged with plunder,, were once more returning to their native country. Thus the Frankish army, notwithstanding the rapidity with which it always moved, did not suc- ceed in coming up with the retreating Saxons till they had traversed the greater part of Hesse ; but at the moment the plunderers were crossing the river Adern, they found themselves assailed by the forces of Charlemagne. The very act of pursuing gave impetus to the Franks ; while national hatred and individual revenge added the energy of passion to the vigour of constitutional courage. At the same time, the Saxons were already retreating— an act which too often degenerates into flight. They had accomplished their object ; were loaded with spoil ; the sloth of satiety hung upon their actions ; their own country was before their steps, and escape was too near for resistance to be vigorous. Thus, while they were embarrassed with the pas- sage of the river, the Frankish cohorts poured in upon them A feeble resistance but added to the slaughter ;f and very few survived to carry to their own country tfcp tidings of their successful irruption, their retreat, and their defeat. To fight and conquer in two far-separated coun- tries within the space of a few months was common to the Franks under the command of Charlemagne ; but a long campaign in Spain, and a march of nearly twelve hundred miles, had so far exhausted the year that no further movement could be made against the Saxons till the return of spring. The other events which may be traced to this year * Annal. Mettensis. t AunalesLoiseliana; Chron.Moissiac; Annales Eginhard. A.D.778. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 197 now call our attention to the civil government of Charlemagne, — an object, when considered in refer- ence to the age in which he lived, far more interest- ing and extraordinary than all his great military- operations. During the active scenes in which he had been lately engaged — the continual movement and incessant occupation in which he had existed — no part of his vast territories was neglected ; and his eyes were alternately turned with careful atten- tion to Italy, to Germany, and to France. Ascending the throne in a barbarous period, when internal policy was perfectly in its infancy, and the whole mechanism of society rude and irregular,* Charlemagne could not be expected to change, by the simple power of his own mind, the constitution of his whole race, rekindle in an instant the extin- guished light of past ages, or hurry into maturity the whole fruits of coming years. The performance of such a task was not within the grasp of human facul- ties ; but what he did do, when joined with the cir- cumstances in which he was placed — surrounded on every side by darkness, superstition, and prejudices, * I have been led into this imperfect defence of Charlemagne's internal administration from a passage in Gibbon. "They (his laws) compose not a system, but a series of occasional and minute edicts, for the cor- rection of abuses, the reformation of manners, the economy of his farms, the care of his poultry, and even the sale of his eggs, &c." — and again, in a note, "Yet Schmidt, from the best authorities, represents the inte- rior disorders and oppressions of his reign." The portion of Mr. Gib- bon's work in which this appears does not reflect the greatest lustre upon his name as an historian. Had he really, on the present occasion, compared the garbled accounts of the modern historians whom he cites with the original authorities, he would have found that, amid misstate- ments and errors innumerable, the oppressions and disorders of the reign of Charlemagne do not amount to what the assizes of a petty county town in England can produce ; and had he chosen to reason, rather than sneer, he would have perceived that though the mind of that monarch did not suffice at once to dispel the darkness of four hundred years, yet it enlightened all that it touched, corrected the abuses of his age, and cast back for a century the load of barbarism that was falling fast upon the world. The interior disorders and oppressions represented by Schmidt, upon careful perusal, I find to be derived, with scarcely an exception, not from the reign of Charlemagne, but from that of Louis le Debonaire and not. even then, from the earlier part of that reign. R2 198 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. and having- to vanquish them all — shows him as great a conqueror in the moral as in the physical world ; and raises him to the highest pitch of human grandeur, by evincing that he not only overcame the barbarians of his time, but also overcame the bar- barism itself. Whatever were the warlike undertakings in which the monarch was engaged, and whatever were the immense demands upon his time and attention, no evil to his fellow-creatures which was brought before him ever passed without notice and correction, — no effort to purify and improve the state of society was forgotten. We find instances to justify this assertion in every part of his reign ; but at the pres- ent period a great occasion for exertion and remon- strance presented itself, and was not neglected, although that remonstrance was necessarily directed against an authority for which he strove to incul- cate respect, and towards which he always set the example of due reverence. While in the midst of his preparations for the war in Spain, information was by some means conveyed to him that the odious traffic in slaves was per- mitted in Rome ; and not a few complaints reached him about the same time, concerning the irregulari- ties of the Italian clergy. To both these points his attention was immediately directed; and a strong remonstrance was addressed by him to Pope Adrian, pressing the reformation of the abuses which were said to exist. Adrian* immediately replied, and, in the most positive terms, assured Charlemagne that no such trade in slaves was carried on between the Romans and the Saracens as had been asserted. The Lombards, he said, it was true, were in the custom of selling slaves by means of the Greeks who frequented their ports, — a custom which he had in vain attempted to prevent. The lives, also, * Codex Carolinus, Epist. Ixv. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 199 of the priests under his own inspection he boldly defended, and declared that their accuser had calum- niated them basely by the charge he had brought against them. Whether this explanation proved satisfactory to the monarch or not does not appear ; but the terms of Charlemagne's letter sufficiently evince that he still considered Rome as under his sovereign do- minion ; and the reply of Pope Adrian equally proves his submission to the jurisdiction of the patrician. Various other matters of civil polity occupied the attention of the monarch of the Franks about this time ; and he had an opportunity of displaying his clemency and moderation in a manner which changed a doubtful vassal into a firm and attached friend. Not long after the return of Charlemagne from Spain, Hildebrand Duke of Spoleto* — who had been one of the first in the conspiracy of the Duke of Friuli, but who had remained at once unpunished and un- pardoned — trusting to the character of the sovereign, visited his court in France, and, with magnificent presents, renewed the homage he had cast off. His rebellion, which had never proceeded to open warfare, was immediately forgotten in this volun- tary act of confidence. His gifts were accepted, but returned by others in full proportion ; and, after being entertained with splendour at the court of the monarch, he was dismissed to his own land a grate- ful and faithful subject. Before joining the forces which were in active preparation for renewing the war against the Saxons, Charlemagne also issued a new capitulary, contain- ing a variety of important laws on various subjects, some regulating the proceedings of the church, some affecting the duties of the various judges, and some regarding the people in general. f The absence of all classification is the great want observable in these * Annates Loiseliani; Ann. Mettensis, A. D. 779. t Capitular. Car. Mag. ann. 779. SGO HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. laws, and is the strongest symptom of the barbarism of the age. Various efforts, however, to overcome that barbarism are likewise to be noticed. Though considerable power is still intrusted to the clergy, several rules are laid down for the purpose of en- forcing regularity in their lives.* The privilege of screening offenders found worthy of death, which has been so often claimed by the church, is formally rejected by the voice of the monarch;! while a law against the exportation of armsj shows how much Charlemagne was obliged to look upon his nation as a military people. As soon as the season permitted, Charles was once more at the head of his army ; and, entering Saxony, he passed by the spot where the idol Irmin- sul had once stood, but which was now covered by a growing town,§ and advancing towards the Lippe, prepared to take signal vengeance of his incorrigible enemies. At first, the Saxons displayed a strong disposition to trust to the force of arms, rather than once more appeal to the clemency they had so often abused ; and at a place called Bucholtz,|| the situa- tion of which is now unknown, their army was drawn up, to oppose the farther progress of the French monarch. The sight of the multitude of their ene- mies, however, shook their courage as the battle was about to close, and, while only a few had fallen on either side, the Saxons fled precipitately, leaving the path open to Charlemagne.^" This flight was but a prelude to submission ; and, proceeding rapidly through the country, the French sovereign, accord- ing to his custom,** abandoned his more hostile in- tentions, on the prayers and promises of his ene- mies. More unconditional submission, however, was demanded Of the Saxons after their last aggres- * Capitular. Car. Mag. arm. 779, cap. 1, 2, 3. f Cap. 8. t Cap. 20. § Vit. S. Sturmii. Abb. Fuldensis. • || Ann. Eginhard ; Ann. Mettensis ; Ann. Loiseliani. IF Ann. Poet. Saxon. 779. ** More suo, the Chronicle of Ado says. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 201 sion, and Charlemagne began to treat them as a con- quered people, after having in vain attempted to put a stop to their irruptions while they retained their independence. About this time the general division of the whole country into bishoprics, abbacies, and presbyteries took place.* Such of the clergy of France as zeal or ambition prompted to accept the dangerous trust were appointed to the new cures thus created ; and Charlemagne only left the country to return the next year and complete the arrange- ments which he had begunf for incorporating Saxony with the Frankish monarchy. The greater part of the annals of that day were composed by monks and ministers of the church, who, of course, attempted to magnify the affection of the Frankish king towards the body of which they were members, with the purpose of holding out both an example and an incitement to others. Nevertheless, it is evident that Charlemagne was inspired by a sincere love for the Christian religion, and an eager wish to spread its pacific doctrines amid his barbarous and intractable neighbours. Nor was it, as has been often falsely said, by the sword that he sought to convert. With the sword he over- came his enemies, and punished the pertinacious * Vit. S. Sturmii, Abbat. Fuldensis ; Chron. Moissiac. t Monsieur Gaillard states that Charlemagne remained all that year, and a great part of the next, in Saxony. The matter, indeed, is of little importance, for that great monarch could as easily regulate the internal affairs of France from the limits of Saxony, as if he had been in the heart of his own dominions. However, as facts should not be misstated for any purpose, it may be as well to remark, that Eginhard in his An- nals, the Annals of Metz, the Annales Loiseliani, and Tiliani. and the Chronicle, of Moissiac agree in stating that he returned to Worms, and there spent several months. It may not be amiss to point out, also, that the account of the resistance of the Saxons at Bucholtz, as given by the author I have mentioned above, who calls it une grande bataille, is not borne out by contemporary history. The only detailed account is given by the Saxon annalist, who says that the Saxons, terrified by the number of the Franks, fled immediately : the other annalists merely say, that the Saxons wicked to resist {voluerunt resistere), but fled ; and "Eginhard precisely stales, that Charlemagne never encountered them but twice iu pitched battle both of which occasions took place afterward. 202 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. assailants who had so often ravaged his dominions and slaughtered his subjects. But the very desire of sparing the sword made him the more eager in the propagation of that religion which he hoped would remove the causes that compelled its use; and the work of conversion he intrusted, not to soldiers, but to the ministers of the gospel. If he did, indeed, mingle on any occasion the means of worldly policy with the purer methods of religious persuasion, it was in the shape of gifts, presents, and menaces,* — inducements more within the compre- hension of the barbarians whom he sought to civil- ize than any that could be afforded by reason and argumentation. Though personally successful to a great degree, and seeing his power and reputation increasing in every manner, Charlemagne was visited in his do- minions by many of those calamities which, from time to time, in the course of nature, affect whole countries and nations. f Tremendous earthquakes shook his Lombard kingdom during the year of which I speak, cast down many of the finest build- ings., and spread death and ruin through the land. A pestilence devastated the country and the cities, and a severe scarcity added to the horrors of the time. Terror and dismay reigned through the whole of France ; and prayers and alms % were the resources of the king and the peasant, the warrior and the churchman, in order to turn away the Al- mighty wrath, and obtain mercy from on high. Thus passed the winter of the year 779-80, and early in the spring he returned to Saxony, and com- pleted the subjection of the country. § He had warned the Sjvxoiis, in 777, that in case of any new outrage he w juld exercise the full power which h© * Vit. S.Sturmii. t Chron. Moissiac. ; Chron. S. Galli. A. D. 779. J Capital. Baluz. torn. i. p. 199. § Eginhard Ann. ; Ann. Loiseliani. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 203' possessed, and deprive them of their independence ; and he was now proceeding in the execution of that threat. It is to be remarked, however, that the total subjugation of Saxony, as far as we can dis- cover from the contemporary writers, was by no means (as has been since represented) a blow struck at once, in the pride of victory, and the spirit of aggrandizement, conceived long before, and pursued through a series of unrelenting wars. On the con- trary, it was slow and gradual, as Charlemagne found himself compelled to take progressive measures against his savage neighbours, — measures suggested by the great principle of self-defence, and executed with calm and clement reluctance. I may be permitted to collect into one view the facts connected with this warfare, as they are spread through the preceding pages, when it will be found, that had he been so inclined, a thousand opportuni- ties of taking possession of Saxony presented them- selves, which he never showed any inclination to use, further than his own security rendered neces- sary. In his first campaign against the Saxons, though he destroyed the idols that he found on his march, he granted peace to the nation as soon as they demanded it, merely taking twelve hostages, and raising a fort at Eresburg, to guard against their future incursions. On their next irruption, he left another body of French troops at Sigisburg, and re- quired a more comprehensive oath before he with- drew his forces. During this time he had never desisted from his endeavour to civilize the Saxons, by sending missionaries among them ; and his desire of converting them to Christianity appeared so evi- dent as to become a means of fraud in the hands of the barbarians themselves. The next cause of war- fare was the Saxon attack upon the garrisons he had placed in the two castles ; and being once more con- quered, the assailants again supplicated peace, and many, to obtain it, demanded to be baptized. Charle- 204 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. magne added a third fortress to those he had before constructed, and once more retired from the country. Finding that he had scarcely passed the frontier when his enemies actively prepared to attack him again, the monarch of the Franks frustrated all their schemes by marching into the heart of the land be- fore their plans were mature. Witikind, the insti- gator of the war, fled ; and the nation completely submitted, generally seeking baptism as the strongest proof of their pacific intentions. Charlemagne trusted them once more ; but he gave them full warn- ing, that if they again violated the treaties they had entered into with him, he would not only inflict the temporary chastisement of a hostile invasion, but would use the right of conquest, which he had hitherto disregarded, and deprive them of that inde- pendence which they so constantly abused to his detriment. No sooner had he entered Spain than the treacherous people, who crouched to the earth at his presence, took instant advantage of his ab- sence to destroy his provinces and massacre his subjects. The indignant monarch returned, and, marching through Saxony as a victor, he now an- nexed that country to his former dominions as a con- quered province. The next year he advanced at once to the junction of the Elbe and the Ocker ;'* and having spent some time in taking precautionary measures against any invasion by the neighbouring nations of the north, he proceeded to enact a variety of laws for the regu- lation of the barbarous people he had subdued ; which laws have been made the subject of extravagant praise for a few points of superior excellence, and of ridiculous censure for severity susceptible of great extenuation, if not justification. The samef want of classification is observable in their construction which affects most of the capitularies of the age, * Ann. Loiseliani, A. D. 780 ; Eginhard. in Annal. t Capit. Saxon. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 205 and a tinge of barbarism spreads over them all ; but I doubt much whether barbarous laws are not neces- sary to a barbarous nation ; and whether Charle- magne, believing such to be the case, did not, like the great Greek legislator, frame for the people he had conquered, not the best laws which the mind of man could devise, but the best which could be adapted to the circumstances of the country. Charle- magne had found, by long and painful experience, that the only principle which could restrain the Saxons was fear ; and, accordingly, the code which he addresses to them is that of terror. Death is awarded for a thousand crimes, but especially for offering human sacrifices, and for refusing, or aban- doning, or insulting the Christian religion. The Saxons, during the last two or three cam- paigns, had almost universally received baptism ; but in many instances they returned to the most hateful rites of idolatry, which was always the sure precursor of outrage and irruption. Both from political and religious motives, it had become the great object of the French monarch to force this the most obdurate race of pagans in Europe to listen to the voice of Christian teachers, which nothing but the fear of death could induce them to do ; and for that purpose he used the terror of extreme punish- ment as a means of enforcing attention to the doc- trines of peace. But, at the same time, there can- not be a doubt that he had no intention the severity of the law should have effect ; for it was enacted by the self-same code that the unbaptized who received baptism, and the relapsed who returned and under- went a religious penance, escaped the infliction of the punishment. By this means he forced the Saxons to hear, at least, the doctrines of the Christian church, and to become accustomed to its forms, — the first great step, without which conversion could never be obtained. By this means, also, he at once put a stop to the human sacrifices which continually S 206 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. disgraced the land ; and he offered to all the power of escaping punishment and gaining security. It is true, as a general principle, that laws should never be enacted unless they are intended to be enforced ; but this was an individual instance, where the object was but temporary. If he could compel the Saxons to hear the truths, and habituate them to the influence, of the Christian faith, Charlemagne never for a moment doubted that their sincere con- version must follow. That conversion once ob- tained, and the laws were not cruel, for they were ineffectual. In the mean time, however, their opera- tion would be great before the Saxons discovered that they were not rigidly enforced. At all events, it is evident that Charlemagne believed that his ob- ject would be gained by terror long ere the rude pagans for whom he legislated perceived that pun- ishment was remote. For this great purpose he framed the laws to which I refer, and made use of the only influence which he knew to be strong with the Saxons, — the influence of fear ; while, at the same time, the natural benevolence of his own heart induced him to guard severity by mercy, and to add a law which, while it offered the means of escape from the harshness of the others, tended to the same object. Such considerations shield the Saxon code from the bitter censures which have been directed against it by some writers ; but at the same time the lavish praises which it has received from others are equally inapplicable ; for, though it was intended in mercy and directed with wisdom, it was arbitrary in char- acter, and in principle unjust. No sooner was the regulation of Saxony com- pleted than the monarch turned his eyes in another direction, and prepared to avert a storm that was approaching from a different quarter. Though con- stitutionally fond of war, and now habituated to conquest, Charlemagne, in general, took every means HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 207 to prevent the necessity of having recourse to arms. Sometimes, it is true, he suffered himself to be dazzled with the prospect of brilliant expeditions ; and, as in the case of the invasion of Spain, the prayers of others for protection and assistance, by offering a fair excuse to his natural inclination, occa- sionally overcame the better spirit of generous mod- eration which taught him to refrain. But wherever the probable war was likely to be one in which, as a sovereign, he was to act against a rebellious vas- sal, — one, in short, of revolt and punishment, — Charlemagne, if the danger could be foreseen, ever endeavoured to stop it in its progress, before folly had been hurried into crime, and while pardon was com- patible with justice. Such views now called him into Italy ; and as soon as the state of Saxony appeared finally settled, he took his departure for his Lombard dominions. BOOK VI. FROM THE INCORPORATION OF SAXONY, TO THE HOMAGE OF THE DUKE OF BAVARIA. FROM A. D. 780 TO A. D. 782. Conspiracies of the Family of Desiderius— Charlemagne proceeds to Pavia— State of Italy— Aquitaine and Italy raised into separate King- doms, in Favour of Louis and Pepin— Changes in the State and Policy of Greece— Alliance of Irene and Charlemagne— State of Great Bri- tain—Charlemagne visited by Alcuiu— The French Monarch returna from Italy— Submission of Tassilo Duke of Bavaria. Although the sceptre of Lombardy had been snatched from the hand of Desiderius, and though he himself remained in the ecclesiastical seclusion from which he was never destined to be withdrawn, many members of his family still existed at large, 208 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. spread over various parts of Europe ; and the desire of vengeance, naturally fostered by affection for a fallen relation, and humiliated pride, was only re- strained by the terror of the conqueror's arms. Adalgisus, the son of the dethroned monarch, con- tinued to reside at Constantinople ; and though, at the time, no efficient aid was granted to him by the imperial court, yet a favourable opportunity only seemed wanting to a renewal of the attempt to recover possession of Italy. One of the daughters of Desiderius had married Ariohis Duke of Beneventum, and viewed, with unabated and unextinguishable hatred, the dominion of the Franks, in a land which had once been the portion of her family. At the same time,* the high qualities and warlike character of her husband rendered revolt probable, and success not unhopeful. A second daughter of the dethroned King of Lom- bardy shared the ducal seat of Tassilo of Bavaria, whom I have before had occasion to mention as a relation and vassal of Charlemagne, and upon whose proud spirit the weight of homage lay an uneasy load, which he endeavoured to make light by neglect, while he only waited occasion to throw it off for ever. The mission of Saint Sturmius, in the early part of the French monarch's reign, had effected! a recon- ciliation between the king and his cousin, upon whose head the open violation of his vows to Pepin had brought down the more terrible anger of Charle- magne. After that period, the immense power and the continual activity of his liege lord had withheld Tassilo from making an attempt to which triumphant success could alone secure impunity. It would appear, however, that about the present time, insti- gated by the revengeful spirit of his wife, and by his * Erchempertus, Hist. Langobard. Benevent ; Chron. Anonym. Sa» lernatani. t Vit. S. Sturmii, D. Bouquet, Recueil, torn. v. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 209 own proud desire of independent sovereignty, he engaged* with Arichis Duke of Beneventum, and with Adalgisus, their brother-in-law, for the purpose of wresting Italy from the grasp of Charlemagne, and of establishing an armed union sufficient to resist the power of their mighty opponent. These schemes were carried on in darkness and secrecy; for the conspirators well knew that the watchful eyes of Charlemagne could only be blinded by the most cautious prudence ; but, at the same time, long, slow, and careful preparation was neces- sary, to afford the slightest prospect of success. With hostile purposes labouring at the heart, and great and powerful designs advancing towards con- summation, it is very difficult so to guard every action that some suspicious circumstances will not betray, to an attentive observer, the plans which occupy the breast. Neither Tassilo nor Arichis was capable of such perfect dissimulation as entirely to cover their schemes from the view of the French monarch. The first continued to absent himself from the court of the sovereign ; and the proceedings of the latter, which were more bold and open, were from time to time communicated to Charlemagne by the wakeful attention of Pope Adrian. f At the period of the pestilence referred to in the last book, the Prankish monarch, according to the spirit of the age, had, with sincere faith, vowed a pilgrimage to some of the holy shrines in Italy :| the execution of which vow now concealed the political object he proposed to obtain at the same time. This object, and the effort which he made to conceal it, were of a very different character from the usual policy of courts. His presence in Italy had become absolutely necessary ; but he sought not to march with armies to chastise rebels, while there was a * Eginhard. Ann. ; Chron. Sigiberti ; Mon. Gemblacens. A. D. 780. t Codex Carolin. Epist. lxiv. t Ann. Mettens. ; Ann. Fuldens. ; Ann. Eginhard S2 210 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. possibility of reclaiming them by milder means ; and he determined to use all his own influence, both as a sovereign and relation, and to employ all the growing power of the Church of Rome, in order to recall Tassilo of Bavaria to his duty, before he suffered his full knowledge of the incipient rebellion to appear. This purpose, as well as that of overawing the Duke of Benevtirtum by his presence, and of guard- ing the kingdom of Italy from the civil commotions by which it was threatened, acted, beyond doubt, as a strong inducement to lead Charlemagne towards Lombardy. But there were also other motives, which were equally powerful with a monarch whose native feelings of piety were strong and sincere, and whose devotion, though tempered and elevated by a vast and vigorous understanding, found no course open but through the common superstitions of the day. To offer up his prayers at spots which the church had pronounced holy, and to see his children* baptized by the living representative of the apostle, were probably among the motives, rather than the pretences, of Charlemagne's journey into Italy. Nor did the desire of seeing the royal consecration — which, in his own case, had been practised, to give weight to his right of succession — repeated in the persons of his sonsf Louis and Carloman, add slightly to the inducements. Leaving Pepin, his natural son, and Charles, the * Chron. Moissiac ; Ann.Mettens. t The children of Charlemagne were borr. in the following order: Pepin— Uncertain date, of Himiltruda the concubine. Charles— 772 A. D., of Hildegarde. Rotruda— 773. Adslais— 774. Died in infancy. Bertha— 775. Carloman— 776. Afterward named Pepin. Louis and Lothaire, twins— 778. Lothaire died in infancy.' Gis'a— 781. Hildegarde— 783. Died in infancy. Theoderada— Of Fastrada. Hiltruda. Rothaida— Unknown. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 211 heir of the French throne, at Worms,* Charlemagne set off for Pavia,f late in the year 780, accompanied by his queen and the rest of his children. On his arrival in Italy, the monarch found that country in a state of turbulence and agitation, which offered little prospect of any permanent tranquillity. The disorganization which had taken place after the fall of the Roman empire still operated in its conse- quences. The instability of all institutions, which a countless succession of invasions and subjections had induced, was now followed by a frantic thirst for change, and an impatience of all regularity. The jarring elements of a mixed population, consisting of a thousand different tribes and nations, assimi- lated ill together ; and, in society, a chronological gra- dation of conquerors and vanquished gave a gradual increase of hatred from the Roman to the Frank. The nobles were each waiting in gloomy expecta- tion for some new revolution, which might call them into activity, and give them independence. The people, suffering under all, were careless of whose yoke they bore. The inhabitants of the Tyrol had resisted, and both blinded and cast out the bishop, whom the pope had sent to claim the feoffs which Charlemagne had granted to the see of Rome ; Ter- racina,| Naples, and Calabria were more or less attached to the Eastern empire ; the Duke of Bene- ventum was secretly leagued with the enemies of the Franks; the Greeks infested the outskirts of the land ; and the Saracens commanded the seas.§ Such was the state of the country when Charle- magne arrived in Italy. The loss of their separate * Ann. Fuldensis; Ann. Mettensis; Ann. Loiseliani. t The Annals of Eginhard say, in general terms, that the monarch was accompanied by his children; but as the Chronicle of Moissiac de- clares that he left his two elder sons at Worms, and as no mention is made anywhere else of their presence in Italy, we may conclude that they did not follow their fathe r thither. t Codex Carolinus, Epist. lvii. $ Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Magni. ; Codex Carolinus, Epist. lxiv. 212 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. existence as a people was undoubtedly one cause of discontent among its mixed population ; but the monarch of the Franks had already determined to divide Italy from his hereditary dominions, and to raise it into a distinct kingdom, as the portion of one of his sons. In this determination it is prob- able that he was influenced nearly as much by the habits of his nation, and by the prejudices of educa- tion, as by the desire of soothing the pride of the Italians, in rendering their country once more a separate state. When the territory they possessed had been much smaller, the kings of France had been invariably in the custom of allotting it, with capricious irregular- ity, among their children. This had been always practised at the death, and sometimes during the life, of the monarch, though, in the latter case, we do not easily discern under what limitations the power so intrusted by the father was exercised by the son. Now that countries and kingdoms had been added, in the short space of twelve years, to the vast dominions he had received from his progenitor, the idea naturally presented itself to the mind of Charle- magne of apportioning to his children different dis- tricts of that immense and increasing empire, which already required energies almost superhuman to rule and consolidate as a whole. The division that he proposed on the present occasion was destined to convey the sovereignty of Italy to his second son, Carloman,* while Aquitaine became the portion of Louis, at that time the youngest of his family ; and the rest of the monarch's hereditary dominions was reserved to form a kingdom for the eldest of his le- gitimate children, Charles. Saxony, at the same time, remained unappropriated, and might be left to provide for those future claims which the sovereign'.? * €hron. Moissiac ; Ann. Loiseliani ; Ann. Tiliani. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 213 age and the fecundity of his wife rendered likely to arise. All the children of Charlemagne were still in their youth, and therefore the motives of their consecra- tion could only be, in the first place, the solemn rati- fication of his design, in order to guard against con- tention at a future period; and, in the next place, the desire of satisfying both the Italians and the people of Aquitaineby the certain prospect of regaining, in a great degree, their territorial independence. While thus busily employed in endeavouring to render his dominion as easy as possible, even to the prejudices of the people who had fallen under his sway, Charlemagne took every means to guard against external enemies. One of his principal cares in Italy was to secure that kingdom from the attempts of the Greeks ; and so formidable was the aspect which his power assumed, that the policy of the court of Constantinople began to change towards him. Various circumstances, however, had oc- curred in the East to alter entirely the views of the imperial government. Leo TV., a monarch feeble in body and in mind, had befriended Adalgisus, the son of the dethroned Lombard, and had loaded him with promises, which he found easy to utter, but laborious to execute. Still, he had undoubtedly designed to serve him ; and, at all events, the recent memory of dominion in Italy did not suffer the emperor to see the in- creasing power of Charlemagne in that country without jealous, though impotent, hatred. Such feelings had influenced the policy of the empire during the whole reign of Leo, but his death, which occurred in September, A. D. 780, immediately changed the aspect of the Eastern world.* By the choice, or with the consent, of his father Constan- tine, Leo had espoused a beautiful Athenian girl, of * Gibbon's Decline and Fall, chap, xlviii. 214 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. the name of Irene, — a name equally famous for talents and for crimes. Charms of person and art of manner, together with much original and much acquired talent, completely ruled a feeble and dying monarch ; and Leo, at the gates of the tomb,* left to his young and beautiful wife the sole care of his child, Constantine VI., and the government of that vast but decayed empire which was all that re- mained of the world of the Cesars. Before ambition had time to nourish crime, or opposition could call it into energy, Irene displayed nothing but genius for empire, and powers fitted for command. There were, however, various weak- nesses in her character, which sometimes strangely opposed, and sometimes as strangely blended with, her policy. Among these weaknesses was super- stition ; and this principle acted with others in ren- dering her views, both in regard to Italy and to France, very different from those either of her hus- band or of his predecessor. The Athenians, her countrymen, had always been among the most strenu- ous supporters of that worship of images, the pro- scription of which by Leo III. and Constantine V. had been the cause of the revolt of Italy from the dominion of the East. Irene herself was one of the most devoted adorers of the saintly statues; and consequently beheld in the conduct of the popes, who had anathematized their contemners, nothing but a generous indignation and a holy zeal. During the life of her husband,! forced to conceal her full sentiments, she had contrived at least to moderate the iconoclastic spirit which Leo IV. had derived from his ancestors ; and no sooner had the reins of government fallen into her own hands, than she showed the most evident intention of restoring the worship of images, and of retaliating their persecu- tions upon the heads of the iconoclasts. Thus the * A. D. 780. t Gibbon, chap. xlix. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 215 great cause of separation between the East and the West was removed ; and, both powerful and politic, Irene no longer treated the people of Italy as re- bellious subjects. She regarded the monarch of the Franks, also, in a very different light from her pre- decessors ; and sought his friendship rather than his enmity, especially while her reign was con- tinually threatened by the factions of her husband's brothers.* Italy, it must be remarked, was not so wholly separated yet from the empire of the East as to preclude the possibility of a reunion. No new em- peror of the West had been chosen ; the monarch of the Franks was but Patrician of Rome, an office which had existed under the emperors ; and whether Irene contemplated or not the chance of winning back, by the restoration of image worship, and an alliance with Charlemagne, the territories which the iconoclasts had lost, and which Pepin had maintained in their independence, her conduct was that which alone could do away the violence and folly of a hundred years. Such was the aspect which the East assumed shortly after the journey of Charlemagne to Italy ; and one of the first acts of Irene's administration, after the death of her husband, was to court the friendship of the French monarch. Early in the spring, Charlemagne quitted Pavia, where he had passed the winter ; and proceeded to Rome, in order to confer with the pontiff on the measures neces- sary for the purpose of recalling the Duke of Ba- varia to his duty. Peace and persuasion were the counsel of the pope ; and peace and persuasion were equally the means desired by Charlemagne. It was therefore determined that legates from the holy see should be sent, together with ambassadors from the monarch, representing mildly, yet forcibly, * Egtahard, in Vit. Car. Mag. ; Theophanis Chronograph. 216 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. the folly of rebellion, and the necessity of tranquil- lity and submission : and endeavouring to induce the Bavarian prince to renew, by some voluntary act, the homage which his conduct had rendered doubtful. The persons trusted with this important mission* executed it well.f Tassilo found his de- signs discovered, but being unprepared for resistance, and assured of the clemency of the monarch, he yielded at once to the remonstrances of the envoys, and promised to present himself speedily at the court of his cousin ; which promise he accomplished before the end of the year ; and, on the same occasion^ repeated his vows of homage, and gave hostages for his future conduct. In the mean while Carloman, the second son of the French king, was rebaptized by the hands of Pope Adrian ;§ and, in memory of the first great protector of the holy see, his name was changed from Carloman to Pepin. He was then solemnly consecrated with his brother Louis, the last as King of Aquitaine,|| the first as King of Italy. f Although Charlemagne, in thus creating his son King of Italy, evidently looked upon the whole peninsula as sub- mitted to his sway, yet the title of the kingdom of Lombardy was not totally abandoned by those whose interest led them to shrink from a recognition of this extended power. We find, indeed, that though in general the historians of Charlemagne hence- forth speak alone of the kingdom of Italy, yet the popes, in their letters to that monarch, address him * On the part of the pope, two bishops were sent, Damasus and For- mosus ; and on the part of the king, Richolsus, a priest, and Eberhard, an officer of his household. t Eginhard, Annales. t Annales Fuldenses ; Ann. Mettens. § Chron. Moissiac. || Ann. Fuldenses ; Chron. Moissiac ; Ann. Mettenses. A. D. 781. IT- Eginhard says that Pepin was declared King of Lombardy ; but the other annals, and various contemporary evidences, such as coins, &c. r prove that the title bestowed was King of Italy. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 217 as King of Lombardy ;* in which difference of style, perhaps, may be seen a part of that same system of gradual encroachment by which the pontiffs ac- cumulated titles, to be supported by the manufac- ture of deeds. Charlemagne himself still main- tained his sovereignty over the whole of Italy, with the exception of the small part which adhered to the Greeks. He transferred that sovereignty to his son, who ruled it also for many years ; but the popes, determined step by step to establish the in- dependence of their dominion, still called the mon- arch King of Lombardy ; and though in actions they yielded implicitly to his sway, in words, which were to descend to after times, they did not acknowledge him as monarch of the whole Italian peninsula. An after pontiff, it is true, invested him with the impe- rial title in gratitude for personal favours ; but the sway of an emperor left the vassal a king, while the yoke of a king pressed the vassal into a very in- ferior grade ; so that the position of the popes, as vassals of the Frankish monarch, was elevated rather than depressed by his advancement to em- pire. The creation of a separate Italian kingdom by Charlemagne in favour of his second son placed, of course, a great barrier against the designs of Irene, if the empress did indeed contemplate the reunion of Italy to the crown of the East. But her plans in regard to an alliance with the King of the Franks could not now be changed on that account, for, previous to the partition of Charlemagne's do- minions, her ambassadors were already on the way to demand Rotruda, the eldest daughter of that monarch, in marriage for her son Constantine VI. f Constantine and Mamulus, two officers of her household, were charged with a mission, which, as * Codex Carolinus, Epist. Ixviii. lxix. lxxx. xci. &c. tTheophanos Chron. ; Chron. Moissiac; Fragment. Annalium, Chroa. Nibelungi subjioitur. A. D. 781. T 218 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. Rotruda had not yet arrived at a marriageable age, might produce beneficial effects at the time, and could bring about no consequences that might not be averted in the course of the years intervening between the treaty and the marriage, if a change of circumstances should require a change of policy. The Greek ambassadors reached Rome* early in the spring, and found Charlemagne in that city. The proposal of a union between his daughter and the young Emperor of the East, was then formally made to the French monarch, who willingly con- cluded an alliance which promised peace upon his eastern frontier during the time required for con- firming his sway over his new dominions in the north. Rotruda was in consequence solemnly pledged to the bed of Constantine ; and after the interchange of those mutual oaths of amity which, by their con- stant infraction, have rendered treaties contempt- ible, the eunuch Elisasus was left with the young bride to instruct her in the language and the cus- toms of her future court ; and the ambassadors re- turned to Constantinople to bear the consent of Char- lemagne to the Empress Irene. The visit of the Frankish monarch to Italy had been successful in restoring tranquillity to that part of his dominions. The discovery of the schemes of the conspirators, and the return of the Duke of Ba- varia to his duty, had effectually disconcerted the plans of Arichis of Beneventum ; while the death of the Emperor Leo, and the alliance between the * I have been obliged, in regard to this embassy of the Greeks, to choose between conflicting accounts. The Annals of St. Fulda place the be- trothing of Rotruda to Constantine in 737, and other accounts state that the ambassadors reached Charlemagne in France ; but in 787 there ex- isted no longer any reason why the marriage should not have been com- pleted, instead of the mere betrothal ; and al) the other annals place the event in 781, when Rotruda had not attained her tenth year. Theopha- nes is silent in regard to the spot where the Greek ambassadors were re- ceived by Charles, but the French annalists say it -was at Rome. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 219 court of Constantinople and the monarch of the Franks, crushed the hopes of Adalgisus, and tore another limb from the conspiracy which had been formed against the power of Charlemagne. At the same time that the treaties now existing with the lsaurian dynasty of the East removed a fertile source of irritation from Italy, the inhabitants of that country were gratified and tranquillized with the idea of be- coming a separate kingdom, instead of being joined as a conquered province to a superior country ; and a great number of the nobles, won by the confidence and clemency of Charlemagne, forgot the bitterness of subjugation, and attached themselves sincerely to their conqueror. With these prospects, the monarch of the Franks prepared to return to his native country. On his homeward journey, an event of apparently less im- portance than those in which he had lately mingled awaited him at Parma, which event, however, tended more than any other, by its consequences, to the development of some of the brighter and nobler points of his character. This was the visit of a single private individual from a distant and then unimportant island, whose previous history, and state at the time, must be considered, in order to comprehend how Charlemagne could derive great benefit, and his best schemes receive accomplish- ment, from his connexion with an English priest. In the decline of the Roman empire, the neces- sities of the state had demanded imperatively the concentration of all her small remains of power; and the legions which had gone forth to acquire or maintain sovereignty on the distant borders of her immense dominion were one by one recalled, to defend the hearths of Rome itself. Among the provinces conquered and abandoned was Britain ; and whether, after Constantine had usurped the purple, and withdrawn his troops from the British shores to support his usurpation, the Britons them' 220 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. selves at once threw off the Roman yoke for ever — or whether Victorinus again ruled the country for the emperor, — it is evident that early in the fifth century,* these islands were left to the government of the inhabitants themselves, a wild, unskilful race, who added to the rudeness of a barbarous, the vices of a conquered, people. A period of darkness and bloodshed succeeded ; and a thousand savage kings employed the arms which the Romans had left them in murdering each other. Scarcely forty years after the departure of the Romans had elapsed, when the Saxon savages of the north, who had begun already to infest the shores of France, first landed in England. Too few to effect a conquest, the soldiers of Hengist and Horsa, who commanded the three vessels which brought them thither, readily engaged with their chiefs in the service of some of the British kings, and were employed in repelling the invasions of the Irish and the Picts.f Fresh reinforcements were demanded and obtained from Saxony ; and tired of being the defenders of the Britons, the Saxons soon found a pretext for becoming their enemies. Partly by alliance, and partly by aggression, Hengist estab- lished himself as an independent sovereign in Kent ; and the Saxon dominion began to extend itself in England. The successful expedition of a small body of their countrymen soon brought fresh swarms of Saxons to the British shore. Ella and Cerdic followed with more extensive armies than their predecessors ; and, after deluging the land with blood, obtained posses- sion of a great part of the country. A number of British kings struggled bravely against the invasion ; and Arthur, a chief of sufficient importance and suc- cess to have his actions immortalized in fable and doubted by history, beyond all question greatly * A. D. 409 j Sharon Turner ; Camden. f Bede lib. i. cap. xv. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 221 retarded the progress of the Saxons by his valour, though he facilitated it by his barbarous contentions with his own countrymen. A multitude of obscure battles, uncertain in their event, and the long- and severe struggle of a divided and decreasing nation against a continual influx of invaders, ended in the establishment of eight distinct kingdoms, of which Mercia, extending in a broad band from the Humber to the Severn, was the last in date,* but one of the first in importance. The Britons, confined to Wales and a part of Cornwall, retained their language and their customs ; while the Saxons, acquiring the taste for territorial pos- session, abandoned their predatory excursions, and only exercised their barbarous cupidity in aggrieving and pillaging each other. This state of things continued for some years. The natural rudeness of the inhabitants of Britain augmenting by a constant existence of strife, till, about the year 596, Pope Gregory the Great was instigated, by the sight of some English slaves at Rome, to conceive and attempt the conversion of the pagan islanders. The celebrated Augustin was sent, with a band of missionaries, to effect'this noble purpose. The marriage of Ethelbert, King of Kent, to a Christian princess, of the Merovingian race* favoured the object of the messengers of Chris- tianity. They were received, were suffered to teach, obtained converts ; and the first principles of civil- ization were given to the barbarous conquerors of England. At the same time that Christianity was introduced into Britain, a slight tincture of literature was also afforded ; and the first Saxon compositions on record are attributed to the period of the conversion of Kent.f The kingdom of Northumbria was brought over to the faith with more difficulty ; but the very * A. D. 5S6. t Sharon Turner. T2 222 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. cause of that difficulty,— the investigating and intel- lectual character of the king, Edwin, and perhaps of the whole people, — was also the cause of the rapid progress of religious impressions, and of their permanence when once adopted. Such literature as the Church of Rome possessed now spread fast in Northumberland ; and, at length, in the person of Alfred,* called the Wise, a great protector of the milder arts appeared. He had been educated by Wilfrid, one of the most learned priests of the day ; and, with a clear and philosophical intellect, appre- ciated and applied the knowledge he obtained. The love of letters extended among his subjects ; and the cloisters of Northumberland became the repositories of ancient learning. Security and leisure, the two great foster-parents of science, were to be obtained alone in monastic life ; and several of the Saxtm kings of Northumbria, abandoning the scenes of bloodshed and turbulence which surrounded the throne, found peace and happiness in the studious seclusion of the monastery. Among the people at large, civil wars and disturb- ances of all kinds greatly retarded the spirit of literature in Northumbria, after the reign of Alfred the Wise ; but the same spirit remained concentra- ting all its powers in the cloister ; and while France, under the declining race of her Merovingian kings, was every day losing the remainsf of Roman learn- ing, the priests of England retained the elements of knowledge and the love of science. Three greatj epochs of darkness are distinctly marked in the history of France. The first imme- diately succeeded the conquest of Gaul by the bar- barians, when the arts of the Romans received their * Not the same person as Alfred the Great. t Hallain, Hist. Middle Ages, vol. iii. chap. ix. JThis fact may be easily ascertained by running the eye over the intro ductions to the Histoire Litteraire de France. Towards the end of the reign of the Merovingians, several documents, pretending to be Latin, remain, wbich almost drive translation to despair. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 223 most severe blow. The second preceded the fall of the Merovingian and the rise of the Carlovingian dynasty, when wars and civil contentions had worn away all that barbaric conquest had left. The third followed considerably after the period of which I now write, and took place just before the accession of the Capetian line, when the folly of Charle- magne's descendants, the invasions of the Nor- mans, and the complete anarchy of the times destroyed all which the great monarch had suc- ceeded in restoring.* The second of these epochs still existed in full force at the accession of Charlemagne himself; and in his grand and general views for the consoli- dation of his power, his magnificent intellect and his benevolent heart immediately led him to con- ceive the project of raising his empire above the surrounding world, by superior civilization, and of binding all its component parts together by a com- munity of taste, of knowledge, and of cultivation. To obtain his object, however, was difficult, even in the outset ; for where could he seek for people qualified to instruct the ignorant nations over which he was extending his sway? The Italians were now almost as uncivilized as the Franks ; and Greece, where literature still lingered, was infec- tious with vices, and jealous of communicating her better stores. Barbarism spread around the mon- arch on every side ; and, at the first view, it appeared as if it would be necessary not so much to revive as to create a literature for France. On his return towards his native country, how- ever, after having calmed and regulated his Italian dominions, Charlemagne was visited at Parma by an English priest, named Alcuin,f who had come to Rome, charged by the Archbishop of York to re- ceive for him the pall which was occasionally sent * Hist. Litteraire de France. t Vit. Alcuini Abbatis. 224 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. from the apostolic see to various bishoprics, as a symbol of the archiepiscopal dignity. The renown of the monarch had drawn the priest to Parma ; but the eloquence and learning - of the Saxon had as powerful an effect on the mind of Charlemagne. He now found that the cloisters of England con- tained men able and willing to co-operate in his great design of civilizing and instructing the nations under his dominion ; and Alcuin was accordingly invited at once to visit France, and to combine with the monarch in framing a plan for reviving the light of past ages, and dispelling the darkness of the present. Such an occupation was, of all others, that which best suited the talents and inclination of the Saxon priest. Passionately fond of knowledge, though the learning which he himself possessed was tinctured with the sophistical rhetoric of the lower empire, and in a degree obscured by the gloomy supersti- tions of the Roman church, Alcuin was zealous in his desire to extend his information to others, and ardent in his aspirations for a more polished and humane state of society. Nevertheless, charged as he was at the time with a mission of a totally differ- ent character, and subjected by the rule of the church to the will of a superior, he could not at once meet the wishes of the French sovereign, and all that he could promise was to visit France if he could obtain permission. The desire of so great a monarch, however, was not likely to be rejected by the Archbishop of York; and, after having distin- guished the object of his favour by every mark of honour and regard, Charlemagne returned to France, satisfied with having taken the first step towards improving the state of society, and mitigating the rudeness of the age. After his arrival in his native country, he held a general diet at Worms,* at which Tassilo Duke of *Aun. Eginhard; Chron. Moissiac ; Ann.Loiseliani. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 225 Bavaria, having received assurance of personal safety, appeared as a vassal of the French crown. His oaths of fidelity and homage were renewed ; and, having been entertained for some time with splendour and hospitality by his sovereign, he gave twelve hostages for his very doubtful faith, and returned to his own territories. The whole empire now slept in peace; and Charlemagne closed the year without any warlike movement, — an event which occurred but seldom during his long-protracted reign. BOOK VII. FROM THE SUBMISSION OF THE DUKE OF BAVARIA TO THE BAPTISM OF WITIKIND, AND THE SUPPRESSION OF THE REVOLT OF BRITTANY. FROM A. D. 782 TO A. D. 785. Effbrts to conciliate the Saxons— Envoys from Denmark and Hungary —Incursion of the Sclavonians— Revolt of Saxony— The Franks de- feated at Sinthal— Charlemagne takes the Field— His unusual Severity —Of no effect— Battle of Dethmold -Battle on the Hase— Saxony once more subdued— Witikind and Albion visit the Court of France— Are baptized— Charlemagne, after the Death of Hildegarde, marries Fas- trada— The Thuringian Conspiracy — Discovered— Punished — State of Brittany— Revolt of that Province— Its Subjection. The winter after the monarch's return from Italy, in A. D. 781, passed by in peace; nor, indeed, had he cause to apprehend war from any other quarter than from Saxony, whose treacherous and versatile inhabitants could never be relied upon, whatever promises they had made of obedience, whatever pledges they had given of tranquillity. The mon- arch of the Franks had taken every measure which could be devised to ensure the permanence of his 226 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. control after the last expedition which he had been forced to undertake against them. The construc- tion of fortresses and the presence of armies had not been the only methods he had employed. The introduction of the Christian religion was, as I have pointed out before, both an object and a means in the complete subdual of the people ; and this he had left no effort unexerted to effect. He caused a number of churches to be built, and sent mission- aries and prelates* to superintend the religious in- struction of the people, while he took care that neither pomp nor splendour should be wanting, to win the co-operating power of imagination, which, among a savage nation, is easily gained by that which addresses the external senses. Nor had the endeavour to conciliate, by every means of kind- ness and confidence, been neglected; and, that the Saxons might feel as little as possible the weight of a foreign domination, he had chosen the dukes who were to reign over the different provinces! of Saxony from among the people themselves. The Saxons had submitted with apparent willing- ness, had been baptized, and had attended the court and camp of the French monarch with every appear- ance of satisfaction and contentment. Aware, how- ever, of the uncertain nature of the barbarian char- acter, Charlemagne did not choose to leave a land which had cost him so much labour to reduce to subjection, for any great length of time, without his presence ; and in the spring of the year which fol- lowed his journey to Italy, he advanced into Saxony, and, encamping at the source of the Lippe, applied himself to establish as firmly as possible the basis of his newly acquired power.J During his stay, he was visited by the ambassa- *Annales Anonym. Duchesne Script. Franc, vol. ii. p. 21 ; Cnron. Moissiac ; Auschar. Archiep. Bremens. in Vit. Willehadi, cap. v. t Chron. Moissiac. % Eginhard. Annales ; Ann. Loiseliani ; Ann. Fuldens. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 227 dors of several distant nations, among whom were missives from Sigifrid, King of Denmark,* and from the Chagan of the Avars, or inhabitants of Hunga- ria. Both these monarchs solicited the amity of the Franks and their king; but, at the same time, Sigifrid had on all occasions afforded a refuge to Witikind,f tne great instigator of the Saxon irrup- tions, so that Charlemagne had just cause to doubt the sincerity of his friendly expressions. That great monarch, however, seems ever to have dis- dained to persecute a fugitive enemy. Adalgisus himself remained secure at the court of Irene, whose son was the betrothed husband of the French king's daughter; and, in the present instance, Charlemagne, without noticing the asylum granted to the Saxon chief, received the ambassadors of Sigifrid with the same pacific assurances which they bore from their sovereign. After dismissing the envoys with honour, and completing his arrangements for the internal gov- ernment of Saxony, the French monarch returned to France. But scarcely had he quitted Germany when a Sclavonian tribe, called Sorabes, inhabiting a district between the Elbe and the Sale, upon the immediate frontiers of Saxony, took advantage of the monarch's absence, the confusion of a lately conquered country, and the invariable indifference, if not hatred, of a subdued people, to pour in upon the Saxons, ravaging also a part of Thuringia, which had long been dependent on France. | The invading force was so small that the personal presence of Charlemagne did not seem called for, and he despatched Adalgisus, his chamberlain, Geilo, ♦TheTilian Annals, written before 808, call the Danes Northmen, or Normans, as well as the Annals of Loisel. This is the first time I remember to have found the name Northemanni, though i ossibly it may be mentioned before. Eginhard names them Danes in this place, as 'well as the Annals of St. Fulda. t Eginhard. Annales, A. D. 782. i Eginhard. Ann. ; Ann. Poet. Saxon. ; Ann. Loiseliani. 228 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. his constable, and Worado,* count of his palace, with orders to march the united army of Franks and Saxons,f which was probably not far from the spot, to check the progress and punish the aggres- sion of the Sclavonians. In the mean time, issuing once more from his re- treat in Denmark, Witikind had again appeared among the Saxons. The same energy of character and the same powerful eloquence which he had before displayed produced the same effect. The Saxons rosej in every direction, expelled the minis- ters of the Christian religion, and, feeling now that the patience of their conqueror must be at length completely exhausted, they prepared for a war of a more fierce and resolute character than any of those they had hitherto sustained against the Franks. The officers^ commanding! the army which was *Eginhard. Ann. tl have adopted what I conceived to be the meaning of the Annals of Loisel, though the passage is obscure from its brevity : "Misit missos suos, Adkalgisu" et Woradum, ut moverent exercitum Francorum et Saxonum super Sclavos." t Auscharius in Vit. Willehadi, cap. vi. * Annales Tiliani. \\ The account of this transaction, as given by Eginhard, is in the fol- lowing words :— " Cumque Conventu completo trans-Rhenum in Galliam se recepisset, Widikindus qui ad Nordmannos prof'ugerat in patriam reversus, vams spebus animos Saxonum ad defectionem concitavit. Interea Regi allatum est quod Sorabi Sciavi. qui campos inter Albim et Salam interjacentes incolunt, in fines Thuringorum et Saxonum, qui eis erant contermini, praedandi causa luissent ingressi ; et direptionibusatque incendiis quabdam loca vastassent. Qui statim accitis'ad se tribus min- istris suis, Adalgiso, cubiculario, Geilone, comite stabuli, et Worado, comite Palatii, praecepit ut, sumptis secum Orientalibus Francis atque Saxonibus, contumacium Sclavorum audaciam quam celerrime compri- merent. Qui cum jussa facturi Saxonise fines ingressi fuissent, com- pererunt Saxones ex consilio Widikindi ad bellum Francis inferendum esse paratos. Omissoque intinere, quo ad Sclavos ituri erant, cum Orientalium Francorum copiis, ad locum, in quo audierant Saxones esse congregates, ire contendunt: quibus in ipsa Saxonia obviavit Thedericus comes propinquus Regis cum iis copiis quas, audita Sax- onum defectione, raptim in Repuaria congregare potuit." — Eginhardi Annales, aim. 782. Monsieur Gaillard's account is as follows : — " En 782 la Saxe se revolta de nouveau ; Charlemagne, occupe ailleurs, y envoya deux armees qui devoient se concerter dans leurs operations, car, sans con- cert, quel succes peut on attendre ? L'une etoit commande par le Comte HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 229 proceeding against the Sclavonians had no sooner entered Saxony than they found the whole country in revolt ; and wisely judging that the success of the insurrection in that province was likely to be far more fatal than the petty irruption of the Sorabes, they instantly determined to turn their arms against Witikind and his followers. Whether the Saxons who had composed part of their original force voluntarily quitted them to join the party of the revolt, or whether, judging them unworthy of reliance, the generals left them behind, does not clearly appear; but it is certain that only the oriental Franks* marched towards the spot where the insurgent Saxons were mustering. The army of the Franks was thus greatly weakened; but, at the same time, Theoderic, a cousin of Charle- magne, holding a provincial command on the banks of the Rhine, collected in haste all the troops of his government, and proceeded with prompt vigour to suppress the rising of the Saxons, before it had reached a still rnore dangerous height. The inform- ation which had caused his movement into Saxony guided him towards the spot where his presence was necessary ; and, marching on with all speed, he soon came up with the forces of Adalgisus and his companions, advancing with the same purpose as his own. The two armies united composed a very formidable "host, and hurrying on together, they approached a mountain called Sonnethal, or Sinthal, near the banks of the Weser, on the northern side Theuderic, parent et ami de Charlemagne, accoutume a vaincre avec lui, et le Parmenion de cet Alexandre ; l'autre armee avoit trois chefs, — Adalgise, chambellan du roi, Geilon, comte de Testable, ou connetable, et Wolrade, comte du palais. On ne concoit pas bien par quelle poli- tique Charlemagne avoit tant multiple les gtneranx ; c'etoit faire naltre gratuitement des occasions de discorde." — Gaillard's Hist, de Charle- magne, chap. v. p. 358. Monsieur Gaillard cites Eginhard as his authority ; but in comparing the two, we are inclined to ask, did he understand Latin? or, had he read the author he quotes? * Ann. Eginhard, 782. u 230 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. of which hill Witikind was encamped with the Saxons whom he had induced to break their vows. As soon as the news of his position was obtained, it was determined between Theoderic and the com- manders of the other army, that a simultaneous attack should be made oa both sides of the insur- gent's camp. For this purpose, Adalgisus, Geilo, and Worado were directed to cross the river with their forces, while Theoderic, during the time required for their march round the mountain, con- structed an intrenched camp on the southern side, in order to secure a retreat in case of defeat. At an appointed hour the attack was to commence ; and the united army of the Franks, with the advan- tages of discipline, experience, and well-concerted operations, would undoubtedly have completely overthrown the crude forces of the Saxons, had not that unhappy spirit of jealousy which has in all ages ruined so many noble enterprises mingled with the counsels of the Frankish chiefs. Theoderic, the relation and friend of Charlemagne, was already renowned as a general; and the com- manders of the other army were fearful that, if they admitted* him to share in their attack upon Witi- kind, the glory of the victory which they felt sure of winning would be solely attributed to him. Having received a separate command from their sovereign, they were not absolutely obliged to obey the orders of the duke ; and, consequently, instead of waiting for the appointed time, they determined, immediately after separating from Theoderic, to attack the Saxons at once. They accordingly advanced directly towards the enemy's camp ; and despising an adver- sary whom they had so often beheld fly from the presence of Charlemagne, they felt confident of conquest, and took no precautions to ensure success. Witikind had drawn up his army to receive them ; * Eginhard. Annates. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 231 and the Saxons had no choice but death or victory. So often had they ravaged the territories of France — been conquered and pardoned ; so often had they submitted, and again revolted; so often had they bound themselves by treaties and vows, and violated the most solemn and sacred engagements ; so often had they abused the confidence and mocked the religion of their conquerors, that they could hope for no safety but in triumph. They fought with courage, and were led with skill. In the Frankish army, on the contrary, the mis- conduct of the leaders was, of course, followed by the misconduct of the troops. They attacked with insolent confidence and eareless confusion. Each spurred on his horse irregularly against the enemy as fast as he could come up ; but, instead of finding fugitives to pursue, and plunder to be taken, they met with warriors, resistance, and death. Pouring in upon the centre of the Saxons, which had the advantage of the ground, the Franks left the flanks of their army exposed. Witikind saw their mistake, their confusion, and their danger; and immediately caused the wings of the Saxon army to wheel upon his imprudent enemies.* The French, disordered and surrounded, fought with desperation, but fought in vain. The havoc was tremendous, and the battle of Sinthal was a massacre as well as a defeat. Two of the generals whose crime and folly had thus exposed the army committed to their guidance fell with their soldiers. The third, Worado, or Wolrad, fought his way out, and survived ; but, besides the generals, four counts and twenty of the noblest and most distinguished warriors of the Franks remained dead upon the plain ; while a few fugi- tives, flying over the mountains to the camp of Theoderic, brought to that general the first news of his companions' treachery and punishment. ♦Annates Eginhardi; Annales Mettenses; Annates Fuldenses; An* nates Loiseliani. 232 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. The tidings of the defeat of Sinthal soon travelled into France, and Charlemagne himself,* at the head of a large army, immediately passed the Rhine, and advanced, with the speed of lightning, towards the scene of the revolt. By this unhappy battle the glory of his arms had been tarnished, but the conse- quences which he anticipated were still more dread- ful than the fact. For nine years he had been labouring to deliver France from the continual scourge of the Saxon irruptions. Fear had been the only engine which repressed them for a moment ; and now, after so long a period of successful war- fare, during which he had accomplished the security of his own dominions only by the subjection of theirs, all that he had done was entirely rendered void by one great defeat, which, restoring confidence to the people he had formerly subdued, held out a long prospect of wars and insurrections for the future. This expedition he resolved should now be one of chastisement, as well as repression. When conquered, and at his mercy, the Saxons had bound themselves, by the most solemn vows, never to bear arms against him again, and on the security of those vows he had shown them clemency ; but now, that every engagement was broken, and infidelity had been encouraged by victory, he determined to punish as well as to conquer, and to wage the same exter- minating warfare against his faithless and pertina- cious enemies that they had on all occasions waged against him. His very name, however, was sufficient to carry dismay into the hearts of the Saxons. The courage which had animated them fled; their victorious army dispersed at his approach, like a morning mist before the sun ; and their triumphant chief, aban- doned by his followers, was obliged to seek safety in flight. At the same time the nation flocked to * Ann. Poet. Saxon. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 233 meet the French monarch, glossing their infidelity with all the excuses which terror and cunning can suggest, and offering once more the treacherous vows with which he had been so often deceived. Indignant at their baseness, and desirous of striking such terror into their hearts as would do away the consequences of their late victory, and make the impression of their punishment more deep than that of their success, Charlemagne unhappily forgot the clemency which was one of the most beautiful traits of his character. He pardoned the nation, it is true, and sheathed the fiery sword, which he had drawn for the purpose of wasting the whole land; but he demanded that those who had taken an armed and active share in the insurrection should be given up to his vengeance. This was pusillanimously con- ceded by the rest of the Saxon people, and, as a ter- rible example for the future,* the French monarch ordered four thousand five hundred of the most criminal! to be executed in one day.J There was, beyond doubt, much to palliate this tremendous act of severity. The dreadful evils which the Saxons had incessantly inflicted on France, their unceasing treachery, the broken vows and ruthless disregard of all engagements, of the very men who suffered, were all motives which may be admitted to qualify the awful sternness of the deed ; but still humanity revolts from so terrible an act of punishment ; and though Charlemagne was far more justified than many who have been less censured for similar acts, yet the death of the Sax- ons has left a stain upon his name, which has been magnified by the partialities, and distorted by the theories, of men equally unable to appreciate his virtues or his faults. *Chron. Sigiberti; Ann. Fuldenses; Ann. Eginhardi. t Ann. Mettenses. jThe whole of these events are wanting in the Chronicle of Ado, Bishop of Vieune. U2 234 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. As in the case of almost all severe measures, the effect he intended to produce was not at all accom- plished. Witikind had again fled into the north at the approach of Charlemagne ; and, though the monarch of the Franks did not absent himself far or long from the confines of Saxony, before the next spring the whole country was once more in revolt. The successes of the former year had given fresh hopes and expectations to the Saxons ; and the death of their countrymen was far from impressing them with that terror which the Frankish monarch had expected. Accustomed themselves to sacrifice their prisoners, the minds of the Saxons were perfectly made up to undergo the same destiny after a defeat ; and whereas a much lighter infliction, if it had taken some new and strange form, would probably have spread consternation through the whole country, a fate, however horrible, to the contemplation of which their minds were habituated, inspired but little fear, and produced a small effect. The memory of a battle gained against the Franks, however — an event which centuries had not seen, — was not easily obliterated ; and the consequence of the impulse thus given to the national hopes was the raising of two armies, such as had never taken the field against Charlemagne before. The monarch* was early informed of the gather- ing storm, and speedily prepared to meet it; but a domestic grief, the death of Hildegarde,f his queen, which took place in April, retarded his movements against the enemy. Various other cares also occu- pied him till the middle of May ; but about that time he quitted Thionville, where he had passed the win- ter, and advanced rapidly upon Dethmold,J where * Annales Tiliani ; Annales Loiseliani, A. D. 783. t It is a curious fact, that the charter given by Charlemagne to St. Arnulph's monastery, near Metz, is dated from "Ascension Day, 783, on the eve of which our beloved wife died, in the thirteenth year of our ttMion.' — Receuil des Historiens de France, vol. v. p. 749, \ Ann. Eginhard. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 235 the army of Witikind had taken up its position. We have no means of calculating the number of either force ; but it is probable, from the expression of Eginhard, who calls the Saxon host " an innumer- able multitude," as well as from the fact of their having stood, for the first time, the charge of Charle- magne, that the troops of the insurgents were numerically superior to those of the monarch. Charlemagne* had no advantage but that of attack. He had come from a long and weary march, in a summer, the heat of which was so uncommonly intense that several instances are mentioned of per- sons having died from its effects. The Saxons had chosen their own position ; they were led by one of their greatest chiefs, were animated by the memory of victory under his command, and were stimulated by vengeance, superstition, and despair: neverthe- less, the French monarch hesitated not a moment,! but attacked them at once on their own ground , J and, after a short but terrible conflict, succeeded in almost annihilating their army. Few are said to have escaped alive of all the Saxon host ; but, of course, such a struggle could not take place without great loss also on the part of the Franks. A hostile country, and another powerful army, were before the steps of Charlemagne ; and his forces were too much weakened by the battle which he had just won, to admit of his advance with- out much risk of his retreat being cut off. Retiring, therefore, upon Paderborn, he awaited the arrival of fresh troops, which were in preparation throughout * Annales Anonym. Duchesne ; Chron. Moissiac. t "Ad eos summa celeritate (rex) contendit; commissoque cum eis praelio." — Eg'mhardi Annales, ami. 783. "lis (les Saxons) l'attaquerent en plaine," &c— Gaillard, chap. v. page 363. Monsieur Gaillard's chronology and statement are equally incorrect; Charlemagne attacked the Saxons, not the Saxons Charlemagne; and the date of these battles is 763, and not 784, when no battle was fought by that monarch. t Eginhard. Anna], 236 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. France; and, immediately after their coming, he once more marched forward to encounter the second army of the Saxons, which occupied the banks of the Hase, in Westphalia. Scarcely a month had elapsed after his former victory, when he achieved another that completely destroyed the hopes of being able to contend with the Prankish monarch in general conflicts, with which the success of Witi- kind in the former year had inspired his country- men.* The army which opposed the passage of the river was as totally defeated as that which had en- countered Charlemagne near Dethmold; with this difference, however, in the event, that in the first battle fought the greater part of the Saxons died where they stood, and in the second a considerable number surrendered. No severity of any kind seems to have been prac- tised by Charlemagne towards his prisoners ; and on the part of the Saxons, all thought of opposing the monarch himself appears to have been abandoned, though the whole country continued still in revolt. The next two years were consumed in a desultory warfare, equally destructive to both parties ; though, as the Saxons were the weaker of the two, the same extent of loss was more detrimental to them than to their enemies. Witikind and Albion,f who had commanded the two great armies of the insurgents, though con- quered, were not subdued; and while Charlemagne, determined to crush the revolt at any cost, marched through one part of the country, punishing insurrec- tion and compelling submission, the rest of the land rose up behind his steps, and did away all that he had effected in his passage. During those two years, only one event of import- ance checkered the monotonous character of the war. This was a victory gained on the banks of * Eginhard. in Vit. Car. Mag. ; Eginhard. Ann. j- A. D. 784, 785. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 237 the Lippe* by Charles, the eldest legitimate son of the French monarch. In order to overawe West- phalia, while he himself marched in a different direction, Charlemagne left a part of his army under the command of the prince, then but twelve years old. The Saxons, hoping to strike a deep blow at the monarch in the person of his son, hastened to attack the young commander; but their efforts still proved unsuccessful. Both armies consisted en- tirely of cavalry, and, after a severe conflict, in which a great number of Saxons fell, victory re- mained with the Franks, and Charles returned to "Worms, crowned with the earliest laurels that the annals of the world record. Whatever was the prince's share in the victory, — for it is not probable that Charlemagne committed such great interests solely to the inexperience of twelve years, — the fact of Charles having, even nominally, commanded, shows at what an early period the Frankish youth were inured to arms, and may aid conjecture in regard to the cause of that people's long preponder- ance as a military nation. At length,! in the year 785, after having passed the winter in the heart of Saxony, and spent the most severe season of the year in traversing the land from side to side, and repressing revolt wher- ever it appeared, Charlemagne found the whole country once more completely subdued.! Witikind and Albion had fled, and were now wandering on the other side of the Elbe, endeavouring to excite the people of that already devastated country to fresh, though fruitless, revolt. But the French * Ann. Eginhard. 764. t Ann. Tiliani ; Ann. Petaviani. % The Tilian Annals (which were composed within twenty-two years of this period) make use of the forcible expression, et i>ias apertas per totam Siixoniam, to express the renewed subjection of the country. I conceive myself, therefore, justified in stating, on the authority of those Annals (the nearest chronological record), that the subjection of Saxony preceded the submission of Witikind, although the matter has been reversed by modern writers. 238 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. monarch now determined to try, by persuasion and kindness, to win the hearts of his two most constant and intractable opponents. His first step was, through the intervention of some of their countrymen, to represent to them the inutility of further resistance, and to invite them to his presence with promises of security and favour. Neither of the Saxon chiefs, however, prone as their own nation was to the breach of all promises, would confide in the mere word of the French monarch ; and Charlemagne offered hostages for their safety, if, by appearing at his court, they would but afford themselves an opportunity of comparing civilization and Christianity with the state of society and re- ligion to which they had shown themselves so per- tinaciously attached. With this proposal Amalvin, a Frank of distinction, was despatched across the Elbe, and the first direct communication being opened between Witikind and Charlemagne, the negotiations were easily concluded. The French monarch,* animated but by one view in the whole transaction, granted the Saxon chief- tains whatever assurances of safety they demanded ; and Witikind, at length satisfied of his sincerity, trav- ersed the country, and visited his great conqueror at Bardingaw in Saxony. f This visit, although its duration was but short, excited a strong desire in the bosom of the rude Saxon chieftain to see more of the splendid court and civilized people, whose monarch, he had too many reasons to know, was as irresistibly great in war as he now found him generous in peace. Such an inclination was doubt- less encouraged by Charlemagne himself; and, after his return to France, he again received Witikind and Albion at Attigny, on the Aine.J From that mo- ment, a great change took place in the opinions of * Ann. Eginhard. \ Ann. Tiliani ; Ann. Loiseliani. J Chron. Moissiac; Ana Eginhard, HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 239 his two opponents. What means of conversion were used, and whether the minds of the Saxons were brought to conviction by the reasoning - of Chris- tian prelates, or whether their imaginations were dazzled, and their sight deceived, by the pomps and pious frauds of the Romish church, we can only vaguely discover from very doubtful legends. The chronicles state the meager fact, that Witikind and Albion, after having opposed the Christian faith in their native land for many years, were solemnly baptized at the palace of Attigny, where Charle- magne himself appeared as the sponsor for his con- quered enemies. Doubtless, no art was left unem- ployed by the zealous advocates of the church to win the Saxon chiefs to the renunciation of pa- ganism ; but all that is positively stated in regard to Charlemagne himself is, that, after having honoured them highly during their stay, he dismissed them to their own land, loaded with costly presents.* The whole of Saxony now at once embraced the Chris- tian religion ; the churches which had been burnt were rebuilt, and others were constructed. The priests who had fled returned to their altars,f and universal thanksgivings were ordered by the Cath- olic church for the establishment of the faith of Christ among the obstinate idolaters of the north. J This state of things did not, it is true, prove of any long duration ; but we here find a sort of epoch in the Saxon war, to which it seemed as well to con- duct the reader, without pausing to notice in their chronological order a number of domestic events of more or less importance which, during these years of active warfare, occurred in the life of Charle- magne. Two of these events are worthy of particular notice, from the influence they may be supposed to * Chron. Moissiac. t Auschar. Archiepisc. Bremens, in Vit. Willehadi, cap. viii. + Codex Carolinus, Epist. xcl. 240 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. have had upon his after life. Soon after the death of Hildegard his queen, Bertha, the mother of the French monarch, also took her destined place in the inevitable tomb. Kings are surrounded by so many temptations to forgetfulness, that their griefs are generally of short duration. But Bertha was regretted long and deeply, by Charlemagne ; and, if virtue, rectitude, talents, and active benevolence be qualities which should attach, Bertha was well deserving of the tears which her son bestowed upon her loss. His sorrow, also, was justified by a long retrospect of affection ; for we learn that the harmony existing between Charle- magne and his mother was never known to be interrupted, except on the one occasion of the di- vorce of Desideria. That cloud itself had soon passed away ; the evil consequences which she had anticipated were averted by his extraordinary pow- ers ; and Bertha lived to see her son the greatest monarch of his age and race. The sovereign of the Franks was, by natural tem- perament, soon led to supply the place which the death of Hildegarde had left vacant; and in the choice of another wife, he fixed upon Fastrada,* the daughter of Rodolph, a Frankish noble of high repute. We are led to conclude, that the per- sonal beauty of the new queen was not accompa- nied by great powers of mind, or by fine qualities of the heart ; and her conduct soon produced conse- quences the most painful that could affect a monarch from the actions of his wife.f These were mur- murs among the people, and ultimately the revolt of apart of his subjects. All accounts represent Fastrada as oppressive and merciless ; but what was the precise nature of the cruelty she is accused of exercising, and how a * Ann. Tiliani ; Chron. Moissiac ; Ann. Eginhaxd, 783. t Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Magni. cap. xx. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 241 monarch of such firmness of mind as Charlemagne could intrust a dangerous portion of authority to the hands of a woman, are points on which history is silent, and in regard to which all inferences must be derived from collateral evidence. It appears, however, that towards the end of the year 785, one of the Eastern Franks of noble birth, called Hartrad,* conceived the design of exciting the part of the country in which he lived to insur- rection ; and determined by stratagem to get posses- sion of the person of the king, and murder him, or to throw off the yoke of France, and declare his province independent. Either from discontent! at the conduct of the queen, general ambition, or that love of change so universal in the minds of the weak, a number of other counts joined in the conspiracy, which soon began to assume a formidable aspect. For some time Charlemagne had known that treasonable efforts were in meditation against his government ; but the information he had received was either so vague, or the schemes of the conspirators so immature, that he suffered them to proceed till the commencement of the ensuing year, keeping nevertheless a strict watch upon their movements. At length, the chief of the discontented nobles, Count Hartrad — on the coming of a royal messenger, charged to demand that his daughter, who had been long betrothed to one of the western Franks, should be given to her husband — took occasion to throw off the authority of the king, and to call together the abetters of his treason. * Ann. Eginhard. t Annales Nazariani. I have taken this account from the Chronicles of the Monastery of St. Nazarius, near the Rhine, because they were composed by a contemporary, finishing in the year 790, and because the position of the monastery was in ihe immediate vicinity of the scene of these events. The various other annals of a later period do not mention the circumstances so minutely, while they state the general faets very nearly in the same manner. X 242 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. His summons was instantly obeyed; but wheil the conspirators appeared in arms, it was found that, as usual on such occasions, they had sadly miscal- culated their strength ; and that their forces were still so scanty as to render perseverance in their design utter madness.* The consequence of this conviction was their immediate dispersion in order to seek places of concealment. But they had now too openly proclaimed their treason for justice to remain inactive any longer. A considerable number were arrested in the different spots where they had taken refuge, and were afterward tried at Worms before an extraordinary court, to which a number of the bishops had been summoned. On the present occasion this commixture of Christian prelates with the lay judges of the land did not seem to temper greatly the severity of the punishment awarded. None of the conspirators, it is true, were put to death ; but such as were proved most guilty were condemned to that fearful infliction, the loss of sight,f a sentence then common. Others were de- graded from their rank, and the whole were doomed to permanent or temporary exile. Another war, within the actual limits of France, demanded the attention of Charlemagne, immediately after the revolt of Hartrad ; and it may be neces- sary, for a moment, to look to the state of Brittany, in which it took place, in order clearly to understand its cause and object. On the first invasion of Gaul by the Franks, no resistance of so determined a nature was offered to their progress by any of the various tribes or nations who adhered to the Roman government of that province, as by the ArmoricansJ, — a people inhabiting one of the western districts of France, but the extent of whose territory at that time it would be difficult to define. The struggle i* Chron. Moissiac. \ Ann. Eginhard. t Procopius, de Bell. Goth. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 243 was kept up between them and the barbarians long after it had been yielded by the rest of the inhabit- ants of Gaul ; and their courage and vigour, though obtaining no support from the country in whose defence they fought, at least served to win the ad- miration and respect of their adversaries. At length, abandoned by Rome, and assailed on all sides by enemies, the Armoricans chose rather to enter into a general league with the Franks, than still contend for a falling state, which had already cast them off. What were the precise terms of this league, and how far the Armoricans were absolutely amalgamated with the Franks, cannot be discussed in this place ; but it is more than probable, that long before the accession of Charlemagne a complete assimilation of the two nations had taken place. However that may be, in a part of the territories formerly inhabited by the Armoricans, a new people had established themselves, some time previous to the period of which I speak. These fresh settlers consisted of fugitives from England, where the in- vading Saxons had compelled each native Briton to choose between domestic servitude, eternal strife, and foreign exile. Those who preferred the latter soon colonized a large part of the seacoast of France, extended their territories, consolidated their power ; and having, both by their own strength and the dis- sensions of the Merovingian monarchy, extorted the privilege of governing themselves, they maintained their own laws and language, and existed a separate people within the French dominions.* A tribute alone marked their dependence ; but even this they often neglected or refused ; and though Charlemagne had taken precautions to prevent their encroachments on the neighbouring country, they yet judged so ill of his authority that they chose his reign as the * Eginhard, Annates ; Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Mag, 244 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. time for making a great effort to assert their immu- nity from their customary mark of vassalage. Although Charlemagne, conscious of his own power, viewed their efforts to shake off his sway with contempt, yet it was contempt in no degree mingled with that blind arrogance which neglects the means of safety in the confidence of strength. The revolt of Brittany, however, was not a matter of sufficient importance to call for the personal presence of the monarch ; and, while he himself devoted his attention to the internal regulations of the state, and the punishment of the Thuringian conspirators, he directed Audulphus,* his seneschal, to lead an army into the refractory province, and reduce it to subjection. This was easily and'rapidly accomplished. The Bretons were in no state to maintain the independence which they claimed ; and, after the capture of all their fortresses by the Franks, they threw themselves on the clemency of the mon- arch, which was never appealed to in vain. Audul- phus returned in triumph to the court, bearing with him the trophies of his victorious expedition. The Bretons gave hostages for their future obedience ; and several of their nobles even presented them- selvesf at the diet which was then sitting at Worms. * Ann. Loiseliani; Ann. Tiliani, 787; Ann. Eginhard, 788. t Ann. Metteasis. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 245 BOOK VIII. FROM THE PACIFICATION OF SAXONY, TO THE DEFEAT OF ADALGISUS AND THE GREEKS IN ITALY. FROM A. D. 785 TO A. D. 788. The Conspiracy of Arichis Duke of Beneventum, and Tassilo Duke of Bavaria, renewed — The doubtful Conduct of Greece. — Charlemagne marches into Italy — Advances towards Beneventum — Arichis submits — The Alliance between France and Greece broken off— The Intrigues of Tassilo— Charlemagne marches against Bavaria — Tassilo submits — Charlemagne's Efforts for the Revival of Letters— Interrupted by the Alliance of Tassilo, Arichis, and Irene — Death of the Duke of Bene- ventum and his eldest Son— Charlemagne bestows the Dukedom on the second Son Grimwald — Progress of the Conspiracy— Forces des- patched to Italy — Arrest and Condemnation of the Duke of Bavaria — Landing of the Greeks in Italy— Their Defeat. Through the whole of Charlemagne's northern dominions peace was now fully established ; but the storm which his presence had for a time averted from Italy again threatened to break upon it with redoubled force. Sufficient time had elapsed for the weak Duke of Bavaria, under the influence of a violent and vindictive wife, to forget the engagements he had entered into, and the oaths he had taken. The Duke of Beneventum, also, who had espoused another daughter of the dethroned King of Lom- bardy, was, like Tassilo, instigated both by his wife's revengeful spirit and his own ambition still to pursue his schemes of casting off the almost nominal dependence which he ow T ed to the crown of France. Irene, too, the Empress of the East,* had by this * It is necessary here to observe, that this part of the history of the period is extremely obscure ; and it is better to confess gnorance than to misstate facts. In the Codex Carol in us, Epist. 66, which is generally attributed to the year 786, we find that Arichis, about that period, was engaged in active warfare with the state of Amalfi, and with the Neapol- itans, a part of Italy which was still in possession of the Greeks. The X2 246 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE, time adopted views adverse to those of Charlemagne. iShe had tasted fully the sweets of power ; the pas- sion for dominion had developed itself in her heart; and the nascent desires of rule which began to mani- fest themselves in her son led her to dread the speedy loss of that authority so dear to hei own bosom, if she suffered the youthful Constantine to strengthen himself by such an alliance as that which she had formerly proposed with the French monarch. It is not proved, indeed, that the empress sup- ported the Duke of Beneventum in his schemes of ambition, or that she pampered the pride of Tassilo of Bavaria into treason and revolt, but it is clear that she kept up a correspondence with both. Nor does it seem unlikely, although the actual rupture of the alliance between France and Constantinople is attributable to Charlemagne himself, that Irene was in the highest degree unwilling to complete it, and that her intrigues hurried it to its termination. It is sufficient, however, here to say, that the mar- Lombard histories of Camillus Peregrinus throw no light upon the subject; and it seems strange that Arichis, if supported by Irene, should make war upon her subjects. However, we learn from the 88th Epistle of the Codex Carolinus, that iu 787 Ari> his was in active treaty with Irene ; and the only way I can account for his conduct is by supposing that, in 786, he confided in his own power and that of the Duke of Ba- varia, and did not at all rely for support upon Greece, — that, finding himself obliged to yield to the superior power of Charlemagne in that year, he still maintained his purpose of casting off his alleg ; anee to France; but, additionally irritated against his conqueror, sought aid from Irene. At the same time, Charlemagne, seeing that through the criminal ambition of the Greek empress his daughter would become her slave, if married to the young and weak Constantine, broke off the pro- posed alliance in 787, instead of cementing it, as stated by the Annals of St. Fulda ; and therefore Arichis found Irene fully prepared to second him in all his views. The error of the Annals of St. Fulda is clearly proved by every after fact; for, from the moment of the return of her ambassadors in 787, Irene appeared as the enemy of the Franks. The authority of Monsieur Gaillard cannot be received upon these points ; for he declares that the Dukes of Keneventum and Bavaria treated with Constantinople, and gives the Annals of Eginhard as his authority ; while these annals never make the slightest mention, directly or indirectly, of such a circumstance. A few pages fariher, he says that Irene created Arichis patrician in Italy; and he again cites the Annals «of Eginhard, which are silent on this point also. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 247 riage* proposed was entirely broken off within a short period of the time of which I now write, and that long before its absolute relinquishment, Irene showed the most decided signs of hostility towards the court of France. Whatever part the empress acted in these trans- actions, it is evident that a very extensive con- spiiacy existed in ltaly,f embracing almost every portion of that country and the Tyrol, and extend- ing itself to Bavaria. At the same time, its ramifi- cations spread to nations over which Charlemagne had no control ; for the Bavarian duke, well aware of the vast power of him whose authority he sought to cast off, and whose wrath he was about to en- counter, had negotiated with many of the barbarous hordes in the vicinity of his dominions. From them he had obtained promises of aid and support in the moment of strife ; and had time been given for ac- complishing the preparations meditated by all the conspirators and their allies, a united force would have been created, which the whole genius, skill, and vigour of Charlemagne could scarcely have found means to overcome. The watchful care, however, of the French mon- arch left no part of his vast dominions unobserved, and his active energy encountered and crushed the evils by which he wxs threatened while they were * Monsieur Gaillard gives a detailed account of the circumstances attending the rupture of this alliance. He declares that Irene sent am- bassadors to France, with orders to demand Rotruda for her son, in. public ; but in private to throw every obstacle in the way. Charlemagne received them coldly, and gave them every opportunity of breaking off the negotiation, which was accordingly done in 788, and the ambassadors retired, feigning indignation and disappointment. Such also is the statement of Maimbourg, in his History of the Iconoclasts. I find no au- thority to support it; but it seems to me very probable that such might he the course pursued by the parlies concerned, and I have consequently adopted it. in some degree, a few pages farther on, where I speak of the embassy from the court of Constantinople, which Charlemagne received at Capua. My reasons for supposing that embassy to be the one which terminated the negotiations I have given in a note upon that passage. t Annales Naxariaru; Cnxon. Brev. St. Galli; Eginhaxd Annales. 248 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. yet immature. The designs both of the Duke of Bavaria and the Duke of Beneventum became known to him while regulating- the internal policy of Saxony, and receiving the hostages of the revolted Bretons. His determination to place himself in the midst of the scene of danger was immediately taken ; and late in the year 786 he departed from Worms, and marched directly upon Italy. His first halt* was at Florence, where he arrived at Christmas, and after a brief pause, with a view to refresh his troops, he proceeded thence to Rome. He was joyfully received by Pope Adrian, who was bound to him on every account, by friendship and by a similarity of mind, as well as by the remem- brance of benefits and the existence of mutual in- terests. The coming of the great king was there- fore always a subject of rejoicing at the court of the prelate, and never more so than at a moment when the muttering voice of the great Italian volcano threatened the country every hour with convulsion and ruin. Charlemagnef lost not a moment ere he turned his whole attention to the regulation and pacification of Italy. His first care was to deliberate with Adrian and with his own nobles! u P on the state of Bene- ventum, and upon the necessity of its subjugation, — a step without which the tranquillization of Italy seemed remote, if not impossible. But motives such as seldom actuate monarchs and conquerors induced him to pause, and guard against himself, lest any causes but stern and absolute necessity should influence him in hurrying on towards the cer- tain evils of warfare. Even supposing that neither siege nor battle were to follow, yet the dreadful * 25th December, 786. Chron . Moissiac. t Annates Tiliani; Annates Eginhardi, 786. j The councils which were held upon this occasion are particularly marked by the different annalists. Tarn cum Adriano Fonti/ice, quam cum suit optimatibus deliberasset. — Eginhardi Annates. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 249 ravages which his army would unavoidably commit on a hostile occupation of the country,* weighed heavily upon the monarch's mind, and cost him much hesitation ere he determined to pursue his march towards Beneventum. The halt of the Frankish forces, and the delibera- tions which ensued at Rome, gave full time for the news of Charlemagne's approach to reach the Bene- ventine duke, who, aware of his own designs, and totally unprepared to resist so powerful an army as that which threatened his territories, saw nothing but destruction before him. To appease the mon- arch of the Franks, without absolutely abandoning his former plans, Arichis immediately despatched his eldest son, Romuald, to Rome, charged! with many presents and fair speeches ; and directed to supplicate Charlemagne to desist from his hostile advance. He was also commanded to promise, on the part of his father, entire obedience to the will of Charlemagne, and that great king gladly wel- comed his coming, till he discovered that the young prince of Beneventum had no specific act of homage to offer — no inviolable engagement to propose. Perceiving instantly that the object of Arichis was to gain time, and to turn him from his course till Beneventum could be prepared for resistance, Charlemagne detained Romuald in his camp, and in- stead of pausing to deliberate any further, advanced rapidly towards the Beneventine territory. Arichis now found that the Frankish monarch was not to be deceived ; and, having rather hastened than retarded his own fate by his duplicity, he quitted his capital and fled precipitately to Salernum, which, in addi- tion to strong fortifications, possessed the great advantage of offering the means of escape by sea. Sincere submission, or still farther flight, were now the only expedients left for his choice, and he im- * Annales Loiseliani. t Ann. Tiliani; Ann. Eginhard ; Ann. Mettensis, A.D.788, 250 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. mediately determined upon the former. His second son Grimwald was accordingly despatched towards the monarch, with proposals no longer intended to amuse, but to satisfy. By these Arichis offered to yield both his sons as hostages, and to give any other security for his future good faith that the sovereign himself would point out, at the same time supplicating, in the humblest terms, that the Frank- ish army might be stayed in its rapid and destructive march. This new embassy* met the monarch at Capua ; and, influenced rather by the humane desire of sparing the Beneventines than by any confidence in the promises of Arichis, Charlemagne accepted the submission of the duke. Twelve hostages were given by the people of the dukedom in pledge of their own fidelity ; and the second son of Arichis, named Grimwald, was alone detained by the French king, who afterward carried the youth back with him into France, and educated him by the noble lessons of his own society and his own example. The eldest son, Romuald, he generously sent back to his father; but he exacted, as a mark of his undisputed authority, that the dukes of Beneventum should, in future, bear upon some part of the coin of their dukedomf the name of their sovereign lord. Charlemagne, it would appear, remained a con- siderable time at Capua,J awaiting the return of * Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Mag. ; Ann. Loiseliani. t See Le Blanc, Trait e des Monnoies, p. 100, 4to. edition. The Chron- icle of Erchempert, on the history of the Lombards of Beneventum, attributes this demand to a later period. The same work also states, that Charlemagne demanded as a hostage Adolgisa, the daughter of Ari- chis ; but it is to he remarked, that this is a much later composition than the generality of authorities for the reign of Charlemagne, nnd that it is unsupported, in this respect, by any other testimony,— See Muratori,Rer. Script. Ital. torn. ii. part i. p. 238. % At this place he exercised several acts of authority in regard to the internal jurisdiction of Beneventum, which prove that he considered himself the acknowledged sovereign of the state, and that he claimed rights of prescription -not of conquest, as some have asserted. Among these was the concession of two ecclesiastical charters, or diplomas, — one to the Bishop of Beneventum himself, and one to the monastery qC St. Vincent. — See Ughelli, Italia Sacra, torn, viij, HtSTORY OP CHARLEMAGNE. 251 messengers whom he despatched to Beneventurri for the purpose of receiving- the oath of fidelity prescribed both to Arichis and his people. During 1 this halt he received the ambassadors sent by the Empress Irene to treat with the French court in re- gard to the proposed marriage of her son. What were really the instructions given to these envoys we do not know, but neither party were any longer desirous of an alliance the aspect of which had been entirely changed by the lapse of six or seven years.* Charlemagne, however, as before mentioned, took the odium of the refusal upon himself. The ambas- sadors were coldly entertained; and after asking the opinion of his council on the subject of their mis- sion, the monarch dismissed them, filled either with real or apparent dissatisfaction.! As soon as these affairs were ended, and the tran- quillity of Beneventum was secured, Charlemagne retraced his steps to Rome, and proceeded to inves- tigate all the various branches into which the plot of Arichis had spread itself throughout Italy. During these transactions he left the news of his proceed- ings to reach Tassilo Duke of Bavaria, and work their proper effect upon his weak and versatile mind, before he took measures to punish that vassal's * Eginhard, Ann. 786. These events took place in 787, though Egiri- liard, beginning the year always at Easter, places them in 786. 1 1 have adopted this opinion, though with some hesitation, in opposi- tion to the precise statcr»ent of the Annals of St. Fulda, the Chronicle of Hermanus Contractus, and the Historia Francornmof Petrus Kiblio- thecarius, which saj that Rotruda was this year affianced to Constan- tine. None of these annals, however, dale prior to the year 885; and I have formed my opinion from the following circumstances In the first place, the annals more immediately contemporary do not mention the circumstance of Rotruda having been on this occasion again promised to the young emperor, though they speak of the embassy. We know that the marriage never took place ; we hear of no other negotiation by which it was broken off; and we learn from Theophanes, that early in 788, Irene sought out Maria, the Armenian girl, whom she immediately mar- ried to her son. In the same year, Eginhard mentions that the war in favour of Adalgisus was undertaken by Constantine because Charle- magne had refused him his daughter. AJJ these circumstances seem * prove that this embassy in 737 terminated the negotiations. 252 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. renewed breach of faith. The tidings of the complete subjection of Arichis, his brother-in-law and ally, were thus carried to the court of the Bavarian prince long before his means of resistance were in any degree prepared ; and at the same time he had good reason to fear that the inquiries which the monarch was, even then, engaged in making into the darker points of the conspiracy would soon bring his criminality to light more glaringly than ever. Confident in an alliance with the Huns or Avars, together with various other northern nations, and only requiring time to mature his endeavours, Tas- silo determined upon exactly the same step by which Arichis had endeavoured to blind the eyes of Charle- magne. — He accordingly at once sent messengers to Rome,* in order to deceive his cousin by a pre- tence of contrition for his past offences, and to delay him by long negotiations, which he believed, from the distance between Rome and Bavaria, might be easily protracted till the necessity of temporizing was done away by the power of resistance. In order to give additional efficacy to his own representations, his envoys were commanded to pray the intercession of the pope between the offended sovereign and the contrite vassal, and Adrian, believing his professions to be sincere, will- ingly undertook the dignified and appropriate office of mediator. He exerted himself with zeal ;f and although the designs which Tassiio had entertained were laid open more and more, yet the monarch's real attachment towards the Roman pontiff, and deference for his opinion, soon mitigated the anger which his subject's renewed treachery had justly excited. Charlemagne accordingly declared, that he was ready to receive any security which the am- bassadors might have to propose for their master's ftture fidelity. But on communicating to them the *Egninard, Annates ; Annates Tiliani. t Ana LoiselianL HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 253 success of his intervention, the pope learned, with surprise and indignation, that the envoys had nothing to offer without sending to Bavaria for further in- structions. Some more efforts were made to deceive and gain time, but the object of the duke and his treacherous duplicity were now evident, both to the pontiff and the monarch ; and while Adrian* launched the thun- ders of the church at him who had dared to use its most sacred attribute for the purpose of deception, Charlemagne hastened, with the speed of light, to chastise his rebellious vassal, and guard his peaceful dominions. Carrying with him a considerable number of the Lombard nobles, who had been convicted of con- spiring against the state, he left his sonf Pepin in Italy, with a tranquillized territory, and a consider- able army, which he was directed to lead towards Bavaria by the way of Trente. The monarch then hurried his own march towards France, dispersed the Lombards whom he had brought from Italy,;}; through a country where they could work no evil, and called a diet of the nation at Worms, to consult for the public safety, and raise the necessary forces for the maintenance of the royal authority. In this assembly, he displayed to his people all that he had done during his absence ; and, explaining to them the danger of his situation and of their own, easily obtained all the supplies he could desire. Two armies were instantly raised, and as speedily in motion. The one, composed of the transrhenane Franks, mingled with several bodies of Saxons, was thrown forward immediately to Phoringen, upon the Danube ; while Charlemagne himself, followed by * Ann.Loiseliani ; Ann.Tiliani. t Ann. Eginhard. t Chron. Brev. St. Galli. The Annals of St. Nazarius, and several others, mention the fact of a number of Lombards having been detected in conspiring, and having been punished by exile. 254 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. the Franks of Gaul, advanced into the territories of Augsburg, and reached the banks of the Lech,* which then marked the frontier of the feudal duchy of Bavaria. It is more than probable, that indigna- tion, as well as caution, had given wings to the movements of Charlemagne, and had hurried him forward to the boundary of his unworthy cousin's territory. There, however, the same generous com- passion,! which had withheld him from entering the country of the Duke of Beneventum, again caused him to pause, and give time for fear, rather than punishment, to produce submission. The Duke of Bavaria found himself, not only de- tected, but surprised. He had endeavoured in vain to deceive a great and magnanimous mind ; he had again raised his hand against a forgiving relation and a clement lord ; and now, before he could be- lieve that his treachery was fully known, he found himself surrounded with armies, irresistible by num- bers, courage, and skill, and long inured to victory and success. At the same time, Tassilo discovered that he could in no degree depend upon his own people for sup- port ;| as his nobles more faithful than himself, re- membering the oaths of homage they had taken to Pepin aud his children, showed no disposition to join in the duke's schemes of rebellion. $ His allies were afar ; and one course alone was left, — submis- sion. With his proud heart burning at the degradation which his treachery had called upon him, Tassilo * Ann. Nazariani ; Ann. Loiseliani. t The most minute account of these transactions is to be found in the annals called Loiseliani. Some of the chronicles state, that Charle- magne, before marching on Bavaria, sent messengers to demand the sub- mission of the duke ; and the Annals of St. Nazarius mention a curious act of homage performed by Tassilo : Illucque veniens Tassilo, Dux Bejuveriorum ad eum, et reddidit ei cum baculo ipsampatriam, in cujus capite similitude- hominis eral. X Ann. Bertiniani, 757. § Ann. Loiseliani. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 255 appeared at the camp of his cousin as a suppliant, and offered every pledge for his future conduct. The clemency of Charlemagne was still unwearied : " he was gentle by nature," to use* the expressive words of Eginhard ; and he once more extended his forgiveness to his criminal relation, though the tranquillity of his dominions obliged him to demand sufficient hostages for the observance of his vassal's renewed engagements. Twelve of these were given by Tassilo, together with his son Theodon, a hostage of much more consequence than any of the others, not alone on account of his superior birth, but also because, inheriting all his mother's hatred towards the Franks, he had been a sharer in all his father's treasons. Trusting to these pledges, Charlemagne now with- drew his armies, and retired to Ingelheim, where he spent the winter in striving to cultivate and improve the moral situation of his people. This constant and rapid change of occupation and endeavour is one of the most singular points in the character and history of Charlemagne. The moment that his great and comprehensive mind was withdrawn from one object of import, it was directed, without pause, to some other mighty undertaking. The affairs of peace and war, of policy and literature, the grandest schemes for consolidating his power, and extending his dominions, and the noblest efforts towards civil- izing his subjects, and dispelling the darkness of the world, seem alternately, yet with scarce a moment's interval, to have occupied the attention of the French monarch, in the midst of a barbarous nation and a barbarous age. In pursuance of the purpose he had disclosed to Alcuin, Charlemagne, during the short time he had lately spent at Rome,f had collected a number of grammarians and arithmeticians, the poor remains * Eginhard, Ann. 787. t Monachus Engolismensis, in Vit. Car. Magni, A. D. 787. 256 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. of the orators and philosophers of the past, and en- gaged them to accompany him from Italy to France, " where," to use the words of the Monk of Angou- leme, " the study of the liberal arts did not at that time exist." As soon as he had terminated his expedition against Tassilo of Bavaria, the monarch applied the whole energies of his mind to promote the cultiva- tion of literature in his dominions ; and spreading the teachers he had collected in Italy through the various provinces of France, he offered the means of instruction to all his people.* The sole sources of knowledge which had existed previous to the present period were the few schools held by some of the bishops in their houses, and by some of the abbots in their monasteries. These, however, had been hitherto exclusively devoted to ecclesiastics ; and at the time to which I now refer, the first effort was made to extend the benefits of such establish- ments to the whole community.f The monarch dic- tated an encyclical letter to all the clergy of France, calling upon them to aid in spreading knowledge;}; and information, and he himself began to establish schools in various parts of his dominions, at which the laity as well as the clergy might procure instruc- tion. His example was speedily followed by the church: the ecclesiastical seminaries were either opened to the rest of the people, or other establish- ments were founded for their instruction in the various diocesses of the empire ; the excellence of knowledge was inculcated from the pulpit and the chair ; its pursuit rewarded by favour and advance- ment ; the natural inappetence of ignorance was counterbalanced by every stimulant that could be devised ; and both the desire of information and the *Mon. Sangallensis, lib. i. t Pagi Critica in Baron, ad. anru 787. X Epist. Car. Magni, ad Baugulphum, Concil. Gall, torn, it HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 257 means of procuring it became general throughout France. In the cultivation of his hereditary dominions, the monarch did not neglect the improvement of those territories which he had acquired since his acces- sion ; and nothing was forgotten which could con- tribute to the instruction of the northern people whom he had conquered, and who in every point of civilization were far behind the Franks themselves. However, as the principles of a mild religion were still but little known among them, the first object of Charlemagne was to plant in their hearts that pri- mary germ of all amelioration ; and the propagation of Christianity among the Frisons and other people of Saxony met with its full attention from the un- wearied zeal of the French monarch. Bishops and preachers were appointed to every part of the coun- try ; and eloquence and piety were sure to be singled out, for the dangerous but glorious distinction of turning* the dark pagans of the north to the light of a purer faith. Such were the occupations which filled the hours of Charlemagne during the brief period which he was permitted to devote to the arts of peace. That period, however, soon drew towards a close; for neither active vigilance could overawe, nor invari- able clemency disarm, the hatred of some of his enemies; and even in the midst of his most pacific employments, continual intelligence reached him of the meditated treason, both of Arichis of Bene- ventum, and of Tassilo Duke of Bavaria. Neither of those perverse vassals remembered the oaths of fidelity which danger and necessity had extorted, as any thing else than as acts of degradation and incitements to enmity ; and both prepared to seize the first opportunity of revolt. Arichis, finding himself unable to stand singly in opposition to so * Vit. St, Luidgeri, Recueil des Hist, de France, torn. v. p. 492. Y2 258 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. great an adversary, took advantage of the position of his territories upon the Italian coast to negotiate in private with the Greek empire. Upon condition of receiving dignity and assistance himself from the empress and her son,* he promised to seat Adalgi- sus on the throne of Lombardy ; and to open the way for Greece towards the conquest of the rest of Italy. The hope of regaining that country by means of an alliance with Charlemagne^ if ever it did exist in the bosom of Irene, had now passed away, while the desire of recovering that portion of her predecessor's empire remained as strong as ever, heightened by the wish to snatch it from one who had insulted the imperial court by the refusal of his daughter. A thirst for revenge was certainly felt by the young emperor, whose hopes and passions had been excited early towards the bride that was afterward denied him ; and the breaking off the marriage might be perfectly consistent with Irene's views, and yet the rejection of her alliance by the Franks be regarded by her as an insult, which she was bound to resent. At all events, such was the tone of offended dignity which she assumed; and willingly listening to the proposals of Arichis, she sentf ambassadors to assure him of aid and protection, and to concert with him the means of accomplishing their mutual designs. Man's most cunning policy, however, serves but to work out the unseen purposes of Heaven ; and when the shrewdest schemer of the earth has plotted a device which no human power can oppose, fate causes his foot to stumble over some minute circum- stance, and lays him and all his projects prostrate in the dust. On their arrival in Italy, the missives of the empress found the Duke of BeneventumJ and * Codex Carolinus, Epist. Ixxxviii, f Ibid. Epist. xcii. Ixxxviii, % See, for the death and epitaph of Romuald, and other particulars concerning Arichis, the Chronicon Anonymi Salernitani, cap. xvi. ; Mura* tori, Script. Ital. torn. ii. part ii. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 259 his eldest son both dead ;* while the inhabitants of the duchy, divided into different factions, threatened to overthrow all the schemes which had been adopted by their former lord. After long discussions, the great majority of the people agreed to petition Charlemagnef to establish in the ducal seat Grim- wald, the second son of Arichis, who some time before had been delivered as a hostage to the mon- arch of the Franks ; and, in consequence of this determination, while the ambassadors of Irene were honourably conducted to Naples, messengers were despatched to France by the Beneventines, in order to ascertain the pleasure of the king. In the mean while, Pope Adrian had watched, with a jealous eye, all the proceedings which have just been detailed, and had sent envoy after envoy to Charlemagne, in order to warn him of the negotia- tions with Greece. His suspicion of the Beneven- tine dukes did not end with the life of Arichis ; and fearful that the machinations of that prince might be renewed under the reign of Grimwald, he opposed, with every argument in his power, the nomination of the young Lombard to the dukedom of Beneven- tum. J He assured Charlemagne, by letter, that the people of that state had bound themselves, by prom- ises to the ambassadors of the empress, to pursue steadily the schemes of Arichis, if they obtained Grimwald for their governor. He informed him also, that the Greek commander of Sicily was still at Gaeta, carrying on his intrigues with the Bene- ventines, § who, on their part, were using every exertion to induce the rest of Italy to revolt ; and he added a thousand incentives to suspicion, many of which, probably, originated in his own fears. In short, the terror of the pontiff made him doubt even * A. D. 787. Muratori, Rer. Script. Ital. torn. ii. part i. p. 238. t Chron. Langobard; Erchemperti, cap. iv. t Codex Carolinus, Epist. lxxxviii. lxxiii. xc § Ibid. Epist. lxxiii. 260 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. the judgment of Charlemagne ;* and his hatred of the whole Lombard race urged his opposition to Grimwald to the bounds of indecent vehemence. Some time had now passed, however, since that young prince had begun to accompany the army and court of the French monarch ; and while Grimwald himself, by the sight of splendid actions, and the continual example of great and generous qualities, acquired a guiding principle for his own conduct, and a sincere love and admiration for his magnani- mous sovereign, the King of the Franks had an opportunity of seeing and judging the behaviour of his hostage, and of appreciating the fine but unde- veloped properties of his understanding and his heart. This examination had been sufficient to fix the determination of Charlemagne. In spite of the remonstrances and warnings of the pope, he instantly named Grimwaldf to the dukedom which his father had held, and sent him back to his dominions, where he was received with universal joy. Adrian, on reflection, found that perhaps he had carried his opposition to an unjustifiable extent ; and began to fear that the unwise and fruitless endeavour he had made to bias the judgment of the French monarch might weaken his influence for the future. He accordingly attempted to palliate his conduct, and explain^ away his more violent assertions, as soon as he found that Charlemagne had decided against him. But the behaviour of Grimwald him- self was the strongest reproof which the intem- perate zeal of the Roman pontiff could meet with. Far from entering into the views of the Greek court, the young duke instantly evinced his determination of keeping the most inviolate faith with his sove- reign and benefactor. Notwithstanding this change in the policy of * A. D. 787-8. t Erchempertus, in Chron. Langobard. ; Benevent. cap. iv. t Codex Carolinus, Epist. lxxxvi. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 261 Beneventum, Irene's schemes still continued ; and Charlemagne soon learned, that armies were pre- paring in the East for the invasion of his Italian territories. But other dangers surrounded him at the same time, from the persevering treason of the fellow-conspirator of Arichis, on whom his menaces had produced no further effect than temporary alarm, while his clemency had been totally thrown away. Scarcely a day passed that the court at Ingelheim did not receive news of warlike preparations making in Bavaria ; and the Bavarian nobles themselves, strongly attached to Charlemagne, gave him private intimation that Tassilo was calling from Panonia — so long the source of barbarian torrents — new tribes of plunderers, to ravage the fertile countries of the south, and occupy the arms of his sovereign, while he effectually threw off the homage he had so often deceitfully rendered. Even at the court of Charle- magne himself, the son of the Duke of Bavaria, though a hostage for his faith, joined in the intrigue ; while his father, imagining that the efforts of the Eastern empire would soon call the king into Italy, hurried his hostile preparations, to take advantage of the monarch's absence. Charlemagne* now found that no time was to be lost ; and while in person he remained on the Rhine, to repel or avert the storm which threatened to burst upon him from Hungary and Bavaria, he des- patched an army into Italy,f under the command of an officer! named Winegisus, in order to co- * A complete change, and great refinement of policy, has been seen in the conduct of Charlemagne upon the present occasion, because he did not go into Italy to meet the efforts of the Greeks. I confess myself I do not see any thing in it but the behaviour of a wise man, who, impressed with the moral impossibility of being in two places at once, sent a deputy to one post of danger, while he himself remained where the peril was most imminent. t Eginhard, Annales, ann. 788. j Eginhard does not absolutely mention the fact, that Winegisus was sent upon the present occasion, but when he speaks of the generals commanding against the Greeks, he names him as legatum regis; and 262 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. operate with the Dukes of Spoleto and Beneventum, in the defence of the Italian peninsula. The Duke of Spoleto was still the same Hildebrand who had taken so considerable a share in the conspiracy of the Duke of Friuli, but who had afterward, as men- tioned in the foregoing pages, obtained pardon and favour, and had, by twelve years of faithful service, obliterated the memory of his fault, and merited the confidence of his sovereign. Of the young Duke of Beneventum I have already spoken ; and it is prob- able that the very suspicions which the pope had lately cast upon him made him the more eager, on the present occasion, to distinguish himself in the service of his sovereign. Having taking these precautions in regard to Italy, Charlemagne resolved to cut short at once the pro- ceedings of the Duke of Bavaria, and to bring the conspiracy to an issue. For this purpose he con- cealed studiously all knowledge of Tassilo's re- newed treason,* but summoned him, in the common feudal form, to appear as his vassal at the usual assembly of the nation, which was this year held at Ingelheim. The embarrassment into which such a summons threw the Duke of Bavaria was very great. Condemned by his own conscience, yet unprepared to resist the command of his sovereign, if he obeyed he exposed himself to punishment-^-if he refused he proclaimed his crime. Trusting, however, to the secrecy of his negotiations with the Huns or Avars, he determined to assume the boldness of in- nocence, and to present himself at the court of the monarch.f Accordingly, on the meeting of the diet, he appeared with a splendid train of vassals and re- tainers, but he appeared only to meet the reward of his crimes. He was instantly arrested, and accused the Tilian Annals positively state, that he was despatched with but few followers. * Annales Tiliani ; Annales Loiseliani. f Eginhaid, Annales, 78b. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 263 of various acts of treason before the assembly of which he had come to form a part. The tribunal, consisting of his peers, was one in every respect competent to take cognizance of his crime ; and his trial, as well as that of his wife and children, was proceeded in without delay. Witnesses from their own country flocked in, to bear testimony against them. That, since the last pardon which the king had granted him, Tassilo had again conspired to throw off his allegiance,* was proved by a mass of evidence,! which he could in no degree invalidate, while the implication of his whole family in his treason was made equally manifest. Sentence of death as a traitor was immediately passed upon the duke himself by the unanimous voice of the assem- bled nobles ; and all present clamoured for the in- stant execution of a man whom they looked upon as a disgrace to their order and their nation. The awful fate thus suddenly and unexpectedly presented to him overcame pride and firmness, dignity and courage, in the breast of the unhappy Duke of Bavaria ; and, casting himself at the feet of the monarch whose clemency he had so often abused, he petitioned for life in the most abject terms. Charlemagne, ever averse, when he con- sulted his own heart, to that cruel anomaly, judicial bloodshed, once more interfered to mitigate the sentence, though every principle of justice required him not to pardon the criminal. That ceremony which among the Franks was the invariable sign of loss of temporal rank, and eternal seclusion from the world, was performed upon Tassilo and his son. * Ann. Loiseliani. Ann. Tiliani. t The Annals of Loisel are more full on these points than any other, — detailing the number of charges against the duke, and representing the diet as clamorous for his death. Charles, however, interposed, and, at the petition of the criminal himself, commuted his punishment to con- finement in a monastery. The Tilian Annals also mention the fact of Tassilo having himself prayed to be permitted to wear out his life in penitence ; and the Annals of Metz represent him as prostrate on the earth at the king's feet 264 HISTORY OP CHARLEMAGNE. Their heads were shaved, as a mark of degradation ; and both princes, being confined to a cloister,* found it, we are told, as calm a retreatf in after years, as it then appeared a happy asylum from the imme- diate sight of an ignominious death. Luitberga,J the wife of Tassilo and the daughter of Desiderius,^ — whose persisting animosity had met ready instru- ments in the idle pride and wild ambition of the duke — after having witnessed the downfall of her father, and aided in the overthrow of her husband and her son, was compelled to assume the veil, and left in the leisure of reclusion to weep over her faults, or madden over her failure, as wisdom or passion might dictate. The rest of the Bavarians who had joined in the conspiracy of the duke were punished with exile ; the country, deprived of its separate form of government,|| was divided into counties,^" under magistrates appointed by the French monarch. While these events took place in France, and while the final regulations of Bavaria required the presence and occupied the time of Charlemagne, lis generals in Italy had to encounter the army of ,he Eastern empire. Before the disposition of Grim- vald could be known at Constantinople,** Adalgisus, he son of the former King of Lombardy, had set iail with John, one of the officers of the empress,ff * Tassilo's first retreat was the monastery of St. Nazarius, and after- ward that of Jumiege, according to the Annales Nazariani. t Eginhard, Annales. f All the annals of the time impute to Luitberga the folly and the rime of having instigated her husband to his continual and hopeless ?volts. § Annales Mettensis; Annales Tiliani. || Eginhard, in Vit. Caroli Magni, cap. xi. 1\ The anonymous chronicle, combined with that of Count Nibelung, lys that Charlemagne visited Bavaria himself for the purpose of fixing le government, which is confirmed by the Annals of Metz and of Egin- ard. ** That Grimwald had not even arrived in Italy when Adalgisus first nded appears from the 90th letter of the Codex Carolinus. ft Theophanes. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 265 accompanied by a considerable fleet. Having been joined on the passage by Theodore, governor of Sicily, they landed with their united armies on the Italian coast. Scarcely had they touched the shore, however, ere the young Duke of Beneventum, much to their surprise, appeared in arms to oppose their farther progress ; and, having effected his junction with Hildebrand Duke of Spoleto, and with Wine- gisus, and the army of the Franks, Grimwald ad- vanced at once to encounter the Greek forces. All parties were eager for battle, Adalgisus and Theo- dore being as desirous of fighting before Charle- magne could arrive, as that monarch's generals were of distinguishing themselves during his ab- sence. In consequence, no sooner did the two ar- mies appear within sight of each other than the en- gagement began. The strife was severe and long, but at length victory declared herself in favour of the Franks, and the Greeks were obliged to fly to their ships,* leaving four thousand men dead upon the field of battle, and a thousand prisoners in the hands of the enemy. Theophanes implies that John, the general who accompanied Adalgisus, was killed after the battle was over. That he fell on this occasion is evident; but I know no other writer that alludes to the bar- barous cruelty with which the Greek charges the generals of the Franks ; and it may be doubted whether national and party spirit did not take ad- vantage of some vague report to found a calumnious assertion. This was the last effortf of Adalgisus to recover the throne of his father ; and so entirely did he disappear, after the period of this expedition, from the busy stage of the world, that many of the Frankish annalists represent him as dying in the * Alcuinus, Epist. ad Colcum. ; D. Bouquet, torn. v. t Chron. Sigeberti ; Ann. Eginhardi ; Ann. Loiseliani. 266 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. battle by which he strove to win back the Lombard crown. Thus ended, also, the war between Charlemagne and Irene — a war which sufficiently proved the weakness of the Greek empire. Irene, busied in the intrigues of internal policy, forgot her hostility to Charlemagne in her struggles with her own son ; while the monarch of the Franks suffered the remains of the Greek power to exist in Sicily and Calabria,* either from pity, contempt, or some political motive which has not come down clearly to the present times. The consequences, however, of the treasonable machinations of Tassilo and Arichis were not yet fully developed. They had allied themselves, as before mentioned, with other powers besides that of Greece, and had roused a people in Europe which had slumbered for many years after a long period of devastation. This nation, even after his fall, remembered its treaty with the Duke of Bavaria ; and the rapidity with which it proceeded to perform its engagements showed that the hand of justice had but struck him in time.f * I have in vain attempted to ascertain clearly the limits of the Frankish and the Greek dominion in Italy at this time. Gianone is not satisfactory. From the Codex Carolinus, Epistle lxiv. and lxvi. it is evident that Naples still remained subject to Greece ; and from Theo- phanes we find that Calabria was so also ; yet the duchy of Beneventum, including Salerno, lay partly between the two. Various other difficulties occur, which make the line of separation very indistinct. t Charlemagne, in the year 788, granted permission to the monks of St. Bertinus to hunt in their forests : " Unde fratres consolationem habere possint, tarn ad volumina librorum tegenda, quamque et manicias et ad zonas faciendus."— D. Bouquet, torn. v. p. 752. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 2G7 BOOK IX. FROM THE CONDEMNATION OF THE DUKE OF BAVARIA, TO THE DECREES OF THE COUNCIL OF FRANKFORT. FROM A. D. 788 TO A. D. 794. Sketch of the History of the Avars — They invade" both Friuli and Bavaria— Are defeated on both points— Again invade Bavaria, and are repelled — Charlemagne devotes himself to the Civilization of his Territories— Interrupted by the Attack of the Weletabes upon the Abro- dites— War against the Weletabes — Their Subjection— The Year of Peace— Progressive Improvement of France in the useful Arts — Negotiations with the Huns — Unsuccessful — Invasion of Hungary — Fortifications of that Country— Successes of the French Armies — The Felician Heresy— Synod of Ratisbon— Council of Frankfort- Li bri Carolini. The people who now prepared to attack the em- pire of Charlemagne, though called by most of the writers by the name of Huns, were not the same nation which, under Attila, had menaced the exist- ence of the Romans, and ravaged the territories both of the East and West. They sprang, however, in all probability, from the same origin, occupied nearly the same country, and comprised the remnant of many of those tribes which had once been united under the famous scourge of God. When Attila, after his last successful invasion of the Roman state, retired before the bribes of the weak Valentinian, the eloquence of Leo the Great, and the diseases which affected his army, he met, in the bed of luxury, the death which he had escaped in a thousand battle-fields. The various hordes which, consolidated under the dominion of the Huns, had fought and triumphed together, having been bound to each other by the talents of Attila alone, were separated the moment that his spirit had fled. 268 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. The desire of dominion being no longer directed by- one powerful mind against other nations, spread dis- union among themselves; and the swords which had so long conquered their enemies were now turned by the savage tribes against each other. The great battle of Netad, where they contended for sovereignty over each other, destroyed many, and dispersed the rest of the Hunnish confederates ; and, scattered in different bodies over the north, they were insensibly amalgamated with other peo- ple. That tribe which remained perhaps the most distinct turned its steps under the command of Irnac, one of the sons of Attila, towards the Lesser Scythia, where it was encountered, and probably afterward subdued, by the other hordes which wan- dered continually through the wide pasture-grounds of the north; so that it, as well as the rest, becomes speedily lost to history. At the same time, the Gepidse, who claimed, and perhaps had won, the battle of Netad, took possession of Upper Hungary and Transylvania, and soon after possessed them- selves of part of Panonia and Noricum ; all of which territories were destined to be wrested from them by a new influx from the source which had given rise to themselves. It is not my purpose to inquire here which of the Tartar nations that poured, during many years, a barbarian torrent upon the west, gave origin to the tribe afterward calling themselves Avars,* nor to * Monsieur de Buat believes that the people who, in Europe, assumed the name of the Avars, — a formidable, polished, and dirty nation of Caucasus,— were a fugitive tribe, who had no right to that title. Flying from before the Turks, he imagines these Varchonites, or Ogors, as he calls them, were mistaken by some of the barbarous tribes for the true and redoubtable Avars, and finding that epithet produced good conse- quences, they adopted it as a sort of travelling name. So visionary a theory scarcely needs refutation, and yet De Guisnes has followed in the same course, and Gibbon has adopted the story in his text, though he sneers at it in a note (chap. xlii.). The Avars, like many other powerful nations, were divided into various tribes, and it is probable .that the Varchonites, who fled from the victorious arms of the Turks, were one of these clans, which had as much right to the name of Avar HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 269 investigate whether the people which acquired that name in Europe really formed a part of the true and original Avars, whose possessions extended to the most eastern point of Asia, or whether they be- longed to the primary stock of the Huns themselves. Suffice it, that shortly after the dispersion of the hordes of Attila, a warlike and powerful people, call- ing themselves Avars, first approached the northern part of Europe, driven from their native country by the growing power of the Turks. At that time, the feeble empire of the East was in the habit of em- ploying various barbarian nations in her wars ; and the Avars sought and obtained service under the emperor Justinian,* who, in the weak craft of his dotage, loaded them with presents, in order that their arms might be turned against various other tribes, more inimical to the imperial crown. Suc- cess crowned their efforts, and increased their repu- tation and power ; and advancing on their May, they conquered almost the whole of European Scythia, and incorporated with themselves several of the scattered tribes which had formed the Hunnish con- federation. At length, finding themselves strong, and the East- ern empire weak, they boldly threatened the nation they had proposed to serve; but the firmness of Justin, and the wisdom of his precautions, rendered them humbler in their expectations; and turning their arms against the north-west of Europe, they as any of the rest. It has been one of the madnesses of antiquarian research to endeavour to keep the various streams of population distinct, when the very reverse was the ordinary course of national advance. A petty tribe, almost unknown, was generally the origin of every great people. This tribe signalized itself in warfare— speedily amalgamated with itself a thousand other families by conquest and alliance,— ventured a great battle— gained a great victory— and became a mighty nation. Thus, the Turks, from the pettiest of the Geougen hordes, within fifty years could bring millions into the field ; and thus the Varchonites, who quitted Tartary with 20,000 men, within fifty years contended success- fully with the Eastern empire.— See De Guisnes, Hist, des Huns, vol. i. part ii. * De Buat, Hist. Ancienne des Peuples de l'Europe, vol. Lx. p. 198. Z2 270 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. first attacked the Frankish monarchy on the confines of Germany. Defeated by Sigibert King of Aus- trasia, they again tried the fortune of battle ; and though the Frankish annalists claim victory for their monarch, he was obliged to purchase the absence and friendship of the invaders. They then leagued with Albion King of the Lombards, for the destruc- tion of the Gepidae, who were, by that time, the only remaining tribe of great importance which had formed part of the empire of Attila. On this occa- sion, the Avars, with the most profound dissimula- tion, obtained from the necessity of the Lombards a treaty, by virtue of which all the country and one- half of the spoils of the conquered people were to be theirs, in the event of success. The Lombard arms proved successful in battle against the Gepidae, whose country was immediately overrun by the Avars. What remained of the van- quished nation was incorporated with their con- querors, and the whole territory they had inhabited became the property of the wandering Scythians. Thus Hungary,* now so called, was possessed by the Avars, who, joining with themselves a multitude of Hunnish tribes, accumulated the immense spoils which both they themselves and their equally bar- barous predecessors had torn from the other nations of Europe. From this period, the Avars, under their monarchs, called chagans, pursued a long system of aggres- sion and negotiation towards the empire of the East, which always ended to the advantage of the barba- rians. They extended their limits towards Lom- bardy, and touched upon the very verge of Bavaria ; and in the height of their power, they leagued with Chosroesf the Persian, and advanced to the gates of Constantinople. Various changes afterward took place in their state ; and a fixed residence, the accu- * A. D. 567. t De Buat, vol. xii. chap. xii. A. D. 662. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 271 mulation of an immensity of plunder, habits of lux- ury, and the desire of repose, gradually took from the Avars, or modern Huns, the first fierce necessity of warfare, which expulsion from their own country had occasioned, and which, while it lasted, produced strength and conquest. Much of their eastern fron- tier was now lost, almost without a struggle on their part, by the rise of other barbarous nations, espe- cially the various tribes of Bulgarians, and we do not find them making any great military exertion, either to defend themselves or to aggrandize their territory, till the year 662, when, at the instigation of Grimwald King of Lombardy, they ravaged the dukedom of Friuli. From that time history is nearly silent concerning them, till, at the period of which I now write, we find Tassilo Duke of Bavaria calling them to his aid in his ambitious but impotent strug- gles against his sovereign.* Before the arrest and condemnation of that un- happy prince, his negotiations with the Huns had been carried to a conclusion ; and two armies of Scythians were already prepared ; the one to pour into Lombardy and divert the forces of Charlemagne to that quarter, and the other to enter Bavaria and support the rebellion of the duke. Whether the discovery of his treason and the condemnation of Tassilo were known in Hungary or not, when the * Monsieur de Buat is wrong in supposing that the journey of Theodot King of Lombard}' to Constantinople, mentioned by Theophanes, in 776, applies to an embassy from Tassilo Duke of Bavaria, in the person of Theodon his son. Tehophanes throughout calls Adalgisus Theodotus, attributing uniformly to the person he so names all the actions of the son of Desiderius. Thus, in the ninth year of Irene, A. D. 788, he says that the empress despatched Theodotus to Italy with a fleet, &c, which was the case in regard to Adalgisus, but could not refer to Theodon, the son of Tassilo, who by that time had been shaved and confined in a monastery, after having been for a year detained as hostage at the French court. Nor is Monsieur de Buat more correct in regard to Oger, or Otharius, who is represented by the Monk of St. Gall as present with Desiderius when Charlemagne besieged Pavia. No doubt can exist, that instead of a Bavarian agent of Tassilo, he was the same Autcarius who fled to Lombardy with Giberga, the widow of Carloman. 272 HISTORY OP CHARLEMAGNE. Panonian armies began their march, we are not told ; but, notwithstanding his fall, the Huns kept their engagements to the letter ; and early in the year invaded both Friuli and Bavaria. Their irruption into the first named province was instantly repelled by the vigour and conduct of the Frankish governors ; and in a sharp conflict which took place on the occasion, the arms of the Christians were completely victorious. In Bavaria, where they probably calculated on more certain success from their alliance with the duke, they were equally un- successful. Tassilo no longer held the reins of government; and the inhabitants of the country, whose attachment to the monarch of the Franks I have had occasion to notice, instantly prepared to resist the invaders.* Two envoys from Charle- magne, also, named Grahamannus and Audacrus, were present with a small body of troops ; and directed the movements of the Bavarian forces. The two armies encountered each other in the open country, near Ips, on the Danube, and the Huns were here defeated and driven back with even greater loss than they had suffered in Friuli. They must have become aware by this time that the original object of their expedition was now un- attainable ; and that the fate of their ally, the Duke of Bavaria, was sealed. But personal revenge sup- plied a motive for further exertions, and a fresh army was immediately raised by the Avars, to avenge the loss of their countrymen, and wipe away the dis- grace of defeat. Once more passing the Danube,! the forces of the Huns entered Bavaria, but were encountered anew by the Franks and Bavarians ; and after a more severe and total defeat than before, were forced to fly in confusion, leaving an immense number of their companions dead upon the field of * Annates Mettensis: Ann. Tiliani; Ann. Loiseliani : Ann. Bertiniani. t A. D. 788. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 273 battle, and still more swallowed up in the waters of the Danube.* To this active warfare between the Franks and the Huns succeeded one of those cold suspensions of hostility which augur any thing but peace. On the one part the Avars were alarmed and astonished at the event of the war — so different from that which a thousand traditions of success had taught them to expect — and ceased their irruptions in order to collect their forces, and measure the strength of their adversary. On the other hand, Charlemagne also paused to consolidate his dominions, and to guard and regulate that territory which the revolt and fall of his vassal Tassilo had brought more im- mediately under his own superintendence. Accordingly, as soon as he found that his presence in the centre of his dominions was no longer neces- sary for the protection of the whole, he proceeded through Bavaria in person, fixing the government as he intended it to remain for the future, and fortify- ing the frontier against any new aggression. When this necessary duty was completed, the monarch returned to Aix-la-Chapelle, where he spent the winter in regulating the affairs of the church, and the internal police of his kingdom. We cannot, of course, trace the whole of the monarch's efforts for the perfect establishment of order and tranquillity, in realms which for centuries had been torn by anarchy and strife. Nor can we always discover the motives for various laws origin- ating in a state of society, with the general situa- tion of which we may be fully acquainted, and yet be ignorant of many of the inferior details. It is but fair, however, under such circumstances to look upon those laws with a favourable eye ; and where it is necessary to have recourse to indirect conclu- sions, to consider the general character of Charle- , *Chroii. Adonis; Ann. Loiseliani; Ann. Eginhard. 274 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. niagne's designs, and to suppose the same motives which we discover in the rest of his actions, to have influenced those where no other cause is apparent. The regulation of the church, and the preservation of its purity, both in doctrinal points and in the lives of its servants, was always a great object with a monarch one of whose chief engines of civilization was the Christian religion; and the principal acts which we find attributed to him in the present year have chiefly this tendency. Such was the composi- tion, by his command, of a book of homilies by the famous Lombard historian called Paul the Deacon, and the order for these homilies to be read in all the churches. A general council* was also held at Aix- la-Chapelle, for the purpose of reforming abuses in the Gallican church ; and a capitulary was issued, in which, as well as various regulations respecting" the clergy, are to be found many useful and many curious laws. Among the last are prohibitions against divination, either by dipping into the Evan- gelists, and applying the first passage met with as a prophecy, — a mode then common, — or by any other method ; against the practice of baptizing bells ; and against the custom of keeping hounds, falcons, or jesters by bishops, abbots, or abbesses. The more peaceful occupations of Charlemagne, however, were never suffered to continue very long, and, indeed, could seldom be protracted beyond that season of the year when the severity of the weather and the scantiness of forage kept his armies from the field. A new cause of warfare soon called the attention of the monarch, both from the internal regulations in which he was engaged, and from the unconcluded hostilities which he had been carrying on against the Huns. The more immediate aggression of a Sclavonianf * Baluzius, torn. i. p. 209. t Eginhard, Ann. A. D. 789.; HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 275 tribe, called Weletabes, or Wiltzes, inhabiting the northern part of Germany, near Brandenburgh and Pomerania, from the Elbe to the Baltic, induced the French king to march at once against them. This aggression, it is true, was rather directed against the allies and tributaries of the Franks than against the Franks themselves ; but it is not unworthy of ob- servation, that, with wise zeal, Charlemagne strove to make his friendship valuable to the nations round about by the promptitude and certainty of his efforts to protect them, and on all occasions showed more active vigour in defending a friend or an ally, than even in repelling an irruption upon his own territory, or avenging an insult to his own crown. Many per- sonal causes, in the present instance, contributed to render it imperatively necessary for Charlemagne to act vigorously against the Weletabes. Their con- tempt of his power had been displayed in a quarter where his authority had not yet been confirmed by time. The Saxons were the daily witnesses of their incursions upon the Abrodites, and other tribes de- pendent upon France ; and the French monarch soon found that the insolence of a petty people whom he contemned might, if unpunished, produce the insur- rection of a country from which he had much to apprehend. In the spring of 789 he accordingly made every preparation for an early and active campaign. He called together a considerable army of Franks, min- gled with these more trustworthy forces a large band of Saxons,* and commanded the Frisons to ascend the Elbe in their small vessels, while the Abrodites, and other nations who had suffered from the aggressionsf of the people he was about to pun- ish, made great efforts to second his design with all their power. * Ann. Loiseliani. t Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Mag. 276 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. As soon as these arrangements were completed, Charlemagne passed the Rhine at Cologne,* and tra- versing the whole of Saxony, reached the banks of the Elbe. Here, however, he paused. The country before him was wild and unexplored, the inhabitants warlike and active, while in the rear of his army lay a nation — extending over a space of several hundred miles — whose subjection was forced, whose hatred he had little reason to doubt, and whose perfidy was known by long experience. The loss of a battle, scarcity of provisions, or a thousand other emergencies might compel him to retreat with precipitation; and no deep political sa- gacity was required to show that the Saxons would rise on the slightest misfortune which might befall him, and endeavour to obstruct, or prevent entirely, the repassage of the Elbe. To guard against this danger, Charlemagne paused on the banks of the river, and employed his army during several days in constructing two bridges across it, one of which he fortified strongly at either extremity with a fort of wood and earth,f which, being sufficiently garri- soned, secured a retreat in case of discomfiture. The monarch then advanced into the heart of the enemy's territory, and a long and desultory warfare succeeded, in which no general battle was fought, and the subjection of the country effected rather by persevering efforts than by any one decisive blow. The chiefs of the various tribes composing the nation of the Weletabes yielded to the superior discipline of the Franks, and, one after another, sacrificed their independence, by taking the oath of homage prescribed by the -victor.J Hostages of their faith were demanded and given, and, whether from soon learning to appreciate the benefits of a civilized government, or from having at once felt * Ann. Eginhard. f Ann. Loiseliani ; Ann. Eginhard. t Annates Mettensis. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 277 the impossibility of successful resistance, the Wele- tabes adhered firmly to their vow, and never attempted to shake off the yoke which had been imposed upon them, till moved by the influence of a greater power. Having thus terminated with ease an expedition which had appeared fraught with dangers and diffi- culties, Charlemagne repassed the Elbe, and returned to Worms,* where he entered the year 790, cele- brated as a year of peace. It is probable, however, that the twelve months which succeeded would not have passed so tran- quilly if the Chagan of the Huns, or Avars, had not made the first advances towards a termination of the differences between France and Hungary, by send- ing ambassadors to the court of the French mon- arch,! with the ostensible purpose of settling the respective boundaries of the two kingdoms on the Bavarian frontier. Whether the object of the cha- gan was solely to amuse the King of France till Hungary was again prepared for warfare, or whether the enchantments of self-interest on both sides blinded the eyes of the two monarchs to simple justice, and created those unreasonable exactions which too often obstruct the arrangement of the simplest claims, cannot now be told, from the want of all minute information in the writings of contem- poraries. The general facts, however, are clear. The ambassadors of the chagan did not accomplish the purpose of their mission, if it was really a peace- ful one, and retired from the court of the French monarch without any definitive determination of the points which they had been sent to discuss. After their departure, Charlemagne, in return, despatched messengers to the court of Hungary ; but this mission * Monsieur Gaillard is incorrect in stating this to have been the first year which Charlemagne had spent without war. The year 781, which was passed in Italy, records no hostility. fAnn. Poet. Saxon; Ann. Eginhard,790. Aa 278 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. proved not more fruitful than the other, and soon terminated, leaving all parties more disposed to hos- tility than ever.* While these transactions were taking place, Charle- magne, as if to enjoy to the full the year of tranquil- lity which he had snatched like a flower from amid the thorns of war, visited various parts of his domin- ions, and inspected personally several of the build- dings which were proceeding by his command throughout the empire. His first visit of the kind was to a new palacef which he was raising at Seltz, and round which the infant stream of the Sale mur- mured amid some of the most beautiful scenery in Germany. The church and monastery of St. Ritha- rius,| also, were this year completed, under his especial care and direction ; and we are told that skilful artificers in wood§ and stone, in glass and marble, were sent by the monarch for the decora- tion of the building, while an immense number of extremely strong vehicles were despatched to Rome, for the purpose of procuring materials from the ruins of the glorious past. Descriptions of the construc- tion of a great many ecclesiastical buildings, begun about this time, have come down to us ; and on no part of his general scheme for improving his domin- ions does Charlemagne seem to have bestowed more pains than on the cultivation of architectural science. Although of that science Rome now possessed scarcely a vestige, she still offered the choicest models and materials that France could procure ; and the various journeys both of Charle- magne himself and of the workmen he at different times sent to Italy greatly contributed to the im- * Ado Bishop of Vienne, who died in 875, and therefore lived while the memory of the Hunnish war was still fresh in the minds of men, declares that the Avars continued to ravage the frontiers of Bavaria, burning the cities and the churches t Ann. Poet. Saxon. jChron. Acutulensis. $ Artifices doctissimos ligni et lajiidis, vitri et mannoria. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 279 provement of art in his native country. The advance of society in Gaul had been very great since the fall of the Merovingian dynasty ; and the year of peace which now intervened was in no degree lost to the people of Charlemagne. They had, indeed, much need of some pause in the gratification of their natural propensity to war, in order to permit the growth of those milder arts which the monarch was so anxious to cultivate, notwithstanding the warlike character of his own mind. It is not, how- ever, to be supposed, although each year had been almost uniformly passed by the Franks in hostile expeditions, that the useful branches of knowledge had hitherto made little advance during the reign of Charlemagne. On the contrary, we find that their progress* had been rapid and continual. Unfortunately the state of commerce and industry at that remote period can only be learned from the vague mention of facts and events to be found occasionally in the midst of an immense extent of desultory and irrelevant writing. Nevertheless, it is evident, even from these casual notices, that France had been rendered by this time the most cultivated country in Europe (with the exception of the Eastern empire), as far, at least, as regarded trade and manufacture. The stores of ancient learn- ing, and the remains of ancient magnificence, were still the ruined inheritance of prodigal Rome ; but even prior to the year of which I now write, we find Rome herself applying to the monarch of the Franksf for skilful workmen and overseers, to superintend those architectural labours for which Italy had been once renowned, and demanding those * By the capitulary of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 789, mentioned before, he had commanded that the bishops should establish two sorts of schools, — one for mere children, where reading and writing was to be taught generally — and one in the churches and monasteries, where church music, gram- mar, arithmetic, and various other branches of science were the subjects of instruction. t Codex Carolinus, Epist. Ixi. Ixvi. 280 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. materials for the construction and reparation of her buildings which the commerce of France could alone supply.* Various collateral proofs of the extent of this commerce are derived from the letters and annals of the day, among which proofs one of the most convincing is, the fact of the great facility with which ponderous and unwieldy objects were transported for considerable distances. Thus we learn that entire marble columns and immense stone crosses were sent overland through the whole extent of France on many occasions, and were uniformly carried in vehicles of French construc- tion, f A regular system of port duties also was established, the collector-general of which we find distinctly mentioned ;% and it would appear, from the same authority, that the right of trading to France was considered of great importance to the neighbouring countries, — so much so, indeed, that Charlemagne is reported to have threatened to pro- hibit the commerce between England and France as the severest punishment he could inflict on OrTa, sovereign of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, who had given him cause for anger. These facts, as well as the laws concerning mercantile transac- tions, in which various articles of luxury are ex- pressly mentioned as in common use, and as ordi- nary matters of traffic,^ tend to show that art had reached a greater height among the Franks at this time than has been generally supposed. The vases and cups of gold and silver, carved and embossed with a thousand complicated figures — the silver tables, richly chased, representing cities and coun- tries — the bracelets, rings, and ornamented belts — together with the praises bestowed on the work- * Among other demands which the pope addresses to the emperor is a request for two thousand pounds of tin, and for large beams for the roof of the church of St. Peter. t Codex Carolinus, passim. i Chron. Fantanellensis. § BaruziU3, Capitul. torn. i. p. 399. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 281 manship, — prove that the arts of luxury, which always follow far behind those of necessity, were known, cultivated, and esteemed at this period.* In addition to this, the fact of tablecloths of fine linen having been then in use shows the perfection to which a branch of industry had been carried that always speaks a considerable degree of refinement in the nation by which it is practised. The skilful manufacture of iron, also, and the strict and severe laws which forbade the exportation of arms, afford another instance of the superiority of the Franks at that time to the nations round about them ; and a thousand other circumstances might be adduced to show, that — however much literature and taste were still inferior to what they appeared in some of the ages which preceded, and in some which followed — yet the necessary and the convenient arts were carried to a height which we do not usually attribute to the eighth century. The advantage to be derived by states from the promotion of industry, and the cultivation of every species of knowledge, was never lost to the sight of Charlemagne ; and he snatched each interval of repose, to secure all those facilities to commerce and manufacture by which alone they can be brought to flourish and increase. To afford to all the efforts of labour, by clear and comprehensive laws, both instant protection and adequate return, was one great purpose of his legis- lation; and we find a large proportion of all his capitularies dedicated to the object of guarding merchants from unjust exactions, as well as that of enforcing the performance of bargains, and ensuring justice in all mercantile transactions. f From his capitularies, also, we derive many small points of information, which, though seemingly * Le Grand d'Aussy, vol. iii. p. 164. fBaluzius, Capit. vol. i. p. 424 ; Capit. Ann. 805. Aa2 282 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. unimportant, and sometimes even ridiculous, tend greatly to show the state of society in France at that time ; and while the general scope and tendency of these laws offer the best representation of the monarch's mind, the minute particulars often fur- nish a more curious and interesting portrait of the manners of his country and his age, than circum- stances of far greater apparent importance could supply. Where there exist many facilities for a traveller to procure refreshment and repose, we may gene- rally conclude that the traffic of the country is great, and the state of civilization considerable. In this point of view, the fact that, in the reign of Charlemagne, taverns, where both meat and drink were to be procured, existed throughout France, is not insignificant ;* and the number of laws in regard to watching the bridges and the highways, and guarding against those who were likely either to injure individuals or to destroy public works, pre- sents a singular picture of the struggle between the premature civilization of the sovereign's mind and the lingering barbarism of his people. The principal domestic occurrence attributed to this year of Charlemagne's life is the provision of a distinct jurisdiction for his eldest son. Some time previous to this period, he had apportioned to the two younger brothers, Pepin and Louis, separate territories, the government of which, under his own eye, educated them to the use of authority, and accustomed them to the responsibility of command. His eldest son, Charles, had remained at his father's court unportioned; and, though the dominions to which he was to succeed were sufficiently vast to gratify even an ambitious mind, yet Charlemagne *This is ascertained by a law forbidding monks from entering the taverns for the purposes of eating and drinking in them.— See Baluzius, Capitularia regum Francorum, vol. i. p. 515 ; Capitular, incerti anni, cap. iv. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 283 this year bestowed upon him* the duchy of Maine, one of the richest and most beautiful provinces of France, as a foretaste of the sovereignty which he was afterward to enjoy. The conflagration of his palace at Worms, and the continual news of warlike preparation on the part of the Huns, were the only events which disturbed Charlemagne's tranquillity during the year 790. But the first of these evilsf was not so complete as to oblige him to change his residence ; and against the latter he took those prompt measures of precaution which he always employed with success in averting or repelling attack. Finding that the Chagan of the Avars still continued to claim a part of Bavaria, and that the subjects of that prince made frequent pre- datory excursions upon the frontiers of the country, the monarch of the Franks, as winter approached, despatched a considerable force! towards the scene of contention. Whether he had at this time absolutely determined to carry the war into Hungary itself, or whether the measure was merely, as I have said, one of precau- tion, in order to guard his territory from attack, till the negotiations which were still pending should be terminated, does not clearly appear. It is probable, however, that towards Charlemagne the Avars, or Huns, made use of the same mixture of cunning and insolence which they had displayed successfully in their conduct towards the empire^ of the East, on their first entrance into Europe ; and it is evident that the discussions were protracted for a great length of time, and were not broken off till the end of the year. But Charlemagne was not to be turned from his purpose ; and the moment the spring arrived, he was *Ann. Mettens. ; Chron. Brev. Duchesne, torn, iii.p. 126. This fact appears to me to be perfectly clear, notwithstanding a learned but unsatis- factory dissertation in the Memoirs of the Academy of Belles Lettres. fAnn. Eginhard. % Fragment. Aanal. anon. D. Bouquet, vol. v. p. 26, ann. 790. $ De Buat, Hist, Ancienne des Peuples, Uv. xii. chap. Ui. 284 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. once more at the head of his armies, prepared to pursue the war with more than usual vigour. He well knew the great resources of the country he was about to invade, its natural and its artificial defences, and the courage and resolution of its inhabitants; and, though he both contemned the arrogance which we find from all historians that the Avars displayed, and felt that confidence of victory which is often both a presage and a means of success, he prepared for a war of a more serious character than any which he had hitherto under- taken, and had recourse to measures and precau- tions which he had previously neglected to employ. These precautions were to be taken for the secu- rity of the territories which he left behind him, as well as for the conquest of those which he invaded. The paths of conquerors are always on volcanoes, and each step may be shaken by an earthquake ; for, in most instances, it requires a longer space of time than the life of one man so far to amalgamate a subdued people with their victors as to render any one footfall of ambition secure, in the whole march of hostile aggrandizement. Many have been the means employed to assimilate nations more rapidly; and the most rational, as well as the most successful, has been that practised by Charlemagne, of endeav- ouring to overcome national prejudices and the bitter memory of subjection by a community of interest, and a participation of endeavour and reward. This plan had produced the most happy consequences in regard to the Lombards, who, fighting side by side with the Franks, had become identified with them in victory and glory; and Charlemagne hoped, by the same measures, to bend the Saxons in the same degree. A large body of that people* was accordingly incorporated with his army, and destined to march * Chron. Moissiac. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 285 against the Huns, probably with the double view of employing a number of fierce and active men at a distance from their own country, and in a situation where they could not revolt, and of habituating them to the customs, the religion, and the discipline of the Franks. His whole forces were then disposed in three great divisions ; and, having taken measures to ensure a regular supply of all things necessary for the expedition,* he marched towards the frontier of the enemy. The plan of his campaign was one well calculated to secure success. The army which had been previously sent forward to Bavaria, together with the troops raised in that country, were com- manded to descend the Danube in boats,f which contained also abundant military stores and provi- sions. He himself marched forward with a large force, on the southern side of the river ; and his generals, Theoderic and Meginfried,| led the third division, composed of Saxons and oriental Franks, along the northern bank of the stream. Although these dispositions would, in all probability, have determined the event of the opening war, Charle- magne omitted nothing which might procure a speedy and fortunate issue to his enterprise ; and, before entering Hungary, he despatched messengers to his son§ Pepin, King of Italy, requiring him to march, with the Duke of Friuli and the Lombard forces, upon the frontier of the Avars, and co-operate with the other troops, which he was leading against that nation from the west. Much of the success of an invasion, of course, depends upon the nature of the invaded country; *Eginhard, Ann. 791. tChron. Moissiac. JEginhard, Ann. § The sons of Charlemagne, appointed to the government of kingdoms even in their infancy, were under the general guidance of a sort of gov- ernors, called bajuli. The tutor, or governor, of Louis King of Aquitaine, was Arnulph ; (a) and it is probable, that the Duke of Friuli, who, we find, accompanied Pepin King of Italy in all his expeditions, filled the same office in regard to him. (a) See the Life of Louis la Debonair, by the Astronomer. 286 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. and the territory of the Huns was defended in so peculiar a manner, that it may be well to consider for a moment the difficulties which opposed the progress of the French monarch. A more distinct account of the Hungarian dominions in that day has come down to us than the old annalists often furnish on any subject. But that account is so extraordinary in itself, that each writer who has since touched upon the history of Charlemagne has endeavoured to explain, according to his own ideas, the description furnished by the Monk of St. Gall, from the words of an eyewitness. Some have magnified, and some have softened, the particulars of this account ; but the fact of the country of the Avars having been guarded by fortifications of a very ingenious and perfectly singular nature is admitted by all.* The whole country, we are told, was surrounded by nine circles of double palisading, formed of trunks of trees, twenty feet in height. The interstice of the double palisade was twenty feet in width, which was filled with stone and com- pact lime, while the top of the whole, covered with vegetable earth, was planted with living shrubs. At the distance of twenty Teutonic, or forty Italian, miles from the first circle, or hegin, as it is called, was a second internal one, fortified in the same manner; and thus the country presented fortress after fortress, from the outer palisade to the small inner circle, or ring, as the writers of that day term it, within which the accumulated wealth of ages was guarded by the Avars. The space between the various ramparts was filled by a woody country, so thronged with towns and villages that a trumpet could be heard from the one to the other ; and the means of egress from the inner to the external circles, or from the extreme boundary to the neigh- bouring countries, consisted alone in very narrow * Monachus Sangallensia, lib. ii. cap. ii HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 287 sally-ports, pierced in various parts of the pali- sades. Such is the description given by a person who wrote within a century of the events he narrates ; who received his account from one of the officers of the monarch ; and who addresses his work to an immediate descendant of Charlemagne.* But when we remember that other parts of his work are full of errors and absurdities, and find that, among the annalists of the time, his statement is confirmed by little but vague allusions to extensive fortifications, and the still more vague traditions of after years, we shall feel inclined to reject the particulars as hyperbolical, if not totally false, while we admit the general fact of the country having been carefully secured by strong artificial defences of a singular kind. In addition to these obstacles to the progress of a conqueror, the people of Hungary were known to be a hardy, bold, and persevering race, so that it re- quired the exertion of all his vast resources to ensure the success of Charlemagne's enterprise. The pre- parations necessary for carrying on the war upon the extensive scale which these circumstances de- manded delayed the French monarch so long, that the month of September! had commenced before he reached the banks of the river Ens, which at that time formed the boundary of Bavaria. From that moment, however, no time was lost ere he proceeded to put in execution the plan he had formed for his campaign. He immediately entered the country of the Avars ; and no resistance in the open field seems to have preceded his attack of the fortresses which lay in his way. Three of these were immediately * On these presumptions of his veracity, the writings of the Monk of St. Gall have been strongly supported ; but he is not, unfortunately, the first writer who has dedicated falsehood to a khig, or, with means of ac- quiring truth, has taken pains to disseminate error. t Ann. Eguihard, A. V. 791. 288 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. taken by the monarch, sword in hand, and he then marched forward with his usual rapid advance, laying waste the country, till he reached the banks of the Raab, which he crossed, and, following the course of that river, only halted at its junction with the Danube. Here Charlemagne encamped for some days, and received the news of the success of his son Pepin,* who, with the Duke of Friuli, had entered the terri- tories of the Huns, and, encountering their army almost immediately, had totally defeated them, with immense slaughter. Every promise of success, therefore, had hitherto attended the expedition of the French monarch ; but at this time one of the most terrible scourges which could afflict an army almost entirely composed of cavalry, fell upon that of Charlemagne : a pestilential disease broke out among the horses, with such violence that before * Epist. Car. Mag. ad Fastradam ; Dom Bouquet, tome v. page 623. A passage in this epistle seems, in some slight degree, to confirm the account of the Monk of St. Gall ; although, were his description not extant, it must be confessed no one would have understood the exist- ence of such fortifications from the terms in which Charles expresses himself. After relating the invasion of Hungary by Pepin, and the defeat of the Avars by that prince and his companions, he says, " Et exspoliaverunt ipsum vnllvm et sederunt ibidem ipsa node." The pre- cise meaning of vallum, in ancient fortification, I believe to be a trench and palisade ; but Charles never mentions the attack of any fortress, merely saying, " pervenerunt infra fines ipsontm;" from which we may deduce, perhaps, that the whole country was thus defended, and that the vallum which the Franks plundered after the battle was the space between the outer and an inner circle of palisade. The Annals of Metz, however, describe a more regular line of fortifica- tion ; and though, as a much later record, it is not of the same authority as the accounts of contemporaries, it may serve to show the true mean- ing of the vague terms in which contemporaries have spoken. " Et ita pergentes pervenerunt iiluc, ubi jam Avares municiones paraverunt; de Australi parte ad Cuunberc, de Aquilonali vero" ripa in loco qui dicitur Camp : sic enim nominatur ille fluvius, qui influit in Danubium. Itaque Avares cum ex utraque ripae parte vidissent exercitum, et classem per medium fluvium venientem, tantus terror super eos cecidit, ut dimis- sis praesidiis munitionum, fugas latibula qusrerunt." — Ann. Mettens. A. D. 791. . This chronicle is supposed to have been composed in the year 903, and was copied from preceding annals, which were, in all probability contemporary HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 289 the sovereign could effect his retreat into Bavaria, nine-tenths of those which he had brought with him had perished.* Notwithstanding this disaster, the retreat of the Franks was not followed by any of those terrible consequences which might have taken place, had the Avars awoke from the panic into which the rapid motions and immense forces of the French monarch had thrown them, in time to take advantage of the opportunity which accident produced in their favour. The Franks were suffered to retire unmo- lested, and carried with them an immense quantity of booty,f as well as an innumerable multitude of prisoners. Thus far successful, it would seem that Charlemagne, at the time of his return, was fully- determined to pursue the war he had commenced, to the utter subversion of the power of the Huns ; but circumstance, that mighty disappointer of the best-laid designs, intervened, and the monarch of the Franks never more set his foot within the confines of Panonia as a warrior. In accordance with his intention, however, of re-entering Hungary early in the spring, he pro- ceeded no farther on his return towards France than Ratisbon, where he employed the winter in con- structing a bridge of boatsj across the Danube, and in examining a new heresy which had arisen in the church. As this investigation tended not alone to the refu- tation of an idle schismatic, but brought on discus- sions attended with more important historical con- sequences, we must pause upon the subject longer than would have been otherwise necessary. Some short time before the precise period of which I write, Felix, who had been established Bishop of Urgel, a city within the limits of the Spanish march, had declared his belief, that Christ was merely the Son *Eginhard, Annates, 791. f Ohron. Moissiac. % Eginhard, AnnaleB. Bb 290 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. of God by adoption, and maintained his nature to have been human. This doctrine was first promul- gated by him in a letter addressed to the Bishop of Toledo ; but, not contented with the simple assertion of his own opinions, he endeavoured to propagate them by various writings ; and was, in consequence, brought before Charlemagne at Ratisbon. A coun- cil was immediately called by the king, consisting of such French prelates as happened to be in the neighbourhood at the time. By these the opinions of Felix were condemned as heretical, and he him- self was sent to Rome for the judgment of Pope Adrian, to whom he confessed his error, and from whose hands he* received absolution.! His doctrine, however, had gained ground : many of the Spanish bishops had embraced the Felician heresy ;| and it was found necessary to hold a more full and general synod at Frankfort, to consider the subject with greater solemnity and deliberation. In this assembly, Alcuin^ pleaded against the errors of Felix ; and a solemn condemnation of the opinions of that prelate was again pronounced, and generally promulgated, together with Charlemagne's profes- sion of faith. Disputations on points of doctrine almost always lead to the examination of new sub- jects, and the excitation of new disputes. It is prob- able, that had the Felician heresy never been exam- ined,! the council of Frankfort might never have * Ann. Mettensis ; Ann. Fuldensis ; Ann. Eginhard. f Notwithstanding the fact of his confession and absolution, he is said" by some writers to nave persisted in his opinions, and to have died in them at Lyons. — Chron. Adonis. $Supp. Paul. Diacon. ad. ann. 794 ; Chron. Lamberti Shafnaburg; Epist. Car. Mag. ad Elepandum; Concil. Gall. vol. ii. page 186. §Tbe Benedictines in the chronology which they have affixed to the life of Alcuin (cap. vii ), where this fact is mentioned, place it in the year 799 ; and the anonymous author states it to have taken place at Aix-la- Cbapelle. I, however, retain the date and place which I had originally given, because I do not find from other authorities that the heresy of Felix was discussed at Aix in the year 799, aud we know that Alcuin had returned to France before 794. II A. D, 794. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 291 been held ; but, as it was, after deciding upon the first question, the assembled bishops proceeded to discuss the famous Nicene council (the second of Nice), by the authority of which the Empress Irene had restored the worship of images. Either sufficient folly, superstition, or civilization was wanting in the Frankish assembly to adopt the pure idolatry of the Greek church ; and the council of Nice was, consequently, declared by the council of Frankfort to be useless and invalid, and its decrees were unanimously rejected.* On this last occasion two legates! were present on the part of the pope, who had previously disavowed the messengers which had appeared in his name at the council of Nice.J Nevertheless, it can hardly be supposed that the Roman pontiffs, whose separation from Greece had for its motive and justification the abo- lition of idol worship at Constantinople, would will- ingly countenance the rejection of the same idolatry in France. No sooner had the council of Frankfort decided upon this question, than the priests and learned men, who were gathered together by the patronage of Charlemagne for very different purposes, united to compose a long and studious refutation of the doc- trines of the Nicene council. The book, or rather books, thus produced (called the Libri Carolini), though somewhat scurrilous, and not very argument- ative, received the sanction of Charlemagne, were honoured with his name, and were sent, together with an epistle, to the Roman pontiff^ by the hands of Angelbert,|| one of the ministers of the monarch. *Ann. Tiliani; Ann. Eginhard. t Those were Stephen and Theophelactes. X Gibbon, chap. 49. § Epist. Alcuini Abbat. || He is called ministrum capellae, which is translated, of the chancery, by the Benedictines. In 783 he was attached to Pepin King of Italy. In 787 he married Bertha, daughter of Charlemagne, by whom he had Harmidus, and Nithard the historian. In 791 he retired to the monastery of Centuiensis, or St. Riquier. In 792 he conducted Felix to Rome. la 292 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. The pope replied to the French sovereign's letter, but not to his book ;* and, quietly allowing the sub- ject to drop, left time and superstition to do their work, and lead the Franks from the toleration of images as useful memorials of faith, to their adora- tion as visible intercessors.! Not long after this period appeared the false decretals, on which so much of the assumed authority of the Roman church has been founded; and it is not at all improbable that the manufacture of these antedated decrees was first suggested to the policy of the Lateran by the bold tone of the council of Frankfort. Undoubtedly, to put down such synods, or rather to command them,! was the great object of those decretals ; and it appears certain that they were published between 794 and 800. Thus it is probable that Adrian attempted, without answering the arguments of the Gallic scribes, to annihilate such assemblies as that which had prompted them to write. 794 he carried Libri Carolini to Rome. Tn 796 he was sent to Pope Leo. In 800, he accompanied Charlemagne thither. And in 814 he died. — Dom Bouquet, preface, vol. v. *Epist. Hadriani Papee; Mabillon. t Gibbon. i See the elegant and perspicuous view taken of the history of these decretals by Mr. Hallam, Hist. Middle Ages, vol. iii. p. 235. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 293 BOOK X. FROM THE CONSPIRACY OF PEPIN THE HUNCHBACK, TO THE FINAL SUBJUGATION OF THE SAXONS. FROM A. D. 792, TO A. D. 804. The Conspiracy of Pepin the Hunchback— His Birth and Character— Dis- covery of the Designs of the Conspirators— Their Trial and Condem- nation—Constitution of the General Assemblies of the Franks under Charlemagne, and their Functions— Counts of the Palace — Fresh Revolt of Saxony — France invaded by the Saracens— Defeat of Wil- helm, Duke of Thoulouse, and the Troops of the Spanish March— Con- duct of Charlemagne — Project for the Union of the Rhine and the Danube — The Attempt abandoned — Death of the Queen Fastrada Wars with Saxony — Expatriation of the Saxons — Object, Necessity, and Advantage of the Subjugation of Saxony. When Charlemagne first undertook to revenge the aggression which the Huns had committed in their irruptions into Bavaria, internal tranquillity and ex- ternal peace offered the fairest opportunity for the endeavour, and the clearest prospect of success. But before he could enter upon a second campaign, unexpected dangers assailed him on all sides. The first and the most imminent of these dangers, as it menaced his own person, as well as the secu- rity of his dominions, arose in a conspiracy formed by several of his nobles, who had again occasion to complain of the cruelty of the Queen Fastrada.* How that cruelty was exercised is not stated on this occasion, any more than on that of the conspiracy of Hartrad in 785 ; but it is easy to conceive many ways in which a harsh and imperious woman might bring the governmentf of her husband into hatred * Annales Eginhard ; Ann. Poet. Saxon. fThe quepns of France, under the second race, were in possession of an office in the household and kingdom of their husbands, which afforded Bb2 294 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. with his people, though it is difficult to comprehend how such a monarch as Charlemagne permitted his power to be abused by any one to whom it was par- tially delegated. It is probable that the conspiracy was long in embryo, and that both real grievances and restless ambition added day by day to the numbers impli- cated. At length the discontent extended to a suffi- cient number of nobles to render success probable, and nothing further was required but a chief to give dignity to the enterprise, and to direct the efforts of the conspirators. That chief was unfortunately too soon found, and found in the family of the monarch himself. In very early years, as I have before men- tioned, Charlemagne had connected himself with a woman of inferior rank, named Himiltruda, but solely by the ties of illicit love.* By her he had one son, named Pepin, who grew up with a shrewd keen mind, an irritable temper, and great personal deformity. Whether from any doubts in regard to paternity, or from some other cause, cannot be told, but Charlemagne so little regarded this child as one of his family that he gave the same name which he bore to one of his legitimate sons. He educated him, however, and kept him at his court ; but it is no small opportunity, if indeed it did not offer great inducements, to oppress the nobility. We find that ihey were the chief treasurers of the palace ; and that the species of tribute, or impost, called dona annu- alia, was paid into the hands of their sub-treasurer. These dona annualia consisted not alone in money, but often in goods, food, wine, or horses ; and though the three last sorts of dues were exempted from the charge of the queens, the means of extortion, either on their own part, or that of their agents, were still considerable. — See Ducange, Dissertation iv. *That she was not his wife by any form whatever is sufficiently proved by all the annals of the time; though Monsieur Gaillard most pertinaciously insists that she was a wife, whose rank was inferior to the monarch's own, and cites a great many authorities to prove that Pepin was legitimate. All that he can advance, drawn from modem authorities, however, is as nothing in opposition to the writers of the time, who uniformly place Pepin in contrast with the children of Charle- magne ex legitimo matrimonio ; or those qui ex legitima geniti sunt, (a) See Note, p. 210. {a) Ann. Loiseliaui j Chroa. Moissiac. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 299 easy to conceive that, in a bad and irritable mind, the grief which his inferior share of love and author- ity must have produced might easily be perverted to hatred towards his father, and malignant envy towards his more happy brothers. The conspirators who had planned the subversion of their sovereign's throne found it no difficult mat- ter to bring Pepin the Hunchback, as he was called, to abet their schemes ; and, as very frequently hap- pens, the additional criminality of the child who revolted against his father brought an aggravation of crime to all. To the plot for rising against their sovereign's authority was added the design of taking his life and that of all his legitimate sons.* What share of private benefit was to accrue to each of the inferior conspirators is not known ; but Pepin was to be raised to the throne of France, upon the dead bodies of his father and his brethren. Pepin feigned an illness in order to absent himself from the court, and the last arrangements were con- cluded for the proposed revolt and massacre ; but it so happened that a certain monk, named Fardulphus, who had been brought by Charlemagne from Lom- bardy,f shortly after the fall of Pavia, overheard by accident the unnatural resolution of the son, and * Eginhard, Ann. 792 ; Ann. Loiseliani, edit. Canisii ; Chron. Moissiac. t The account given by the Monk of St. Gall, is as follows : — " Some nobles, having assembled in the church of St. Peter, conspired together the death of the emperor. After their deliberations, Pepin, fearing that they might have been overheard from some secret place, gave orders that the church should be searched, to see whether some one might not be concealed in the corners of the building, or under the altars; when, behold, as they had feared, they found a clerk hidden beneath one of the altars. Seizing upon him, they compelled him to swear that he would not betray their counsel ; and he, fearing that he should lose his life, as they threatened, did not refuse to swear ; but no sooner were they gone than, little heeding his sacrilegious oath, he ran immediately to the palace." — Monachus Sangallensis, lib. ii. cap 18. Monsieur Gaillard imbodies this account, and, in the margin, attributes it to Eginhard's Annals, ■which are quite guiltless of the anecdote, be it true or false. Pepin feigned an illness, to absent himself from his father. — Eginhard in Vit, Car. Magn. 296 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. the bloody designs of the conspirators, and instantly hastened to give information of their purpose. His account was clear and distinct. The whole of the traitors were arrested and brought to trial ; their crime was fully proved ; and death was the sentence of all. The sword and the cord were the punishments inflicted on the conspirators in general. One only was spared, in whose case the ties of blood, and perhaps the belief that he had been made an instrument by more designing men, outweighed the cruel justice which demanded impartiality of inflic- tion. Pepin was condemned to eternal seclusion in a monastery ; and if we may credit the description of him given by the Monk of St. Gall, he carried to the cloister the same bitter* and disappointed ma- lignity which had led him to conspire against his father and his king. The sentence on Pepin and his accomplices was, of course, pronounced by a more impartial tribunal than the palace judgment-seat of the offended mon- arch. The general assembly! of the Frankish peo- ple was called! to take cognizance of the detected conspiracy ; and, for the second time, awarded the extreme penalty of the law for the crime of high- treason. Since the death of Charles Martel, a great change had taken place in the functions of this assembly, the constitution of which, during the first years of the French monarchy, probably varied with every thing else, according to the character and power of the sovereign and the circumstances of the times. § * Mon. Sangallens, lib. ii. cap. xix. t Ann. Loiseliani, 792. t As it has been asserted that these general assemblies of the nation "were never called except at the usual time of their meeting, the words of the AmiEils of Loisel, as published by Canisius, may be cited on the present occasion : — Rex Carolus cum cognovisset consilium Pipini, et consentaneorum suorum, coadjuvit adventum Francorum, et aliorum fidelium suorum, ad Reganesburg. Ubi universus populus Chris- tianus, &c. § See Note IV. . HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 297 Charles Martel, confident in his own superior vigour oi mind and body, despising the clergy, who were then in almost as degraded a state as the kings, and fearful of fixing his authority on the support of the nobles, which had often proved the most unstable of all foundations, dispensed as much as possible with all assemblies of the people ; and if he did not formally abolish them, suffered them to fall into desuetude.* Pepin, on the contrary, with the object of a crown before his eyes, made use of the ancient meetings of the nation to obtain his purpose ; but, jealous of the authority which he had only shared with a view to confirm, he circumscribed afterward the powers of the assemblies, and suffered them only to deliberate upon church discipline and general policy. Charlemagne, seated in the hearts of his people, — a nobler throne than the bucklers which raised his father to the acme of his fortune, — trusted the nation that trusted him ; and, striving to wield the mighty sceptre of his own genius solely for the benefit of his subjects, neither feared nor encoun- tered opposition to measures which were conceived in the spirit of disinterested beneficence, and framed with wisdom far superior to his age. Under his administration, the diets or general assemblies of the people, constituted as before of all the noblesf both secular and ecclesiastical, exer- * Boulainvilliers sur les Anciens Parlements de France, Epit, ii. t What were the precise qualifications for a seat in this assembly is by no means clear. Hincmar states that the elder nobles were these, propter consilium ordinandum, and the younger, idem consilium sus- cipiendum, which has been translated both by Boulainvilliers and Gail- lard, " the elder to deliberate, and the younger to consent." This would seem, however, not to be a correct interpretation ; for the power to con- sent would imply the power to dissent ; and it is probable that Hincmar, or rather Adhalardns, whom he cites, intended to imply, that the elder nobles were there to deliberate and the younger to receive the laws, and -.•ee them executed in their separate jurisdictions. The terms Optimates and Fideles are generally given to the persons called to these assem- blies ; but whether the title was assigned by any fixed law, or was left as vague in fact as it is in record, does not appear from any authority I have been able to meet with. 298 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. cised immense power. They formed the great council of state, destined to advise with the mon- arch on all questions of peace or war, and, indeed, on the whole conduct of his empire. They* framed the laws, and enacted the imposts for the following year ; acted as the principal court of appeal for the whole people ; and possessed all the prerogatives of the highest judicial as well as legislative body. At these meetings, in general, the ambassadors from foreign powers were received ; and after the many conquests of Charlemagne, when the national assembly contained representatives from almost every continental country — from the shores of the Baltic to the British Channel, from beyond the Pyre- nees to the depths of Panonia — the splendour and singularity of the scene was such as to call forth many a glowing description from the pens of admir- ing contemporaries. At these assemblies, also, were presented those peculiar tributes or fines, which vassals were required to pay by the tenure of their lands, and which were called annua,f or dona annu- alia.% Here, too, were received the general dues collected throughout the kingdom, and the tribute by which conquered nations acknowledged their dependence, while they retained their separate form of government. In the first ages of the French monarchy, these assemblies were held usually only once in the year ; but in the beginning of the second race of kings (though at what period is not precisely known), two meetings took place annually. The first of these, however, still remained the most important,^ regu- * Ducange, Dissertation sur les Assemblies Solennelles ; Boulain- villiers sur les Anciens Parlements. t These gifts, or tributes, did not alone consist in money, but often also in produce, and very frequently in horses. { Adhelard, apud Hincmar, de Ord. Palat. ; Ducange, Dissertations. $ Such is the statement of Hincmar, and all modern writers have fol lowed him ; but it is equally certain, that during the greater part of thia monarch's reign the annalists speak of the annual assembly in May as too one great meeting of the people. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 299 lating every thing for the ensuing year that foresight could accomplish ; while the second took heed of all which by accident or from press of business had been neglected in the first. Such was the vast machine which Charlemagne employed, in the beneficent purpose of governing his people for their own advantage. But, notwith- standing the great power which he ascribed to these assemblies, we find that he himself, without their concurrence, often made war or peace; and added laws to those which they had enacted. Thus, while he called the nation, for its own benefit, to partici- pate in the exercise of the authority which his pre- decessors had assumed, he relinquished no particle of real power himself; and, indeed, the whole of his reign evinces, that if the monarch had confidence in his people, the people had confidence in their mon- arch ; and that, showing his reliance on the nation by consulting them whenever it was possible, he was despotic through the affections of his subjects. Nevertheless, although the diet served the king as a great and general council on all subjects of uni- versal interest, and in regard to all permanent insti- tutions, there were many sudden emergencies and minor details on which it could not be consulted ; and which, in after ages, have been generally sub- mitted by sovereigns to particular advisers, forming their privy council. On these occasions, Charlemagne either acted by his own judgment, or by the advice of some of the most prudent of his officers and attendants, who happened to be with him at the time. These he called to a private consultation, whether the ques- tion was warlike or political ; but there does not appear to have existed any permanent and regular council,* to assist the king in matters of general administration. * Several writers have supposed that such a privy council did exist, but I can discover no trace of it whatever. The king constantly called 300 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. In regard to the dispensation of justice, however, a regular court was established in the royal palace, at which the king himself frequently presided. The principal* officers of this court were called counts of the palace, or, in other words, palace judges. Of their functions in general I have given a more de- tailed account before ; and shall only repeat, that to them was a general appeal from all other courts throughout the country, though the right of judging in the first instance also belonged to them, if occa- sion required such a proceeding. Under the first race of French monarchs, one of these counts suf- ficed, and the duties were either small or were neg- lected ; but in the reign of Charlemagne — who con- sidered promptitude of decision as an essential part of justice, — these officers were considerably multi- plied. So much was this the case, that continual access could be had to judgment; and, to use the words of Mably, the business of a courtier was then, not to offer flattery, but to administer the law. In aid of these counts were a number of counsellors, called Scabini Palatii ; and, with their assistance, the palatines held continual sittings in the royal resi- dence, where causes of every kind were argued and decided, so that redress could never be retarded, nor offences remain long unpunished.! To this court, however, such conspiracies as those of Tassilo, Hartrad, and Pepin were not submitted ; although it would seem that their reference to a general assembly of the nation depended more on the wisest and best or his nobles to consult with him ; as we find he did on his march against Beneventum. and in a thousand other instances. In like mannpr, the counts palatine and the provincial counts often called to assist them in the r judgment such nobles as might happen to be in thi ir vicinity ; but there does not appear to me the trace of any per- manent council, to advise the monarch on subjects of general adminis- tration. * Ducange, Dissertation xiv. t The counts palatine were often directed to the provinces, and many of the provincial counts seem also to have been counts palatine. See Ducange, Dissert, xiv. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 301 the impartial feeling of the monarch than on the acknowledged incompetency of his palace court. It never appears that the national assembly was less severe in its judgment against traitors than the most bigoted advocates of authority could have been ; for, in all cases, we find that the indignant clamour with which the people doomed to death those who con- spired against their king showed at once how little the nation in genera] sympathized with the treason of individuals. Mercy, however, has always been one of the peculiar prerogatives of royalty; and Pepin,* as well as Tassilo, though condemned by his countrymen, was pardoned by the voice of Charle- magne himself, f The service of the Lombard priest, who, by the loyal promptitude of his information, had saved the state, was not forgotten by the gratitude of the mon- arch. A year passed away, indeed, before it received its reward ; but at the end of that time, the abbacy of St. Denis became vacant ; and Fardulphus, so lately a poor and unknown clerk, was raised to one of the richest dignities in the Gallic church. J To a mind like that of Charlemagne, the conspir- acy of his subjects and the treason of his son were in themselves profoundly painful ; but other griefs and disappointments now fell thick upon the mon- arch of the Franks ; and it seemed as if the whole labour of his life were to be done away at once, and to commence anew. Whether the secret negotia- tions of Pepin and his confederates had extended to Saxony or not cannot be discovered ; but scarcely had Charlemagne encountered the sad news of his son's treachery, and undergone the bitter task of judging his crime, ere he received intelligence that * Some have conceived, on the faith of a vague passage in one of the annalists, that Charlemagne had stripped himself of the power of show- ing mercy, and that the pardon of Tassilo and Pepin was pronounced by the assembly at the intercession of the monarch. This supposition, however, seems to be totally destitute of all reasonable foundation. t Ann. Loiseliani ; Chron. Moissiac. \ Eginhard. Ann. Cc 302 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. the people on whom he had spent so much time, and labour, and blood to subdue and civilize, had sud- denly broken the oaths they had taken, driven forth the teachers he had sent them, destroyed the churches he had built, and spilt the blood of his officers wherever they could be found.* After the repeated defeats which they had re- ceived while singly opposed to the monarch of the Franks, the Saxons had not ventured upon so bold an insurrection as that which they now undertook, without having assured themselves of support. For this purpose, they had entered into a general league with all the pagan nations round about ; and having allied themselves with the Huns, whom they had been led to subdue, they no longer feared to renew the struggle, which they imagined disunion and want of allies had hitherto alone rendered ineffectual. The first symptom of their revolt was, as usual, a general return to paganism, and their first effort, ah attack upon the troops which Theoderic,f the cousin of Charlemagne, was leading back from the cam- paign against the Huns. J A great part of the forces under his command consisted of Saxons and Frisons, and were consequently enemies rather than fellow- soldiers. The rest, comprising several thousand Franks, taken by surprise and overpowered by num- bers, were cut to pieces to a man.§ Such was the first news which reached Charle- magne after the discovery of Pepin's conspiracy ; and scarcely had it been received when another unexpected attack was announced to him. * Ann. Loiseliani ; Ann. Tiliani ; Chron. Moissiac. t The account of Monsieur Gaillard is as follows:— "En 793 ceux d'entre eux (les Saxons) qui servoient dans son armee, se mufinerent.; et taillerent en pieces un detachment qui lui servoit d'escorie," &c The words of Eginhard,— " Nuntiatum est copias, quas Thedericus Comes, per Frisiam ducebat, in pago Rhiustri juxta Wisiram a Saxonibus esse intercept as atque deletas." % A. D. 792. Eginhard Ann. ; Ann. Poet. Saxon. The fact is placed in 793, but it is evident that it really took place in 792, as Theoderic was returning from Hungary. § Near Rustringen, on the Weser (Eginhard). HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 303 When the French monarch, as I have shown in the history of the campaign against the Avars, com- manded his son Pepin King of Italy to lead his armies into Hungary, that young prince was already embroiled in hostilities with Grimwald Duke of Beneventum, concerning the cities of Salernum, Acherontia, and Consia, which Grimwald, on receiv- ing the investiture of the duchy, had promised to dismantle, but which he still held fortified and garri- soned.* The young King of Italy, laying aside the affairs of his own government, instantly hastened, as before stated, to obey his father's commands, en- tered Hungary, defeated the Avars, and worked an important co-operation with the troops of Charle- magne. In return for this prompt and effectual obedience, Charlemagne, early in the winter, des- patched his son Louis, King of Aquitaine, with all the forces he could muster, to the aid of his brother in Italy. f The King of Aquitaine, in hastening to share the glory of the war against Grimwald, had probably left the frontiers of his province somewhat exposed, so that the Saracens of Spain judged it a convenient opportunity to avenge the aggression which had been made upon their territory, and to recover a part of the ground which had been lost. An active and warlike prince then possessed the principal Mohammedan power in Spain; and placing at the head of his army Abdelmelec, an officer^ of a mind similar to his own, he ordered him to break in upon the Spanish March of Charlemagne, on the side of Gerona. This was accordingly done ; and, with the usual rapidity of Saracen conquest, the Moors were at the gates of Narbonne before any force was ready to oppose them. The suburbs^ of that city were plundered and burnt, and the whole * Erchempertus, in Hist. Langobard Beneventi, cap. iv. ; Muratori, Script. Rer. Ital. vol. ii. part i. page 233. t Astronom. Anon, in Vit. Ludovic. Pii. t Rodericus, Hist. Arab. § Chron. Moissiao. 304 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE* country round laid waste.* The invaders then again turned towards Carcasson, and were marching on in their desolating course, when they were encoun- tered by the army of Wilhelm Duke of Thoulouse, one of the counts of the March, who, with inferior forces, instantly resolved to give them battle. But in this instance the Franks met with an enemy equal to themselves in courage and skill, and superior in numbers. The forces of the counts of the March were totally defeated ; an immense number were slain ; Wilhelm himself only escaped by a rapid flight ; and the Saracens returned to Spain loaded with booty and captives. The breach of a great barrier he had taken im- mense pains to establish between Christian France and Mohammedan Spain — the total revolt of a country which he had spent half his life to subdue — the con- spiracy of his own son against his existence, — such were the misfortunes that, almost at once, assailed the monarch of the Franks. But a glorious record of the greatness of his mind has been preserved by one who was an eyewitness to his private life ; and it may be boldly stated, on the authority of Eginhard, that while Charlemagne never showed a sign of exultation in all his mighty successes, he never suffered a reverse to impair his confidence, or dis- turb his serenity. f Louis and Pepin, immediately on hearing of the conspiracy against the life of their father, hastened to his support and consolation ;% but finding the evil past, Pepin returned at once to Italy, with directions for carrying on the war against the Beneventines, while Louis, after a short stay, proceeded to Aqui- taine, in order to guard against any new irruption of the Saracens. No great operations took place in either of these wars for some time. That with the * Roderic declares that Narbonne was taken ; but this is incorrect. t Eginhard in Vit. Car. Magni. j Astronom. Anon, in Vit. Ludovic. Pii.. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 305 Beneventines proceeded with some degree of ac- tivity ; but, while Pepin ravaged the territories of Grimwald, famine and pestilence wielded a more fatal sword in the heart of his own camp.* The Saracen invasion, on the other hand, was not re- newed ; and Charlemagne was left free to carry on the war against the Huns and the Saxons. His first effort was against the latter people ; for the Avars had suffered too much from their recent defeats to attempt a renewal of active hostilities for some time. Nevertheless, it may be necessary, before proceeding to conduct the Saxon war to its conclusion, to notice an undertaking of great magni- tude, the expediency of which had been shown by the former campaign against the Avars, and which a prospect of renewed hostilities hastened in en- deavour. In the course of the Hungarian war, Charlemagne had experienced so much benefit from the power of transporting his provisions, and a part of his army by water, that the great and magnificent scheme of establishing the same easy means of com- munication from one side of Europe to the other suggested itself to his mighty mind. It would be attributing too much to him, great as he was, to suppose that the first idea of the enter- prise was suggested by any other thing than the desire of facilitating his military operations : but, at the same time, anxious as he always evinced him- self for the revival of arts and sciences, the encour- agement of manufactures, and the diffusion of com- merce, it would be yielding too little credit to his greatness of mind to conceive that such motives did not mingle with the course of his design, hasten it in its progress, and strengthen it against the diffi- culties of execution. Whateverf might be the origin of his intention, and whatever collateral purposes might combine to * Erchempert. Hist. Langobard Beneventi, cap. vi. t A. D. 793. Cc2 306 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. urge the attempt, it is certain that during his stay at Ratisbon* the project of joining the Danube and the Rhine occupied him deeply. The proximity of the two small rivers, the Rednitz and the Altmuth— the one of which, falling into the Mein near Bamberg, communicates with the Rhine, while the other joins the Danube near Kelheim, — seemed to offer great facility for its execution ; and the state of the Dan- ube in that day, very different from what it appears at present, held forth the greatest prospect of ad- vantage. In the spring, Charlemagne had himself laid out the plan of the proposed undertaking ; and ordered the works to be commenced ; but towards the autumn, he proceeded himself, by water, to the spot where they were in progress, ascending the stream of the Danubef and the Altmuth, from Rat- isbon to the proposed point of junction. The whole autumn was consumed by the monarch in superin- tending the execution of his design, and encouraging by his presence the host of workmen employed. As winter approached, he crossed the narrow space between the two streams ; and, embarking}: on the Rednitz, by sailing down its course into the Mein, which easily conducted him to Frankfort, at once proved the advantages that might be derived from the passage, if the junction of the rivers could be effected. To this, however, obstacles were op- posed, which were in that day insurmountable. Tremendous rains continued to fall during the autumn ; and acting upon a light, unstable soil, de- stroyed during the night nearly the whole fruit of the labours of the day. As the season advanced, dis- eases broke out, and difficulties multiplied ; and at length, after having carried the works two thousand paces in length, and three hundred in width, the at- tempt was abandoned. The conception, however, was worthy of Charlemagne ; and the vestiges of * Eginhard, Annales. f Annates Tiliani. J Ann.Mettensis, A. D. 793. HI3T0RY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 307 that great endeavour may still be seen near the little village of Graben, a splendid monument of that mag- nificent mind which, in the midst of a barbarous age, devised so vast an enterprise. At Frankfort, to which Charlemagne proceeded after this ineffectual attempt, was held the general council, some of the proceedings of which I have already alluded to ; and there, also, died the queen Fastrada,* whose deeds had served to darken the splendour of her husband's character, and whose epitaph remains to show the emptiness of epitaphs in all ages. It may be now necessary, without following any further chronologically the war against the Saxons, to conduct the history of the struggle between them and Charlemagne to its conclusion ; which may be done in a few words. As soon as the council of Frankfort had terminated its sittings, the monarch of the Franks prepared to re-enter Saxony, and to repress the revolt which had taken place in that country. He divided his army into two parts, and, directing one under the command of his son Charles to pass by Cologne into the lower part of the Saxon territory, he himself led the other division, by the eastern provinces, towards a place called Sintfield, where a large Saxon force lay, with the intention of giving him battle. f A sudden terror, however, seized them at the aspect of the monarch, and instead of having recourse to arms, they immediately surrendered themselves prisoners at discretion, im- plored and received the clemency they had so often abused, and gave hostages for the faith which was soon again to be violated. Scarcely was the revolt suppressed than it once more broke out; and though no new chieftain sprang up to lead the Saxons, and to concentrate their efforts, they still waged a long and desolating war- * A. D. 794; Annates Tilia-ni; Ann. Ejrinhard. t Ann. Loiseliani ; Aim. TUiani; Ann. Eginhard. 308 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. fare with the Franks, the history of which is but a catalogue of insurrections and repressions, without any incident of interest to render the detail either amusing or useful. Charlemagne still pursued his purpose with uncon* querable perseverance. If, from their proximity to France, their predatory barbarism, their utter faith- lessness, their obstinate courage, and their savage cunning, as well as from the want of all natural barriers against them, and the impossibility of rais- ing artificfal ones sufficient to repel their incursions, the Saxons had been found by Charlemagne, at the beginning of his reign, the most dangerous enemies of his nation, he now felt himself far more called upon to subdue them utterly, since they had learned from the Franks themselves the art of war. The conquest of the Saxons was not a matter of choice but of necessity, involving at once the exist- ence of the transrhenane provinces of France, the safety of all her northern allies, and her position among nations. To this war, therefore, Charlemagne in person devoted all his energies ; and at length, after having in vain attempted, by chastisement and by kindness, by force and by instruction, to tranquil- lize the whole of Saxony, he fell upon the extreme, but successful, measure,* of transporting an im- mense number from the most turbulent tribes of the Saxons to a great distance from their native country. f He accordingly enteredj Saxony early in the year 804, and, collecting his whole forces at the source of the Lippe, he detached several large bodies, which swept both banks of the Elbe of their inhab- itants. Men, women, and children were alike car- ried away, and spread over the face of France ;§ and * He had already successfully practised the same measure, though on a smaller scale, in 795.— See Annates Francorum, apud Lambecium, et Chron. Moissiac t It is to be remarked particularly that only the most turbulent tribes were thus removed. t Annales Mettensis. § Chron. Brev. ; Chron. Moissiac HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 309 a great number were also transferred to Brabant and various parts of Flanders, where, at the time of the compilation of the Chronicle of St. Detiis, their language and many of their customs were still pre- served.* Only one event took place during the course of these latter wars which is at all worthy of particu- lar remark,- — this was the first hostile collision be- tween the Normans and the Franks. Some offi- cers! of Charlemagne, accompanying his ambassador towards Sigifrid King of Denmark, were met and slain by the piratical Northmen, and, as usual with savage nations, one aggression was immediately followed by another. The Normans, almost as soon as they had perpetrated the murder of the French ambassador, marched in a large body to attack the nation of Abodrites,J the firmest allies which the crown of France possessed among all the northern nations. Thrasicon Duke of the Abodrites, however, with Eberwin, an officer of Charlemagne, instantly op- posed their progress with activity, vigour, and suc- cess. A severe conflict took place, in which many fell ; but the principal loss was on the side of the Normans, who were routed and dispersed with terri- ble slaughter. These events took place some time previous to the last severe measure by which Charlemagne ter- minated the Saxon war; but on the depopulation of the banks of the Elbe by the transportation of the Saxons, the good services of the Abodrites were not forgotten. The vacant country was bestowed udoii that friendly tribe ;§ and Charlemagne thus at once recompensed his most faithful allies, and p.aced a host of brave and warlike friends between * Chron. S Denis, lib. ii. cap. 3. t Eginhard Ann., A. D. 798. t One of the Abodrite dukes, or kings, had been slain in the year 795, it an engagement with the rebel Saxons. § Annates Loiseliani. 310 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. his own dominions and the savage countries of the north. It has* been asserted — though without even a show of reason to support the assertion — that the conquest of Saxony by Charlemagne called the fero- cious Normans upon the rest of Europe. Without applying to this idea the harsh term of absurd, a few words may suffice to show that the subjugation of the Saxons, while it removed one immense swarm of predatory barbarians, did not in the least facilitate the progress of those which followed ; but had, in fact, the most opposite effect. That the Normans never invaded the south by land is sufficiently well known. All their expedi- tions were naval, made from their own coasts, and not at all depending upon what nation possessed the German territory ; so that the Abodrites were a full and sufficient protection for the northern frontier of the Frankish dominions ;* and the subjection of the Saxons gave no facilities to the Normans in that direction. On the other hand, it is more than prob- able, that, had the Saxons not been subdued, the irruptions of the Normans would have been attended with far more terrible and desolating effects. The Saxons, under the government of the Frankish em- perors, — while in other circumstances they might have been the friends and allies of the Normans, — proved their first enemies, and the strongest barrier to their progress in the north of Europe. Scarcely forty years after the death of Charlemagne, the pirates of the north, landing on the coast of Saxony, suffered a most signal defeat from the Frisons and Saxons, whom the great monarch had conquered and civilized ;f and in 873 and 876, they were again and again overthrown in battle by the same Frisons. But had the Saxons not been so subdued and civil- * The barrier formed by the territories of the Abodrites was never violated during the reign of Charlemagne. | Schmidt, Hist, des Allemands, lib. iii. chap. iv. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 311 ized, what would have been the probable result of their proximity to the Normans ? Those two na- tions were, in fact, but two succeeding 1 waves in the long tide of barbarian invasion from the north. They were the last and most feeble of those waves, it is true ; but had they been suffered to unite and roll on together, they might once more have over- whelmed Europe.* Nor was it unlikely that they should unite. The great Saxon confederation offered a model, their proximity a means, and conquest and plunder an object akin ■ to the habits and desires of both; while religion, manners, and national charac- ter afforded a bond of union, and a strong assimi- lating principle. f Charlemagne conquered the Saxons, as the invet- erate enemies of his nation ; he attempted to civilize them, for the purposes of peace and security ; and he strove to convert them, as a means of civilization. His objects, as a great king and a great patriot, were personal and national ; but he no less conferred a signal and lasting benefit upon Europe at large, by subduing even one of those barbarian nations which had more or less desolated every land, and revelled in the blood of every people. * The vague expression, " that the conquests of Saxony by Charle- magne tore away the veil which covered Europe from the Normans," if it mean any thing, must imply either that it first discovered Europe to that nation, or that it opened the way for their invasions. As we know historically that the Normans were well acquainted with the south of Europe long before the Prankish conquest of Saxony, I have applied my»self to refute the assertion, under its second interpretation, by attempting to prove, in a matter where all reasoning must be by analogy, that the probabilities tend to show, the Danish conquests would have been much more rapid and extensive if the Saxons had not been subdued. t That it was the natural tendency of all the northern nations to coalesce, for the purpose of conquest and plunder, is sufficiently evinced by the history of the Franks, the Saxons, and the Normans themselves. 312 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. BOOK XL FROM THE RENEWAL OF THE HUNGARIAN WAR, TO THE ELECTION OF LEO III. FROM A. D. 794 TO A. D. 796. . Internal Dissensions of the Huns— Treachery of Thudun— Herric Dake of Friuli ordered to invade Hungary— His Success — Pepin King of Italy invades Hungary— Captures the Fortress of the Ring— Death of Adrian I.— Election of Leo — He sends the Keys and Standard as an Act of Homage— Building of the Palace at Aix-la-Chapelle — The Palace College— Studies of Charlemagne— Progress of Literature in France— In Saxony. Having conducted the Saxon war to a conclusion, the history of Charlemagne may proceed with more regularity than it could possibly have done, embar- rassed wth continual repetitions of similar excur- sions and similar revolts. It is necessary, however, to retrograde in point of time, and to look back to the year 794, at which period the war already com- menced with the Huns, or Avars, had been arrested in its progress by the conspiracy of Pepin the Hunchback, and the insurrection of the Saxons.* While the monarch in person turned his arms against his more immediate enemies, and met the new danger the moment it appeared, internal dis- sensions,! probably arising in their late defeats, sprang up among the Huns, which greatly facili- tated the after efforts of the Franks, and soon af- forded that nation a favourable opportunity of pursu- ing the war. During a temporary halt on the banks of the Elbe in 795, Charlemagne received messengers from one * A. D. 793-4. t Ann. Tiliani ; Ann. Loiseliani. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 313 of the chieftains of the Avars, named Thudun, ex- pressing a wish to embrace the Christian religion, and offering to hold his territory of the monarch of the Franks. Though Charlemagne was not yet pre- pared to lead his armies against Hungary in person, his immediate answer was evidently favourable to the Hunnish prince ; but the precise nature of the whole negotiation is not to be ascertained ; and an obscure, perhaps impenetrable, veil hangs over the civil dissensions which opened the way for the en- tire conquest of Panonia. It became evident to Char- lemagne, however, that internal strife reigned among his enemies ; and every motive induced him to seize the favourable occasion which now presented itself. Thudun is represented, by all accounts, as one of the most wealthy and powerful of the Hunnish chieftains. He willingly submitted himself to France. The rest of the nation were in actual contention among themselves ; and it was clear that the mo- ment had now arrived for pursuing the unconcluded war with every prospect of success. The subjugation of Saxony, as the enterprise most necessary to the security of his dominions, still oc- cupied the monarch of the Franks himself; and, in consequence, he intrusted the important task of seizing the opportunity,* and instantly renewing the war against the Huns, to Herric Duke of Friuli ; but, at the same time, he commanded Pepin King of Italy to hasten back from the south, and abandoning his strife with the Beneventines, to complete what Herric was about to commence. The Lombards and the Hunsf had been continu- ally at feud, and the accumulated animosity of many years, especially among the people of Friuli, soon procured for Herric, duke of that province, an im- mense and willing army. Supported by this force, he invaded Hungary, swept the greater part of the * Ann. Fuldenses; Ann. Mettensis; Ann. Loiseliani. t De Buat, Hist. Ancienne des Peuples de l'Europe. Dd *# 314 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. country, — which, exhausted by civil wars, made little or no resistance,* — and returned, bringing the most immense booty which had ever been captured by any of Charlemagne's armaments. His steps were followed by Pepin King of Italy, who, penetrating still farther, broke through all the fortifications of the Huns, whose monarchf had been slain in the civil war, captured the royal fortress called the Ring, and carried off all that immense mass of wealth which the Avars had accumulated, both by plundering the nations round about,! and by wringing from the feeble empire of the East the hoarded riches of centuries of prosperity. All the spoil was brought into France, and laid at the feet of Charlemagne ;§ but that great monarch, after selecting some of the most splendid objects, as offer- ings to the church, distributed the rest of the enor- mous prize which had been thus captured among his nobles and soldiers, — so that the whole nation of the Franks "became rich, whereas they had been poor before. "H * Vit. S. Rudperti, Salisberg. Episcopi ; Eginhard Ann. t I have stated the death of the monarch of the Huns generally, be- cause, T confess, I do not understand the meaning of the expression which the annalists use in regard to him, nor do I think any one else has understood it. Two names are always mentioned together, in speaking of the chagan, — as "Chagan sive Jugurro, intestina clade addictis," in the Annales Tiliani, and the Annals of Loisel ; "Caganus et Jugurrus, Principes Hunorum," in Eginhard ; " Cagan et Jugurro Principibus Hunorum civili hello et intestina clade a suis occisis," in the Annales Fuldenses. Monsieur Guizot, on whose judgment, on any historical point, I would rely in preference to that of almost any other man, translates the passage in Eginhard, " Chagan et Igour, Princes des Huns;" but upon the word Igour he has this marginal note, "Nom national des Avares euxmemes." t Eginhard in Vit. Caroli. Magni. § Eginhard Annales. || In regard to this war, Monsieur Gaillard is wrong in more than one material point. In the first place, he makes the two expeditions occur in two distinct years, whereas they took place in one, which is proved by the Life of St. Rupert, in Canisius, vol. vi., and by all the annalists. One fact, however, may be remarked here, which has caused a great deal of error in chronology, namely, that the annalists of those days began the year at different times, according to their different nations and habits, some commencing at Easter, of which the Annals of Eginhard yield an example; some on Christmas-day, of which those of HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 315 At the same time, Thudun, who had betrayed his country, probably with the sole purpose of his own aggrandizement, came willingly, with a number of his dependants, to receive baptism, and constitute himself a vassal of the crown of France. Charle- magne treated him with distinction, and loaded him with presents,* both as an inducement to himself to keep the faith he had voluntarily embraced, and as an incitement to his countrymen to follow his ex- ample, as far as regarded religion. Nevertheless, it cannot be doubted that the monarch of the Franks, though he might look upon the baptism of Thudun as an act of conviction, not of apostacy, could not regard his treason to his country in the same light, and, while he applauded the convert, must have despised the traitor. For the purpose of affording religious instruction to the conquered people,! Arnon Bishop of Saltz- burg was commanded to preach the gospel in Pa- nonia ; and both captives and populace were treated with every kind of lenity, in order that the conse- quences of this warfare — so different from those they were themselves accustomed to inflict — might not disgust the Avars with the religion of their con- querors. That portion of the spoil taken by the Duke of Friuli from the Huns, which was destined by Charle- magne for the Church of Rome, was carried to Italy by Angelbert, Abbot of St. Richarius, or Centulensis, who was also charged to receive the oath of fidelity from the Roman people, and from Leo III., on his elevation to the chair of St. Peter. On Christmas- day, A. D. 795, Adrian, the tried and affectionate friend of the French monarch, had closed a long and St. Fulda afford an instance. In the next place, Monsieur Gaillard here confounds the Avars entirely with the ancient Huns (torn. i. p. 380), and makes the warriors of Charlemagne divide all that Attila had torn from both the East and West, — probably an accidental oversight, but still it is one which greatly perverts historical fact. * Ann. Poet. Saxon. t Vit. S. Ruperti. 316 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. active papacy, in the course of which, though he manifested several faults, he had exhibited many noble virtues and splendid talents. Though he did not possess the grand dignity of Gregory the Great, neither did he possess many of the petty absurdities which checkered the character of that extraor- dinary man. He was firm and courageous, keen and clear-sighted, humane, charitable, and consistent. He saw deeply into the characters of men, took extended and sagacious views, both in regard to the present and the future ; and, had not a monastic edu- cation narrowed his mind, and the petty individuality of ecclesiastical policy contracted his feelings, it is probable that, free from the selfishness apparent in some of his negotiations, and the cunning contri- vances which occasionally disgraced his pontificate, he would have been one of the greatest men of that or any other age. When the news of the death of Adrian was con- veyed to the ears of Charlemagne, the monarch wept. He afterward composed the epitaph of his early friend, which was sent to Rome, engraven on marble in letters of gold ; but the noblest epitaph on the dead prelate was to be found in the tears of the hero.* * One of the most tangible methods of evincing grief for the loss of a friend was, in those days, to institute prayers for his salvation ; and this Charlemagne not only performed. in his own dominions, but we find that he sent presents to all the prelates of England, begging them to offer masses for the soul of the deceased pontiff.(a) He also wrote to Offa King of Mercia, who at that time united under his dominion twenty-three English counties, to urge the same request, sending him a belt, a Hun- garian sword, and two silken cloaks. At the same time, he used every effort to encourage the commerce between the two countries, and assured the Anglo-Saxon king(b) that all English travellers passing through his country should have security and protection. Another letter is recorded from Charlemagne, not directly to Offa himself, but to Athilard Arch- bishop of Canterbury, wherein the Frankish monarch intercedes (or certain refugees who had fled to his court from some unjust accusation. The chief of these exiles was dead ; and Charlemagne says that he had received him, not from any enmity towards Offa, but in the hope of pro- Co) Baluz. ConciL (&) Hist. Litter, de France, torn. iv. p. 388. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 31*7 The election of a new pope had not in that day acquired the extreme importance which it received in after years, when the progressive encroachments of individual pontiffs had raised the tiara above both the sceptre and the sword. It was a matter of suffi- cient consequence, however, to cause infinite in- trigue and faction in Rome itself. On the death of Adrian, his nephews, who had been elevated by him to the highest ecclesiastical dignities of the Roman church, and who, beyond doubt, expected to obtain the apostolic seat in succession, were nevertheless excluded from the object of their ambition, and Leo,* a Roman priest, the son of Arnulphus, was raised to the pontifical throne. No tumult, however, took place at the time : the wrath which the disappointed competitors felt profoundly was covered with the specious mask of friendship ; and the new pope, secure in possession, instantly sent messengers to the great defender of the Roman see, to announce his election, and to do those acts of homage towards the patrician which were usual in feudal times on any new inheritor entering upon the feoff of his predecessor. The forms of homage were ever va- rious, according to the different terms of investiture, the different countries in which the territory lay, and the different circumstances under which the feoff was granted. In the present instance, as the mark of his subjection, the pope sent the keys of the tomb of St. Peter, and the standard of the city of ducing a reconciliation between that king and his vassal. It has been well observed, that this letter is a specimen of delicacy of feeling and humanity worthy of the most civilized age. He does not address the Anglo-Saxon monarch directly, but through a minister of charity and peace; he calls him, however, by the kindly name of his brother, and he desire* the bishop, in case of his request being refused, to send the exiles back to him uninjured, adding, "It is better to travel than to perish ; it is better to live in exile than to die at home." I am indebted for the observations on this letter, and for the noiice of the letter itself, which had escaped rny attention, to Mr. Sharon Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons. * Muratori, Rer. Script. Ital. vol. ii. part ii. p. 282. Dd2 §18 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. Rome ;* but, at the same time, he begged the mon- arch to despatch some great man to Italy, who might, in his name, receive the oath of fidelity from the Roman people. f We must pause for a moment here to consider this transaction, as it has been a matter of great dif- ficulty and controversy among critics and histo- rians. One party appeals to the positive testimony of Anastasius, that certain territories were bestowed upon the Church of Rome, and to the corroborative allusions of the Codex Carolinus ; while the other relies on the acts of sovereignty exercised by Charle- magne in those very territories, and the acts of sub- mission constantly performed by the pope. The one party declares that the gift was absolute, the other maintains that there was no gift at all; and those ambitious of the character of candour and moderation! assume, that Charlemagne gave, in a moment of liberality, what he chose to resume upon reflection. At the same time, both sides pervert the stubborn facts which are opposed, more or less, to every one of the hypotheses which they uphold, and either corrupt the texts of the historians,^ mistrans- late the passages which they dare not admit, or violate all the rules of grammar, to give a forced interpretation to the most simple statement. || * Eginhard Annales, ad. ann. 796. t Charlemagne, in his first letter to the new pope on his election, says, " Gavisi sumus, seu in electionis unanimitate, seu in humilitatis nostra? obedientia, et in promissionis ad nos fidelitate " — D. Bouquet, vol. v. p. 625. t Gibbon. § See Pagi, Bellarmine, Le Blanc, ointed out and examined by Le Blanc, who is very nearly as prejudiced as any of those he criticises. * I arn told that this opinion has been before promulgated by some other writer. I arn happy to hear it, as the fact gives some degree of strength to my conclusions. t See Le Blanc, Dissertation, Hist. chap. iv. 320 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. — an instance of which may be found in the homage of Tassilo Duke of Bavaria, mentioned in the former part of this work. We must now turn for a moment to the internal occupations of the French monarch. With Adrian, the late pope, Charlemagne had lived in that con- stant reciprocation of friendly offices which we seldom find between men of so elevated a station ; and it has been supposed that the presents selected from the spoil of the Huns, though afterward con- veyed by the monarch's command to Leo, were originally reserved for his predecessor. Indeed, a gift had been conferred by the prelate shortly before his death, which Charlemagne was not likely to leave long unrequited. This consisted of the beau- tiful marbles and mosaics of the ancient palace of Ravenna,* which had been sent to France by the pontiff, for the purpose of ornamenting the superb buildings then about to be raised at Aix-la-Chapelle. These specimens were, in every respect, invaluable ; for although, as I have before shown, architecture, as a science, was by no means unknown in France at that time, and though the kind of mixed Roman, which has been sometimes denominated Lombard, was then making great progress in that country, yet no such works could be produced in any branch of art as those which were still to be seen at Rome and Ravenna, accomplished when the united powers of the East and the West had brought knowledge and skill to their highest perfection. At Aix-la-Chapelle, situated nearly in the centre of his vast dominions, and in a salubrious climate, Charlemagne had fixed upon a spot for building a palace, in the neighbourhood of some natural warm- baths, — a Roman luxury, in which the Frankish monarch particularly delighted. All that the great conception of Charlemagne could devise, and the art * Codex Carolinus, Epist. lxvii. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 321 of the age could execute, was done to render this structure and the church attached to it worthy of their magnificent founder. But no account cap be given ;* for nothing has come down to the present age which can justify any thing like detailed descrip- tion. Nevertheless, a number of circumstances in regard to this building are occasionally mentioned in the historians of the time, that convey an idea of vastness and splendour which probably might have been lost had minute examination been possi- ble. Immense hallsf — magnificent galleries — a col- lege — a library — baths where a hundred persons could swim at large — a theatre and a cathedral — a profuse display of the finest marble — gates and doors of wrought brass — columns from Rome, and pave- ments from Ravenna, — such we know to have been some of the many things which that great palace dis- played. Workmen were gathered together from every part of Europe ; and though but small reliance can be placed upon the anecdotes related by the Monk of St. Gall, it is evident, from every account, that the building must have been the most magnificent archi- tectural effort which Europe had beheld since the days of the splendour of ancient Rome. Besides the palace itself, we find that an immense number of buildings were constructed around it, for the accommodation of every one in any way con- nected with the court ; and adjoining were particu- lar halls, open at all times, and in which all classes and conditions might find a refuge from the cold of night, or from the wintry storm. J * In all probability, the crypt of the church of Aix-la-Chapelle, as it stands at present, is all that remains of the original edifice. t Eginhard. in Vit. Car. Magni ; Monachus Sangallens ; Chron. Moissiac ; Chron. Sigiberti ; Poema de Car. Mag. et Leonis Papas ad eundem ad ventu. { Stoves were furnished also to warm those who might take refuge in these general chambers; and the Monk of St. Gall asserts that theapart- soaents of Charlemagne were so constructed that he could seo every thing 322 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. Within the walls was that famous domestic col- lege on the maintenance, extension, and direction of which Charlemagne, amid all the multiplicity of his occupations, found means to bestow so much of his time and attention. But every trace of his ac- tions tends to prove that his first and greatest object — to which even conquest was secondary, if not subservient — was to civilize his dominions, and to raise mankind in general from that state of dark ignorance into which barbarian invasion had cast the world. The great primary step which he had taken had been the restoration of general order, and the re-establishment of individual security by a variety of laws — perhaps not the best that could be framed upon abstract principles, but beyond doubt the best which could be adapted to the age and society in which he lived. By his care the disorders which had pervaded France, even under his father's reign, were speedily done away ;* and security opened the way for literature and art. These we have seen encouraged by the monarch in their ad- vance ; and by this time his efforts were beginning to bear fruit. The schools which he had established in every different province and cure throughout his dominions had now made great progress. f Alcuin had returned from England to fix his perpetual abode in France. St. Benedict,! the younger, had already distinguished the school established by his monas- tery, had gathered together a considerable library, and had rendered his success a matter of emulation. which took place in the building round about, — an impossible folly, im- agined by the small cunning of a monk. * The irregularities cited by Schmidt, and aggravated by Gibbon, who reposes on Schmidt's authority, are worthy of some notice, from the reputation of the names by which they have been reported. I have Spoken of the passage of Schmidt, and made some observations upon it, in a preceding note, and I think it will be seen, by any one who reads the extant records, that the internal police of the reign of Charlemagne offers few parallels of regularity, even in modern history. t Histoire Litteraire de France, vol. iv. p. 8. % A. D. 793. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 323 The college of Orleans,* under the care of Theo- dulphus, bishop of that city, had by this time acquired a name in Europe ; and while science had become an object of ambition throughout the whole of France, the means of acquiring it were multiplied in every province. So much, indeed, had been the progress made by the French people since the commencement of the reign of Charlemagne, that, whereas at his acces- sion letters were unknown, and all was darkness, at the present period we find innumerable efforts in literature, comprising both poetry and prose, which, though rude and dusty with ages of forgetfulness, still show the human mind struggling up like a Titan from the mountains which had been thrown upon its head. During the first ten or fifteen years after its estab- lishment, the college of the palace had probably followed the court during its frequent migrations, notwithstanding the number of members, and the difficulty of transporting the library, which soon be- came considerable. Many circumstances, however, seem to show, that after the construction of the great palace at Aix-la-Chapelle, it became fixed in that place. The library, we know, was there concen- trated ; and several of the books thus collected, such as the Codex Carolinus, &c, have come down through a long line of emperors to the present day. Indeed, a great part of the most valuable literature of former ages was preserved alone by the efforts of the French monarch for the revival of science ; and the link of connexion between ancient and mod- ern civilization owes its existence as much to the endeavours of Charlemagne as even to the papal preservation of antique Rome. In speaking of the domestic college thus estab- lished by the Frankish king, I must not omit to * A. D. 794. 324 - HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. notice a curious trait, of even childish levity, which mingled with some of his grandest efforts for the improvement of his people. Among a number of very doubtful anecdotes concerning this institution, we find one fact mentioned of which we have incon- testable proof in the letters of the monarch himself, and which may well go to swell the long catalogue of the puerilities of philosophers, and follies of the wise. This was the adoption of emblematical names by all the persons connected with the palace college ; so that we find Alcuin himself writing to Charle- magne as David, and the monarch of the Franks addressing Angelbert,* his chancellor, as Homer. Notwithstanding this little absurdity which may be conceded to the darkness of the age, Charlemagne gave an example to his subjects of that ardent and indefatigable zeal in the pursuit of knowledge which alone could lead others on the path along which he sought to guide them. Even the most dry and fatiguing parts of studies, which now form the very rudiments of education, he went through when he had arrived at manhood. Under Peter of Pisa, whom he brought with him into France after the conquest of Lombardy, he studied grammar ; and Alcuin, at a still later period, became his teacher of rhetoric, dialectics, and astronomy ;f in the latter of which sciences the scholar soon excelled his master. Gifted naturally with great eloquence, Charlemagne assiduously cultivated a knowledge of various lan- guages ; spoke Latin with the same facility as his own tongue ; and acquired a thorough acquaintance with Greek, though the soft sounds of that musical language were difficult of pronunciation to the lips of the Frankish king. At the same time, the national dialect of the Franks was not neglected by the mon- arch. Licentious and irregular, it was at once cor- * Epist. Alcuini Abbat ; Poem, de Car. Magn. et Leon. Pap. t Eginhard in Vit. Car. Magn, cap. xxv„ HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 325 nipt and barren ; and Charlemagne applied himself earnestly both to purify and enrich it. The names of the months and of the winds, which had formerly comprised both Latin and barbarian terms, he changed to others of a Teutonic origin. A gram- mar of the language was commenced under his in- spection ; and he ordered the old and barbarous poems,* which sang the wars and actions of the ancient kings, and which had previously been only transmitted by tradition, to be preserved in registers for the benefit of posterity. About this time, also, the mode of writing under- went a change. The rude characters employed under the Merovingian race were disused, and the small Roman letters were introduced. As the spirit of improvement proceeded, new alterations were sought ; and some years afterward, to write in the large Roman capitals became the mode of the day, the initial letter of each paragraph being always highly ornamented, and sometimes painted, many specimens of which have come down to the present time.f Though at an advanced^ period of life when * Eginhard. in Vit. Car. Magn. cap. xxv. t Histoire Litteraire de France, Tab. Chronologique, vol. iv. tl do not kno\V whether it be worth while to attempt to refute the opinion which hap been founded on an erroneous passage in Eginhard that Charlemagne could not write. Eginhard understood, as Gibbon says, the court and the world, and the Latin language, it is true ; but, nevertheless, we may much more rationally believe that the secretary made use of a vague expression, than suppose that he wished to imply, in one sentence, the manifest contradiction of Charlemagne being in the habit of going- through all the abstruse calculations of astronomy, in an age when those calculations were most complicated, without being able to write. The whole of Charlemagne's life renders the supposition ab- surd. He studied under Alcuin, whose first rule was to teach the' most eorrect orthography in writing.(n) We know that he subscribed many deeds, though his signature was abbreviated, to render it as rapid as pos- sible. Eginhard himself states, that the monarch wrote the history of the ancient kings in verse : and Lambecius, one of the highest antiquarian authorities, declares that the imperial library still contains a manuscript corn 'ted by the hand of Charlemagne himself. See Lambecius, Com- ment, de Biblioth. Caesar. Vindobonens ; Hist. Lit. de France, par lea Benedicts, vol. iv. p. 370. (or) Alcuin, Epist. 15. Ee 326 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. this method of writing first began to prevail, Charle- magne endeavoured to learn it, and even caused models of the letters to be laid by his pillow, that during the waking moments of the night he might practise the art which he sought to acquire. Nor did the monarch remain satisfied with leading the way himself on the path of knowledge which he desired the whole nation to follow ; nor* content himself with bestowing on his childrenf a careful and judicious education, both mental and corporeal ; but, by constantly proposing in writing questions for solution, addressed to the various prelates and teachers of his realm, he forced them to exercise their talents and cultivate their minds, under the severe penalty of shame and ridicule. On the other hand, literary merit was never without its reward, for though, as far as we can discover, Charlemagne, wise in his generosity, seldom if ever gave more than one profitable charge at once to one man, yet those who distinguished themselves by talent and exertion were sure to meet with honour, distinc- tion, and competence. Sometimes the nature of these recompenses must have rendered the conferring of them a painful duty on the part of the monarch, as it inevitably separated him from many of his best loved friends. Thus, in the year 796, to which I have now conducted the history of Charlemagne, his nomination of Alcuin to ' * There is to be found in Voltaire a gross and malicious mistranslation of Eginhard, to which Gibbon has given an unscrupulous and kindly wel come. Had he not done so, I should not have thought it necessary even to notice so impudent and beastly a falsehood. Eginhard states that his daughters were " ab eo plurimum diligerentuT? but never insinuates for a moment that, they were loved by their father with " too fond an affee tion." He states boldly the errors of the daughter of Charlemagne^ but states, with equal force, the pain which those errors inflicted on the men arch. The historian who wilfully or carelessly traduces a great man is a robber of the worst description. He robs the dead of their only prop- erty—fair fame ; and he robs the living of their best legacy from the past — a great example. . t Eginhard. in Vit. Car. Mag. ; Astronom. Anon, in Vit. Ludovic. Fu HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 327 the abbacy of St. Martin,* of Tours, deprived him of that society in which he had been long accus- tomed to delight. Nevertheless, some compensation must have been derived by the monarch in this instance, from perceiving that the sacrifice he had made produced great benefit of that particular kind which he was most anxious to effect. At Tours iUcuin immediately established a school, which soon became the most famous of all those that had lately arisen in France. From it, as from a parent, sprang a multitude of others ;f and know- ledge was progressively diffused over a large tract of country, which had previously been destitute of any sufficient means of instruction. I have before pointed out, that France alone was not the sole object of the monarch's care in these respects ; and while speaking on this subject, I may be permitted to cast my view a little farther forward than the precise epoch to which the military and political events of this reign have been conducted. In those countries which Charlemagne had added to his native dominions religion and civilization advanced hand in hand. We have seen, through the whole of his life, that the mitigation of the fero- cious character of the Saxons was one of the prin- cipal objects of his endeavour; and never, either during the fresh revolts which broke out after the Hungarian campaign, or when the whole of Saxony was at length totally subdued, did Charlemagne relax for a moment in his efforts to soften their barbarism, and court them to a better state. Schools of various kinds were established throughout Sax- ony ;| and though the particular institutions of many of these are now lost, yet we find the instance of one perpetually endowed by the French monarch at Osnaburg in Westphalia, where Greek and Latin * Vit. Alcuini Abbat. cap. vi. f Hint. Lit. de France, vol. iv. p. 14. f A. D. 804. 328 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. were to be taught to all applicants. Such were the means he employed to raise his new territories from a state of barbarism; and the immense progress which we find the Saxons had made within fifty years after their subjugation justifies the policy of the monarch, and evinces the wisdom with which his endeavours were conducted. Other means however, were at the same time employed, t{ change the rich and extensive plains of German} from a savage wilderness into a polished and culti vated land. Cities and towns* rose up on' the path, of Charlemagne, and a civilized population became generally mingled with the original denizens of the country. Some of these cities still remain, and some have crumbled away beneath the decaying footsteps of time ; but while France herself, soon after the death of Charlemagne, relapsed into anarchy and confu- sion, and sank rapidly down from the height to which he had raised her, the change which the great monarch had wrought in Saxony was never done away; and Germany has yet to bless. him, as the guide which first led her from darkness unto light. * Chran. Moissiac. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 329 BOOK XII. FROM THE RENEWAL OF HOSTILITIES IN THE SPANISH MARCH, TO THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN LUIDGARDE. FROM A. D. 797 TO A. D. 800. Piratical Expeditions from Spain and Barbary— Chastised by Charle- magne — Renewal of the War in Spain — Zatun does Homage for Barce- lona—Louis carries on the War against the Saracens — Powerful Diversion effected in favour of the Gothic Christians — Victories of Alphonso the Chaste — Warfare with the Huns— Revolt of Thudun — Gerold Count of the Marches of Bavaria, and Herric Duke of Friuli, slain — Hungary subdued — Embassies to the Court of Charlemagne — From Constantine VI. to treat for Peace — From Irene, announcing the Deposition and Blinding of Constantine — From Haroun al Raschid — Rise of his Friendship with Charlemagne — His Presents to the Mon- arch of the Franks— Sends him the Keys of Jerusalem— Norman Pira- cies—Measures to repel them from the Coasts of France and Germany — Death of Luidgarde. The successful irruption on the part of the Sara- cens,* mentioned in another place, had not only served the temporary purpose of carrying terror and destruction into the heart of the ancient Septimania, but had also procured more solid advantages to the Mohammedan princes of Spain,by shaking the Spanish March, or defensible frontier which Charlemagne had pushed forward far within the limits of the original conquests of the Moors. Barcelona, Huesca, and the entire seashore of Catalonia had now fallen into their hands ; and it would seem that this line of coastf became the great place of refuge for all those predatory armaments with which the Saracens now swept the whole extent of the Mediterranean. Sicily, Sardinia, the Balearic Islands,! and even the coasts of Italy were all in turn made the subject of * A. D. 793. t Eginhard Annales, ann. 807. tAnn. Loiseliani; 799; Arm. Fuldenses ; Chjon. Adonis. . Ee2 830 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. attack ; and Majorca and Minorca remained for some time in the hands of the Moors. Charlemagne, as the greatest and most zealous of the Christian monarchs at that period in Europe, was applied to by the sufferers ; and he was never appealed to in vain. Notwithstanding a fresh insur- rection in Brittany, and the war which he was then still waging with the Saxons, the monarch of the Franks made the most immense exertions to aid his Christian brethren in their struggles against the aggressions of the infidel. The Bretons* were speedily subdued; and while he himself remained to. direct the operations of his army in Saxony, he despatched a strong force to expel the Moors from the Balearic Isles, — an expedition which was crowned with the most triumphant success. At the same time, domestic dissensions among the Arab princes of Spain encouraged him to renew the war upon the Cataloman frontier ; and the desire of assisting the Gothic Christians of the Asturias in their struggle against the Saracens gave vigour to his determination, and promptitude to his endeav- ours. Issem, the son of Abderaman, the Moavite, had expelled his brother Abdallahf from the Moorish territories in Spain, and had driven him into exile in Africa. A number of the Saracens, however, of Catalonia and Arragon, retained their affection for the exiled prince ; and either from private ambition or from attachment to Abdallah, Zatun,J who, on the capture of Barcelona from the Franks,^ had been named governor of that city, sought the French sovereign at Aix-la-Chapelle, and surrendered the territory which he had been appointed to defend. Although this act of treachery was not committed without an express stipulation that the territories thus yielded were still to be intrusted to Zatun, yet, according to the Frankish accounts, his homage to * Ann. Loiseliani. t Ann. Eginhard. JAnn.Tiliani, §A. D. 797. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 331 Charlemagne was complete ; and the opportunity now afforded of diverting a part of the Moorish forces from the war with the Spanish Christians, and of regaining the eastern portion of the Spanish March, was not lost upon the monarch of the Franks. His son Louis, King of Aquitaine, then in his twentieth year, — a period of existence when the springs of enterprise and zeal are unoppressed by the heavy load which all the difficulties and obstacles of life soon cast upon them, — was commanded to march into Catalonia, and take possession of the country* which the Saracen irruption had snatched from the power of France. Louis, however, notwithstanding his youth, want- ed entirely the active vigour of Charlemagne ; and though he made frequent expeditions into Spain, obtained some successes, took Lerida, and finally recovered the Spanish March, Huesca baffled his efforts more than once ; and a marked difference was to be seen in all his proceedings, from the rapid and sweeping energy which had borne forward his progenitors to conquest and to empire. It has been frequently asserted, that the young King of Aquitaine either advanced in person to the assistance of Alphonso, the Christian monarch of Spain, or sent a large detachment to his aid : but as neither the annalists of Charlemagne nor the espe- cial biographers of Louis himself make any mention of such a circumstance,! it must not be admitted as an historical fact. Nevertheless, it cannot be doubted that a great and effectual diversion was operated * Astronom. Anon, in Vit. Ludovic Pii ; Ann. Tiliani ; Ann. Eginhard. tTwo expeditions, detached from the mam body of Louis's army, are mentioned by the astronomer, who composed an account of his life. The first, while the king was besieging Barcelona, made their way into the Asturias, and is said to have twice defeated the army of Cordova, which was advancing to the relief of the Catalonian capital. The second was directed against Tortosa; but in neither instance do we find that the Frankish troops were joined by the Goths of Spain, or acted in co-opera*: lion with them. 332 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. in favour of Alphonso by the warfare carried on by Louis in Catalonia ; and much of the success of that great monarch, in his struggles with the infidel strangers, who, locust-like, had invaded his land, may be attributed to the divided state of the Moorish councils and armies. Thus, while the Gothic Chris- tians, going on from conquest to conquest, succeeded in establishing a united and independent kingdom, and while Alphonso, triumphant at the very gates of Lisbon, despatched part of the spoil of the Moors to Charlemagne, less indeed as a gift than as a proof of victory, and an inducement to co-operation, the monarch of the Franks used every means to retain the Saracen forces on the frontier, and promote the divisions which existed in their empire. Many opportunities for effecting this purpose pre- sented themselves. Abdallah, the exiled brother of Issem, sought the court of the Frankish sovereign,* and, according to his own request,- was sent back with honour to Spain, in order to head the party of his adherents. Zatun, the Emir of Barcelona, soon forgetting his engagements with the Christians, returned to the domination of his former lord, and called back the Saracen power into the Spanish March. A new war instantly succeeded ; and after a lingering siege of two years, Barcelona was recap- tured by the Franks,! and the defensive frontier of France, on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees, was restored to the state in which Charlemagne had left it. All these wars in the north of Spain acted as a continual drain upon the Moorish forces, and enabled Alphonso to contend with some degree of equality against their power. At the same time, the Spanish March was restored, and the passes of the Pyrenees were defended, by the care of Louis, with fortresses the remains of which, either real or imaginary, are shown to the present day. f* A. D. 797 ; Ann. Loisel. t A. D. 801 ; Ermoldus Nigellus. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 333 These objects being attained, Charlemagne made no other effort on the side of Spain. It is true, he might have urged his conquest farther, and possibly, taking advantage of the weakness of all parties in the Peninsula, might have added that territory also to those which he already possessed. Some persons have censured him for not making the attempt ; and, indeed, had either conquest or conversion been his sole object in any of his enterprises, the situation of Spain would have invited his march. But in all his wars, either the security of himself or his allies had been an ingredient in his motives. Such induce- ments did not exist in the case of Spain : Alphonso was already well able to defend himself, especially after a vigorous diversion had given him the means of establishing his power on a firm basis ; and the Pyrenees formed a sufficient frontier barrier for the French territory, as long as the Spanish March was preserved. No motive, therefore, but simple ambi- tion could have carried Charlemagne back to Spain after these objects were accomplished ; and the ambition of that great man was always mingled with something which elevated it far above the ordinary passion of vulgar conquerors. Having, both in regard to the Saxons and the Saracens of Spain, violated the exact march of chronology for the sake of brevity and perspicuity, I may be permitted . also to conclude the warfare with the Huns in this place, and to dispose of va- rious other occurrences of minor consequence, in order that the more important events which were preparing in Italy may be noticed with separate distinctness. The active hostilities which, from time to time, took place against the Avars, like those carried on with the Saracens, were no longer conducted by Charlemagne in person ; and the annalists of the time, who principally directed their attention to the pro- ceedings of the monarch, leave in very great obscu- 334 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. rity both the motives for renewing the war and the circumstances which took place in its course.* It is certain, however, that very shortly after the last victorious expedition of Pepin King of Italy, Thudun, the Hunnish chief, who had abandoned his religion and betrayed his country, unscrupulously violated the oaths which he had taken to Charlemagne ; and, probably, with a view to render himself master of the whole territory, took arms, and prepared to offer a more desperate resistance than the Franks had hitherto encountered.f Two of Charlemagne's offi- cers, one named Count Ceroid,;}; and the other Her- ric, Duke of Friuli, collected their forces with all speed, and being already posted on the frontier, hastened severally forward into Hungary, in hopes of suppressing the revolt before time and prepara- tion had rendered it general and dangerous. It is probable that the desire of taking their enemy by surprise engendered some degree of negligence on the part of both the Frankish generals.^ Advancing from opposite sides of the country, the one, the Duke of Friuli, || was led into an ambuscade^" and killed, with all his followers ; while Count Gerold suddenly found himself in presence of a Hunnish army, and was slain as he was addressing his army, preparatory to a general battle,** the event of which is doubtful. ft *It would appear that the government of the Avars was, at this time, very nearly approaching to a complete feudalism. The king, or, as he was termed, the chagan, though possessing a certain degree of general jurisdiction over his vassals, was very much circumscribed in power by the authority of the various inferior chiefs. Probably the whole history of Thudun may resolve itself into the struggles of a great vassal to raise himself to the sovereignty by the overthrow of the existing dynasty. t Ann. Mettens. J He commanded on the marches of Bavaria. § A. D. 799. || Ann. Mettens. ; Ann. Tiliani ; Ann. Loisel. II" Eginhard states, that Herric was slain by the treachery of the inhab- itants of Tarsacos, a town of Liburnia, after innumerable and brilliant victories over the Huns. ** Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Magni. ttMany reasons exist for believing that the Franks completely defeated tixe Huns, among which is the fact of the body of Gerold having been HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 335 From that period the course of the warfare against the Huns remains obscure ; but that Charlemagne did not suffer the death of his generals to remain unavenged, nor the hostilities against the Avars to linger, is evident from various circumstances ; and in the year 803 we find him at Ratisbon, writing for the return of his army from Hungary. That army returned completely victorious ; and the Huns, now permanently subdued, embraced the Christian reli- gion, and did general homage to the Frankish sove- reign.* The fate of Thudun is not known. Some accountsf declare that he was taken and executed for the breach of the vows which he had before plighted to the mon- arch of the Franks, but there is every reason to believe this statement to be perfectly erroneous ; and, at the final subjection of his nation, we hear of a prince named Zudun, or Zodan,| Duke of Panonia, who, with the rest of his countrymen, claimed and received the clemency of the king. That the indi- vidual who did so was the same who had before submitted in the year 795 is not only probable, but almost certain.^ Although Charlemagne had to treat with the Hun- carried back into Bavaria, and buried at Augia or Richenaw. The chief cause for believing that the Huns were victorious is the silence of tho best Frankish annals on the event of the battle. But it is to be remarked, that a great, difference is to be found between the national writers of that period and those of our own. At present many a victory is recorded which was never won ; and in that day successes were often left un- mentioned which might have been claimed with honour. * Ann. Lambeeiani ; Ann. Mettensis. [Monsieur Gaillard asserts that he was taken and executed a» a felon, — a circumstance for which he gives no authority, for which I can find none, which is clearly contradicted by the Annals of Metz, ann. 811, and which is, in all probability, as purely imaginary as the rest of his account of the Hunuish war — or of his history of Charlemagne. t Ann. Mettensis. § The short chronicle of St. Gall, in reference to the year 795, calls Thudun Zotanus dux de Pannonia, affording a strong presumption that the Annals of Metz may have called him by the same name in 803, though the same annals, in an alter passage, restore his name to the proper orthography. * 336 HISTORY OE CHARLEMAGNE. nish people as a conqueror with the conquered ; and although the state of weakness to which they had been reduced by the warfare they had themselves begun with the Franks left them no powers of re- sistance ; though their country was little better than an empty desert,* and their armies scattered like dust before the wind, — yet we do not find that the monarch took any base or unworthy advantage of their prostrate situation. He required some time to deliberate, we. are told, upon the arrangements to be entered into with the vanquished people ; but, at length, he dismissed those who had sought him at Ratisbon with kindness and honour. No precise information, indeed, exists in regard to the degree of submission which he demanded, or in respect to the influence he exercised in the government of the conquered country. But that he left the nation all their native laws and old forms of administration is clear ; though we may infer, from the circumstance of his ratification having been afterward required for the nomination of a chagan, that his assent was requisite on the elevation of any individual to the supreme dignity of the state. To spread the Chris- tian religion universally among the people, and to ensure the purity of the doctrine taught, appears to have been the only interference which Charlemagne exercised in the domestic affairs of the Avars. But, at the same time, it would seem, that, in accordance with the advice of Alcuin,f he exempted them from the payment of tithes to the priests whom he sent among them, and defended them with ready zeal from the attacks of external enemies. For nearly thirty years Charles the Great had reigned over the Franks, seeing his dominions, his power, and , his fame increase every hour. His court was not only the refuge of the unfort^ * Eginhard, in Vit. Caroli Magni, cap; xiii. t EpisL Alcuin, Abb. VII. ad 1). Car. Reg. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 337 but was the resort of ambassadors from all nations ; and a history of the various embassies, and their causes, which from time to time reached his pres- ence, would afford no incomplete picture of the general progress of the world during his life. Be- sides the envoys twice sent by Alphonso, the Gothic King of Spain, bearing rich presents,* and instructed to call their monarch the faithful vassalf of the ; French king, a number of other messengers pre- sented themselves at his court during the years 707-8-9, the most important of whom were those, either directly or indirectly, despatched by the em- pire of the East. For many years Irene, the beautiful Athenian girl who had been bestowed on Leo the Isaurian, had continued, after the death of her husband, to sway with delegated power the sceptre of the East, as the guardian of her son ; but, after a time, her authority became irksome, both to the prince, whom she strove still to enthral, after the period of pupilage was over, and to the people, from whom she exacted an undue submission. The Armenian guards of the emperor, the countrymen of the wife which -she herself had given him, were the first to oppose her encroach- ments ; the youthful Constantine seconded their efforts, resumed the power which had been intrusted to his mother, and consigned her once more to a private station. But power to man or woman is like blood to the lion — once tasted, it brings a consuming thirst for more. What Irene could not accomplish by boldness she undertook by art. She submitted with apparent resignation ; and while she attempted by flattery and caresses to regain the affection of her son, she laid within the walls of his palace a * These consisted of a tent of extraordinary beauty and sire, neren Moorish slaves, together with mules, arms, gold, and other spoil taken from the Saracens. — Eginhard's Annals. tEginnard, in Vit. Car. Magni; Ann. Tiliani- Ann. Loiseiiani; Ann, Fuitiunses. Ff 338 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. deep intrigue for his destruction. One of the first steps of the young emperor, after he had taken the staff of rule into his own hands, was to seek the friendship of the great monarch of the Franks ; and he transmitted to the patrician Nicetas,* who then governed Sicily, an epistle, to be sent forward to Charlemagne, in order to bring about a closer alliance than had hitherto existed between the courts of France and Constantinople. In compliance with the emperor's commands, Nicetas instantly des- patched the letter by an envoy named Theoctistes, who found the monarch at Aix-la-Chapelle. He was immediately admitted to an audience, and acquitted himself of his charge ; but his embassy proved fruit- less ; for, while still upon his journey, a change had taken place in the Eastern capital. The plots of Irene had been successful : Constantine VI. indeed, suspecting some design against his liberty, had made his escape for a time from Constantinople ; but his flight did not place him beyond the influence of his mother's cabals. His officers and attendants were the creatures of her will ; and fears lest their trea- son should be betrayed by its instigator gave them courage to accomplish their crime. Constantine was carried back by force to his capital, to his pal- ace, and to the chamber of his birth, wherein his own servants, by the commands of his own mother, deprived him for ever of the light of day. When any singular natural phenomenon follows or precedes the great actions or mighty crimes of human beings, the superstitious vanity which teaches man to regard himself as the prime object of all. creation easily points out a sympathy in the inani- mate world with the interests of mankind. Thus, an extraordinary darkness which pervaded the£ greater part of Europe during seventeen daysf after the unnatural crime of Irene, was universally attrib- *Ann. Tilianij Aim. Eginhard. "fChron. SigibertL HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 339 uted, in those times, to her cruel ambition. Un- daunted, however, by omens, the empress, now acknowledged sole ruler of the East, hastened to secure her power as far as human cunning might prevail. To court the sovereigns around her to peace or alliance till such time as her authority- was established at home was one great object; and the next ambassadors from Constantinople which appeared at the court of Charlemagne were Theo- philus* and Michel, surnamed Ganglianos, two men of high station and distinction, who came charged, apparently, with the unimportant task of soliciting the enlargement of Sisinius, an officer who had been captured in Italy, on the defeat of Adalgisus. He was, it is true, the brother of Tarisius, Patriarch of Constantinople, who had been the secretary and favourite of the empress ; but the patrician Michel and his companion were intrusted, in reality, with a more important mission — that of communicating to the monarch of the Franks the cruel treason which had been perpetrated on the person of the unhappy Constantine, and of negotiating a peace between Constantinople and France. The envoys stated, that the fallen emperor had been blinded by his attendants, on account of his depravities and tyranny ; and Charlemagne, whether he believed the tale or not, — though it is probable, from his annals perpetuating the same story, that he did, — entered willingly into the alliance proposed by Irene ; and, at her request, sent back to his native country the unfortunate Sisinius. f About this time,! which in the life of Charle- magne was a period of negotiations, his first com- munication was opened with the great ruler of Asia. The throne of the caliphs had, some time before, passed to the family of the Abbassides, and the •A. D.798; Ann. Tiliani; Ann. Loiseliani; Ann. Mettensis; Ana, Poet. Saxon, t Eginhard, Annalea X Ann. Tiliani. 340 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. mightiest of that family now governed the eastern continent. Haroun al Raschid,* so well known in both real and fabulous history, first signalized his arms against the empress of Constantinople, while yet she wielded the sceptre in the name of her son. He also, at that period, acted only as deputy for his father Mohadi. But after having advanced to the shores of the Bosphorus, and having treated with Irene for the security of her territories, he retired on receiving seventy thousand dinars of gold ; and assumed, soon afterward, the sovereign power, on the death of his father and his brother. Custom, with most of the oriental nations, is very readily fixed into a law, known among some of themf by the name of adeth, or canoun ; and, once established, is regarded as a kind of covenant, which is as bind- ing as if written. Whether this understanding existed in the time of Haroun al Raschid or not I do not know, but the seventy thousand dinars of gold, after having once' been given, soon grew into an annual tribute, which the Greek empire found less expen- sive to pay than to neglect. Either by the convey- ance of this tribute, Or by the expeditions to which its occasional cessation gave rise, a constant inter- course of some kind was maintained between Con- stantinople and Bagdad. Various other means of communication also existed, both in the wanderings of the Jews, who were at this period spread over, and tolerated in all lands, and in the nascent efforts of commerce on the shores of the Mediterranean. There were then but two great monarchs in the world; and the ears of the caliph were filled with the wars and enterprises of the sovereign of the Franks, who was either an open adversary or but a cold ally of the Greeks, on whom he himself tram- pled, and who was also the continual enemy of the Omaiades of Spain, whom the Abbassi contemned .* Kerbelot, Bibliotfc. Orientals t D'Ohsson. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 34] as heretics, and hated as rivals. The caliph beheld in the European king the same bold and daring spirit, the same rapid energy, the same indefatigable zeal, the same magnificent designs, by which he himself was animated, and similarity of mind, free from rivalry of interests, produced admiration, respect, and affection.* The feelings were the same in the breast of Charlemagne ; and reciprocal regard soon produced a more direct communion. At length,! in 797, one of those wandering strangers who are so frequently to be found in the courts of monarchs undertook to conduct ambassadors from the French king to the presence of the caliph. Three envoys were accordingly sent, under the con- duct of Isaac the Hebrew,! as he is called by the annalists ; and were charged to offer the presents and the friendship of the French sovereign to the ruler of Asia. The Frankish ambassadors reached the court of the caliph in safety ; and, having acquitted themselves of their mission, and received the gift of an elephant, which they had been instructed to request, prepared to return to Europe. The change of climate, however, proved fatal to the Franks ; and Isaac the Jew, leaving the bones of his com- panions in Asia, returned alone, bringing with him the elephant and other presents^ from the oriental sovereign, together with the proud but flattering assurance from the mighty follower of Mohammed, that he regarded the "friendship of Charlemagne more than that of all the monarchs of the universe. Such were the feelings of Haroun al Raschid * Gibbon declares, that it is not easy to conceive the private friendship of a Frank and an Arab, who were strangers to each other's person, and language, and religion; but surely it will never be difficult to conceive the existence of admiration and esteem for virtue, magnanimity, and talent, however far removed from ourselves by time, or space, or circum- stance, so long as virtue, magnanimity, and talent remain upon earth. t Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Magni ; Eginhard, Annales, SOO. J A. D. 797. $Ann. Francorum Lambeciani ;. Chron. Moissiac: Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Magni, 600 A. D. Ff2 342 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. towards the sovereign of the Franks, and such was the state of intercourse between them when the patriarch of Jerusalem,* moved by what circum- stances we do not know, despatched a monk of Mount Olivet to the court of France, bearing his benedic- tion, and various relics from the holy places of the East, to the great promoter of Christianity in Europe. Long prior to that period (about the year 637), Jerusalem had fallen under the yoke of the Saracens, and the Christians of the Hebrew capital had been doomed for a long time to a general capitation-tax of two pieces of gold for each individual of the im- poverished population. Three-fourths of the town, also, had been usurped by the infidels ; and whether the patriarch, in his embassy to Charlemagne, sought to mitigate ihe sufferings, of his flock by securing intercession with the caliph, or was actuated solely by reverence for the many deeds of charity which the French monarch performed in favour of the pilgrims to the holy shrine, and the poor Christians of the African and Syrian coast,f his conduct was, at all events, attended with the most beneficial effects to the faithftil inhabitants of the holy city. The messenger of the patriarch was received with honour and kindness ; and, anxious to spread com- fort and consolation to every quarter of the world, Charlemagne' suffered him not to depart without an effort to ameliorate the situation of 'the Asiatic Chris- tians. Zacharias, one of the ecclesiastics of his palace, was ordered to accompany the Syrian monk to the presence* of the caliph, and to use all the influence of the name of Charlemagne, in order to procure the favour of the Mohammedan monarch for his Christian subjects. At the same time, the sovereign of the Franks sent innumerable rich offerings to the shrine of the holy sepulchre, toge- *Ann. Tiliani; Ann. Loiseliani; Ann. Eginhard. t Eginhard, in Vit. Caroli Magni. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 343 ther with alms for the consolation of pilgrims and travellers. Charlemagne had not calculated wrongly on the magnanimity or the friendship of Haroun. Tin monarch of the East not only interposed* from that moment the shield of his protection between the Christians of Jerusalem and the oppression of his vicegerents, but he placed it in the power of Charle- magne himself to provide for their wants, their safety, and their comfort. In reply to the message of the French monarch, the caliph sent back the priests who had been despatched to his court, bearing to Charlemagne the of the holy places, 1 r with a standard,! as the mark of sovereignty! in Jerusalem. Nor was this gift unimportant either in the eyes of him who gave, or of him who received ; for it must be remembered that the Mohammedans look upon the holy city with reverence little, if at all, inferior to that with winch it is regarded by the Christians. * William of Tyre, book i. tThis fact has been a matter of dispute, both in regard to its having taken place at all, and the meaning to be attributed to it if it did take place. The authorities in the margin establish the circumstance of the standard and keys baring been Ken', ns clearly as any historical fact ever wa3, or ever will be, established; and, in regard to the interpretation to be put upon that procedure, on the part of Haroun, the words of Eginhard, a contemporary, can leave no mannerof doubt. "Ac proinde, cum legati ejus, quos cum donariis ad sacratissimum Domini ac Salvatoris mundi sepulchrum locurnque resurrections miserat, ad euro venissent, et ei, domini sui voluntatem, mdicassent. non solum qua; petabantur fieri per- rnisit, sed etiam sacrum ilium et salutarern locum, ut illius potestati adscriberetur, concessit." — Eginhard, in Vit. Caroli Magni, cap. xvi. It may be well to remark also, as Eginhard does not pointedly men- tion in this place whether the whole city, or merely the sepulchre, was given into the hands of Charlemagne, that the Tilian Annals, the oldest record of the event, and which were composed during the life of Charle- magne himself, state that the keys also of the city and the Mount were Bent with the banner from Jerusalem, "Claves Sepulcri Domini, claves etiam civitatis et Montis cum vexillo detulerunt" — Ann. Tiliani, ad ann. 801. + Ann. Tiliani; Ann. Loiaeliam; Chron. Moissiac; Ann. Eginhardi; Lhioa. Adorns , Ann. Mettc.. 844 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. From that time forward, during the whole reign of Haroun al Raschid, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to use the words of William of Tyre, seemed to live more under the domination of Charles than under that of their original sovereign. But Charlemagne made no vain, no ambitious, and no offensive use of the power with which the caliph intrusted him. He attempted to establish no claim of permanent domination— to revive no ancient pretensions to the city ; he interfered not with the Moslem — he exer- cised no act of dominion, but for the consolation of the Christians of the place, and for the comfort and protection of the pilgrims to the holy shrine. For those objects, indeed, he spared neither care, nor trouble, nor expense ; and we find, that during his whole life, in the midst of a thousand other labours, and surrounded by anxieties without number, he never forgot or neglected his charitable exertions for the Christians of the East. Alms,* assistance, and protection evinced his kindness and his zeal, during his life ; and, long after his death, a monas- tery, an hospital, and a library consoled the pilgrim, and perpetuated his bounty. Haroun al Raschid esteemed the moderation as much as the talents of the French monarch; and the very temperate use of authority, which has caused the gift of the holy city to be doubted by modern historians, secured him the regard of his great contemporary. Other embassies followed, from the Asiatic to the European court. A variety of magnificent presents! attested the continued *Eginhard, in Vit. Car. Mag. ; Mabillon, Ann. Ordinis; S. Benedict, lib. xxxvii. t These presents consisted of various articles of Eastern luxury, such as balms and precious ointments, perfumes, robes of fine silk, and a tent of beautiful colours and remarkable construction. But besides these were sent other objects, which tend to show the progress which art had at this time made in the East. The first of these was a clock of gilded bronze, round which the course of the twelve hours was displayed; while at the end of each hour, the number of brazen balls which were requisite to mark the division of time were thrown out from above, and HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 345 esteem of the caliph for his Christian friend ; and unbroken amity* and undiminished admiration reigned between the two greatest monarchs of the age, during the whole course of their mutual reign. The carriage of such objects as the presents sent from Bagdad to France was, of course,' attended with no small inconvenience ; and the neglected state of the science of navigation rendered the journeys of the ambassadors long and dangerous. Between three and four years were generally consumed in a mission from one capital to another ;f and, indeed, it happened more than once that even after arriving within the dominions of the Frankish monarch, the envoys had still to seek him over a tract nearly as extensive as that which they had before crossed. Where a much greater degree of civilization exists in the monarch than in his subjects — where his mind must conceive every great undertaking, and his eye must see it executed, without relying on the inferior spirits that toil, with the pace of pigmies, after his giant footsteps,— it.is seldom, of course, that he can enjoy repose in any one place for a considerable length of time. But at the period in the life of Charlemagne which we are now considering, his journeys were more frequent, long, and difficult than at any previous epoch. Besides the unconcluded war which was still raging with the Saxons, and which, as we have seen, occupied so much of his attention, other dangers threatened his kingdom, in such a manner as to render the preparations necessary for defence more extensive and general than had hitherto been falling consecutively on a cymbal below, struck the hour required. In like manner, a number of horsemen issued forth from windows, placed around the dial ; while a number of other clock-work miracles attested the height which the mechanical arts bad reached at the court of Haroun. *Ann. Loiseliani; Ann. Eginhardi. tEginhard, Ann. ami. 801. 346 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. called for by any event of his reign. The same natural causes which had impelled the nations of the north, in succession, to invade the more fruit- ful and cultivated countries of the south of Europe, were now acting upon the Danes or Normans ; and the same advantages of seacoast and easy ports, which had given a maritime character to the early expeditions of the Saxonb, tended to lead this new horde of barbarians to carry on their warfare on the waves. Long before the present period, the Normans had begun to essay their strength upon the sea ; and in the absence* of domestic arts, as the population of the country increased withoat the means of supply, the desire of wandering and the necessity of plunder drove them forth to seek in other lands the wealth they possessed not in their own. Repelled in their first attempts upon Saxony by the Abrodites and other allies of France, which Charlemagne had placed on the borders of Germany, the Normans spread themselves over the ocean; and, by entering rapidly the mouths of the prin- cipal rivers, and making fierce and sudden descents upon the banks,f they had now more than Once carried terror and desolation into parts of France which had previously been exempt from the horrors of war. Nothing was heard but complaints, and cries, and petitions for protection from the inhabitants of the coast ; and the first moment that his presence could be spared by the armies warring in Saxony, Charle- magne hastened in person to examine the evil, and prepare a remedy. Scarcely had the spring of the year 800 appeared when the monarch set out from his palace at Aix-la-Chapelle, and, traversing the whole of France s J followed the coast of the Bay of : * Ann. Eginhard. t Vit. CaroliMagni; Eginhard, Script. ; Ann. Eginhard. % Ann. Tiliani ; Eginhard, Annates. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE, 347 Biscay, which had been particularly infested by the Norman pirates ; established fortresses and garri- sons to defend the shore ; and, causing an immense number of small vessels to be built, he stationed them, well manned and armed, in the mouths of all the principal rivers of France and Germany.* Thus the Normans found themselves opposed at every point ; and, in an extraordinary short space of time, the whole coast which had been subject to their depredations was in a complete state of defence. Driven back in every effort to land, they abandoned for the time their attempts upon the shores of France, and contented themselves with ravaging some of the small islands scattered on the borders of the German Sea. During this journey round the coast, Charlemagne is said to have arrived at one of the ports at the moment that the Norman pirates appeared. The invaders, however, learning the presence of the monarch, set all sail, and bore away; but Charlemagne remained gazing upon their depart- ing vessels, while the tears were seen to roll over his cheeks. "I weep not, my friends," he said, turning to the nobles, who looked on in surprise, "because I fear myself those miserable savages; but I weep that they should dare to show them- selves upon my coast while I am living, for I foresee the evils they will bring upon my people when I am dead."f Charlemagne, finding the entire success of the plan he had adopted against the Normans, pursued the same system in regard to Italy, and to the French provinces on the shores of the Mediterra- nean. These were as much threatened and as often plundered by the Moors as the northern and western portions of his territory were by the Danes ; and the same scheme of defence, adapted to both, pro- duced equally happy effects. The mouths of the * Vit. Car. Magni, Eginbard. | Mon. S. Gall. lib. ii. cap, 22, 348 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. Rhone, the entrance of the Tiber, and all the ports of Provence and Italy were furnished with armed vessels, continually prepared to repel and to revenge invasion ; and the Saracens, with the exception of the capture and pillage of Civita Vecchia, gained no further advantage on the shores of Italy. As soon as he had concluded the preparations necessary to defend the coast of France, Charle- magne returned to the monastery of St. Richarius, near Abbeville, probably with the design of holding the general assembly of the nation, and proceeding immediately towards Rome. The illness of his queen, Luidgarde, however, opposed a temporary obstacle to the execution of this purpose. With that domestic tenderness which formed a fine and endearing point in the character of the great mon- arch, Charlemagne accompanied the dying queen to Tours ; knelt with her* at the shrine of the saint whose virtues she fancied might restore her to health ; closed her eyes, after skill and prayers had proved impotent to save her, and rendered the last sad offices to the clay of her whom he had loved.f * Ann. Loiseliani ; Ann. Tiliani ; Eginhardi Annales. f The time of her marriage to Charlemagne is not very clear. Her name is also written sometimes Luidgarde, sometimes Liudgardei The poem De Carolo Magno et Leonis Papae, which gives a splendid account bfaer dress, represents her as very beautiful. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 349 BOOK XIII. from Charlemagne's last visit to rome, to his death. FROM A. D. 800 to a: D. 814. Affairs of Italy— Conspiracy of Paschal and Campulus— Attempted Mutilation of the Pope— His Recovery and Escape— Reinstated by Charlemagne— Examination of the Accusation brought against him — Charlemagne visits Rome— Investigates in person the Cha'rges against Leo— They are unsupported— Charlemagne saluted and crowned Emperor of the Romans— War with Beneventum— Concluded— Nego- tiations concerning the Limits of the Eastern and Western Empires— With Irene— With Nicephorus— State of Venice— War with theDanea averted for a time— War with the Bohemians— Charter of Division between the Sons of Charlemagne— War with the Bohemians con- cluded — War with the Danes begun and ended— War with the Vene- tians — Death of the two elder Sons of Charlemagne— He associates Louis to the Throne— Death of Charlemagne— His Character. While such had been the occupations of Charle- magne in France and Germany, Rome had been the theatre of events which strongly called for his pres- ence in Italy. The hatred which Campulus and Paschal, the two disappointed aspirants to the papacy, had conceived against the more successful Leo had slumbered, but was not extinct ; and towards the year 799 some circumstances which are not known seem to have roused it into new activity. The ecclesiastical situations held by the two fac- tious Romans, and the favour with which they were regarded by the unsuspecting Leo himself, gave them many opportunities, we might imagine, for executing any project of revenge which went the length of assassination. It would appear, however, that Paschal and his fellow-conspirator, though de- termined to gratify their vengeance, and to open the way to their ambition, by rendering the pope incapa- Og 350 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE* ble of fulfilling the pontifical office, hoped, by a mix*> ture of boldness and art, to escape the penal conse- quences of their crime, and to cover the mutilation they intended to perform under the hurry and con- fusion of a popular tumult. The moment they chose for the perpetration of their design was while the pope, attended by all the clergy, and followed by all the populace, rode in state through a part of the city,* performing what was called the Greater Litany. On the day ap- pointed for the solemnity — the 25th of April — the ceremonies commenced without any appearance of danger, or any suspicion of treason. Paschal and Campulus were placed close to the person of the chief pontiff, and are said to have received from him some new mark of kindness on that very morning. All passed tranquilly till the line of the procession approached the monastery of St. Stephen and St. Sylvester ; and even then the banners and crosses, the clerks and the chorists, which preceded the pope, were permitted to advance, till suddenly, as the higher clergy began to traverse the space before the building, armed men were seen mingling among the people. The march of the procession was ob- structed ; a panic seized both the populace and the clergy. All fled but Campulus, Paschal, and their abetters ; and Leo was left alone in the hands of the conspirators. The pontiff was immediately assailed and cast upon the ground ; and, with eager but trembling hands, — for crime is generally fear- ful, — the traitors proceeded to attempt the extinc- tion of his sight, and the mutilation of his tongue. f * Anastasius Bibliothecarius, in Vit. Leonis III. t Chron. Moissiac. Almost every different annalist gives a different version of this story ; but the account furnished by the Chronicle of Moissiac is the most probable. Anastasius, the Tilian Annals, and even Eginhard, as well as several others, declare that the eyes of the unfor- tunate pope were torn from his head, and his tongne cut out by the knives of the coiispi/aLora; ami attribute, without scruple, his recovery of sight and speech to a miracle. The Chronicle of Moissiac, however* HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 351 It is probable that the struggles of their unfortunate victim disappointed the strokes of the conspirators ; and that his exhaustion from terror, exertion, and loss of blood deceived them into a belief that they had more than accomplished their purpose. Dispers- ing the moment the deed was committed, the chief conspirators left the apparently lifeless body of the prelate to be dragged into the monastery of St. Erasmus,* which was done under the pretence of yielding him aid and succour, but in reality with the intention of retaining his person in captivity, if he survived the horrible infliction with which they had visited him. The news of the crime which had been committed spread like lightning, not only through Rome itself, but to the adjacent states, and soon reached the ears of Winegisus Duke of Spoleto, who, though frequently opposed to the see of Rome, was on all occasions a frank and gallant enemy, or a sincere and zealous friend. Without losing an instant, the Duke of Spoletof armed in favour of the pope, and, marching with all speed, encamped under the walls of Rome. In the mean while, Leo had recovered from the first effect of his wounds, and was in a state to second the efforts which were made for his release by his friends and attendants. Albinus,| his cham- berlain, left no means untried to assist him ; and co-operators having been found in the interior of the convent^ in which he was confined, he was says, — " Voluerunt eruere occulos ejus, et eum morti tradere. Sed juxta dei dixpemationen, malum quod inchoaverant non perfecerunt," which, though not such good Latin as that of Eginhard or Anastasius, is much better sense. Theophanes declares, that the people commissioned to blind the pope spared him out of compassion ; but the wounds which they inflicted, in attempting the mutilation which they did not complete, prove that the awkwardness, not the compassion, of his assailants was the cause of Leo's escape. * Paulus Diaconus, Supp. ad Gest. Langobard. ; Eginhard, Annales. t Eginhard, Annales. ^ I t Anastasius Biblioth. in Vit. Leonis III. ; Annales Lambeciani ; Ann Tiliani. $ Paul. Piac. in Supp. Gest. Langobardorum. 352 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. lowered from the walls by ropes, and restored to his friends, who immediately conveyed him to the church of St. Peter. His recovery and escape struck the conspirators with astonishment and ter- ror ; and their suspicions instantly fixing upon the chamberlain as the person who had contrived his evasion and had given him refuge, they attacked that officer's house, which was speedily plundered and destroyed.* Before they could proceed, however, to further search, the arrival of the Duke of Spoleto with an overpowering force put a stop to their outrages ; and the pope, placing himself under his protection, retired to Spoleto, while messengers were des- patched to Charlemagne to communicate the events and demand instructions.! The news reached the monarch of the Franks as he was about to head one of his many expeditions into Saxony ; and, without pausing on his march, he commanded Winegisus to send the Roman pontiff forward to Paderborn, with all the pomp and honour due to the successor of St. Peter. His commands were immediately obeyed ; and Leo was received at the military court of the mon- arch with distinction and kindness. Nevertheless, accusations were not wanting against the pontiff * Anastasius. • t Anastas. Biblioth. ; Ann. Eginhardi, A. D. 799. I have collated the accounts of the various annalists and historians of that time; and I find that, though each recounts that part of Leo's escape which hap- pened to strike him most, and omits the rest of the circumstances, they are not absolutely opposed to each other (except in the miraculous restoration of the pope's tongue and eyes) in any point. Monsieur Gail lard, however, differs from all the authors contemporary with the events, in regard to the means of Leo's deliverance, declaring that " Albin, Camerlingue du Saintsiege, vine a main armee enlever le pape pendant la nuit." The only authors whom he cites, however, speak differ- ently. Anastasius makes use of the words, " Ex ipso cum clausiro occulte abstollentes." Eginhard uses the words, "Noctu per-murum demissua ;" and Theophanes never mentions the manner of his escape, The Lambecian Annals particularly point out, that he was enabled to get out of his place of confinement by means of ropes, through the exertions of Albinus. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 353 himself ; and, though what the crimes were with which his enemies charged Leo cannot be discov- ered, it is sufficiently evident that Paschal and Cam- pulus now attempted to justify what they could not conceal, by imputing atrocious vices to him whom they had attempted to destroy. The artifice was too apparent, and their own crime too glaring, for Charlemagne to give any credit to the charge, how- ever boldly made, while it was unsupported by bet- ter evidence than their individual assertion. Justice, nevertheless, required that examination and punishment should follow such accusations and such violence ; and consequently, after entertaining the Roman prelate for some time at his court, Charle- magne sent him back to Rome, accompanied by nine commissioners,* chosen from the highest and most incorruptible nobles of France, both clerical and secu- lar, with orders to re-establish him in the apostolic chair ; but, at the same time, to collect and investi- gate all the charges against him. The monarch's promise was likewise given to visit Italy himself, and to judge between Leo and his accusers. With- out any historical grounds for such a conjecture, a suspicion has been raised, and magnified into an assertion, that Charlemagne, in giving that promise, aimed at the assumption of the imperial dignity.f The same populace which had fled terrified from the side of the pope when attacked by the conspira- tors received him with joy and acclamations on his return ; while the presence of the Frankish commis- sioners, and the support of a Frankish army, gave dignity and security to the resumption of the pon- tifical office.J The counts, bishops, and archbishops * Anastasius. t " Mais on soupconna qu'un motif plus personnel a Charlemagne, pins important pour lui, que la querelle du pape avec les neveux de son prtd6- pesseur, attiroit ce conqucrant en Italie ; et l'evenernent persuada qu'on ne s'etoit pas trompe." I have sought in vain for the slightest suspicion pf the kind in the older historians, either of France or Italy. £ Eguihard, Annates, Anastasius. Gg3 354 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. who had followed the prelate from France immedi- ately proceeded to exercise the functions with which Charlemagne had invested them, by inquiring mi- nutely into the assault that had been committed on the person of Leo himself, and by examining the charges which his enemies brought against him. What was the nature of the evidence given on this occasion does not appear; but the investigation ended by the arrest of Campulus, Paschal, and sev- eral other Romans, who were instantly despatched as prisoners* to France, to wait the promised jour- ney of the monarch himself. By the various emergen- cies of state mentioned in the preceding book, that journey was delayed till late in the year 800 ; when at length Charlemagne, having convoked the genera, assembly of the nation, and announced the reasons which impelled him once more to journey into Italy, took his departure from Mayence, and, accompanied by an army,f marched on to Ravenna. Various motives, besides the decision of the great cause between Leo and his enemies, combined to lead the monarch into Italy ; and among these, one of the principal inducements was the desire of put- ting a termination to the war which had so long con- tinued between his son Pepin and the young Duke of Beneventum. In this Charlemagne had hitherto taken no part, except by affording occasional advice and assistance to his son; but now, although he seems still to have determined upon refraining from personal hostilities, he came prepared to render more effectual support to Pepin than that prince had hitherto received.^ Nevertheless, it is evident that the attention of Charlemagne was principally directed towards the re-organization of the deranged government of Rome. It cannot be doubted, indeed, that the de- fence and support of the Roman church was always * Chron. Moissiac ; Anastasius, in Vit. Leon. III. t Eginhard, Annates. % Ibid- HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 355 an object of great* — perhaps too great — considera- tion with that monarch. But it must be remem- bered, at the same time, that in his days that church held out the only means within his reach of spreading the mild doctrines of Christianity, and thus afforded the only sure basis for civilization and improvement. To guard and to maintain it, therefore, was one of the principal endeavours of his life ; and, on the present occasion he did not show any relaxation of zeal in its defence. As soon as he had made all the necessary arrangements with his son Pepin, whom he sent at the head of the army he had brought from France to carry on the war against I3eneventum,f the monarch of the Franks quitted Ancona, to which place he had advanced, and then proceeded towards Rome. At Lamentana he was met by Leo, who was still received and treated with such marks of favour as showed no bad impression of his conduct ; and on entering Rome the next day the monarch of the Franks met with the same enthusiastic recep- tion which had welcomed him on his first visit to the eternal city.| After a repose of seven days, Charlemagne pro- ceeded to the task which had brought him to Rome, and made every perquisition, we are told, in order to ascertain the truth or falsehood of the accusa- tions which had been levelled at the pope. Every authority agrees in stating that these could not be m the slightest degree substantiated ; but, at the same time, it is but fit to remark, that all the accounts which have reached us received their origin from either the adherents of the person who was acquitted, or of the judge who pronounced sentence in his favour. No reason, however, exists for supposing that the decision of Charlemagne was prejudiced * Vit. Caroli Magni ; Eginhard, Script. t Annates Eginnardi; Aun. Tiliani; Ann. Loiseliani. i Eginhard, Annates. 356 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. or unjust. Nor did he solely rely upon his own judgment in a matter where, though he might feel sure of the equity of his intentions, he might doubt the impartiality of his affections. A synod,* com- prising all the higher clergy of Rome, was called ; the evidence which had been procured was laid be- fore it ; and the members of which it was composed were directed to pronounce between the head of their order and two of the most distinguished mem- bers of their own body. Charlemagne, unbiased by the shrewd policy of ecclesiastical interests, sat as sovereign and judge to try the pontiff. He acted as the ruler that he felt himself to be ; he used the authority he knew that he possessed ; and only considered his capa- bility of deciding justly, without looking into the remote consequences of the proceeding in which he was engaged. Not so the ecclesiastics whom he called to his aid. Each individual was a member of that mystic and indivisible whole — the Church of Rome, which, in the perpetuity of its own nature, communicated to all its parts that prescience and devotion to future interests that no temporal and transitory dynasty has ever been able to inculcate or enforce. To the synod, therefore, from whose wisdom and impar- tiality Charlemagne expected a verdict, the pre- cedent of such a tribunal appeared most dangerous, especially while a lay monarch assumed to himself the privilege of presiding at its deliberations. To sanction it by any recorded sentence was painful to each of the members, while to oppose the will of the patrician, or to expose the motives which ren- dered the measure obnoxious, were equally impos- sible. One of those happy stratagems which have so often blessed the policy of the Vatican, and which * Chron. Moissiacenses ; Anastasias, in Vit. Leonis III. ; Ann. Egin* iiard. HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. 357 was doubtless concerted between the chief pontiff and his prelates, delivered the assembly from the difficulty under which they laboured. No one appeared to accuse the pope, and each of the ecclesiastics declared his private opinion of his innocence ; but, without at all impugning the right of Charlemagne to sit in judgment on the supreme pontiff, the assembled prelates* severally declared that they could not, according to any of the rules of ecclesiastical discipline, pass sentence, whether of condemnation or acquittal, upon their general supe- rior. In this dilemma, Leo himself proposed, that, according to a custom frequently resorted to under peculiar circumstances, he should purge himself, by a solemn oath, of the crimes of which he had been accused ; and, mounting the pulpit of the church of St. Peter, he took the Book of Life in his hand, and, with the most awful asseveration which can pass the lips of a Christian, declared, in the face of the assembled congregation, his perfect innocence of the charges which had been brought against him.f * Anastasius, in Vit. Leonis III. t li> id. ; Chron. Moissiac. ; Eginhard, Annates; Ann. Tiliani; Ann. Loisciiani. The French historian of Charlemagne declares, that the pope added to his oath of purification the following words : — "Je fais ce serment sans y elre oblige, par aucun loi ; et sans vouloiren faire une comume ou une loi pour mes successeurs, mais seulement pour dissiper plus pleinement d'injustes soupcons." The fact is, the pope never said any thing the least like it ; though, beyond all doubt, he would very willingly ha/w so guarded his proceeding, had he dared. The simple words, as given by Anastasius, the fullest and the most partial narrator of the occurrence, are as follows : — " Quia de istis falsis criminibus, qua super me imposue- runt Romani, qui iniqut me persecuti sunt, scientiam non habeo; nee talia egisse me cognosco." Such are the expressions as attributed to the pope by one who would have said any thing credible to diminish the apparent power exercised by Charlemagne over the holy see. Such is the speech of the pope, without one word more, as given by the writer whom M. Gaillard cites as his authority ; and, so far from the pope hav- ing declared that he was not following any established law or custom when he first proposed to take the oath, he said,— " PrcBdecessontm me.orum pontijicum vestigia sequor."—(Ai)astas. in Vit. Leo III.) The Chronicle of Moissiac is the only record which mentions that Leo was not obliged to take the oath, by a judicial sentence ; but it never puts the words in the mouth of the pontiff. 858 HISTORY OF CHARLEMAGNE. Joy and festivity succeeded this termination of the trial ; and the judgment to be passed on the assassins who had attempted the murder or mutilation of the pope was reserved for an after period. A great epoch in the history of Europe was now approaching. We have seen that the Roman people, with their efforts directed and concentrated by their bishops, had cast off the authority of the Eastern empire on account of the inconoclastic heresy. They had not rendered their separation irreparable by electing a new Emperor of the West ; but they had resumed some of the forms of the republic, and had named for themselves a patrician, who exercised in Rome the imperial power, without possessing the imperial name. That patrician had conquered for himself the kingdom of Lombardy, had claimed and received homage from Beneventum, had recovered a great part of the territories of ancient Rome in the West, and had acquired a vast extent of country that the empire, in her best days, had never been able to subdue. He had the power and the will to protect his subjects more than any other monarch in Europe ; and he already possessed and exercised a degree of authority which no title could render greater. At the same time, though the heresy of the East, which had caused the separation, was done away, the holy images restored to their places, and in- temperate zeal displayed jn their defence ; yet the Patriarch of Constantinople was a dangerous rival to the pontiff of Rome ; and the government of the emperors withheld from the pope many a rich dio- cess,* and a profitable territory. f The impotence of the court of Constantinople, either to defend or maintain the empire of the West, had been strik- ingly displayed in its contests with the barbarians, * The contested territory comprised Calabria, Sicily, Apulia, the Lavaro, serving of a place in every well-selected Library, and as each work is 4 3 FAMILY LIBRARY. complete in itself, and may be purchased separately from the others, it will furnish a valuable variety of literary presents, of school-books, and of volumes for family reading, adapted to the means and tastes of all classes of readers. 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