Economic and military aspects of the Frankish conquest of Saxony

Abstract

The Frankish conquest of Saxony represents one of the most intensively studied topics of Carolingian history. Yet the underlying motives that drove Frankish expansion into the lands between the Rhine and the Elbe remain poorly understood. In general, these motives have been discussed in terms of defensive strategy on the one hand and ideology (and specifically Christianization) on the other. In fact, however, there are good reasons for considering the conquest as part of a larger economic/military approach on the part of the Franks, focussed on securing Saxony's wide array of material resources, not least of which was the military potential of the Saxons themselves. 1 | INTRODUCTION Between 772 and 804, the Franks, led by Charlemagne, waged a series of near-annual military campaigns against their pagan Saxon neighbours to the northeast. These campaigns, which saw mass executions, forcible baptisms, and the deportation and resettlement of thousands of Saxon men, women, and children, seem to have exceeded the normal bounds of warfare of the period in both scale and violence (on the campaigns generally, see Lampen, 1999;