The fierce and successful Saxon resistance obliges…
776 CE
The fierce and successful Saxon resistance obliges Charles to change tactics.
He begins gradually annexing slices of Saxon territory, establishing forts, and dispatching missionaries, with the objective of subjugation and forcible conversion to Christianity.
The stubborn Saxons, led by Widukind and supported by Danes and Slavs continually harass Charles’ forces, who annually attack one or another region of Saxon territory.
Charles dispenses generous rewards to those Saxons who submit.
The lot of those who resist is deportation in some instances and mass executions in others.
When a rebellion in 776 destroys the fortress at Eresburg, Charles, warring in Italy, returns very rapidly for the third time to Saxony (making it to Lippe before the Saxons knew he left Italy).
The Saxons are once again brought to heel; Widukind escapes to the Danes.