CHARLEMAGNES JIHAD by Yitzhak Hen

In 772, shortly after annexing his brothers share of the Frankish kingdom, Charlemagne launched his first campaign against the Saxons. No war taken up by the Frankish people was ever longer, harder or more dreadful, wrote Einhard almost half a century later.1 For more than three decades (from 772 until 804) Charlemagne and his army were occupied with a bloody and protracted attempt to pacify and subdue the Saxons.2 A standard textbook narrative of the Saxon wars would go roughly like this: Charlemagnes successful raid into Saxony in 772 opened the first phase of the Saxon wars. The reasons behind it are not at all clear. The so-called Annales regni Francorum, that is, the supposedly official court-based Frankish history,3 simply state that from Worms, where Charlemagne had held an assembly, he marched into Saxony.4 No Saxon rebellion or any other Saxon aggression are mentioned in connection with the Frankish attack, and it seems that once Charlemagne had managed to pacify

A shorter version of this paper was presented at the Roundtable of UCLAs Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. I am grateful to Sam Aroni and Pat Geary for their generous hospitality during my stay in Los Angeles, and to my audience for their thought-provoking questions. I should also like to thank Ann Christys, Mayke de Jong, Rosamond McKitterick, Rob Meens, Jinty Nelson, and Ian Wood, who kindly read an earlier draft of this paper and made numerous invaluable comments, and Debbie Tor for her advice on the Muslim background. Needless to say, I am responsible for this papers shortcomings and for the views expressed in it. 1 Einhard, Vita Karoli Magni, ed. Otto Holder-Egger, MGH SRG in usum scholarum 25 (Hannover 1911) c. 7, p. 9: Quo nullum neque prolixius neque atrocius Francorumque populo laboriosius susceptum est. I cite the English translation by Paul E. Dutton, Charlemagnes Courtier. The Complete Einhard (Peterborough, Ontario and London 1998) 7. On Einhard, see Duttons introduction, xixli; see also the various papers collected in Einhard: Studien zu Leben und Werk, ed. Hermann Schefers (Darmstadt 1997). 2 For a survey of Charlemagnes Saxon wars see, for example, H.-D. Kahl, Karl der Groe und die Sachsen. Stufen und Motive einer historischen Eskalation, Politik, Gesellschaft, Geschichtsschreibung. Giessener Festgabe fr Frantiek Graus zum 60. Geburtstag, ed. H. Ludat and R. C. Schwingers, Beihefte zum Archiv fr Kulturgeschichte 18 (Cologne and Vienna 1982) 49130; Henry Mayr-Harting, Charlemagne, the Saxons, and the Imperial Coronation of 800, English Historical Review 111 (1996) 11131133; Roger Collins, Charlemagne (London and New York 1998) 4357, 160165; Angelika Lampen, Sachsenkriege, schsicher Widerstand und Kooperation, 799Kunst uns Kultur der Karolingerzeit. Karl der Groe und Paspst Leo III. in Paderborn, ed. Christoph Stiegemann and Matthias Wemhoff, 3 vols. (Mainz 1999) 1.264272; Matthias Becher, Charlemagne, trans. David S. Bachrach (New Haven and London 2003) 59 79. 3 On the Annales regni Francorum, and for further bibliography, see the superb book by Rosamond McKitterick, History and Memory in the Carolingian World (Cambridge 2004). 4 Annales regni Francorum, ed. Friedrich Kurze, MGH SRG in usum scholarum 6 (Hannover 1895) s.a. 772, p. 32: Et inde perrexit partibus Saxoniae prima vice. For an English translation, see Carolingian Chronicles, trans. Bernhard W. Scholz (Ann Arbor 1970) 48.

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Aquitaine, he decided to finish the job his father had already started in Saxony.5 Following the capture of Eresburg, Charlemagne and his army continued northwards, destroying on their way the enigmatic Irminsul.6 Charlemagne would have liked to continue his campaign in Saxony, but a desperate call for help from the pope forced him to leave Saxony and head southwards. The Saxon reaction was not late in coming. When Charlemagne and the Frankish army were busy in Italy, the Saxons invaded Hesse, plundering and destroying everything on their way. Charlemagne arrived too late to prevent this assault on Frankish territory, and only in 775 did he launch a renewed campaign, this time conquering larger parts of Saxony.7 The Frankish success did not deter the Saxons, and in the following years the armies of both sides met time and again in the battlefield. In 782, after almost two years with no clashes in the Saxon front, Charlemagne led his army into Saxony once again. This time, the main purpose was to subdue the Saxons who rebelled under the leadership of Widukind. It was a brutal campaign, during which, our sources relate, more than 4,500 Saxon rebels were beheaded in one day at the order of Charlemagne. It was then that Charlemagne had published his notorious capitulary, commonly known as the Capiltulatio de partibus Saxoniae,8 in which he ruthlessly imposed new taxes, bluntly attempted to crush Saxon identity,9 and carelessly decided on the forced conversion of the Saxons. This wave of violence ended in 785 with a spectacular Frankish victory. Widukind surrendered, and subsequently accepted Christianity and was baptized with his son Abbi.10 Saxony, so it seemed, was subdued, and a new era of peace and quiet had begum. This, of course, was not the end of the story. The Saxons, who, according to

5 On Pippin IIIs wars in Saxony, see Annales regni Francorum, ed. Kurze, s.a. 753 and 758, pp. 1011 and 1617; Annales Mettenses priores, ed. Bernhard von Simson, MGH SRG in usum scholarum 10 (Hannover 1905), s.a. 753 and 758, pp. 4445 and 50. On the Annales Mettenses priores, see Paul Fouracre and Richard A. Gerberding, Late Merovingian France: History and Hagiography, 640720 (Manchester 1996) 330349; Yitzhak Hen, The Annals of Metz and the Merovingian past, The Uses of the Past in the Early Middle Ages, ed. Yitzhak Hen and Matthew Innes (Cambridge 2000) 175190, and bibliography. 6 The Irminsul was probably one of the Saxons major cultic sites; see Heinz Lwe, Die Irminsul und die Religion der Sachsen, Deutsches Archiv 5 (1941) 122; K. Paulsdorf, Zur Irminsulfrage, Manus 36 (1970) 147158; Matthias Springer, Irminsul, Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, 2nd. ed. (Berlin 2000) 15.504505. 7 This campaign was celebrated in Angilbert of Saint-Riquiers De conversione Saxonum; see Susan A. Rabe, Faith, Art, and Politics at Saint-Riquier. The Symbolic Vision of Angilbert (Philadelphia 1995) 5474. 8 Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae (775790), ed. Alfred Boretius, MGH Capitularia regum Francorum 1 (Hannover 1883) no. 26, 6870; also in Leges Saxonum und Lex Thuringorum, ed. Claudius von Schwerin, MGH Fontes iusris Gemanici antiqui in usum scholarum 4 (Hannover 1918) 3744. Throughout this paper I cite Boretiuss edition. For an English translation, see Carolingian Civilization: a Reader, ed. Paul E. Dutton, 2nd ed. (Peterborough, Ontario, and London 2004) 6669. On this capitulary, see Ernst Schubert, Die Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae, Geschichte in der Region. Zum 65. Geburtstag von Heinrich Schmidt, ed. Dieter Bosius, Christine von den Heuvel, Ernst Hinrichs, and Hajo van Lengen (Hannover 1993) 328. 9 See Bonnie Effros, De partibus Saxoniae and the regulation of mortuary custom: a Carolingian campaign of Christianization or the suppression of Saxon identity? Revue belge de philologie et dhistoire 75 (1997) 267286. 10 On Widukind, see Karl Schmid, Die Nachfahren Widukinds, Deutsches Archiv 20 (1964) 147 (repr. in idem, Gebetsgedenken und adliges Selbstverstndnis im Mittelalter. Ausgewhlte Beitrge [Sigmaringen 1983] 59105); Gerd Althoff, Der Sachsenherzog Widukind als Mnch auf der Reichenau. Ein Beitrag zur Kritik des Widukind-Mythos, Frhmittelalterliche Studien 17 (1983) 251279.

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Einhard, were always so quick to break their promises,11 took advantage of the political turmoil caused by Pippin the Hunchback and his supporters, and rebelled again. This happened in 792, and only in the autumn of 794 did Charlemagne react. More ruthless than ever and determined to wipe out the Saxon threat once and for all, Charlemagne invaded Saxony with an unprecedented military force and annexed the entire region. Exasperated with the Saxons past behavior, Charlemagne was not to be satisfied with promises and exchange of hostages anymore. He looked for a permanent solution, and as early as 799 he begun to expel Saxon families from their land and redistribute them as serfs and laborers throughout the Frankish kingdom. This process, and apparently the Saxon problem, was over in 804, when, as the royal annalist puts it, the emperor led an army into Saxony and deported all Saxons living beyond the Elbe and in Wihmuonsi with [their] wives and children into Francia and gave the district beyond the Elbe to the Obodrites.12 To this narrative of events most, if not all, present-day historians subscribe.13 This reconstruction is based almost exclusively on the information yielded up by a rather limited group of sources, namely the Royal Frankish Annals and their revised form,14 supplemented by various bits and pieces of information gleaned from a handful of minor annalistic compositions, such as the Annals of Lorsch, the Moselle Annals, and the Annals of Petau.15 The sources are clear and straightforward in this respect, and Charlemagnes military maneuvers can be reconstructed with a fair amount of accuracy. Things, however, are more complicated and much less certain when Charlemagnes policy in Saxony is considered. While our sources, especially the Annales

11 Einhard, Vita Karoli Magni, ed. Holder-Egger, c. 7, p. 9: sic ad eadem pervertenda semper fuere praecipites ; trans. Dutton, Charlemagnes Courtier 7. 12 Annales regni Francorum, ed. Kurze, s.a. 804, p. 118: Imperator aestate autem in Saxoniam ducto exercitu omnes, qui trans Albiam et in Wihmuodi habitabant, Saxones cum mulieribus et infantibus transtulit in Franciam et pagos Transalbianos Abodritis dedit; trans. Scholz, Carolingian Chronicles 83. 13 See, for example, Rosamond McKitterick, The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians, 751987 (London and New York 1983) 6163; P. D. King, Charlemagne (London 1986) 1518 and 2326; idem, Charlemagne: Translated Sources (Kendal 1987) 5051, 5759; Arnold Angenendt, Das Frhmittelalter: Die abendlndische Christenheit von 400 bis 900 (Stuttgart 1990) 296299; Rudolf Schieffer, Die Karolingier (Stuttgart 1992) 70111; Pierre Rich, The Carolingians: A Family who Forged Europe, trans. Michael I. Allen (Philadelphia 1993) 102107; Johannes Fried, Der Weg in die Geschichte. Die Ursprnge Deutschlands bis 1024 (Berlin 1994) 306312; Dieter Hgermann, Karl der Groe, Herrscher des Abendlandes: Biographie (Berlin and Munich 2000) 147151, 203233, 378386; Alessandro Barbero, Charlemagne, Father of a Continent, trans. Allan Cameron (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London 2004) 4449; see also the various studies mentioned in n. 2 above. 14 Annales regni Francorum, ed. Kurze, s.a. 772804, pp. 32119. 15 Annales Laureshamenses, ed. Georg H. Pertz, MGH SS 1 (Hannover 1829) 2239; Annales Mosellani, ed. Johann M. Lappenberg, MGH SS 16 (Hannover 1859) 494499; Annales Petaviani, ed. Georg H. Pertz, MGH SS 1 (Hannover 1829) 718. See also Chronicon Moissiacense, ed. Georg H. Pertz, MGH SS 1 (Hannover 1829) 282313; Annales Iuvavenses maximi, ed. Harry Bresslau, MGH SS 30.2 (Hannover 1926) 732743. For an English translation of some excerpts from these Annals, see King, Charlemagne: Translated Sources (n. 13 above) 132166. On the minor annals, see Michael McCormick, Les Annals du haut Moyen Age, Typologie des sources du Moyen Age occidental 14 (Turnhout 1975); Franois L. Ganshoff, LHistoriographie dans la monarchie fanque sous les Mrovingiens et les Carolingiens, La storiografia altomedievale, Settimane di studio sullalto medioevo 17 (Spoleto 1970) 631685; Matthew Innes and Rosamond McKitterick, The writing of history, Carolingian Culture: Emulation and Innovation, ed. Rosamond McKitterick (Cambridge 1994) 193220, at 199203.

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regni Francorum and Einhards Vita Karoli Magni,16 describe in great detail the merciless Frankish policy of the 790s, the very same sources say next to nothing about Charlemagnes supposedly bloody policy between 782 and 785. The reconstruction of Charlemagnes policy during that period is based solely on a single documentthe Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniaewhich unfortunately cannot be dated accurately. In what follows, I concentrate on the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae and the policy it prescribes, arguing that this Capitulatio should be associated with Charlemagnes final campaign in Saxony and that in order to understand these unusual instructions one should examine the Capitulatio against a broader political and cultural background. THE CAPITULATIO DE PARTIBUS SAXONIAE Let us begin with the Capitulatio itself. For more than a century this small piece of Frankish legislation has been regarded by scholars as a clear manifestation of Charlemagnes harsh policy in Saxony during the early 780s. They have described it as notorious,17 draconian,18 or brutal,19 and some even dubbed it the terror capitulary20 or the bloody law (Blutgesetz).21 These assessments, one must admit, are well justified. In this capitulary, Charlemagne had indeed taken some drastic and brutal measures to subdue the Saxons and crush their political, cultural, and religious structure. Capital punishment was prescribed rather freely to a whole range of offences, such as assaults on the church and its representatives,22 assaults on secular lords and their family members,23 the preservation of various pagan practices,24 as well as the refusal to accept Christianity.25 Some heavy fines were prescribed for a variety of lesser offences,26 and the payment of tithes was enforced on the newly conquered Saxons.27 Unlike most of Charlemagnes capitularies, the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae does not begin with an opening clause that explains the motives behind its composition and that clearly states where and when it was issued. In its present form, the Capitulatio goes straight to business: Decisions were made first on the major issues.28 It is impossible to gauge whether the capitulary in its original form had a different opening clause. Surprisingly enough, and unlike the vast majority of Charle-

16 See Annales regni Francorum, ed. Kurze, s.a. 792804, pp. 90119; Einhard, Vita Karoli Magni, ed. Holder-Egger, cc. 79, pp. 912. 17 Becher, Charlemagne (n. 2 above) 67. 18 John Michael Wallace-Hadrill, The Frankish Church (Oxford 1983) 183; McKitterick, The Frankish Kingdoms (n. 13 above) 62; Schieffer, Die Karolinger (n. 13 above) 80; Ulrich Nonn, Zwangmission mit Feuer und Schwert? Zur Zachsenmission Karls des Goren, BonifatiusApostel der Deutschen. Mission unde Christianisierung vom 8. bis ins 20. Jahrhundert, ed. Franz J. Felten (Wiesbaden 2004) 5574, at 63. 19 Louis Halphen, Charlemagne et lempire carolingien, 2nd ed. (Paris 1968) 67. 20 Rich, The Carolingians (n. 13 above) 104. 21 Dietrich Schfer, Deutsche Geschichte, Mittelalter, 7th ed. (Berlin 1919) 1.102. 22 Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae, ed. Boretius, cc. 34 and 10, pp. 6869. 23 Ibid. cc. 1113, p. 69. 24 Ibid. cc. 7 and 9, pp. 69. 25 Ibid. cc. 5 and 8, pp. 6869. 26 Ibid. cc. 1921 and 3032, pp. 6970. 27 Ibid. cc. 1517, p. 69. 28 Ibid. c. 1, p. 68: Constitue sunt primum de maioribus capitulis.

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magnes capitularies, it survives only in a single copy, which is dated to the first third of the ninth century.29 Hence, no date is provided by the capitulary itself, and the manuscript evidence cannot help us in solving the problem. Alfred Boretius, who edited the text for the Monumenta Germaniae Historicas Capitularia volume, had already noted the difficulty in dating the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae precisely, and although listing in his preface the various dates that had been suggested in the past 777, 780, 782, 785, 788he dated it roughly to 775790.30 Subsequently, two dates were preferred by scholars: Louis Halphen argued for 785,31 whereas Martin Lintzel opted for 782.32 Modern scholars simply chose either one of these dates, without considering the fact that both are based on extremely shaky grounds. Apparently, 782 and 785 were preferred by Lintzel, Halphen, and their followers mainly because of the temporal proximity to the massacre at Verden, which was perceived as an obvious marker of Charlemagnes newly devised brutal policy in Saxony.33 This connection, however, is not entirely convincing. First, the harsh policy, which the Capitulatio prescribes, is not at all reflected in the various reports on the events of 782785. The fact that Charlemagne had given an order to murder 4,500 Saxons rebels must not be taken to imply that a dramatic change in Charlemagnes policy was at stake. True, no similar event is reported by any of our Carolingian sources, but nevertheless one should be extremely cautious not too read too much into the so-call Bloodbath of Verden. As it often happened in the early Middle Ages, it was not during the battle itself, but only after one side was beaten and had broken in flight, that the slaughter really began.34 The massacre at Verden, horrible and inhumane as it might seem to a modern reader,35 was no different, and it would be too hazardous to regard it as a clear sign of Charlemagnes new policy in Saxony.

Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Pal. lat. 289, fols. 59v62r. This manuscript is divided in two: The first part (fols. 257), which contains Alcuins Interrogationes et responsiones in Genesin, was copied in Mainz around 825. The second part (fols. 1 and 5864), which was copied in the region of Mainz (s. ix1/3), contains the Capitula ecclesiastica ad Salz data (8034) (fol. 1rv; ed. Boretius, no. 42, pp. 119 120); the Capitula e canonibus excerpta (813) (fols. 58r59v; ed. Boretius, no. 78, pp. 173175); the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae (fols. 59v62r); and the Capitulare Saxonicum (fols. 62v64v; see below n. 48). Hence, this small compilation has very little to offer on the 9th-c. transmission and perception of the capitulary in question. On the Vatican manuscript, see Hubert Mordek, Biblioteca capitularium regum Francorum manuscripta. berlieferung und Traditionszusammenhang der frnkischen Herrschererlasse, MGH Hilfsmittel 15 (Munich 1995) 769771; Jan F. Hanselmann, Der Codex Vat. Pal. lat. 289. Ein Beitrag zum Mainzer Skriptorium im 9. Jahrhundert, Scriptorium 41 (1987) 7887. 30 Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae, ed. Boretius 68. On the dating, see Schubert, Die Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae (n. 8 above) 710. 31 Louis Halphen, tudes critiques sur lhistoire de Charlemagne (Paris 1921) 171173; idem, Charlemagne et lempire carolingien (n. 19 above) 6667. 32 Martin Lintzel, Die Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae. Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der alten Sachsen XV, Sachsen und Anhalt 13 (1937) 6577 (repr. in idem, Ausgewhlte Schriften, Zur altschsischen Stammesgeschichte [Berlin 1961] 1.380389). 33 See Schubert, Die Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae (n. 8 above) 710. 34 Guy Halsall, Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West, 450900 (London and New York 2003) 211212. This notion is supported by the revised version of the Annales regni Francorum, which reports on the immediate context for the massacre at Verden; see Annales regni Francorum (rev.), ed. Kurze, s.a. 782, pp. 6163. 35 In modern terms, such acts could be described, anachronistically of course, as ethnic cleansing or crimes against humanity.

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Second, one should also take into account the legislative process. Capitularies in the Frankish kingdom were not simply issued offhand. It took Charlemagne and his advisers five years to process and adapt the Dionysio-Hadriana into the Capitulary of Herstal, and ten more years to issue the Admonitio generalis.36 No doubt, it took some time to formulate the policy prescribed by the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae; and given the fact that the fighting against Widukind and his rebels only started in 782, it seems very unlikely that a well-developed policy was devised and implemented in such a short time. Even if we date the Capitulatio to 785, it would seem like a very tight schedule indeed, given the fact that Charlemagne was constantly busy in fighting the Saxons during those years and even wintered in the field at Eresburg in 784.37 Against this background, I should like to date the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae to the early 790s, even as late as 795, and to associate it with Charlemagnes last campaign in Saxony. Charlemagnes harsh policy during that phase of fighting, which also included a mass deportation of Saxons from their land, is clearly documented in our sources and it fits the ruthless instructions of the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae extremely well. Let us take, for example, the short report of the events given by the Annals of Lorsch:
But, as the summer approached, convinced that the Avars would take vengeance on the Christians, the Saxons bared for all to see what had long been hidden in their hearts. Like the dog that returns to its vomit [Prov. 26.11; II Peter 2.22] they returned to the paganism that they had long since renounced. They presumed to rebel, first against God, then against the king and the Christians; they demolished or burned down all the churches in their land; they chased out the bishops and priests set over them, attacking some and murdering others; and they altogether reverted to idolatry.38

Juxtaposing this report with the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae is extremely revealing. It seems as if the compiler of the Capitulatio followed closely this or a very similar report while drawing up the Saxon capitulary. Each and every misconduct mentioned by the annalists, is listed in the Capitulatio as a capital crime. The correlation between the two is too obvious to be accidental, and it clearly suggests that the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae was issued around 795 in order to pave the way for

36 On these capitularies, see Rosamond McKitterick, The Frankish Churhch and the Carolingian Reforms, 789895 (London 1977) 179; Wallace-Hadrill, The Frankish Church (n. 18 above) 258261; Giles Brown, Introduction: the Carolingian Renaissance, Carolingian Culture, ed. McKitterick (n. 15 above) 1 51, at 1720; Thomas M. Buck, Admonitio und Praedicatio. Zur religis-pastoralen Dimension von Kapitularien und kapitulariennahen Texten (50781), Freiburger Beitrge zur mittelalterlichen Geschichte. Studien und Texte 9 (Frankfurt 1997) esp. 67156; Elisabeth Magnou-Nortier, LAdmonitio Generalis. tude critique, Jornades internacionals destudi sobre el bisbe Felieu dUrgell. La Seu dUrgell, 2830 de Septembre de 1999 (Barcelona 2000) 195242. 37 Annales regni Francorum, ed. Kurze, s.a. 784, p. 68. 38 Annales Laureshamenses, ed. Pertz, s.a. 792, p. 35: Sed et propinquante aestivo tempore Saxones, aestimantes quod Avarotum gens se vindicare super christianos debuisset, hoc quod in corde eorum dudum iam antea latebat, manifestissime ostenderunt; quasi canis revertit ad vomitum suum, sic reversi sunt ad paganismum quem pridem respuerant, conati sunt in primis rebellare contra Deum, deinde contra regem et christianos; omnes ecclesias que in finibus eorum errant, cum destructione et incendio vastabant, reiicientes episcopos et presbyteros qui super eos erant, et aliqos comprehenderunt, nec non et alios occiderunt, et plenissime se ad culturam idolorum converterunt. I cite the English translation, with minor changes and variations, from Rich, The Carolingians (n. 13 above) 106.

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Charlemagnes final attack and for the mass deportation of Saxons from their homes. Charlemagne was slow to react to the 792 Saxon rebellion.39 He was busy with suppressing Pippin the Hunchbacks revolt and with a military campaign in Pannonia.40 This, however, might also have been a calculated pause in the Saxon front, in order to decide upon the various measures that need to be taken and in order to formulate the policy, which the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae promulgates. It is only in this context, that is, the Saxon wars of the mid 790s, that we hear of Charlemagnes personal reaction to the events in Saxony. The reviser of the Royal Frankish Annals states that in 794 the Saxons gave hostages and swore oaths, as they were ordered to, but the king did not forget their treachery.41 Moreover, the killing of Witzin, king of the Obodrites, further persuaded the king [Charlemagne] to beat down the Saxons promptly and made him hate the treacherous people even more.42 Einhards remark that the kings greatness [of spirit] and steadfast determinationboth in bad times and goodcould not be conquered by their [i.e., the Saxons] fickleness or worn down by the task he had set himself,43 clearly discloses the fact that this time Charlemagne had really lost his temper and reached the limits of his tolerance. The exact phrasing of our sources is particularly revealing. He took vengeance on them for their treachery and exacted suitable compensation, wrote Einhard, hinting at the personal hatred, the strong desire for revenge, and the emotional reaction that must have been involved in devising the policy of the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae. The supposedly forced conversion of the Saxons, which should have been implemented since 785, is never mentioned in our sources. On the contrary, from various reports it appears that a massive mission was operating among the Saxons, but they were never forced to adopt Christianity. The royal annalist, for example, clearly states that when he [Charlemagne] heard that the Saxons had, as usual, broken their promise to accept Christianity and keep faith with the king, he entered Saxony with an army and reached the Elbe and Lne.44 Again, the exact phrasing is extremely significant. The Saxons had promised to accept Christianity; they were not forced to do so, and the capital punishment prescribed by the Capitulatio is not mentioned, or even hinted at. Similarly, in 789 Alcuin of York wrote to a certain abbot in Saxony, asking him to write to tell me how you are and what you are doing, and how the Saxons agree with

39 The 792 Saxon rebellion is reported only by the minor annals; see, for example, Annales Laureshamenses, ed. Pertz, s.a. 792, p. 35; Annales Petaviani, ed. Pertz, s.a. 792, p. 18. 40 Annales regni Francorum, ed. Kurze, s.a 792 and 793, pp. 9095. 41 Annales regni Francorum (rev.), ed. Kurze, s.a. 795, p. 97: Quamquam Saxones et obsides dedissent et, secundum quod iussi erant, sacramenta iurassent, rex tamen illorum perfidiae non inmemor; trans. Scholz, Carolingian Chronicles 73. 42 Annales regni Francorum (rev.), ed. Kurze, s.a. 795, p. 97: Quod factum animo regis ad Saxones citius debellandos velut quosdam stimulus, addidit et in odium perfidae gentis amplius excitavit; trans. Scholz, Carolingian Chronicles 74. 43 Einhard, Vita Karoli Magni, ed. Holder-Egger, c. 7, p. 10: Sed magnanimitas regis ac perpetua tam in adversis quam in prosperis mentis constantia nulla eorum mutabilitate vel vinci poterat vel ab his quae agere coeperat defatigari; trans. Dutton, Charlemagnes Courtier 20. 44 Annales regni Francorum, ed. Kurze, s.a. 795, p. 96: Audiens vero, quod Saxones more solito promissionem suam, quam de habenda christianitate et fide regis tenenda fecerant, irritam fecissent, cum exercitu in Saxoniam ingressus est et usque ad fluvium Albim pervenit ad locum, qui dicitur Hliuni; trans. Scholz, Carolingian Chronicles 74.

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you over preaching.45 Forced conversion of the Saxons, so it seems, was not something Alcuin had heard about in 789. The evidence adduced above makes it very unlikely that the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae was issued by Charlemagne in the 780s. The mid 790s, or more precisely 795, seems to be a much more appropriate date. This later date is also suggested by a further, extremely important, point. It is a well known fact that Charlemagnes draconian policy in Saxony was harshly criticized by one of his most notable courtiers and advisors, Alcuin of York. In 796 Alcuin addressed his worries not only to Charlemagne himself, but also to his chamberlain Maginfred.46 In his letters Alcuin asked the king to reconsider his policy of forced conversion and the imposition of tithes on the newly converted Saxons, and he begged Maginfred to intervene and explain to the king where he went wrong. If we date the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae to 785, then we assume that Alcuin waited more than a decade to express his criticism. However, Alcuin, who took an active and most seminal role in formulating Charlemagnes policy and in drafting official documents on behalf of the Frankish king,47 was not the kind of man to sit quietly and ignore such colossal misconduct, especially when it had some important theological implications. Hence, if we date the Capitulatio to 795, all the pieces of our puzzle fall neatly into place. Charlemagne issued the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae in 795 as part of his last campaign in Saxony; and Alcuin, who was less influential at court at the time (a point to which I shall return later), criticized it harshly shortly after it was issued. Alcuins admonition was not something Charlemagne and his advisors could ignore; they seriously heeded him, and in 797 a second Saxon capitulary was issuedthe Capitulare Saxonicumwhich is much more lenient and considerate, and in fact annuls the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniaes brutal policy.48 Alcuin, it appears, was rather happy with the result, and in several letters of 799 he directed his criticism towards the Saxons stubbornness rather than the Frankish missionary policy.49 Taking into account all the factors involved in Charlemagnes Saxon policy, I submit that such a schedule makes much more sense than assuming a ten years pause between the action and the reaction. Historians have found no particular difficulty in explaining Charlemagnes harsh policy prescribed by the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae. It was, they assumed, the logical result of the play of Charlemagnes political ambitions and Christian zeal. Baptizing the Saxons was indeed one of Charlemagnes goals, and from a fairly early

Alcuin, Epistolae, ed. Ernst Dmmler, MGH Epistolae 4 (Berlin 1895), Ep. 6, p. 31: Mandate mihi per litteras, quomodo habeatis vel quid faciatis; et quomodo consentient vobis Saxones in praedicatione. For an English translation see Stephen Allott, Alcuin of York: His Life and Letters (York 1974) 71. 46 Alcuin, Epistolae, ed. Dmmler, Epp. 110 and 111, pp. 157162. 47 See Friedrich-Carl Scheibe, Alcuin und die Admonitio Generalis, Deutches Archiv 14 (1968) 221 229; idem, Alcuin und die Briefe Karls des Groen, Deutsches Archiv 15 (1959) 181193; Donald A. Bulough, Alcuin: Achievement and Reputation (Leiden and Boston 2004) esp. 379388. 48 Capitulare Saxonicum (797. Oct. 28), ed. Alfred Boretius, MGH Capitularia regum Francorum 1 (Hannover 1883) no. 27, pp. 7172; also in Leges Saxonum und Lex Thuringorum, ed. Claudius von Schwerin, MGH Fontes iusris Gemanici antiqui in usum scholarum 4 (Hannover 1918) 5459. 49 Alcuin, Epistolae, ed. Dmmler, Epp. 174, 177 and 184, pp. 288289, 292293 and 309310 respectively.

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stage of his Saxon campaign missionaries accompanied the Frankish forces.50 Subsequently missionary base-camps were established throughout Saxony and the missionary work had witnessed some success.51 Already in 786 Pope Hadrian I congratulated Charlemagne on the missionary success in Saxony,52 and a few years later Alcuin wrote to his Irish friend Colcu that the old Saxons and all the Frisians people have been converted to the faith of Christ through the effort of King Charles, who urges some by rewards and others by threats.53 No one has doubted Charlemagnes sincerity in drawing up this capitulary and consequently it has figured in modern research as a logical consequence to the events in Saxony.54 Although the severity of the Capitulatio never ceased to astonish them, scholars did not stop to ask why such a capitulary, which obviously could not have been implemented, and in fact was never implemented, was issued in the first place. To attribute a major political act, such as the enforcement of a brutal policy in Saxony, not to political considerations but to an aberrant, albeit exalted, pious state of mind, appears, prima facie, to raise more problems than it solves. For it would seem to contradict the proven political acumen of an otherwise sober, responsible king who had maintained himself in power successfully for more than forty-five years. To show, as has been done, that the Capitulatios policy could not possibly have been implemented, and yet to assume, as has also been done, that Charlemagne intended that it should be carried out, is in fact to accuse him of far more than being unrealistic; it is to imply that he was unbelievably simple-minded. Nothing in his long career bears out such a judgment. To explain the Capitulatio, therefore, as the expression of an unrealistic missionary zeal and a boisterous craving to subdue Saxony, an enthusiasm so single-minded that it prevented him seeing the Capitulatio as both impolitic and im-

See, for example, Nonn, Zwangsmission (n. 18 above); Helmut Beumann, Die Hagiographie bewltig Unterverfung und Christianisierung der Sachsen durch Karl den Groen, Cristianizzazione ed organizzazione ecclesiastica delle campagne nellalto medioevo, Settimane di studio sullalto medioevo 28 (Spoleto 1982) 129163; Thomas Scharff, Die Kmpfe der Herrscher und der Heiligen. Krieg und historische Erinnerung in der Karolingerzeit (Darmstadt 2002) 131134. See also I. N. Wood, An absence of saints? The evidence for the christianisation of Saxony, Am Vorabend der Kaiser Krnung. Das Epos Karolus Magnus et Leo papa und der Papstbesuch in Paderborn 799, ed. Peter Godman, Jrg Jarnut, and Peter Johanek (Berlin 2002) 335352. 51 Annales regni Francorum, ed. Kurze, s.a. 780, pp. 5457; Annales Mosellani, ed. Lappenberg, s.a. 780, p. 497; Annales Petaviani, ed. Pertz, s.a. 780, p. 16. 52 Codex Carolinus, ed. Wilhelm Gundlach, MGH Episolae 1 (Berlin 1892) Ep. 76, pp. 607608. 53 Alcuin, Epistolae, ed. Dmmler, Ep. 7, pp. 32: Nam antiqui Saxones et omnes Frisonum populi instante rege Karolo, alios premiis et alios minis sollicitante, ad fidem Christi converti sunt; trans. Allott, Alcuin of York 42. Alcuins description of the way Charlemagne converted the Saxons, some by rewards and others by threats, is a common line used by many authors of the 9th c. For example, during the wars between Louis the Pious and his sons, and subsequently between the sons themselves, both Nithard and the Astronomer describe Lothar suborning troops through threats and promises. I owe this point to one of Viators anonymous referees. 54 See, for example, Rich, The Carolingians (n. 13 above) 104105: Force appears to be the best means of subduing and Christianizing the Saxons and With the help of such sever legislation, Charlemagne hoped to put an end to Saxon resistence. See also McKitterick, The Frankish Kingdoms (n. 13 above) 62; Janet L. Nelson, Violence in the Carolingian World and the ritualization of ninth-century warfare, Violence and Society in the Early Medieval West, ed. Guy Halsall (Woodbridge 1998) 90107, at 92; Ian N. Wood, The Missionary Life. Saints and the evangelisation of Europe, 4001050 (London and New York 2001) 86.

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practicable, is just as strange as the Capitulatio itself seems to be, and equally incompatible with Charlemagnes past political career and interests. It would seem justified, therefore, to take another look at the Capitulatio in an attempt to understand the motives behind it. Since there is no record of these motives in our sources, other than the conventionally pious hopes for salvation expressed in so many official and liturgical documents,55 any such a reappraisal must, perforce, be conjectural. It is clear, however, that the speculative element in the following explanation will not exceed that of the accepted version. ALCUIN AND CONVERSION The key to solving the riddle of the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae and the harsh policy it prescribes is, I would argue, Alcuin of York. In his letters to Charlemagne and Maginfred, Alcuin did not challenge Charlemagnes right to wage war on Saxony or the conquest itself. He perfectly understood the political rational that stood behind such a war,56 and he even accepted the harsh policy against those who rebelled and jeopardized the kings authority. As Nelson points out, This regime rested on the recognition of lordship. Fidelity was essential, sustained by mutual obligation between lord and man. Both coercion and violation were involved. The exact balance of these ingredients varied, but Charlemagne had no doubts that power depended on force as well as on persuasion and consent.57 This ideology was well known to Alcuin, and he made no attempt to revise, change, or challenge it. What Alcuin criticized in his letters to Charlemagne and Maginfred was something completely different. Alcuins criticism focused on the policy of forced conversion and on the imposition of tithes on the newly converted Saxons. Let us take, for example, Alcuins letter to Charlemagne. It begins, as to be expected, with some flattery that was meant to boost the kings ego, and to soften the harsh criticism that follows:
What glory will be yours, most blessed king, when all these, who have been turned from the worship of idols to know the true God by your good care, follow you as you stand in happy case before the judgment seat of our Lord Jesus Christ and your reward of eternal joy is increased through them! With what generous devotion to the spread of the name of Christ you have worked to soften the hardness of the unhappy Saxon people with counsel on true salvation! But divine election does not seem yet to have been accorded them, so many of them still remain in the filth of their evil ways, to share the devils damnation.58

See, for example, Yitzhak Hen, The Royal Patronage of Liturgy in Frankish Gaul to the Death of Charles the Bald (877), Henry Bradshaw Society, subsidia 3 (London 2001) 6595. 56 See Alcuin, Epistolae, ed. Dmmler, Epp. 43 and 44, pp. 8790, addressed respectively to the community of York and to Archbishop Eanbald of York. 57 Nelson, Violence in the Carolingian world (n. 54 above) 92. 58 Alcuin, Epistolae, ed. Dmmler, Ep. 110, p. 157: Qualis erit tibi gloria, o beatissime rex quando hi omnes, qui per tuam bonam sollicitudinem ab idolatriae cultura ad cognoscendum verum Deum conversi sunt, te ante tribunal domini nostri Iesu Christi in beata sorte sequentur et ex his omnibus perpetuae beatitudinis merces augetur. Ecce quanta devotione et benignitate pro dilatatione nominis Christi duritiam infelicis populi Saxonum per verae salutis consilium emollire laborasti. Sed quia electio necdum in illis divina fuisse videtur, remanent huc usque multi ex illis cum diabolo damnandi in sordibus consuetudinis pessime; trans. Allott, Alcuin of York 72.

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Alcuin even reassured the Frankish king that the partial success in converting the Saxons was not his fault. It has pleased Christ, he wrote, to reward your good purpose with greater glory and praise.59 Then, after a long panegyric-like preface, Alcuin drops the bomb, slowly and very carefully:
Now in your wise and godly concern may you provide good preachers for the new people, sound in conduct, learned in the faith and full of the teaching of the gospel, intent on following the example of the apostles in the preaching of the word of God. For they gave their hearers milk, that is, gentle teaching, when they were beginners in the faith, as the Apostle Paul said I fed you milk to drink, not meat, as babies in Christ [1 Cor. 3.12], meaning that new converts to the faith must be fed on gentler teaching as babies on milk, lest minds too weak for harder teaching vomit what they have imbibed.60 Therefore, you should consider in your wisdom whether it is right to impose the yoke of tithes upon a simple people who are beginners in the faith, making a full levy from every house. Careful thought must also be given to the right method of preaching and baptizing, that the washing of the body in baptism be not made useless by lack in the soul of an understanding of the faith. 61

Alcuin was rather clear. Conversion must be voluntary, a matter of personal will and persuasion, and not something imposed by force. With these words Alcuin plunged into the murky waters of traditional Christian teaching on the efficacy of religious coercion. Although he cites the Apostles, Augustine, and Jerome, the views of the Church Fathers on the matter were far from being clear. Augustine, for example, swung from relative tolerance to legislated coercion in an attempt to eradicate the Donatists in North Africa,62 whereas Gregory the Greats position changed in the other direction during the course of the Roman mission to Anglo-Saxon England.63 Alcuin,

59 Alcuin, Epistolae, ed. Dmmler, Ep. 110, p. 157: Tuam tamen, o veritatis et salutis multorum amator, optimam voluntatem maiore gloria et laude Christo remunerare; trans. Allott, Alcuin of York 72. 60 Note the metaphor of the dog that returns to its vomit, which, to a certain extent, plays on the image of the Saxons as it is depicted by the Carolingian annalists; see, for example, the passage from the Annals of Lorsch, cited previously. 61 Alcuin, Epistolae, ed. Dmmler, Ep. 110, pp. 157158: Sed nunc praevideat sapientissima et Deo placabilis devotio vestra pios populo novello praedicatores; moribus honestos, scientia sacrae fidei edoctos et evangelicis praeceptis inbutos; sanctorum quoque apostolorum in praedicatione verbi Dei exemplis intentos. Qui lacid est suavia praeceptasuis auditoribus in initio fidei ministrare solebant; dicente apostolo Paulo: Tamquam parvulis in Christo lac vobis potum dedi, non escam. Hoc enim totius mundi praedicator, Christo in se loquente, significavit, ut nova populorum ad fidem conversio mollioribus praeceptis quasi infantilis aetas lacte essent nutrienda; ne per austeriora praecepta fragilis mens evomat, quod bibit. His ita consideratis, vestra sanctissima pietas sapienti consilio praevideat: si melius sit, rudibus populis in principio fidei iugum inponere decimarum, ut plena fiat per singulas domus exactio illarum. Illud quoque maxima considerandum est diligentia, ut ordinate fiat praedicationis officium et baptismi sacramentum, ne nihil prosit sacri ablutio baptismi in corpore si in anima ratione utenti catholicae fidei agnitio non praecesserit; trans. Allott, Alcuin of York 73. 62 See Emilien Lamirande, Church, State, and Toleration: An Intriguing Change of Mind in Augustine (Villanova, 1975) esp. 2932; Peter Brown, St. Augustines attitude to religious coercion, Journal of Roman Studies 54 (1964) 107116 (repr. in idem, Religion and Society in the Age of St. Augustine [London 1972] 260278); W. H. C. Frend, The Donatist Church (Oxford 1952) 239241. 63 See Robert A. Markus, Gregory the Great and a papal missionary strategy, The Mission of the Church and the Propagation of the Faith, ed. Derek Baker, Studies in Church History 6 (1970) 2938 (repr. in idem, From Augustine to Gregory the Great [London, 1982] chap. 11); idem, Gregory the Great and his World (Cambridge 1997) 177187; Adalbet de Vog, Les vues de Grgoire le Grand sur laction missionaire en Angleterre, Lglise et la mission au VIe sicle. La mission dAugustin de Canterbry et les

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as a true student of the Anglo-Saxon Church, adopted Gregory the Greats later position on the issue, which he clearly expressed in his letters to Mellitus and King thelberht of Kent, both of which were cited by Bede.64 As pointed out by Ian Wood, Alcuins 796 letter to Charlemagne reads like a remarkably public statement, intended perhaps for the ears of the whole court.65 It was, no doubt, part of the on-going discussion in Charlemagnes court on the forms and meaning of conversiona discussion that was intensified by the renewed Saxon campaign and by the victory over the Avars that opened up a new missionary territory.66 Alcuins purpose in writing these letters was to promote a thoughtful and rather lenient missionary strategy, as was his purpose in composing the Vita Willibrordi.67 Obviously, Alcuin did not take part in drafting the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae, nor was he involved in formulating the Capitulatios policy. Apparently, when these events occurred, Alcuin was far away from court, on a return visit to Northumbria.68 The three and a half years he spent in Northumbria, from 790 until the early summer of 793, were the most crucial years, in which the Capitulatios policy had germinated and matured. Moreover, on his return, Alcuin was kept busy with other issues, mainly theological ones; and although he rejoined the Frankish court (we do not know exactly when), he did not resume the central political role he had before he left it.69 The circle of royal conciliarii was dominated at the time by someone else Theodulf of Orlans.70

glises de Gaule sous limpulsion de Grgoire le Grand. Actes de Colloque dArles de 1988, ed. Christophe de Dreuille (Paris 2000) 5564. 64 Bede, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, ed. and trans. Bertram Colgrave and R. A. B. Mynors (Oxford 1969) 1.30 and 32, pp. 106109 and 110115 respectively. On these letters, see Markus, Gregory the Great (n. 63 above) 179184. See also John Michael Wallace-Hadrill, Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People: A Historical Commentary (Oxford 1988) 4447; Henry Mayr-Harting, The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England, 3rd ed. (London 1991) 64. 65 Wood, The Missionary Life (n. 54 above) 86. 66 See Lutz E. von Padberg, Die Diskussion missionarischer Programme zur Zeit Karls des Groen, Am Vorabend der Kaiser Krnung (n. 50 above) 125143. See also Wood, The Missionary Life (n. 54 above) 8586. 67 Wood, The Missionary Life (n. 54 above) 7990. 68 See Donald A. Bullough, Alcuin: Achievement and Reputation (Leiden 2004) esp. 395431; idem, Unsettled at Aachen: Alcuin between Frankfurt and Tours, Court Culture in the Early Middle Ages. The Proceedings of the First Alcuin Conference, ed. Catherine Cubitt (Turnhout 2003) 1738. 69 Bullough, Alcuin (n. 68 above) states that even at the end of 789 and the beginning of 790, Alcuin was still uneasily positioned on the outer edge of the circle of royal confidants I cannot see how this fits with the fact that in 789 he took an active role in drafting the Admonitio generalis and the so-called Epistula de litteris colendis. 70 The fact that either Alcuin or Theodulf were at a certain point more influential at court must not be take to imply that the other had lost all his influence with the Frankish king. Both men were highly dominant and both had an immense impact on Charlemagnes actions and decisions, even when one of them was less involved and a bit more remote from the court. The relationship between Alcuin and Theodulf was, so it seems, a constant power-struggle, which continued well after they had both left the Frankish court. It is no secret that they did not like each other. They had no choice but to cooperate while at court, but it is obvious they were competing for the kings favor and to become the courts leading man. On one of the bitter clashes between the two, see Rob Meens, Sanctuary, penance and dispute settlement under Charlemagne: the conflict between Alcuin and Theodulf of Orlans over a sinful cleric (forthcoming); a much shorter version of this paper was published in Hebrew, Zmanim 89 (2005) 8489. See also Hlne Noizet, Alcuin contre Thodulphe: un conflit producteur de norm, Alcuin, de York Tours: criture, pouvoire et rseaux dans lEurope du haut moyen ge, ed. Philippe Depreux and Bruno Judic, Annales de Bretagne et des Pays

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THEODULFS CONTRIBUTION A Spaniard by birth, most probably from the city of Saragossa, Theodulf reached the royal court of Charlemagne sometime in the early 780s.71 Many Spanish refugees sought asylum in Francia during the late 770s and early 780s, especially after Zaragoza was captured by Abd al-Rahman I in 781/782,72 and Theodulf, so it seems, was one of them. As an ambitious, brilliant young man, Theodulf became part of Charlemagnes intellectual court, and steadily made his way up to the kings inner circle of advisors. In 789 he was already cooperating with Alcuin on drafting the Admonitio generalis,73 and subsequently he became one of Charlemagnes most appreciated and trusted councilor. In 790 Charlemagne entrusted Theodulf with compiling the official Carolingian response to the decrees of the Seventh Ecumenical Council that was held in Nicaea in 787 under the auspices of Irene and her son, Constantine VI;74 in 798 he was awarded the bishopric of Orlans and the abbacy of several monasteries, among them Fleury;75 and in 800 he accompanied Charlemagne on his visit to Rome and witnessed his imperial coronation.76 No doubt the Frankish king had a great confidence in the man, and in the early 790s, when Alcuin was away in Northumbria, none of Charlemagnes courtiers could rival Theodulfs supreme position in court, not even Anglibert or Einhard. It was then, under the watchful eye of Theodulf that the socalled Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae was drafted, and some elements in it clearly disclose Theodulfs involvement in the process. In an elegant paper Ann Freeman has neatly delineated the various elements in Theodulfs life and thought that can be recognized as Visigothic, that is, elements that can be attributed to his own specific cultural inheritance and experience in Spain.77 She lists the different books he must have read, some of which he might even have taken with him to Francia; she points out some Visigothic traces in Theodulfs Latin style, theology, and legal thought; and she even explains some of his artistic predilections.78 To Freemans long list of Visigothic symptoms in Theodulfs work, one can add anotherthe notion of forced conversion.

de lOuest 111.3 (Rennes 2004) 113129. 71 On Theodulf of Orlans, see the numerous papers by Ann Freeman, some of which were collected in her Theodulf of Orlans: Charlemagnes Spokesman against the Second Council of Nicaea (Aldershot 2003). See also Elisabeth Dahlhaus-Berg, Nova antiquitas et antiqua novitas. Typologiesche exegese und isidorianisches Geschichtsbild bei Theodulf von Orlans, Klner Historische Abhandlungen 23 (Cologne and Vienna 1975) 121; Wallace-Hadrill, The Frankish Church (n. 18 above) 217225; A. de Riquer, Theodulfo de Orleans y la epistola poetica en la literature Carolingia (Barcelona 1994). 72 Ann Freeman, Theodulf of Orlans: a Visigoth at Charlemagnes court, LEurope hritire de lEspagne wisigothique. Colloque international du CNRS tenu La Fondation Singer-Polignac (Paris 1990) 185195, at 185; Wallace-Hadrill, The Frankish Church (n. 18 above) 217; Evariste Levi-Provenal, Histoire de lEspagne Musulmane, 3 vols. (Leiden and Paris 19501953) 1.126127. 73 Bullough, Alcuin (n. 68 above) 380381. 74 Opus Caroli Regis contra synodum (Libri Carolini), ed. Ann Freeman and Paul Meyvaert, MGH Concilia, Supplementum 1 (Hannover 1998). An English translation of the introduction was published in Freeman, Theodulf of Orlans (n. 71 above) chap. 1, with further references. 75 See Dahlhaus-Berg (n. 71 above) 910. 76 Ibid. 1011. 77 Freeman, Theodulf of Orlans: A Visigoth at Charlemagnes court (n. 72 above). 78 See also her introduction to the Opus Caroli Regis (n. 74 above); Dahlhaus-Berg (n. 71 above) esp. 190201.

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Although we refer to Theodulf as a Visigoth in the court of Charlemagne, we must constantly bear in mind that when Theodulf was born, roughly around the year 750, the Visigothic kingdom had been a thing of the past for more than three decades. Theodulf was indeed born to a Christian family, in a city that still had a large Christian community, but it was a humiliated community that lived under Muslim occupation, with some severe public as well as private restrictions. This, I would argue, was also part of Theodulfs cultural inheritance. From the time of the Prophet Mohammad onwards, the world, from a Muslim point of view, is divided into two parts: Dar al-Islam (the abode of Islam), that is, the part of the world that has already been brought under the rule of Islam; and Dar al-Harb (the abode of war), that is, the part of the world that is yet to be brought under the rule of God, by force if it does not surrender when called upon to do so.79 This is the jihad (literally struggle, commonly interpreted as holy war), which from a fairly early stage was infused by Islamic militant monotheism, and hence became a form of warfare ordained by God and prescribed by the Quran.80 Polytheists were given no real choice by their Muslim conquerors but to embrace Islam or die. Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians, on the other hand, were tolerated. They were allowed to keep their faith, but they were put under several public and private restrictions that defined their new status as dhimmithat is, those who lived under the dhimma, an agreement that regulated the relationship between the Muslim conquerors and the conquered population.81 We do not really know who made up the first dhimmi restrictions, although Muslim tradition attributes the specifics to Umar I (d. 644).82 Nevertheless, it is clear from the writings of some eighth-century Muslim jurists, such as Malik b. Anas, Idris al Shafii or Ahmad b. Hanbal, that they are speaking of something very institutionalized, entrenched, and long established.83 By the 770s all the restrictions, possibly with some local variations, were already in place in some areas of Spain,84 and part of these

79 See, for example, Majd Khadduri, War and Peace in the Laws of Islam (Baltimore 1955) 318; Yonhanan Friedman, Tolerance and Coercion in Islam: Interfaith Relations in Muslim Tradition (Cambridge 2003) 5486. 80 The amount of literature on jihad is enormous. For a short introduction, see David Cook, Understanding Jihad (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London 2005). See also Rudolph Peters, Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam (Princeton 1996); Khadduri, War and Peace (n. 79 above) 51137; Alfred Morabia, Le Gihad dans lIslam medieval (Paris 1993); Reuven Firestone, Jihad. The Origin of Holy War in Isalm (New York and Oxford 1999); Friedman, Tolerance and Coercion in Islam (n. 79 above) 87120. 81 The best study of the subject is still Arthur Stanley Tritton, The Caliphs and their non-Muslim Subjects. A Critical Study of the Covenant of Umar (London 1930). See also Khadduri, War and Peace (n. 79 above) 175201; Bat Yeor, The Dhimmi. Jews and Christians under Islam, trans. David Maisel, Paul Fenton, and David Littman (London and Toronto 1985). 82 Tritton, The Caliphs (n. 81 above) 517; Mark R. Cohen, What was the Pact of Umar? A literaryhistorical study, Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 23 (1999) 100157. On Umar I, see Wilfred Madelung, The Succession to Muhammad. A Study of the Early Caliphate (Cambridge 1997) 5777. 83 Tritton, The Caliphs (n. 81 above) passim. 84 See Levi-Provenal, Histoire (n. 72 above) 1.225239. See also Hugh Kennedy, Muslim Spain and Portugal. A Political History of al-Andalus (London and New York 1996); Roger Collins, The Arab Conquest of Spain, 710797 (Oxford 1989); idem, Early Medieval Spain: Unity in Diversity, 4001000, 2nd ed. (London 1995) 144180; Pedro Chalmeta-Gendrn, Invasin e islamizacion: la sumisin de Hispania y la formacin de al-Andalus (Madrid 1994). It is important to note that centralized rule in Cordoba was not established in the 8th c., and only intermittently in the late Umayyad period. Hence, one cannot be sure that all the norms of Umar were in force in Zaragoza when Theodulf was there, but it is highly probable that

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restrictions was the payment of a poll tax, commonly known as jizya.85 This is the reality to which Theodulf of Orlans was born and in which he grew up. These are the political practicalities with which he was familiar before arriving at the Frankish court, and their influence on Theodulfs thought and political ideology can be traced in some of the canons of the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae. First, the issue of forced conversion. As we have already noted, the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae does not leave much choice to the Saxons. The eighth canon of the Capitulatio clearly declares that if anyone of the race of the Saxons hereafter concealed among them shall have wished to hide himself unbaptized and shall have scorned to come to baptism and shall wished to remain pagan, let him be punished by death.86 This decree has no precedent in the history of the Christian mission, and it seems to be more than a faint echo of the Islamic concept of jihad. I would like to suggest that it was indeed the notion of jihad, with which, no doubt, Theodulf was familiar, that stood behind the formulation of the Capitulatios forced conversion policy. Although a few attempts to convert by force had occurred during the early Middle Ages, they were rather sporadic and very local affairs, and had never reached the level of legislation.87 The only place in the post-Roman barbarian West where forced conversion was practiced openly, at the behest of the royal court, was Visigothic Spain.88 However, the various attempts made by the Visigothic kings to convert their Jewish subjects by force were not successful in the long run, and the Visigothic antiJewish legislation was in fact never fully implemented. Theodulf knew all that. He was a keen reader of Isidore of Seville,89 who harshly criticized King Sisebuts antiJewish policy.90 But pagans and Jews were two different categories from a Muslim, as

they were known there, even if not implemented. 85 On the jizya, see Yeor, The Dhimmi (n. 81 above) 5354; D. C. Dennet, Conversion and the Poll-Tax in Early Islam (Cambridge, MA 1950). 86 Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae, ed. Boretius, c. 8, p. 69: Si quis deinceps in gente Saxonorum inter eos latens non baptizatus se abscondere voluerit et ad baptismum venire contempserit paganusque permanere voluerit, morte moriatur; trans. Dutton, Carolingain Civilization 67. 87 See, for example, Walter Goffart, The conversion of Avitus of Clermont and similar passages in Gregory of Tours, To See Ourselves as Others See Us: Christians, Jews, Others in Late Antiquity, ed. Jacob Neusner and Ernst R. Freichs (Chico 1985) 473497; repr. in idem, Romes Fall and After (London and Ronceverte 1989) 293317; and compare with Michel Rouche, Les baptme forces de Juifs en Gaule mrovingienne, De lantijudasme antique lantismitisme contemporain, ed. Valentin Nikiprowitzky (Lille 1979) 105124; repr. in idem, Le choc des cultures: Romanit, Germanit, Chrtient Durant le Haut Moyen ge (Villeneuve dAsq 2003) 223242. See also E. M. Rose, Gregory of Tours and the conversion of the Jews of Clermont, The World of Gregory of Tours, ed. Kathleen Mitchel and Ian N. Wood (Leiden, Boston, and Cologne 2002) 307320. 88 The amount of literature on the Visigothic anti-Jewish policy is huge and cannot be listed here. For a general introduction, see Ral Gonzalez-Salinero, Catholic anti-Judaism in Visigothic Spain, The Visigoths: Studies in Culture and Society, ed. Alberto Ferreiro (Leiden, Boston, and Cologne 1999) 123150. See also Rachel L. Stocking, Bishops, Councils, and Consensus in the Visigothic Kingdom (Ann Arbor 2000); Wolfram Drews, Juden und Judentum bei Isidor von Sevilla. Studien zum Traktat De fide catholica contra Iudaeos, Berliner Historische Studien 34 (Berlin 2001); idem, Jews as pagans? Polemical definitions of identity in Visigothic Spain, Early Medieval Europe 11 (2002) 189207. 89 See Freemans introduction to the Opus Caroli regis (n. 74 above). See also Dahlhaus-Berg (n. 71 above) passim. 90 See Stocking, Bishops, Councils, and Consensus (n. 88 above) 134135. See also the studies by

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well as a Christian, point of view; and whereas Theodulf adopted Isidores teaching that Jews should not be forced to convert, he willingly embraced the Islamic position that pagans could and should be forced to convert. It must have seemed to him a more efficient and a more appropriate tactic to crush the Saxons stubbornness. Second, the poll tax. In accordance with the mandate of God, states the Capitulatio, we command that all shall give a tithe of their property and labor to the churches and priests; let the nobles as well as freeman, and likewise the liti, according to that which God shall given to each Christian, return a part to God.91 This article also echoes Theodulfs Spanish background, for it resembles the jizya that was imposed on the dhimmi throughout the Islamic world. Moreover, according to the Maliki jurisprudence,92 which emphasized the legal procedure for launching a jihad, and which became the only official legal school in al-Andalus from the eighth century onwards,93 all those submitted by Islam (and not only the dhimmi) had to pay the jizya.94 This, of course, must not be taken to imply that no other taxes were imposed by the Carolingians in the various territories they had conquered, nor did the Franks need the jizya in order to support the idea of tithes, which could have been taken straight from the Bible. However, like the jizya, the tax imposed by the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae was closely linked with conversion. This unusual connection was also noted by Alcuin in his letters to Charlemagne and Maginfred, in which the newly imposed tithes are depicted as a major stumbling block in the process of conversion.95 Finally, some parallels between the Capitulatio and the so-called covenant of Umar I in its various versions also betray Theodulfs involvement in drafting the Capitulatio. Like the covenant of Umar I, several of the Capitulatios chapters impose severe restriction on the performance of religious rites. Death rituals, prayers and sacrifices, as well as the display of various religious signs were all regulated by both documents; contempt for the conquerors religion and violence against the conquerors themselves, their religious representatives or their places of worship, were punished severely; and finally, conspiring or even negotiating with the enemy was utterly for-

Drews (n. 87 above). 91 Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae, ed. Boretius, c. 17, p. 69: Similiter secundum Dei mandatum praecipimus, ut omnes deciman partem substantiae et laboris suis ecclesiis et sacerdotibus donent: tam nobiles quam ingenui similiter et liti, iuxta quod Deus unicuique dederit christiano, partem deo reddant; trans. Dutton, Carolingian Civilization 67. 92 On Malik b. Anas (d. 795) and his thought, see J. Schacht, Malik b. Anas, The Encyclopaedia of Islam (Leiden 1991) 6.262265; and N. Cottart, Malikiyya, ibid. 6.278283. Malik b. Anas developed his ideas in the latter part of the 8th c., but these ideas were spread mainly by his pupils. For al-Andalus, the important figueres were Isa b. Dinar (d. 827), Yahya b. Yahyah (d. 849), and Ibn Habib (d. 853). See Christian Mller, Gerichtspraxis in Stadtstaat Crdoba. Zum Recht der Gesellschaft in einer malikitischislamischen Rechtstradition des 5./11. Jahrhunderts (Leiden, Boston, and Cologne 1999) esp. 369. Nevertheless, it is not improbable that some of Maliks ideas had reached Spain before his death. 93 See Levi-provenal, Histoire (n. 72 above) 1.146150; Kennedy, Muslim Spain and Portugal (n. 84 above) 4041. See also Hady-Roger Idris, Reflections on Malikism under the Umayyads of Spain, The Formation of al-Andalus II, Language, Religion, Culture and the Sciences, ed. Maribel Fierro and Julio Sams (Aldershot 1998) 85101. 94 See also Reinhart P. A. Dozy, Histoire des musulmans dEspagne jusqu la conqute de lAndalousie par les almoravides, rev. Evariste Levi-Provenal, 3 vols. (Leiden 1932) 1.140143; Friedmann, Tolerance and Coercion in Islam (n. 79 above) 7680. 95 Alcuin, Epistolae, ed. Dmmler, Epp. 110 and 111, pp. 157163.

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bidden.96 Yet, the most striking parallel with Umars covenant are the first two chapters of the Capitulatio. In the first chapter, the Frankish legislator states that it is pleasing to all that the churches of Christ, which are now being built in Saxony and consecrated to God, should not have less, but greater and more illustrious honor, than the temples of the idols had had.97 This unusual prescription seems to reverse Umars instruction to the dhimmi not to build new monasteries, churches, hermitages, or monks cells, nor to repair any of them that have fallen into ruin, as well as not to build their houses higher than the Muslims.98 Then, after this odd instruction, and before listing the various violent acts and religious misconducts that merit death penalty, the compiler of the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae inserted a rather long article on asylum, which at first glance seems out of place:
If anyone shall have fled to a church for refuge, let no one presume to expel him from the church by violence, but he shall be left in peace until he shall be brought to judicial assemblage; and on account of the honor due to God and the saints, and the reverence due to the church itself, let his life and all his members be granted to him. Moreover, let him plead his cause as best he can and he shall be judged; and so let him be led into the presence of out lord king, and the latter shall send him where it shall have seemed fitting according to his clemency.99

Strangely enough, Umars covenant also refers to such an issue by ordering the dhimmi not to shelter in their churches or in their homes a spy, and not to hide one from the Muslims.100 And what does the Capitulatio means by concedatur ei vita et omnia membra (let his life and all his members be granted to him)? Isnt it an allusion to Umars decree that a murderer shall be killed [and] a thief, if his victim complains, shall have his hands cut off?101 These parallels are more than simple coincidences, and they clearly suggest a certain link between the two documents. THE MIGRATION OF IDEAS It appears from the evidence adduced above that Charlemagnes Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae was neither arbitrary, nor careless. Much time and thought were invested in formulating the policy which it prescribes, and although it diverges in many respects from much of the Carolingian legislation known to us, it was not issued off-hand, as an emotional and irrational reaction to Saxon aggression. The exceptional,

96 Compare the various decrees of the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae with the so-called covenant of Umar I, in Tritton, The Caliphs (n. 81 above) 517; Cohen, What was the Pact of Umar (n. 82 above) 106107. 97 Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae, ed. Boretius, c. 1, p. 68: Hoc placuit omnibus, ut ecclesiae Christi, que modo construuntur in Saxonia et Deo sacratae sunt, non minorem habeant honorem sed maiorem et exellentionem quan vana habuissent idolorum; trans. Dutton, Carolingian Civilization 66. 98 Cohen, What was the Pact of Umar (n. 82 above); Tritton, The Caliphs (n. 81 above) 8. 99 Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae, ed. Boretius, c. 2, p. 68: Si quis confugiam fecerit in ecclesiam, nullus eum de ecclesia per violantiam expellere praesumat, sed pacem habeat usque dum ad placitum praesentetur, et propter honorem Dei sanctorumque ecclesia ipsius reverentiam concedatur ei vita et omnia membra. Emendet autem causam in quantam potuerit et ei fuerit iudicatum; et sic ducatur ad praesentiam domni regis, et ipse eum mittat ubi clementia ipsius placuerit; trans. Dutton, Carolingian Civilization 66. 100 Cohen, What was the Pact of Umar (n. 82 above) 106; Tritton, The Caliphs (n. 81 above) 7. 101 Tritton, The Caliphs (n. 81 above) 13.

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brutal policy of the Capitulatio did no emerge ex nihilo; it was deeply rooted in the political as well as the religious ideology that characterized al-Andalus at the time. The fact that within less than two years from it publication, the Capitulatio was replaced by the more lenient Capitulare Saxonicum, suggests that the new politico-religious notions embedded in it were indeed strange and did not accord with the main stream of Carolingian political thought. It was an alien concept that did not fit the Carolingian reality, and hence it was discarded without any qualms shortly after its faults were exposed by Alcuin.102 Wallace-Hadrill was right in saying that the language of the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae is quite unlike that of the later crusader cutting his way through pagans to the rescue of Holy Places.103 It was the language of jihad, brought to the Frankish court by Spanish Christians who sought refuge in the Frankish kingdom, if not by Theodulf of Orlans himself. The main obstacle in proving this assertion beyond any reasonable doubt is the inadequate evidence on the contacts between Francia and the Muslim world in the second half of the eighth century. Nevertheless, the scanty evidence that survives clearly implies that a lot more was going on than it seems at first glance. Official delegations and envoys were exchanged; Christian pilgrims reported on what they had encountered in their journeys; merchants traveled back and forth carrying goods and news; and refugees who sought asylum in the Frankish kingdom must have told their story time and again.104 Charles Martells victory over the Muslims in 732 and Charlemagnes disastrous journey to Spain in 778 must have raised a great interest in the mores of the Muslims who lived beyond the Pyrenees. It would be foolhardy to assume that nothing was known in Francia about Mohammed and his religion. Information of various kinds infiltrated the Frankish kingdom all the time, and various ideas constantly migrated. The debate over the doctrine of Felix of Urgel or Claudianus of Turin is an excellent case in point, for it demonstrates quite neatly the diffusion of various theological ideas from Spain into Francia.105 Hence, one should not ask whether Theodulf could have known the Muslim notion of jihad or the dhimmi restrictions prescribed by the Pact of Umar.106 After all, he grew up in a place where

102 It is worthwhile noting that the only other manuscript (apart from Vat. Pal. lat. 289) to transmit the Capitulare Saxonicum is Mnster, Staatsarchiv VII.5201 (ca. 945). This codex has a distinctive Saxon interest, but still its compiler(s) did not find it necessary to include the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae in it. On this manuscript, see Mordek, Biblioteca (n. 29 above) 378386. 103 Wallace-Hadrill, The Frankish Church (n. 18 above) 413. 104 See, for example, Michael McCormick, Origins of the European Economy. Communications and Commerece, A.D. 300900 (Cambridge 2001); Thomas Kitchen, The Muslim world in western European diplomacy from the rise of Islam to the death of Louis the Pious (MPhil thesis, University of Cambridge 2004); idem, Carolingian diplomatic relations with the Abbasid Caliphate and their representation in Frankish sources (forthcoming). See also the various papers collected in Voyages et voyageurs Byzance et en occident du VIe au XI sicle, ed. Alain Dierkens, Jean-Marie Sansterre, and Jean-Louis Kupper, Bibliothque de la Facult de Philosophie et Lettres de lUniversit de Lige 278 (Lige 2000); Isaak und der weisse Elefant: Bagdad-Jerusalem-Aachen. Eine Reise durch drei Kulturen um 800 und heute, ed. Wolfgang Dreen, Georg Minkenberg, and Adam C. Oellers, 3 vols. (Aachen 2003) vol. 1: Aachen. Der Westen. 105 See, for example, John Cavadini, The Last Christology of the West: Adoptionism in Spain and Gaul, 785820 (Philadelphia 1993); Pascal Boulhol, Claude de Turin: une vque iconoclaste dans loccident carolingien. tude suivie de ldition du Commentaire sur Josu, Collection des tudes Augustiniennes, Srie Moyen ge et Temps Modernes 38 (Paris 2002). 106 Ibn Habib (d. 853) even used the term jihad in his account of the conquest of Spain. See Abd al

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these restrictions were commonly known and perhaps implemented. Just as we assume he had a thorough knowledge of Isidores writings (which is considered to be the Spanish symptom par excellence),107 and just as we can imagine his communicating with Jews,108 we must assume that he had a fair amount of knowledge about the Muslims of al-Andalus, their religion, and their civilization. Those who argue otherwise will need to prove their point, and not vice versa. It is, of course, impossible to prove my assertion with certainty before more evidence is unearthed. Nevertheless, since the connecting links in both chains of argumentation (that is, mine and the traditional view of the Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae) are equally hypothetical, it is not so much the individual point as the overall thesis that is significant. The question is which arrangement of the facts and suppositions within a hypothetical framework carries more conviction. My reassessment of the evidence is very plausible, and is certainly not more speculative than the accepted version. It is time to question our bold tendency to dismiss instantly any Muslim influence on the cultural, religious, and political history of early medieval Francia.109 Department of General History Ben-Gurion University of the Negev P. O. Box 653 Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel

Malik ibn Habib, Kitab alTa'rikh, ed. with commentary Jorge Aguad (Madrid 1991) c. 396, p. 138: And when [news of] his [Rodrigos] advent reached Tariq [ibn Ziyad] he stood before his men and thanked God and praised him that he spurred on his people to Holy War (jihad) and awakened in them a desire for martyrdom; then he said O men, where is the escape route? The sea is behind you and the enemy before you and there is nothing for you, by God, but truth and steadfastness: truly, if I encounter their tyrant myself I will not cease until I have attacked him or been killed before him. I am grateful to Ann Christys for this point, and for letting me use her translation. 107 See Freemans introduction to the Opus Caroli Regis (n. 74 above); Freeman, Theodulf of Orlans: A Visigoth at Charlemagnes court (n. 72 above); Dahlhaus-Berg (n. 71 above) passim. 108 See Sarah Larratt Keefer and David R. Burrows, Hebrew and Hebraicum in late Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon England 19 (1990) 6780. 109 See also Philippe Snac, Les Carolingiens et al-Andalus, VIIIeIXe sicles (Paris 2002); Ernst Tremp, Zwischen Paderborn und Barcelona. Knig Ludwig von Aquitanien und die Auseinandersetzung des Karlsreichs mit dem Islam, Am Vorabend der Kaiser Krnung (n. 50 above) 283299; Debbie Tor and Yitzhak Hen, The Carolingians in Spain: a reassessment of the evidence (forthcoming).