How many people did charlemagne kill

Thread starter villandra Start date Sep 4, Tags baptism charlemagne children field hundreds kill men saxon saxons women. JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Jan 4. Did Charlemagne ever have his soldiers put to death by sword, hundreds of Saxon men, women and children, in a field, when they refused to be baptized?

I read that years ago, in more than one place, and have often cited it as fact. Today I cannot find where such a thing happened. Charlemagne did forcibly convert the Saxons to Christianity. At one point the penalty for refusing to be baptized was death. There was an incident where he had male warriors who had taken part in a revolt and then surrendered beheaded in a field, specifically for treason.

This took place at Verdun and became legend. Religion and national identity seem to have been hopelessly confused in the minds of both sides, and Charlemagne's strategy of attacking Saxon religion backfired. I am looking for anything about hundreds of people who included women and children rounded up in a field, told to be baptized, and then put to death when they refused.

Yours, Dora Smith. Bart Dale Ad Honorem. Dec 7, Chlodio Forum Staff. Aug 8, Dispargum. Some of the accounts of the Verden Massacre in Germany, not Verdun in France say 4, Saxons without reference to who they were men, women, children? Other interpretations insist these 4, were all warriors, ie, men.

It looks like someone read 4, Saxons and just assumed they were a cross section of Saxon society representing both sexes and all ages. How did Charlemagne die and what happened? How did the dark ages start? Why is the Dark Age called the Dark Age? Is the 13th century medieval? Is Dark Ages and Middle Ages the same? What was England called before it was England?

Who was in Britain before Romans? What was London called before the Romans? Where did native Britons come from? After a concerted campaign to become ruler, Pepin finally became king in , and three years later was officially anointed by the pope, who at the same time anointed Pepin's sons Carloman and Charles the future Charlemagne with the holy oil that demonstrated their special status.

Pepin III served until It wasn't a smoothly shared reign, however, as evidenced by a episode in which Carloman seemed to undermine Charlemagne's authority by refusing to assist in quashing a revolt in Aquitane. Then, Carloman suddenly died in Exactly how Carloman perished so conveniently is mysterious. The most common account is that he died of a nosebleed, though what caused it is a matter of debate, with one historian proposing a peptic ulcer as the underlying issue.

As the King of the Franks, Charlemagne set out on an ambitious and bloody campaign to expand his territory. By the time of his death in , this kingdom included the majority of what is now considered Western, and some of Central, Europe.

Not since the Roman Empire had this much of the continent been controlled by one ruler. Because of this albeit fragile unification, Charlemagne is sometimes called the father of Europe. Over the centuries, the name Charlemagne became associated with European unification, whether through peaceful initiatives such as the European Union or war. Charlemagne had arrived in Rome a few weeks earlier at the request of the pope, but by many accounts, including that of his court scholar Einhard, he was not expecting his new role, and only realized what was happening when the pope put the imperial crown upon his head.

Since the crowning was advantageous to both parties, it's likely there was some partnership behind the event it's also possible Einhard may have wanted his friend Charlemagne to appear more humble in his biography.

Importantly, the coronation recognized Charlemagne as ruler of a Holy Roman Empire, which carried an associated ambition of outdoing the military and cultural achievements of the pagan Roman Empire. It also served to notify Charlemagne's enemies that his domination of Western Europe was sanctioned by the Church. Charlemagne loved church music, particularly the liturgical music of Rome. At his request, Pope Hadrian I sent monks from Rome to the court of Aachen to instruct his chapel's choir in This event helped spark the spread of traditional Gregorian chant through the Frankish churches.

In , Charlemagne also issued a decree to his empire's clergy, instructing them to learn and sing properly the Cantus Romanus , or Roman chant. Music schools were also founded under Charlemagne's reign, and monks transcribing music helped preserve the Gregorian chant into the present day. Charlemagne was a fierce proponent of Christianity, yet he had great respect for the culture of pagan antiquity.

He also saw his empire as a direct successor to the glory of the Roman world.