ASSESS CHARLEMAGNE'S CAPITULARY FOR SAXONY

Introduction

The Roman Empire has secured its place in the books of history and spread of

Christianity trough Europe. As Christianity became the official state religion of the empire, it

began spreading and converting the numerous regions, it had captured and placed them under the

rule and doctrine of Christian values. The capitularies were legislation or rules that were enacted

by the roman empires and were divided into chapters. These are instances of Christian influence

in the decrees and laws made by the rulers of Rome. The capitulary for Saxony was enacted in

the year 775-790 and it initial intention was to uphold Christianity as a devoted religion before

God and above the other religions being worshipped by the people of the time (Effros, 1997).

In 802, the roman ruler Charlemagne gave the decrees as part of the roman laws and

constitutions. Charlemagne was referred to as Charles the great. He is known as a holy roman

empire who had a significant impact in uniting the greater part of Western Europe. Charlemagne

ruled the Roman Empire without the pope. However, his view of upholding Christianity gained

him significant legitimacy from his subjects and recognition from the pope. Charlemagne

demanded that people be converted in masses after they were defeated by roman army by force.

The Saxons originally resided in the northern parts of Europe in what is presently Germany and

Netherlands. They invaded London through the North Sea after the Romans left.

In the view of Charlemagne, the capitularies were the rules that were to govern the

captured Saxony and convert them to Christianity forcefully. The Charlemagne's Capitulary for

Saxony was to be enforced to the Saxony by the enforcers of the king’s decrees. Therefore, both

the enforcers and the Saxons had to have the knowledge of the document. The capitulary as

established by Charlemagne made it an offence for the Saxony to uphold their idols higher than
the churches devoted to God by Christianity. This capitulary included the death sentence for

offenders who showed contempt for Christianity, killed someone or lavished the daughter of the

king. However, this did not deter the Saxons secretly perform their rituals in the death and

cremations. They detested from burying their dead in the Christian burial sites as designated by

the king (Effros, 1997).

In the days of the roman rule, there was no distinction between the church and the state,

the king administered political and religious duties with the help of the priests. However, the

capitulary of Saxony had to different intentions that were Political and religious. The king

wanted to ensure the rebellion of the minority was controlled and they would not cause any

trouble in his rule. His decrees were fueled by the facts the Saxons were unwilling to convert to

Christianity and posed a danger to his Christian rule. Therefore, he integrated a strategy to keep

this in check and the response was to issue a capitulary for the Saxons,

In the other hand, the roman ruler wished to protect the faith of Christianity as supreme

as it was the default religion of the Romans. Christianity held the Romans together. According to

the king, the Saxons were pagans who were devoted to wicked worship. This posed a threat to

Christianity and the king wanted to deal with the threat of possible resurrection and popularity of

the Saxony religion. This strategy was achieved by forcefully separating the Saxons and settling

them in different parts in the territories (Karras, 1986).

Comparisons of purposes will always override religious reasons with political reasons.

This is because even the reasons behold the conversion of Saxons was to ensure they are

absorbed into the romance and become one united people easy for the emperor to rule. The laws

made burial ceremonies that were not Christian illegals. Penalties included death sentences to

scare the Saxons to abandon the culture they had inherited from their fathers. The Saxon
capitulary also made baptism mandatory while making pagan worship, divination, and offense.

The Romans influence and Christianity spread through the parts of Western Europe. The political

motivation to conquer larger parts of the Europe and gained supports from the Christian masses

probably meant justifying the actions of the king through religious faith. The Roman Empire also

feared that other religion may dominate over the Saxons and this will give them more power to

resist the roman rule. To avoid such instances, Charlemagne and his predecessors all designed a

strategy to ensure they took control of the Saxons first.

The fact that the state and the church were one thing made it difficult to distinguish the

use of political purposes for religious uses or even religious for political reasons. However, it is

clear that that Charlemagne’s capitulary was more inclined to political benefits the religious

reasons. They were meant to expand the Roman Empire and rule and not spread Christianity.

The political benefits were more justified the religious benefits. The conversion made it much

easier to rule the Saxons that if they still remained in the pagan religion. The reasons were

politically motivated but integrated with Christian explanations. Specifically, the Saxony

capitulary was linked to political developments affecting tribal groups and identity. For instance,

the tenth capitulary indicated that any conspiracy against the Christians was punishable by death.

With such decrees in place, the Saxons would easily convert to Christians not by will but by their

desire to avoided confrontations with the authorities.

The capitularies are perfect examples of heroes. They formed the basis of spreading

Christianity throughout the region where the roman empire had influence was one of the

benefits.it brought law and order in the empire with several laws with death as possible

punishments. The capitulary of Saxony succeeded in the best interest of the Romans as planned

by Charlemagne. His efforts can be attributed to his desire to subdue any sort of rebellion or
resistance. The decree ensured that Saxons did not practice their religion publically. This was for

reducing the influence of the Saxons religion practice on the Romans who had already

established their faith In Christianity creating challenges for the ruler. The consequences of the

rules were clearing wiping out a culture for Saxons that had been passed on for generations the

Saxons were forced to adopt the Christian religion at the expense of their long preserved

cultures.

References:

Effros, B. (1997). De parties Saxoniae and the regulation of mortuary custom: a Carolingian

campaign of Christianization or the suppression of Saxon identity? Revue belge de

philologie et d’histoire, 75, 267-86.

Karras, R. M. (1986). Pagan survivals and syncretism in the conversion of Saxony. The Catholic

historical review, 72(4), 553-572.

Mediaval source book(775) chalemagne capitulary for saxonomy retrived from

https://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/source/carol-saxony.asp from 15th aprill 2016