MEDIEVAL WARFARE

Reign of Charlemagne:  Effects of Strong Government on Military Success

Charlemagne (768-814):  translates from French as Charles the Great; German, Karl der Gros.  One of the dominant figures of the Middle Ages.

Accomplishments:
(1)  Military conquest
(2)  Spreading of Roman Christianity
(3)  Establishment of social order and good government
(4)  Encouragement of scholarship and learning
Military Summary:  Charlemagne greatly expanded the already extensive Frankish Empire that he had inherited by

(1)  Overthrowing the Lombards and annexing their remaining lands in northern Italy [773]

(2)  Seizing a section of northeastern Spain [778-8  ]

(3)  Conquering the Saxons [803], the last important German tribe outside of the Frankish state

(4)  Pushing ever deeper into central Europe by  defeating and conquering various Slavic peoples

(5)  Erasing the Avars, the latest eastern group to enter Europe where they established themselves in territory once held by the Huns (from whom the region took the name Hungary)

In the course of his conquests, Charlemagne helped give rise to two major themes of European history, both of which would endure for centuries:

The Reconquista (“Reconquest”)

The Drang Nach Osten (“Drive to the East”)

Spanish Campaign:  First Frankish invasion failed when the Moslem-held city of Zaragosa held out against attack.  In Charlemagne’s retreat, his troops despoiled the  territory of the Basques, who were Christian, and attacked their capital of Pamplona.  Later expeditions were more successful, with Charlemagne’s son, Louis the Pious, extending Frankish control as far south as Barcelona in 801.
Roncesvaux (Sp. Roncesvalles):  the major pass across the Pyrenees between France and Spain near the Bay of Biscay.  It was here that the rear guard of a Frankish army, led by Roland, the Marquis of Brittany, was ambushed and defeated by the Basques, in revenge for the army’s conduct at Pamplona.  The historical event is recorded in several contemporary or near-contemporary sources, including the work of the historian, Einhard.  Over the course of several centuries, however, an a-historical legend grew up surrounding this defeat - a legend that gave rise to one of the great epic poems of the Middle Ages.

Song (Chanson) of Roland:  the epic poem about the defeat at Roncesvaux.  It is a tale of the heroism of Charlemagne's leading knight, Roland, and his defeat at the pass by a vastly superior Moslem army.  Note:  in the chanson, which took several centuries to reach its finished form, the history has been much altered.  The local inhabitants who massacred the army's rear guard have been transformed from Basques into Moslems and greatly magnified in numbers to make the whole incident seem more Christian and more heroic.

Chanson de Geste:  (Literally "song of deeds")  Technical term for medieval epics such as that of Roland.
Spanish March:  the border territory in northeastern Spain which Charlemagne added to the Frankish empire.
March or Mark:  any frontier territory.  Governed by an official known as a marquis [French], marquess [English], margrave [German].
Reconquista:  the crusade to reconquer the Iberian Peninsula from the forces of Islam which lasted for over seven centuries [718-1492].  Charlemagne's conquest of the Spanish March in 778 was one of the first great Christian victories in this crusade.
The Reconquista would continue until the year 1492, when the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabel, retook Granada, the last Moslem stronghold on the southern tip of the peninsula.
Saxons:  the last of the Germans to be absorbed by the Franks.  Part of this large German tribe had joined its neighbors, the Angles and the Jutes, in the 5th century invasion of England.  The majority, however, the rest had remained in their ancestral homeland in northern Germany.  During the brutal campaign to subdue them, Charlemagne eventually resorted to methods which came close to genocide (i. e. the destruction of an entire people.)
Drang Nach Osten ('Drive toward the East'):  the attempt of Germanic peoples to expand eastward into territory held by Slavs.  Like the Reconquista, this drive to the east was largely initiated by Charlemagne and became a lasting theme of European history.  The last German leader to follow this policy was Adolf Hitler; and, in fact, World War II marks the end of the Drang Nach Osten (hopefully!)
Connection of War and Religion:

As Charlemagne conquered new territory, he compelled the inhabitants to adopt Roman Christianity.  Charlemagne was simply the latest ruler to employ the policy of forced conversion which had characterized the spread of Christianity ever since the emperor Theodosius late in the 4th century.  In this way, he spread Roman Christianity eastward, first to Saxons and other Germans and later to many of the Slavs who inhabited eastern Europe.  It was during Charlemagne's reign that the Slavs began their conversion .
Political Success:

Charlemagne was highly successful at governing his empire.  Although even he was incapable of reestablishing the efficient bureaucracy of the Roman Empire (such a bureaucracy survived only in Byzantine world), he governed through trusted subordinates, while at the same time, keeping a close watch on them.
Three titles held by Charlemagne's leading territorial officials:
(1)  Count
(2)  Marquess
(3)  Duke
Count:  this title, comes from the Latin word "comites" meaning "companion" of the king, and indicates the personal relationship which existed between the ruler and his subordinate.  The count exercised enormous power over the territory he ruled, which was known as a county.
Marquess:  the special official who ruled a particularly important territory, usually along the frontier, which was known as a mark or march.
Duke:  this title comes from a Latin word meaning "general."  Eventually, the title of duke would come to outrank that of a count or marquess.  He ruled over a large territory known as a duchy, which was often composed of several counties.
Paladin:  this is a special term used originally to refer to Charlemagne's twelve most important subordinates (for example, Roland).  The word eventually came to mean 'a great knight.'  In this broader sense, someone like Lancelot, from the tales of King Arthur, might be referred to as a paladin.
Missi Dominici ("the lord's representatives"):  these were travelling officials, known popularly as "the eyes of the king."  Charlemagne sent them out to investigate and report back on territorial rulers, such as the counts.  They were a major part of a system of checks and balances, used to keep local officials loyal to the central government.
Carolingian Renaissance:  the name given to the reign of Charlemagne as a result of his attempts to promote culture and learning throughout his empire.  These attempts have also led historians to nickname him "the Civilizer," despite the fact that he himself appears to have been unable to read or write.
Renaissance (literally, “rebirth”):  usually refers to a rebirth of culture after a period of cultural decline.

Military implications of the Carolingian Renaissance:

Educational reforms:  provided a system for identifying and training men of talent who would serve the state not only administratively, but also militarily

(2)  The impetus it gave to preserving ancient literature helped save important military sources among others, e. g. the works of Tacitus were saved in a single manuscript that seems to have survived the centuries in the monastery of Monte Cassino, south of Rome
Charlemagne's educational reforms:
(1)  Creation of the Palace School
(2)  Institutionalization of the educational role of the monasteries:  Charlemagne issued a decree [789] that every monastery must sponsor a school at which those who showed an aptitude for learning could get an education.  The monasteries would remain one of the most important medieval centers of education, even though later on, the cathedral schools and universities would supercede them in the realm of higher education.
(3)  Encouraging the monasteries to preserve ancient manuscripts:  it was at this time that the leading European monasteries gathered together as much of the learning of the ancient world as could still be found.  The modern world owes to this period the preservation of much of what we have of ancient literature.

Preservation of ancient literature, including  
The Palace School:  a central educational institution set in the king's favorite city, Aix-la-Chapelle, where not only aristocrats, but also promising commoners could obtain a higher education.  Many of Charlemagne's most trusted officials were graduates of this school, including his biographer, Einhard.
Alcuin:  an Englishman who was one of the greatest scholars of the day, he was hired by Charlemagne to conduct the palace school.  One of the medieval voices opposing forced conversion.
Aix-la-Chapelle:  Today, the city of Aachen in Germany.  It was Charlemagne's favorite city, in part because of the hot springs for which it was famous.  These provided Charlemagne with some relief for the rheumatism from which he suffered in his later years.
The pay-off for Charlemagne's support of the church (what one might call "the crowning event" of his reign) came in the year 800.  The king had journeyed to Italy to settle a quarrel between the current pope, Leo III, and his enemies.  [Note:  Pope Leo III is a different person than the Emperor Leo III.]  Charlemagne settled the quarrel in the pope's favor.  Then, while he was attending mass on Christmas Day, Leo crowned him emperor of the Romans.  This was the first of several medieval attempts to resurrect the title of Roman Emperor in the west.  While it increased the king's prestige, in the longrun, it was the papacy that really gained from Leo's move.  It set a precedent for later papal claims to have the right to crown an emperor, the highest civil authority in medieval Europe.
The reign of Charlemagne was a period of considerable order and strong central authority.  In this respect, it was the exception rather than the rule:  through most of the medieval centuries, the forces of division and disorder within society tended to erode centralized political authority.  Occasionally a strong monarch (such as Charlemagne) would arise who, for a time, might reverse this trend.