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Start of Charlemagne's Saxon Wars

Type Event Region Germany Time 772–804

In 772 Charlemagne entered Saxony and destroyed the pagan Irminsul pillar, opening over thirty years of conquest aimed at bringing the Saxons east of…

Timeline

  1. 772Eresburg · SaxonyCharlemagne's army penetrated the Saxon heartland and felled the Saxons' sacred tree, the Irminsul pillar, symbolically destroying the center of pagan worship and sparking the war.
  2. 772–804Saxony · GermanyThe Saxon leader Widukind led repeated uprisings; Frankish forces campaigned again and again until the war dragged on for over thirty years until the Saxons finally submitted.

Sources