Charlemagne's Early Campaigns (768-777): A Diplomatic and Military Analysis

745 Pages·2013·8.25 MB·English

by  Bernard S. Bachrach

Charlemagne’s Early Campaigns (768–777)
History of Warfare
Editors
Kelly DeVries
Loyola University Maryland
John France
University of Wales, Swansea
Michael S. Neiberg
United States Army War College, Pennsylvania
Frederick Schneid
High Point University, North Carolina
VOLUME 82
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/hw
Charlemagne’s Early Campaigns
(768–777)
A Diplomatic and Military Analysis
By
Bernard S. Bachrach
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2013
Cover illustration: Porta Nigra (Black Gate) in Trier, Germany.
Photograph: Berthold Werner
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Trier_Porta_Nigra_BW_1.JPG, accessed 6 September 2012.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bachrach, Bernard S., 1939-
 Charlemagne's early campaigns (768-777) : a diplomatic and military analysis / by Bernard S.
Bachrach.
  pages cm. -- (History of warfare, ISSN 1385-7827 ; 82)
 Includes bibliographical references and index.
 ISBN 978-90-04-22410-0 (hardback : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-90-04-24477-1 (e-book)
1. Charlemagne, Emperor, 742-814--Military leadership. 2. Military art and science--Europe--
History--To 1500. 3. Military history, Medieval. I. Title.
 DC73.B25 2013
 944’.0142--dc23
2012044402
This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters
covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the
humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface.
ISSN 1385-7827
ISBN 978-90-04-22410-0 (hardback)
ISBN 978-90-04-24477-1 (e-book)
Copyright 2013 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV
provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center,
222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA.
Fees are subject to change.
Brill has made all reasonable efforts to trace all rights holders to any copyrighted
material used in this work. In cases where these efforts have not been successful the
publisher welcomes communications from copyright holders, so that the
appropriate acknowledgements can be made in future editions, and to settle other
permission matters.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
This book is dedicated to the new generation: Sam, Eliana,
Maddie, Jake, Rachel, Jessica, Henry, Caleb, and Lilah

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................ix
List of Abbreviations and Sources ........................................................................xi
Prefatory Note Regarding Maps ........................................................................xvii
Map of Charlemagne’s Kingdom and Its Environs ........................................xix
Introduction ................................................................................................................1
   1. Two Kings: Charlemagne and Carloman ...............................................108
   2. Italy in Flux: Opportunities and Problems ............................................139
   3. The Saxon War: Phase One ........................................................................177
   4. The Unwanted War ......................................................................................246
   5. The Siege of Pavia .........................................................................................310
   6. The Fall of Pavia and Its Aftermath .........................................................374
   7. The Saxon War: Phase Two ........................................................................427
   8. The Friuli Diversion .....................................................................................473
   9. The “End” of the Saxon War .......................................................................510
10. Integration of the Saxon Territory ...........................................................566
Conclusions ............................................................................................................631
Bibliography ...........................................................................................................654
Index .........................................................................................................................691

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First, I would like to thank Professor Kelly DeVries, the director of Brill’s
series on medieval military history, who read the entire manuscript on at
least two occasions, made several key suggestions in regard to both revi-
sions and augmentations, while advocating vigorously for its publication.
Secondly, I want to thank Ms. Marcella Mulder, Brill’s editor, with whom it
was a great pleasure to work and who very effectively expedited the publi-
cation process. Finally, with regard to Brill’s contribution to the process,
I would like to thank Mr. Robert Ellison, who proved himself a vigorous
and diligent copy editor.
With regard to the making of Charlemagne’s Early Campaigns, I would
like to thank my son Professor David S. Bachrach of the University of
New Hampshire, who read and commented on various versions of the
manuscript and, in addition, often suggested useful bibliography that
crossed the division between my work on Charlemange and his work on
the military history of the Ottonian dynasty. I also want to thank my
wife, Dr. Deborah Y. Bachrach, PhD. who also read several versions of the
manuscript, while helping me to make clear for the general reader many
of the highly specialized arguments that are necessary in a project of this
kind.
Finally, I want to thank the University of Minnesota, which awarded
me a sabbatical leave for the academic year 2005–2006. This leave enabled
me to visit numerous places in Germany and Italy, where Charlemagne’s
campaigns were executed, and to complete my research for Charlemagne’s
Early Campaigns. Also with regard to the University of Minnesota, I would
be remiss very seriously if I did not thank the Office of Inter-library loan
and particularly Ms. Alice Welsh, who located numerous hard to locate
foreign publications that were essential to my research and managed to
obtain copies. Without this help, it would not have been possible to com-
plete my study.