A History of Germany from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Taylor Bayard

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СКАЧАТЬ his government over Germany. In spite of a fierce resistance, headed by Pippin of Heristall, the grandson of Pippin of Landen, he partly maintained his authority until the year 681, when he was murdered in turn.

      Pippin of Heristall was also the grandson of Arnulf, Bishop of Metz, whose son, Anchises, had married Begga, the daughter of Pippin of Landen. He was thus of Roman blood by his father's, and Frank by his mother's side. As soon as his authority was secured, as Royal Steward of Germany, he invaded France, and a desperate struggle for the stewardship of the whole kingdom ensued. It was ended in 687 by a battle near St. Quentin, in which Pippin was victorious. He used his success with a moderation very rare in those days: he did honor to the Frank king, Theuderich III., who had fallen into his hands, spared the lives and possessions of all who had fought against him, on their promise not to take up arms against his authority, and even continued many of the chief officials of the Franks in their former places.

      687. PIPPIN OF HERISTALL.

      From this date the Merovingian monarch became a shadow. Pippin paid him all external signs of allegiance, kept up the ceremonies of his Court, supplied him with ample revenues, and governed the kingdom in his name; but the actual power was concentrated in his own hands. France, Switzerland and the greater part of Germany were subjected to his government, although there were still elements of discontent within the realm, and of trouble outside of its borders. The dependent dukedoms of Aquitaine, Burgundy, Alemannia, Bavaria and Thuringia were restless under the yoke; the Saxons and Frisians on the north were hostile and defiant, and the Slavonic races all along the eastern frontier had not yet given up their invasions.

      Pippin, like the French rulers after him, down to the present day, perceived the advantage of having the Church on his side. Moreover, he was the grandson of a Bishop, which circumstance—although it did not prevent him from taking two wives—enabled him better to understand the power of the ecclesiastical system of Rome. In the early part of the seventh century, several Christian missionaries, principally Irish, had begun their labors among the Alemanni and the Bavarians, but the greater part of these people, with all the Thuringians, Saxons and Frisians, were still worshippers of the old pagan gods. Pippin saw that the latter must be taught submission, and accustomed to authority through the Church, and, with his aid, all the southern part of Germany became Christian in a few years. Force was employed, as well as persuasion; but, at that time, the end was considered to sanction any means.

      Pippin's rule (we can not call it reign) was characterized by the greatest activity, patience and prudence. From year to year the kingdom of the Franks became better organized and stronger in all its features of government. Brittany, Burgundy and Aquitaine were kept quiet; the northern part of Holland was conquered, and immediately given into charge of a band of Anglo-Saxon monks; and Germany, although restless and dissatisfied, was held more firmly than ever. Pippin of Heristall, while he was simply called a Royal Steward, exercised a wider power than any monarch of his time.

      714.

      When he died, in the year 714, the kingdom was for a while convulsed by feuds which threatened to repeat the bloody annals of the Merovingians. His heirs were Theudowald, his grandson by his wife Plektrude, and Karl and Hildebrand, his sons by his wife Alpheid. He chose the former as his successor, and Plektrude, in order to suppress any opposition to this arrangement, imprisoned her step-son Karl. But the Burgundians immediately revolted, elected one of their chiefs, Raginfried, to the office of Royal Steward, and defeated the Franks in a battle in which Theudowald was slain. Karl, having escaped from prison, put himself at the head of affairs, supported by a majority of the German Franks. He was a man of strong personal influence, and inspired his followers with enthusiasm and faith; but his chances seemed very desperate. His step-mother, Plektrude, opposed him: the Burgundians and French Franks, led by Raginfried, were marching against him, and Radbod, Duke of Friesland, invaded the territory which he was bound by his office to defend.

      Karl had the choice of three enemies, and he took the one which seemed most dangerous. He attacked Radbod, but was forced to fall back, and this repulse emboldened the Saxons to make a foray into the land of the Hessians, as the old Germanic tribe of the Chatti were now called. Radbod advanced to Cologne, which was held by Plektrude and her followers: at the same time Raginfried approached from the west, and the city was thus besieged by two separate armies, hostile to each other, yet both having the same end in view. Between the two, Karl managed to escape, and retreated to the forest of Ardennes, where he set about reconstructing his shattered army.

      Cologne was too strong to be assailed, and Plektrude, who possessed large treasures, soon succeeded in buying off Radbod and Raginfried. The latter, on his return to France, came into collision with Karl, who, though repelled at first, finally drove him in confusion to the walls of Paris. Karl then suddenly wheeled about and marched against Cologne, which fell into his hands: Plektrude, leaving her wealth as his booty, fled to Bavaria. This victory secured to Karl the stewardship over Germany, but a king was wanting, to make the forms of royalty complete. The direct Merovingian line had run out, and Raginfried had been obliged to take a monk, an offshoot of the family, and place him on the throne, under the name of Chilperic II. Karl, after a little search, discovered another Merovingian, whom he installed in the German half of the kingdom, as Clotar III. That done, he attacked the invading Saxons, defeated and drove them beyond the Weser river.

      719. KARL, STEWARD OF THE EMPIRE.

      He was now free to meet the rebellious Franks of France, who in the meantime had strengthened themselves by offering to Duke Eudo of Aquitaine the acknowledgment of his independent sovereignty in return for his support. A decisive battle was fought in the year 719, and Karl was again victorious. The nominal king, Chilperic II., Raginfried and Duke Eudo fled into the south of France. Karl began negotiations with the latter for the delivery of the fugitive king; but just at this time his own puppet, Clotar III., happened to die, and, as there was no other Merovingian left, the pretence upon which his stewardship was based obliged him to recognize Chilperic II. Raginfried resigned his office, and Karl was at last nominal Steward, and actual monarch, of the kingdom of the Franks.

      His first movement was to deliver Germany from its invaders, and reëstablish the dependency of its native Dukes. The death of the fierce Radbod enabled him to reconquer West Friesland: the Saxons were then driven back and firmly held within their original boundaries, and finally the Alemanni and Bavarians were compelled to make a formal acknowledgment of the Frank rule. As regards Thuringia, which seems to have remained a Dukedom, the chronicles of the time give us little information. It is probable, however, that the invasions of the Saxons on the north and the Slavonic tribes on the east gave the people of Central Germany no opportunity to resist the authority of the Franks. The work of conversion, encouraged by Pippin of Heristall as a political measure, was still continued by the zeal of the Irish and Anglo-Saxon missionaries, and in the beginning of the eighth century it received a powerful impulse from a new apostle, a man of singular ability and courage.

      He was a Saxon of England, born in Devonshire in the year 680, and Winfried by name. Educated in a monastery, at a time when the struggle between Christianity and the old Germanic faith was at its height, he resolved to devote his life to missionary labors. He first went to Friesland, during the reign of Radbod, and spent three years in a vain attempt to convert the people. Then he visited Rome, offered his services to the Pope, and was commissioned to undertake the work of christianizing Central Germany. On reaching the field of his labors, he manifested such zeal and intelligence that he soon became the leader and director of the missionary enterprise. It is related that at Geismar, in the land of the Hessians, he cut down with his own hands an aged oak-tree, sacred to the god Thor. This and other similar acts inspired the people with such awe that they began to believe that their old gods were either dead or helpless, and they submissively accepted the new faith without understanding its character, or following it otherwise than in observing the external forms of worship.

      725.

      On a second visit to Rome, Winfried was appointed by the Pope Archbishop СКАЧАТЬ