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Y202: Charlemagne 768–814

War and conquest: later campaigns, methods of warfare and reasons for success

  • 2 things to know
  • Unit group 2

Overview

Recall questions on the later Saxon wars, the Avars, Slavs and Danes, the Spanish expedition and Roncesvalles, Byzantine relations, the Frankish army and the reasons for Charlemagne’s military success.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Who and when

What threat did the Danes pose in Charlemagne's later years?

Key term

What happened at the pass of Roncesvalles?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    How did Charlemagne attempt to break Saxon resistance after the revolt of 782?

    Model answer

    He executed thousands of Saxons at Verden, imposed a law code making refusal of baptism and pagan practices capital offences, and later deported Saxon populations and settled Franks among them.

  2. 2

    What was the Ring, and what happened to it?

    Model answer

    It was the great fortified encampment at the centre of the Avar khaganate, and Frankish forces stormed and destroyed it in the mid-790s, seizing a treasure of gold and silver that Charlemagne distributed to his followers, the Church and the pope.

  3. 3

    Describe Charlemagne's dealings with the Slav peoples on his eastern frontier.

    Model answer

    He forced the Wilzi and the Sorbs to submit and pay tribute through short punitive campaigns, and cultivated the Abodrites as allies against the Saxons, aiming at a tributary buffer zone rather than annexation.

  4. 4

    What threat did the Danes pose in Charlemagne's later years?

    Model answer

    King Godfred fortified his southern frontier, attacked Charlemagne's Slav allies and sent a fleet to raid Frisia, exposing the empire's inability to defend a long coastline; only after his death did his successor accept the Eider as the frontier in 811.

  5. 5

    Why did Charlemagne intervene in Muslim Spain in 778, and what was the result?

    Model answer

    He was invited by dissident Muslim governors including the ruler of Barcelona, but Zaragoza shut its gates against him and he withdrew having achieved nothing beyond sacking Pamplona.

  6. 6

    What happened at the pass of Roncesvalles?

    Model answer

    The rearguard of the retreating Frankish army was ambushed and destroyed by Basques in 778, a defeat later transformed into the heroic legend of Roland.

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