|
The history of Saxony concerns what was originally a small tribe living on the North Sea between the Elbe and Eider River in the present Holstein. The name of this tribe, the Saxons (Lat..., Saxones), was first mentioned by the Roman author Ptolemy. The name ''Saxons'' is derived from the Seax, a knife used by the tribe as a weapon. In 3rd and 4th century Germany, great tribal confederations of the Alamanni, Bavarians, Thuringians, Franks, Frisii, and Saxons arose. These took the place of the numerous petty tribes with their popular tribal form of government. With the exceptions of the Saxons all these confederations were ruled by kings; the Saxons were divided into a number of independent bodies under different chiefs, and in time of war these chieftains drew lots. The selected leader was followed by the other chiefs until the war ended.〔See pages 182 and 183 of Turner (1852).〕 In the 3rd and 4th centuries, the Saxons fought their way victoriously towards the west, and their name was given to the great tribal confederation that stretched towards the west exactly to the former boundary of the Roman Empire, consequently almost to the Rhine. Only a small strip of land on the right bank of the Rhine remained to the Frankish tribe. Towards the south the Saxons pushed as far as the Harz Mountains and the Eichsfeld, and in the succeeding centuries absorbed the greater part of Thuringia. In the east their power extended at first as far as the Elbe and Saale Rivers; in the later centuries it certainly extended much farther. All the coast of the German Ocean belonged to the Saxons except that west of the Weser, which the Frisians retained. ==Saxons and Christianity== The history of the powerful Saxon tribe is also the history of the conversion to Christianity of that part of Germany which lies between the Rhine and the Oder, that is of almost the whole of the present Northern Germany. From the 8th century, the Saxons were divided into the four subdivisions (''gau''): Westphalians, between the Rhine and Weser; the Engern or Angrians, on both sides of the Weser; the Eastphalians, between the Weser and Elbe; the Transalbingians, in the present Holstein. The only one of these names that has been preserved is Westphalians, given to the inhabitants of the Prussian Province of Westphalia. In company with the tribe of Angles from Schleswig, a part of the Saxons settled on the island of Great Britain from which the Romans had withdrawn, where, as Anglo-Saxons, after having accepted Christianity about 600, they laid the foundation of Anglo-Saxon civilisation and the present Great Britain. In attempting to reach Gaul by land the Saxons came into violent conflict with the Franks living on the Rhine. The Frankish king Clovis I (481-511) united the various Frankish tribes, conquered Roman Gaul, and with his people accepted Christianity. The new Frankish kingdom was able to bring all German tribes except the Saxons under its authority and to make them Christian. For more than a hundred years there was almost uninterrupted warfare between Frank and Saxon. Many Anglo-Saxon Christian missionaries sought to convert the Saxons, some were killed, some driven away; the names of only a few of these men have been preserved, as St. Suitbert, St. Egnert, the saint called Brother Ewald, St. Lebuin, etc. St. Boniface also preached without success among the Saxons. After a bloody struggle that lasted thirty years (772-804), the Saxons were finally brought under Frankish supremacy by the great Frankish ruler, Charlemagne. The earliest date at which it can be proved that Charlemagne had the conquest of the Saxon districts in view is 776. Charlemagne was also able to win them to Christianity, the Saxons being the last German tribe that still held persistently to belief in the Germanic gods. At different times the Saxon wars of Charlemagne have been called "religious wars." The assertion, which cannot be proved, has been made that Pope Adrian I had called upon Charlemagne to convert the Saxons by force. Charlemagne's campaigns were intended mainly to punish the Saxons for their annual marauding expeditions to the Rhine, in which they burned churches and monasteries, killed the priests, and sacrificed their prisoners of war to the gods. At the same time it is true that various measures taken by Charlemagne, as the execution of 4,500 Saxons at Verden in 782 and the hard laws issued to the subjugated, were shortsighted and cruel. It was believed that if peace was to be permanent the overthrow of the Saxons must be accompanied by their conversion to Christianity. The work of converting Saxony was given to St. Sturmi, who was on terms of friendship with Charlemagne, and the monks of the monastery of Fulda founded by Sturmi. Among the successful missionaries were also St. Willehad, the first Bishop of Bremen, and his Anglo-Saxon companions. After St. Sturmi's death (779) the country of the Saxons was divided into missionary districts, and each of these placed under a Frankish bishop. Parishes were established within the old judicial districts. With the generous aid of Charlemagne and his nobles large numbers of churches and monasteries were founded, and as soon as peace and quiet had been re-established in the different districts, permanent dioceses were founded. Although the opposition in Saxon territories to Christian teaching had been obstinate only a few decades before, the Saxons grew accustomed to the new system. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Saxony」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|