Читать книгу The Great Hollenberg Saga - Heinz Niederste-Hollenberg - Страница 39

Hengist’s son Hadugast, his successor, remained in Saxony and his son Hulderich (also known under the name of Childerich), born 584 AD, fought and protected for the first time the Saxonian territories against the power-ful, aspiring Franconians, another Germanic tribe. This conflict should prove fateful to the Saxons over the next centuries.

Around 630 AD, Hulderich’s son Sieghart (also known as Sigismund) reigned over the Saxons.

His son Dietrich, in skirmishes with the Franconians, now led by Karl Martell, was captivated and imprisoned.

Karl Martell (688 – 741AD), nicknamed the “Hammer”, son of Pipin II, was mayor of the Franconian palace. He managed to bring earlier domains of the Franconian kingdom under his control and fought the aggressive Mos-lems at Tour, pushing eastward towards various Germanic tribes.

Under him, the two principal elements of feudalism, the fief and vassalage developed, and the historic alli-ance between the Frankonian Kingdom and the Papacy began.

While Dietrich was in captivity, his wife, a duchess from the Wendish country, had two sons:

King Edelgard and Duke Warnekin. Edelgard died 753 A.D. in a battle with Pipin the Short, who is the father of Charles the Great (Charlemagne).

After this battle, Pipin the Short was the first to march into the heartland of the Saxons, all the way to the fortified castle of Rehme, located direct on the Weser River.

The Long Struggle between the Saxons and the Franks

(The land of our ancestors)

Warnekin, after succeeding his brother as king of the Saxons, had two children (sons) with his wife Kunhilde, a princess from the island of Ruegen: -- Wittekind (also known as Wedekind) and Bruno.

In 758 AD Wittekind became Duke of Engern, Westphalia, and Saxony.

He spent his childhood between Warnekin`s court at the mountain stronghold “Babilonie” in the Wiehengebirge between Herford and Osnabrück and the ancestral castle in Wigaldishausen (=Wildeshausen) on the Hunte River.

His dukedom, the free land of the Saxons, extended from the Lower-Rhine-Valley eastward to the Weser River and all the way to the Wendish (Slavic) territory in the East. (fig.:#11)

While Wittekind lived according to the old customs of his ancestors, King Karl, at the same time, tried to spread Christianity. Later in history, King Karl was named “Charlemagne”.