Frisian-Franconian Wars

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Map of the Franconian Empire from 481 to 814

The Frisian-Franconian Wars were a series of conflicts between the Franconian Empire and the Greater Frisian Empire in the 7th and 8th centuries.

history

During the time of the Great Frisian Empire, there were repeated conflicts with the Franconian Empire to the south. While the Great Frisian Empire under King Aldgisl still lived largely in peace with the Franks , there were repeated disputes under Aldgisl's successor, Radbod . The wars were mainly fought over the control of the Rhine-Meuse delta , which was ruled by the Frisians. In the battle of Dorestad , on the banks of the Rhine , he was defeated by the ruler of the Frankish empire Pippin the Middle and had to cede the western part of the empire to the Franks. In the Franconian-ruled areas, Willibrord began missioning the pagan Frisians from 690 onwards .

After the death of Pippin the Middle, Radbod gathered his troops and in 716 recaptured the previously lost territories in a battle against the Frankish caretaker Karl Martell . Radbod died in 719 and was succeeded by Poppo . Under his rule, the Franks began to recapture western Friesland and by 720 all of the former Frisian parts of the country west of the Vlie were again in Franconian hands.

In 734 Karl Martell sent his troops again to Friesland and the battle of the Boorne broke out , in which the Franks were able to destroy the Frisian troops. Poppo was killed in the battle and the Franks also annexed the Frisian area between the Vlie and the Lauwers .

The Frisians only had a much smaller area of ​​dominion. Over time, he was absorbed in the ever-growing Franconian empire.

literature