Charles was equally successful in the south east. His marriage, in 771, with Hildegarde, daughter of Duke Dodfrey of Suabia, secured his influence in that duchy. In Bavaria his cousin. Tassilo. ruled practically as an independent sovereign. lle had been allied with the Lom bards, but in 781 he took the oath of allegiance to Charles. Iii 787 lie rebelled, but was forced to surrender, and was deposed in 788. Tassilo had also been allied with the Avars, a fierce nomadic tribe which occupied the great plain of tile middle Danube. The wars which Charles undertook against them in 791-90 resulted in the entire destruction of the the P,aab be coming the southeastern boundary of the Frank ish kingdom. In 778, at the invitation of the Emir of Saragossa. who was in revolt against his suzerain. the Caliph of Cordova, Charles invaded northeastern Spain. This campaign against the infidel figures very prominently in medieval legends, but in reality it was without direct re sult. Charles was summoned home by the news of a Saxon revolt, and in his return over the Pyrenees, the rear-gua•d of his army was as sailed and annihilated, probably in the Pass of Roncesvalles, by the Bas,Ines. In this battle Roland (q.v.). afterwards the hero of a vast legendary literature, fell. In 779 Charles sent his son Louis to Spain. and after the fall of Barcelona he established the Spanish 'mark,' ex tending from the Pyrenees to the Ebro. It was the policy of Charles to establish such 'marks' on the borders of his dominions as bulwarks the uncivilized nations by which they were Against the Danes lie estab lished the Danish 'mark' south of the Eider: against the Sorabians the Thuringian `mark:' against the Bohemians the Franldsh 'mark:' and against the Southern Slays the 'marks' of Ca rinthia and Friuli. The land in these districts was pa reeled out Frankish vassals, and the margraves who ruled over them had far greater power than the ordinary count.. Charles also made use of the Church to secure his con quests. In the 'axon wars the Saxons were baptized by the thousans. and the bishoprics of llalberstadt. Paderborn, .Minden. Verdi-n, Bre men, .Miinster. and Dsnabrtiek were erected. lie also founded great monasteries. like Corvey and Ilerford. which were in fact fortresses ill the rmunUy.
By the conquest_ organization, and rule of such extensive dominions and of peoples so different in race and political tradition. Charles had vir tually established an empire. II is assumption of the imperial title and the revival of the West ern Roman Empire were hut the logical consum mation of his great work. This event took place on the occasion of aim expedition to Italy, the ob ject of which was to support Pope Leo 111. against the rebellious Boman,. W'hile Charles was worshiping in Saint Peter's on Christmas Day. 800. the Pope. unexpectedly. as it appeared, set a crown upon his head, and amid the acclama tion-, of the people. saluted him as 'Carolns Augustus, Emperor of the Romans.' Whether or not the Emperor was :mare of the intention of the Pope is a matter of conjecture lolly. In his familiar eonversations lie was wont to pro test his ignorance of the projected coronation. In itself it added nothing directly to Charles's power, yet it greatly confirmed and increased the respect entertained for such was the lustre of a title with which were associated recollections of all the greatness of the Roman Empire. There
said to have to a scheme for the union of the newly revived Western Empire with the Empire of the East. by Charles's marriage with Irene (q.v.), the Byzantine Empress. It so, it failed by reason of Irene's overthrow. 1k-sides the moral weight of Roman tradition• the imperial title added to Charles's office of King the powerful temporal glionliall•hip of the Church. This was strongly emphasized in the new oath of allegiance to him, as Emperor, which Charles eaused all his subjects to swear soon after his coronation. Ile proceeded to organize the empire with a view to strengthening, the imperial power. The old national dukedoms having been abol ished, Charles governed his dominions through counts. whom lie himself appointed. Each count presided over an ancient. canton (Gau), a sub division of the dukedom. Three times a year the count held a regular court, \Odell all freemen were bound to attend. and in times of war he assembled the military levy of the Gan. To Watch over the counts Charles sent his Dominici.' usually a count and a bishop, to the extreme ends of the empire. Their functions were to look after the administration of the Church. to collect the Emperor's revenues. and hold the superior court. Charles did not attempt to interfere with local Cermanie institutions, but caused the ancient laws to be codified and reduced to writing. Although his rule was in fact abso lute. lie retained the ancient national assemblies, which every freeman might attend. They met twice a year. in spring 1.1/nifdri: see Cii.kMP DE .M.ki1 and in autumn, and decided upon matters of State. part icularly on peace and war. Here the •Alissi Dominiei• made their reports. and the Church councils were held. Besides the and his counselors. there Were the two chief court officials—tin- Apocrisiarius, who stood at the head of Church affairs. and the Count Pala tine Pa hitinusl, who presided over the seenlar administration. The income from the royal domains, Which Charles -kill fully man aged. together with the revenues from the admin. istmtion of justice and free-will offerings, pro vided for the expens/ s of the State.
Charles promoted to the fullest extent the in terests of the Church. Ile recognized in it a powerful ally, both in increasing and ruling his dominions. His wars were religions as well as political; he introduced Christianity into the countries which he completed. Ile made the sys tem of tithes compulsory throughout the empire. and richly endowed bishoprics and monasteries. His zealous cooperation with the bishops in bring ing about disciplinary reform. his always active interest in doctrinal matters and solicitous par ticipation in the national synods, contributed wonderfully to increase the power and influence of the Church. so sovereign in the history of Christendom contributed more actively and effi caciously than Charles to the propagation and strengthening of religion and the upbuilding of the Church., though the revival of the Western Empire in his person led eventually to the mem orable conflict, which filled subsequent. centuries, between Papacy and the Empire. Ile also effect ed a closer Church organization, by subordinating more strictly the bishopric: to the archbishoprics and by strengthening the bold of the bishop over the churches of his diocese.