Two priests - both named Ewald - recently sent to convert them to Christianity, were instead been brutally murdered, dismembered and cast into the Rhine. The Saxons still fiercely defend their pagan beliefs, upholding them despite determined advances from the Christian Franks. This included Saxon tribes who, although subjugated, were able to remain largely independent, separated from their Frankish overlords and foes by the Harz and Hesse mountain ranges. United under Clovis, the Franks brought much of Gaul under their control. Those who remained on the continental mainland came into contact with the Franks, who went on to shape their destiny significantly. After the Romans pulled out of Britannia at the beginning of the 5th century CE, many Saxons settled there in their stead, laying the foundations of what would eventually become England. Originally from along the northern European coast, their name is derived from their characteristic weapon, the 'seax' dagger.ĭuring the early stages of the Roman Empire, the Saxons were fragmented and tenacious, gradually spreading across Europe with no singular leader. The Saxons were first mentioned by name in Ptolemy's 'Geographica' in 130 CE, with reference to the "Saxones" tribe north of the Elbe River.
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