Was Charlemagne a politician, a general or a warrior? New book eplores his early campaigns.
Book Review:
Charlemagne’s Early Campaigns (768 -777). A Diplomatic and Military Analysis.
Bernard S. Bachrach
Brill 2013
Nearly every winter during his 46 years of reign Charlemagne met with his inner circle of magnates in order to deliberate their next military campaign. Later in springtime he called a wider circle to a great assembly, which generally took place in connection with a mobilization of his royal army. These campaigns resulted all in all in a doubling up of the area, he ruled over. It is estimated that in the end the Regnum Francorum covered more than 1.5 mill square kilometers.
It is in view of this nearly inconceivable that scholars from time to time continue to regard Charlemagne primarily as an “Epic Hero” or “primitive” warrior in the style of Beowulf.
One should simply imagine that the sheer magnitude of his military accomplishments by now aught to have gained Charlemagne the official recognition as a great general; perhaps the greatest European general ever in view of the fact that he carried this expansion program through in a highly disciplined and prudent way for most of his reign. Nevertheless the mind-boggling result of his military campaigns are often disregarded, “talked-down” or merely seen as reflecting the views expounded by the contemporary chronicles.
Charlemagne, however, was obviously inspired by extensive readings of Roman Military History and developed a very efficient “war machine” consisting of very large contingents of mustered men, a substantial cavalry and vast quantities of resources stockpiled to support the troops. Added to this should be the carts, wagons, and river-boats necessary for the logistic support needed in order to move armies of at least 20-40.000 men into enemy territory as well as the tactical and strategic resources needed to carry though his extensive campaigns,writes Bernard S. Bachrach in a fascinating new book.
“Charlemagne’s Early Campaigns” is the first book-length study of Charlemagne at war. Its focus on the period 768-777 makes it clear that the topic, for his forty-six year reign, is immense. Though critical deployment of numerous narrative and documentary sources combined with the systematic use of an immense corpus of archaeological evidence, the book seeks to broaden our understanding of Charlemagne’s military strategy and campaign tactics. Through a very careful analysis of the actual happenings as rendered by these sources, Charlemagne and his advisers emerge as careful and prudent planners, with a thorough understanding of Roman military thinking; and furthermore a general, who was dedicated to the use of overwhelming force in order to win whenever possible without undertaking bloody combat or pitched battles.
To some extent the book is a follow-up on an earlier study on “Early Carolingian Warfare” (Princeton 2001), which explored the prelude to the empire of Charlemagne. With its careful accounts of the Lombard, Italian and Saxon wars the present book vets our appetite for the next chapter – the Spanish, Saxon and Avar Campaigns of his later reign. Hopefully Professor Bachrach is already busy writing the next installment. We need this down-to-earth approach in order to properly appreciate the magna opera of Charlemagne. The only quibble is the price of the book.
Karen Schousboe
Bernard S. Bachrach: Charlemagne’s Early Campaigns (768 -777). A Diplomatic and Military Analysis.
Series: History in Warfare Vol 82.
Leiden and Boston: Brill 2013-08-28
ISBN13:
9789004224100
E-ISBN:
9789004244771
Publication Year: 2013
Format: Hardback, 768 pp.
€214,00/$297.00
Upon receiving his AB degree in History and Classical languages, Professor Bachrach earned his MA and Ph.D. in Medieval History and archaeology at the University of California, Berkeley (1966). He is a fellow of the Medieval Academy of America, and Professor of Medieval History at the University of Minnesota. Among his many articles and monographs are Fulk Nerra and Early Carolingian Warfare.