Widukind

Widukind
dux Saxonum
Modern statue in Nienburg
Reign	?-785
Predecessor	Theoderic
Successor	Egbert
Noble family	House of Odon
Died	? possibly Enger, near Herford
Buried	? Stiftskirche, Enger

Widukind, also known as Widuking or Wittekind, was a Germanic leader of the Saxons and the chief opponent of the Frankish king Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 777 to 785. Charlemagne ultimately prevailed, organized Saxony as a Frankish province and ordered conversions of the pagan Saxons to Roman Catholicism. In later times, Widukind became a symbol of Saxon independence and a figure of legend - the Codex Wittekindeus is said to have been owned by him.

Very little is known about Widukind's life. His name literally translates as "Child of the wood" (i.e. a wolf), more probably a kenning than a proper name. All sources about him stem from his enemies, the Franks, who painted a negative picture, representing him as an "insurgent" and a "traitor". While Widukind was considered the leader of the Saxon resistance by the Franks, his exact role in the military campaigns is unknown.

According to the Royal Frankish Annals, the Franks campaigned Saxony in 772, when Charlemagne ordered the destruction of the Irminsul sanctuary. The Saxon Wars continued when Westphalian tribes devastated the church of Deventer and the Angrarii laid siege to the Frankish court at Fritzlar. The king retaliated against the local nobility, enforcing the consent to incorporate the Saxon lands as a Frankish march.

Widukind was first mentioned by the Annals in 777, when he was the only one of the Saxon nobles not to appear at Charlemagne's court in Paderborn. Instead, he stayed with the Danish king Sigfred (possibly Sigurd Hring). The next year, the Westphalians again invaded the Frankish Rhineland and subsequently fought a running battle against Charlemagne's forces and their local allies, while the king was busy in Spain.