Consolidation
Barrie Brill
From the 730s, it can be said that Charles occupied a ‘vice-regal’ position that was widely recognized, albeit still unsanctioned. Nonetheless, he still had to consolidate Frankish power in the newly conquered territories, particularly in the north and east. This led him actively to support the evangelization policy carried out in the regions by Anglo-Saxon missionaries.
The Extension of Frankish Rule in Frisia and Germany
The succession crisis of 714 had revealed the extent of the danger that threats from the peripheral areas could pose for the Franks. The Frisians, Saxons, and Aquitainians had taken advantage of the disarray to launch pillaging raids especially against Austrasia. All Charles’ work north and east of the Rhine seems to have been part of a project to create a barrier dedicated to protecting the kingdom. He defended vulnerable borders by erecting new fortresses such as that of Christenberg near Marburg. He encouraged colonization by those Austrasians who later would be called orientales Franci (eastern Franks) of the region of the lower and middle valleys of the Main that was well on the way of becoming Franconia. This provided a route to the east and also provided more convenient access to the southern duchies of Bavaria and Alemannia.
In Frisia, Charles broke with the policies of his predecessors since he understood that, to definitively integrate western Frisia, it would be necessary to attack the centre of Frisian resistance east of the Rhine. To accomplish this, he mounted a naval expedition, utilizing the services of the Frisians who had already submitted to his authority, and succeeded in controlling the whole of Frisia after 734.
Against the Saxons, Charles did not have the means to act directly, but he organized a protective barrier in middle Germany, reinforcing the Frankish colonization along the lower and middle Main valley. This afforded some protection against the Saxons. This policy that sought to control the territories east of the Rhine by military means was completed by the support that Charles provided to the Anglo-Saxon missionaries who were undertaking to evangelize the region.
Support for Willibrord and Boniface’s Mission
Frisia and Alemannia were favoured regions of Anglo-Saxon missionaries in the eighth century. Willibrord, a missionary monk from England, settled at Utrecht, which was a Frankish advance post in contact with the Frisians. The Frisians were pagans and were hostile to Christianity. The military campaigns of Pippin had opened the region to missionaries and the installation of churches. Willibrord was anxious to have his activities approved by the papacy and travelled to Rome in 695. At the time of this visit, he was consecrated Bishop of the Frisians. His mission now had a national or ethnic framework recognized by the Church. He also had need of the resources and the support offered by the Austrasian mayor of the palace and his family. In 697-698, they had donated the