Saxones

The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
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peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the North Sea coast of northern Germania, in what is now Germany. In the late Roman Empire, the name was used to refer to Germanic coastal raiders, and as a name similar to the later "Viking". Their origins are believed to be in or near the German North Sea coast where they appear later, in Carolingian times. In Merovingian times, continental Saxons had been associated with the activity and settlements on the coast of what later became Normandy. Their precise origins are uncertain, and they are sometimes described as fighting inland, coming into conflict with the Franks and Thuringians. There is possibly a single classical reference to a smaller homeland of an early Saxon tribe, but its interpretation is disputed. According to this proposal, the Saxons' earliest area of settlement is believed to have been Northern Albingia. This general area is close to the probable homeland of the Angles.

During the eighth and ninth centuries the Saxons of Old Saxony were in continual conflict with the Franks, whose kingdom at the time was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty. After thirty three years of conquest due to military campaigns led by the lord king and emperor Charlemagne beginning in 772 and ending around 804, the Franks defeated the Saxons, forced them to convert to Christianity and seized the territory of Old Saxony, annexing it into the Carolingian domain, although the Franks had been enemies of the Saxons in the time of Clovis I, during the early Merovingian period of the fifth and sixth centuries.

Charles Martel, Duke and prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, the grandfather of Charlemagne, had fought and led numerous campaigns against the Saxons.

In contrast, the English Saxons, today referred to in English as Anglo-Saxons, became a single nation bringing together migrant Germanic peoples (Frisians, Jutes, Angles hence "English" and assimilated Celtic Britons populations. Their earliest weapons and clothing south of the Thames were based on late Roman military fashions, but later immigrants north of the Thames showed a stronger North German influence. The term "Anglo-Saxon", combining the names of the Angles and the Saxons, came into use by the eighth century (for example Paul the Deacon) to distinguish the Germanic inhabitants of Britain from continental Saxons (referred to in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' as ''Ealdseaxe'', 'old Saxons'), but both the Saxons of Britain and those of Old Saxony (Northern Germany) continued to be referred to as 'Saxons' in an indiscriminate manner, especially in the languages of Britain and Ireland.

Although the English Saxons were no longer raiders, the political history of the continental Saxons is unclear until the time of the conflict between their semi-legendary hero Widukind and the Frankish emperor Charlemagne. The continental Saxons are no longer a distinctive ethnic group or country but their name lives on in the names of several regions and states of Germany, including Lower Saxony (which includes central parts of the original Saxon homeland known as Old Saxony), Saxony in Upper Saxony, as well as Saxony-Anhalt (which includes Old, Lower and Upper Saxon regions).

Etymology

The name of the Saxons may derive from a kind of knife associated with the ethnos; such a knife has the name '' seax'' in Old English, ''Sax'' in German, ''sachs'' in Old High German, and ''sax'' in Old Norse. The seax has had a lasting symbolic impact in the English counties of Essex and Middlesex, both of which feature three seaxes in their ceremonial emblem. The names of these counties, along with the names "Sussex" and "Wessex", contain a remnant of the root of the word "Saxon".

The Elizabethan-era play ''Edmund Ironside'' suggests that the name "Saxon" derives from the Latin ''saxa'' (stones; singular form: ''saxum''):

Saxon as a demonym

Celtic languages

In the Celtic languages, the words designating English nationality derive from the Latin word . The most prominent example, a loanword in English from Scottish Gaelic (older spelling: ), is the word , used by Scots-, Scottish English- and Gaelic-speakers in the 21st century as a racially pejorative term for an English person. The '' Oxford English Dictionary'' (OED) gives 1771 as the date of the earliest written use of the word in English. The Gaelic name for England is (older spelling: , genitive: ), and (formed with a common adjective suffix ) means "English" in reference to people and things, though not when naming the English language, which is .

, the Irish word for an Englishman (with meaning England), has the same derivation, as do the words used in Welsh to describe the English people (, singular ) and the language and things English in general: and .

Cornish terms the English , from the same derivation. In the 16th century Cornish-speakers used the phrase to feign ignorance of the English language. The Cornish words for the English people and England are and ('Land aysof Saxons'). Similarly Breton, spoken in north-western France, has ('English'), ('the English language'), and for 'England'.

Romance languages

The label "Saxons" (in ro, Sași) also became attached to German settlers who settled during the 12th century in southeastern Transylvania. From Transylvania, some of these Saxons migrated to neighbouring Moldavia, as the name of the town shows. Sascut lies in the part of Moldavia that forms part of present-day Romania.

During George Frideric Handel's visit to the Republic of Venice (1706–09), much was made of his origins in Saxony; in particular, the Venetians greeted the 1709 performance of his opera ''Agrippina'' with the cry , "Cheers for the beloved Saxon!"

Non-Indo-European languages

The Finns and Estonians have changed their usage of the root ''Saxon'' over the centuries to apply now to the whole country of Germany ( and respectively) and the Germans ( and , respectively). The Finnish word (scissors) reflects the name of the old Saxon single-edged sword —  seax — from which the name "Saxon" supposedly derives. In Estonian, means "a nobleman" or, colloquially, "a wealthy or powerful person". As a result of the 13th-century Northern Crusades, Estonia's upper class comprised mostly persons of German origin until well into the 20th century.

Related personal names

The word survives as the surnames of  /  (in Low German or Low Saxon), and . The Dutch female given name, , originally meant 'a Saxon woman' ( metathesis of ''Saxia'').

Saxony as a toponym

Following the downfall of Henry the Lion (11291195, Duke of Saxony 11421180), and the subsequent splitting of the Saxon tribal duchy into several territories, the name of the Saxon duchy was transferred to the lands of the Ascanian family. This led to the differentiation between Lower Saxony (lands settled by the Saxon tribe) and Upper Saxony (the lands belonging to the House of Wettin). Gradually, the latter region became known as "Saxony", ultimately usurping the name's original geographical meaning. The area formerly known as Upper Saxony now lies in Central Germany - in the eastern part of the present-day Federal Republic of Germany: note the names of the federal states of Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.

History

Early history

Ptolemy's ''Geographia'', written in the second century, is sometimes considered to contain the first mentioning of the Saxons. Some copies of this text mention a tribe called ''Saxones'' in the area to the north of the lower Elbe. However, other versions refer to the same tribe as ''Axones''. This may be a misspelling of the tribe that Tacitus in his ''Germania'' called ''Aviones''. According to this theory, "Saxones" was the result of later scribes trying to correct a name that meant nothing to them. On the other hand, Schütte, in his analysis of such problems in ''Ptolemy's Maps of Northern Europe'', believed that "Saxones" is correct. He notes that the loss of first letters occurs in numerous places in various copies of Ptolemy's work, and also that the manuscripts without "Saxones" are generally inferior overall.

Schütte remarks that there was a medieval tradition of calling this area "Old Saxony" (covering Westphalia, Angria and Eastphalia). This view is in line with Bede who mentions Old Saxony was near the Rhine, somewhere to the north of the river Lippe (Westphalia, northeastern part of modern German state Nordrhein-Westfalen).

The first undisputed mention of the Saxon name in its modern form is from AD 356, when Julian, later the Roman emperor, mentioned them in a speech as allies of Magnentius, a rival emperor in Gaul. Zosimus mentions a specific tribe of Saxons, called the ''Kouadoi'', which have been interpreted as a misunderstanding for the Chauci, or Chamavi. They entered the Rhineland and displaced the recently settled Salian Franks from Batavi, whereupon some of the Salians began to move into the Belgian territory of Toxandria, supported by Julian.

Both in this case and in others the Saxons were associated with using boats for their raids. In order to defend against Saxon raiders, the Romans created a military district called the '' Litus Saxonicum'' ("Saxon Shore") on both sides of the English Channel.

In 441–442 AD, Saxons are mentioned for the first time as inhabitants of Britain, when an unknown Gaulish historian wrote: "The British provinces (...) have been reduced to Saxon rule".

Saxons as inhabitants of present-day Northern Germany are first mentioned in 555, when the Frankish king Theudebald died, and the Saxons used the opportunity for an uprising. The uprising was suppressed by Chlothar I, Theudebald's successor. Some of their Frankish successors fought against the Saxons, others were allied with them. The Thuringians frequently appeared as allies of the Saxons.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, Saxons occupied the territory south of the Frisians and north of the Franks. In the west it reached as far as the Gooi region, in the south as far as the Lower Rhine. After the conquest of Charlemagne, this area formed the main part of the Bishopric of Utrecht. The Saxon duchy of Hamaland played an important role in the formation of the duchy of Guelders.

The local language, although strongly influenced by standard Dutch, is still officially recognised as Dutch Low Saxon.

Italy and Provence

In 569, some Saxons accompanied the Lombards into Italy under the leadership of Alboin and settled there. In 572, they raided southeastern Gaul as far as ''Stablo'', now Estoublon. Divided, they were easily defeated by the Gallo-Roman general Mummolus. When the Saxons regrouped, a peace treaty was negotiated whereby the Italian Saxons were allowed to settle with their families in Austrasia. Gathering their families and belongings in Italy, they returned to Provence in two groups in 573. One group proceeded by way of Nice and another via Embrun, joining up at Avignon. They plundered the territory and were as a consequence stopped from crossing the Rhône by Mummolus. They were forced to pay compensation for what they had robbed before they could enter Austrasia. These people are known only by documents, and their settlement cannot be compared to the archeological artifacts and remains that attest to Saxon settlements in northern and western Gaul.

Gaul

A Saxon king named Eadwacer conquered Angers in 463, to be dislodged by Childeric I and the Salian Franks, allies of the Roman Empire. It is possible that Saxon settlement of Great Britain began in response to expanding Frankish control of the Channel coast.

Some Saxons already lived along the Saxon shore of Gaul as Roman foederati. They can be traced in documents, but also in archeology and in toponymy. The ''Notitia Dignitatum'' mentions the ''Tribunus cohortis primae novae Armoricanae, Grannona in litore Saxonico''. The location of ''Grannona'' is uncertain and was identified by the historians and toponymists at different places: mainly with the town known today as Granville (in Normandy) or nearby. The ''Notitia Dignitatum'' does not explain where these "Roman" soldiers came from. Some toponymists have proposed Graignes (''Grania'' 1109–1113) as the location for ''Grannona''/''Grannonum''. Although some scholars believe it could be the same element ''*gran'', that is recognised in Guernsey (''Greneroi'' 11th century), it most likely derives from the Gaulish god Grannos. This location is closer to Bayeux, where Gregory of Tours evokes otherwise the ''Saxones Bajocassini'' (Bessin Saxons), which were ineffective against the Breton Waroch II in 579.

A Saxon unit of ''laeti'' settled at Bayeuxthe ''Saxones Baiocassenses''. These Saxons became subjects of Clovis I late in the fifth century. The Saxons of Bayeux comprised a standing army and were often called upon to serve alongside the local levy of their region in Merovingian military campaigns. In 589, the Saxons wore their hair in the Breton fashion at the orders of Fredegund and fought with them as allies against Guntram. Beginning in 626, the Saxons of the Bessin were used by Dagobert I for his campaigns against the Basques. One of their own, Aeghyna, was created a ''dux'' over the region of Vasconia.

In 843 and 846 under king Charles the Bald, other official documents mention a ''pagus'' called ''Otlinga Saxonia'' in the Bessin region, but the meaning of ''Otlinga'' is unclear. Different Bessin toponyms were identified as typically Saxon, ex : Cottun (''Coltun'' 1035–1037 ; ''Cola''s "town"). It is the only place name in Normandy that can be interpreted as a ''-tun'' one (English ''-ton''; cf. Colton). In contrast to this one example in Normandy are numerous ''-thun'' villages in the north of France, in Boulonnais, for example Alincthun, Verlincthun, and Pelingthun, showing, with other toponyms, an important Saxon or Anglo-Saxon settlement. Comparing the concentration of ''-ham''/''-hem'' (Anglo-Saxon ''hām'' > home) toponyms in the Bessin and in the Boulonnais gives more examples of Saxon settlement. In the area known today as Normandy, the ''-ham'' cases of Bessin are uniquethey do not exist elsewhere. Other cases were considered, but there is no determining example. For example, Canehan (''Kenehan'' 1030/''Canaan'' 1030–1035) could be the biblical name ''Canaan'' or Airan (''Heidram'' 9th century), the Germanic masculine name ''Hairammus''.

The Bessin examples are clear; for example, Ouistreham (''Oistreham'' 1086), Étréham (''Oesterham'' 1350 ?), Huppain (''*Hubbehain'' ; ''Hubba''s "home"), and Surrain (''Surrehain'' 11thcentury). Another significant example can be found in the Norman onomastics: the widespread surname Lecesne, with variant spellings: LeCesne, Lesène, Lecène, and Cesne. It comes from Gallo-Romance *SAXINU "the Saxon", which is ''saisne'' in Old French. These examples are not derived from more recent Anglo-Scandinavian toponyms, because in that case they would have been numerous in the Norman regions (pays deCaux, Basse-Seine, North-Cotentin) settled by Germanic peoples. That is not the case, nor does Bessin belong to the ''pagii'', which were affected by an important wave of Anglo-Scandinavian immigration.

In addition, archaeological finds add evidence to the documents and the results of toponymic research. Around the city of Caen

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