The Council of

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...

of 785 was an important piece in the Christianization of the Saxons and aided in establishing a short lived peace by force between the Saxons and Franks. It resolved to make punishable by law all sorts of

idolatry Idolatry is the worship of a cult image or "idol" as though it were God. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the ...

, the belief in the existence of

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

, causing the deaths of others through

witch-hunting A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern perio ...

, and more.

Background

After achieving peace in Saxony in 780,

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first E ...

returned in 782 and enforced a new code of law, the opposition to which began the middle phase of the Saxon Wars. After a hard fought struggle with

Widukind Widukind, also known as Wittekind, was a 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, massacred th ...

, a Saxon leader,

won in 785. Widukind and his son accepted baptism and converted to Christianity that year, being a key step in Charlemagne's effort to conquer and convert the Saxons. Widukind's capitulation and conversion,

Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae ''Capitulatio de partibus Saxoniae'' (Latin, variously translated as 'Ordinances concerning Saxony' or the 'Saxon Capitularies' or 'Capitulary of Paderborn')For example, Pierre Riché (1993:105) renders the Latin as 'Ordinances concerning Saxony', w ...

, and the Council of Paderborn, all in 785, created a short peace between the Saxons and Franks until the start of the final phase in the early 790s.

Resolutions

Charlemagne especially repressed the Saxons, and the Council of Paderborn was no different. It punished all sorts of

, denied the existence of witchcraft and the efficacy of magic, ordered the death penalty for self-appointed witch-hunters who had caused the death of persons accused of witchcraft, condemned sorcerers to be servants to the church, commanded Saxons to have infants baptized the first year. The law is particularly noted for the way it also condemned to death "anyone who, blinded by the Devil, heathenwise should believe a person to be a witch and maneater, and should on that account have burned him or eaten his flesh, or given it to others to eat." It is part of the goal of rejecting the existence of witches and that burning them was considered a pagan custom. To enforce the law and prosecute offenders, authorities sometimes used torture, which is an act sanctioned by the Roman civil law. A source stated that the Council of Paderborn was aimed at the Saxons and those people living in territories that he recently conquered, particularly those who resisted conversion to Christianity.

References

{{reflist Paderb Paderb 8th century in Francia Old Saxony European witchcraft 8th century in Germany 785 Critics of witch hunting