Old Saxony

Quick Facts: Who was Old Saxony?

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Old Saxony

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Ancient homeland of the Saxons in Northwest Germany, a region central to early Germanic history.

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Origins & Early Life

Old Saxony was the homeland of the Saxons who fought the Frankish empire during the Early Middle Ages, until being conquered and converted into a Carolingian stem duchy in the 8th century, the Duchy of Saxony. Contemporary authors such as Bede and the author of the Ravenna Cosmography used the term "Old Saxons" to distinguish them from the Saxons living in Britain, also known as Anglo-Saxons, who they believed had migrated from Old Saxony. Roman sources as far back as the fourth century had described these continental Saxons as northern neighbours of the Franks, who lived near the Lower Rhine. They do not appear to have been politically unified, although they sometimes worked together to fight the Franks. Bede described them as ruled by "satraps".

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Old Saxony, like the later duchy of Saxony, included the inland regions later known as Eastphalia, Westphalia and Angria (or Angaria), between the Rhine and Elbe rivers. They possibly also already lived in Nordalbingia, north of the mouth of the Elbe. There is a single uncertain report of a smaller Saxon tribe living in this region in the second century, and this may represent the origin of their name. During their wars with the Frankish empire, the Saxons were described as living north of the Thuringians, as far east as the Elbe. By the time of the Carolingians, most of the North Sea coast between the Rhine and Elbe was inhabited not by the Saxons, but by the medieval Frisians, who were seen as distinct from the Saxons.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Apart from the Frisian coastal area, the Duchy which was formed from this homeland was contained the modern German federal state of Lower Saxony, together with the eastern, Westphalian, part of modern North Rhine-Westphalia, the Nordalbingian part of part of Schleswig-Holstein) and western part of Saxony-Anhalt (Eastphalia), which all lie in northwestern Germany. These old Saxon regions should not be confused with the modern German state of Saxony, which is in eastern Germany, adjoining the northwest border of the Czech Republic. Ptolemy's Geographia, written in the 2nd 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 River Elbe, thought to derive from the word Sax or stone knife. However, other copies call the same tribe Axones, and it is considered likely that it is a misspelling of the tribe that Tacitus in his Germania called Aviones.

Historical Fact-Check Quiz: Old Saxony

True or False: “The Old Saxons were entirely unified politically before their conflicts with the Frankish Empire.”

Answer (FALSE ❌): The text notes that while they sometimes worked together against the Franks, the Old Saxons did not appear to be politically unified.

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