Editing Charlemagne (section)

===Wars with the Danes===
[[File:Europe 814.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=Colour-coded map of Europe in 814|Europe at the death of the Charlemagne in 814]]
[[Scandinavia]] had been brought into contact with the Frankish world through Charlemagne's wars with the Saxons.{{sfn|Fried|2016|p=461}} Raids on Charlemagne's lands by the [[Danes (tribe)|Danes]] began around 800.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=167}} Charlemagne engaged in his final campaign in Saxony in 804, seizing Saxon territory east of the [[Elbe]], removing its Saxon population, and giving the land to his [[Obotrites|Obotrite]] allies.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=163}} The Danish king [[Gudfred]], uneasy at the extension of Frankish power, offered to meet with Charlemagne to arrange peace and (possibly) hand over Saxons who had fled to him;{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=167}}{{sfn|Fried|2016|p=462}} the talks were unsuccessful.{{sfn|Fried|2016|p=462}}

The northern frontier was quiet until 808, when Gudfred and some allied Slavic tribes led an incursion into the Obotrite lands and extracted tribute from over half the territory.{{sfn|Fried|2016|pp=462–463}}{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=167}} Charles the Younger led an army across the Elbe in response, but only attacked some of Gudfred's Slavic allies.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|p=459}} Gudfred again attempted diplomatic overtures in 809, but no peace was apparently made.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=168}} Danish pirates raided Frisia in 810, although it is uncertain if they were connected to Gudfred.{{sfn|Fried|2016|p=463}} Charlemagne sent an army to secure Frisia while he led a force against Gudfred, who had reportedly challenged the emperor to face him in battle.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=169}}{{sfn|Fried|2016|p=463}} The battle never took place, since Gudfred was murdered by two of his own men before Charlemagne's arrival.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|p=462}} Gudfred's nephew and successor [[Hemming of Denmark|Hemming]] immediately sued for peace, and a commission led by Charlemagne's cousin [[Wala of Corbie|Wala]] reached a settlement with the Danes in 811.{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=169}} The Danes did not pose a threat for the remainder of Charlemagne's reign, but the effects of this war and their earlier expansion in Saxony helped set the stage for the intense [[Vikings|Viking]] raids across Europe later in the ninth century.{{sfn|Costambeys|Innes|MacLean|2011|p=171}}{{sfn|Collins|1998|p=170}}