Editing History of Bavaria (section)

===Christianity===
[[Christianity]] had lingered in Bavaria from Roman times, but a new era set in when Bishop Rupert of [[Bishopric of Worms|Worms]] came to the county at the invitation of Duke Theodo I in 696. He founded several monasteries, as did Bishop [[Emmeram of Regensburg|Emmeran]] of [[Bishopric of Poitiers|Poitiers]], with the result that before long, most of the people professed Christianity and relations commenced between Bavaria and [[Rome]]. The 8th century witnessed indeed a heathen reaction, but the arrival of [[Saint Boniface]] in Bavaria during c. 734 AD checked [[apostasy]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}} Boniface organised the Bavarian church and founded or restored [[Diocese|bishopric]]s at [[Salzburg]], [[Freising]], [[Regensburg]] and [[Passau]].

[[Tassilo III]], who became duke of the Bavarians in 749, recognized the supremacy of the Frankish king, [[Pepin the Short]] in 757 AD, but soon afterward refused to furnish a contribution to the war in [[Aquitaine]]. Moreover, during the early years of the reign of [[Charlemagne]], Tassilo gave decisions in ecclesiastical and civil causes in his own name, refused to appear in the assemblies of the Franks, and in general acted as an independent ruler. His control of the Alpine passes, and his position as an ally of the [[Avars (Carpathians)|Avars]] and as a son-in-law of the Lombard king [[Desiderius]], became so troublesome to the Frankish kingdom that Charlemagne determined to crush him.

The details of this contest remain obscure. Tassilo appears to have done homage in 781 AD and again in 787 AD, probably owing to the presence of Frankish armies. But further trouble soon arose, and in 788 AD, the Franks summoned the duke to [[Ingelheim]] and sentenced him to death on a charge of treachery. The King, however, pardoned Tassilo who entered a monastery and formally renounced his duchy at [[Frankfurt]] in 794.

Gerold, a brother-in-law of Charlemagne, ruled Bavaria till his death in a battle with the Avars in 799, when Frankish counts took over the administration and assimilated the land with the rest of the [[Carolingian]] empire. Measures taken by Charlemagne for the intellectual progress and material welfare of his realm improved conditions. The Bavarians offered no resistance to the change which thus abolished their duchy. Their incorporation with the Frankish dominions, due mainly to the unifying influence of the church, appeared already so complete that Charlemagne did not find it necessary to issue more than two capitularies dealing especially with Bavarian affairs.