Editing Charlemagne (section)

===Frontier wars in Saxony and Spain===
[[File:Frankish Empire 481 to 814-en.svg|thumb|upright=1.4|alt=Colour-coded map|Charlemagne's additions to the [[Frankish Kingdom]]]]
The Saxons took advantage of Charlemagne's absence in Italy to raid the Frankish borderlands, leading to a Frankish counter-raid in the autumn of 774 and a reprisal campaign the following year.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|pp=154–156}} Charlemagne was soon drawn back to Italy as Duke [[Hrodgaud of Friuli]] rebelled against him.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|pp=157–159}} He quickly crushed the rebellion, distributing Hrodgaud's lands to the Franks to consolidate his rule in Lombardy.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|p=159}} Charlemagne wintered in Italy, consolidating his power by issuing charters and legislation and taking Lombard hostages.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|pp=159–161}} Amid the 775 Saxon and [[Friuli]]an campaigns, his daughter [[Rotrude]] was born in Francia.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|p=157}}

Returning north, Charlemagne waged another brief, destructive campaign against the Saxons in 776.{{efn|Charlemagne's third son ([[Pepin of Italy|Carloman]]) was also born in 776, based on the four-year-old's 780 baptism in Pavia.{{sfn|Fried|2016|p=136}} }} This led to the submission of many Saxons, who turned over captives and lands and submitted to [[baptism]].{{sfn|Nelson|2019|pp=162–163}} In 777, Charlemagne held an assembly at [[Paderborn]] with Frankish and Saxon men; many more Saxons came under his rule, but the Saxon magnate [[Widukind]] fled to Denmark to prepare for a new rebellion.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|pp=164–165}}

Also at the Paderborn assembly were representatives of dissident factions from [[al-Andalus]] (Muslim Spain). They included the son and son-in-law of [[Yusuf ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri]], the former governor of [[Emirate of Córdoba|Córdoba]] ousted by Caliph [[Abd al-Rahman]] in 756, who sought Charlemagne's support for al-Fihri's restoration. Also present was [[Sulayman al-Arabi]], governor of Barcelona and Girona, who wanted to become part of the Frankish kingdom and receive Charlemagne's protection rather than remain under the rule of Córdoba.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|pp=164–166}} Charlemagne, seeing an opportunity to strengthen the security of the kingdom's southern frontier and extend his influence, agreed to intervene.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|p=166}} Crossing the Pyrenees, his army found little resistance until an ambush by [[Basques|Basque]] forces in 778 at the [[Battle of Roncevaux Pass]]. The Franks, defeated in the battle, withdrew with most of their army intact.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|pp=167–170, 173}}