The Holy Roman Empire Strikes Back
In the Summer of 719, Redbod was living the high life. He had just beaten the otherwise-unbeatable Charles Martel, claimed all the southern Rhinelands for Frisia, and returned home with huge amounts of plundered war loot. I imagine we spent most of that summer sipping mead and singing war ballads in his great hall, occasionally swan-diving into his mountains of gold. Evidently, he also spent at least some of his time planning further invasions. By that autumn, he was mobilizing a massive army. An army bred for a single purpose: to destroy the world of the Franks. Alas, the plundering, pillaging, and conquering was never meant to be. Before the army set out, Redbod became severely sick, and quickly died. This was possibly the most pivotal moment in Frisia’s history. Instead of marching on the Franks with a wealthy and mighty invasion force, the Frisians were now leaderless, directionless, and open to internal strife.
We don’t know the details of the struggle for Redbod’s throne. We’re not sure if it was between his nobles, his sons, or some combination of the two. But there certainly was a struggle, and it certainly took a heavy toll on the Frisians. They were so vulnerable to attack that when Charles Martel led his own invasion force, he annexed not only the Southern Rhinelands, but also most of the lands west of the river Vlie. He met with little resistance.
By at least the early 720’s Poppo finally settled as King of what was left of Frisia. He seems to have reached some sort of treaty with Charles Martel, because the rest of that decade was relatively quiet.
Trouble didn’t start again until 733. Charles, ever the statesman, decided that he wanted to conquer more stuff. He pushed Poppo’s forces back as far as Eastergoa. The next year, the Franks and Frisians met for one last climactic struggle at the Battle of the Boarn. It started off promising—Poppo secretly landed his army in boats, and surprised the Franks. But then it all fell apart. The Franks defeated the Frisians and took over all of West Frisia. Poppo, the Last King of Frisia, died in the battle, thus breaking forever the line of Frisian kings.
We don’t know the details of the struggle for Redbod’s throne. We’re not sure if it was between his nobles, his sons, or some combination of the two. But there certainly was a struggle, and it certainly took a heavy toll on the Frisians. They were so vulnerable to attack that when Charles Martel led his own invasion force, he annexed not only the Southern Rhinelands, but also most of the lands west of the river Vlie. He met with little resistance.
By at least the early 720’s Poppo finally settled as King of what was left of Frisia. He seems to have reached some sort of treaty with Charles Martel, because the rest of that decade was relatively quiet.
Trouble didn’t start again until 733. Charles, ever the statesman, decided that he wanted to conquer more stuff. He pushed Poppo’s forces back as far as Eastergoa. The next year, the Franks and Frisians met for one last climactic struggle at the Battle of the Boarn. It started off promising—Poppo secretly landed his army in boats, and surprised the Franks. But then it all fell apart. The Franks defeated the Frisians and took over all of West Frisia. Poppo, the Last King of Frisia, died in the battle, thus breaking forever the line of Frisian kings.
