Francia had fallen far in the five decades since Martel's death. Where the Franks had once ruled over numerous kingdoms and exacted tribute from every corner of Europe, they now fought to keep their core homelands from falling to the Saxon invaders. Widukind's invasion tore through the countryside, turning the lands of Francia into a scorched and plundered battlefield. Farms lay deserted, villages abandoned as the populace fled from the invaders. By the spring of 781 nearly a quarter of Frankish land had been essentially ceded to Widukind's armies as the Franks desperately tried to rally their forces. In the fall of that same year a large Saxon army under the command of Widukind's eldest son Theodoric besieged Paris. For almost a month the city of Paris was surrounded on all sides by pagan forces, while the river that had once ferried trade to and from the city was blocked with Norse and Frisian longboats. In November a Frankish army lead by Majordomo Thierry's son Guillaume, accompanied by the Breton king Judoc and his own forces, attacked the pagans and attempted to relieve Paris of its siege. The assault created enough confusion that a small force under the command of Odo of Vexin was able to slip past the Saxons and evacuate the royal family, as well as several of the lesser nobles, soldiers, priests and freemen who had been praying for rescue. The battle was also successful in thinning out the naval forces of the invaders. Galleys had been brought from the south and set alight in the Seine to act as fireships, causing a good portion of the Frisian ships to go down in flames, while many others were forced to beach themselves upon the shores for Frankish warriors to ride in and slaughter. However, it was not enough to save the city. Though Guillaume was willing to fight to the last man, rumors of Widukind's arrival and a new army of Saxons coming from the west caused a stir among the Christian armies. At the urging of Judoc, Odo and Dagobert, Guillaume agreed to a strategic retreat. With the nobility of Neustria withdrawn to safer lands in the south, the north was surrendered. Things were indeed looking bleak for the Franks.
While the Franks fought desperately against the pagan invaders, a different invasion was beginning in the south. Leaving the Syrian Junds in control of the north, and under the nominal command of his ally al-Sumayl ibn Hatim al-Kilabi, Abd al-Rahman embarked on his long desired mission to retake the Caliphate from the Abbasids. Abd al-Rahman's fleet departed al-Andalus in the spring of 781, conquering towns along the coast of the Rustamid Emirate along the way. By the winter of 782 the army had arrived in Ifriqiya, where the Abbasids had recently launched a campaign to retake North Africa from the Muhallabids, who were seen in Baghdad as rebellious governors rather than independent rulers. Abd al-Rahman agreed to assist the Muhallabids in exchange for their help taking Damascus, a proposal to which the emir readily agreed.
Europe on the eve of the Battle of Yonne, summer 783
In the winter of 782, the Frankish court had been evacuated to Autun. With Widukind's armies threatening the south, emissaries were sent to the Occitans, Bretons, Bavarians, Lombards and even the Akituniyyans, requesting their assistance in defeating Widukind and pushing back the heathen host. Promises of gold, land and royal daughters were made by the Frankish diplomats. In a rare show of solidarity, both the Bavarian and Roman pope, each of whom had supporters amongst the Frankish nobles, voiced support for the emissaries.
Thus the alliance that would come to be known as the Holy League came to be. Frankish, Breton, Occitan, Bavarian and Lombard armies converged in Burgundy. The Saxons had recently broken through to the south of Francia and were threatening to plunder the whole Frankish nation if left unchecked. However, Widukind's dream of subjugating Gaul under the Saxon yoke was to meet stiff resistance at the Battle of Yonne.
The 783 Battle of Yonne occurred a little over five decades after the Battle of Tours had so greatly remade Europe. Much like its predecessor, the Battle of Yonne would have repercussions that would echo through the centuries. Yonne would eventually overshadow Tours in the popular consciousness, immortalized in song, poem and art. And it was not without good reason. Perhaps not since the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains had so many of Europe's most influential rulers and warriors met on the battlefield. Widukind's armies, and those of his sons, had gathered to attack Autun, hoping to conquer Gaul by the year's end. The Saxon army was met by the Holy Alliance's armies at the Yonne river, in what would go down as one of the greatest battles in European history. After two days of fighting, Widukind was slain in combat, and the Saxons withdrew in retreat, their army shattered. The river was red with blood. Pagan corpse fires lined the bank while the dying and wounded crawled on the battlefield. The day had been won by the Holy Alliance, but at great cost. Among the dead of the pagan host were Widukind, Harald of Denmark, Udolf the Patient, and Witzlaus of the Obotrites. Among the deceased of the Holy Alliance were King Dagobert IV, who had attempted to regain some semblance of royal power and respect by leading his own troops. The casualties also included Thierry of Autun and Carloman of Burgundy. Though Yonne was a destructive battle, where the dead were said to outnumber the living by the end, it was a battle that ended in victory. Or at least it seemed so at first.
In truth Yonne was more of a phyrric victory than a true victory. In the sagas and song the battle would be described as the last stand of the great heroes of old. The end of an era, a turning point. And that is essentially what it was. Some of the effects were immediate. With Widukind dead his invasion collapsed. The Saxons were pushed back somewhat by the Franks and especially by the Bavarians, who fueled their reconquest with the gold given by Thierry to assist in the Franks' war. At the same time Widukind's empire was divided between his three sons- Rechimund, Wichimann and Theoderic. Rechimund and Wichimann each took areas of the old Saxon tribal lands, with Rechimund receiving Westphalia and Wichimann Eastphalia. Theoderic meanwhile, mainly took over the lands that had been conquered by his father. The area, referred to in contemporary records as Theodoringia, stretched over much of eastern Francia, with Wuchodol and Frisia paying tribute to Theoderic as its king.
Widukind had met his death at the Battle of Yonne, and with him died the dream of a pagan conquest of Gaul. But what was still alive were many of the pagan warriors who had accompanied his mission, and who still sought treasure and glory in the west. Large bands of Norse raiders took to the sea and sought their fortunes in Britain. Among them some sought their own fortunes and attacked the Picts and Northumbrians, carving out their own domains in Jorvik and Fortirland. Others joined the Frisians in the south. At the time southern Britain was ruled by Udolf's brother Wulf, who had been ordered to remain on the defensive while Udolf assisted in Widukind's war. With his brother dead, Wulf took full control of the Frisian armies in Britain and embarked on a rampage of conquest against Wessex, Cornwall and Mercia. Wulf was a great warrior, but not a good diplomat, nor a family man. After a dispute with his brother Gundebold over the amount of tribute to be kept in Britain and the amount to be sent to Frisia proper, Wulf declared himself an independent king of Fryskenland.
However, not all of the Germanic attacks were against Britain. A large army led by Harald's son Grimr, who had nothing in Denmark to inherit, launched their own attack on Francia in 784. Known as the Bastards' War for the large number of illegitimate or otherwise inheritance-less men who made up Grimr's army, the Franks and Saxons were both forced out of Neustria, where Grimr established his own domain known as Seineland. Still other Germanic warriors offered their services to the former Holy Alliance members as mercenaries, especially Aquitaine and Lombardy who were both planning new conquests of their own.
The pagans found themselves divided after the Battle of Yonne, but the Franks soon found that they fared little better. Dagobert had died without an adult heir, and Thierry's demise had left the Majordomo position empty at the same time. The blood had hardly dried in Yonne before the Franks were one again at each others' throats. Francia was dead, and the period of Frankish Warring States had begun. The major players in Francia acted fast to try to secure their position. Several of them spirited away one or more of Dagobert's children, who had been previously taken to the borders of the kingdom to protect the Merovingian dynasty in the event that the Saxons should overrun the Franks. Other nobles, unable to get a hold of a verified claimant, produced newly discovered Merovingians of... questionable authenticity. Involvement in the conflict was not limited to the Frankish nobles either. Judoc of Brittany, having taken western Neustria for himself, had also abducted two of Dagobert's children during the 'Scattering of the Heirs'. The infant prince Eberulf and the young princess Joveta were captives in Naoned (modern Nantes), with Judoc claiming that he should have the authority of Majordomo. Another major player in the conflict was the Duchy of Autun. Led by Thierry's son Guillaume and possessing the eldest son of Dagobert Clovis, Autun seemed to have the greatest legitimacy in its claims. However, Autun held little land on its own, and was surrounded by stronger powers. If it were to succeed it would have to be on Guillaume's own cunning and strength. North of Autun was Odo of Vexin, who had been the second noble after Guillaume to claim the majordomate. Though widely seen as an upstart with a fake king, Odo nevertheless held the most land and men of any of the splinter states. In the west Anjou and Maine struggled against each other and the Bretons, each with their own child king. Aquitaine, despite its nearness to the conflict, nevertheless remained neutral, more concerned about reclaiming Akituniyya than ruling over the Franks with whom they still had an icy relationship. The Western Romans, though they expanded into the south of Gaul to reunify their Burgundian vassals, were likewise unconcerned with going further or taking part in that particular dynastic struggle. With limited manpower Desiderius and Adelchis had to pick their battles carefully, and to them there were more important fronts than Gaul. Finally, Bavaria was more concerned with reconquest and punitive expeditions against the Saxons, though they did harbor a Merovingian of their own in the form of prince Childeric.
On the other end of the Mediterranean, the Andalusian expedition had successfully assisted the Muhallabids in their defense against the Abbasids. At the same time the Western Roman army, which was stretched thin as it was, was left vulnerable by the death of the local commander, allowing the Ifriqiyans to retake Tunis and Carthage. When the survivors of the garrison returned to Italy, they found their emperor dead. After 75 years on earth Desiderius passed away in 785. Adelchis was anointed by Pope Dioscorus and given the Iron Crown by Grimoald, the duke of Benevento and Consul of the Senate. The loss of Carthage had been a shock, but it was not an issue on which Adelchis could afford to mourn. There was work to be done, and new opportunities to be taken advantage of. Opportunities such as the rebellion of Tarasios, whose followers had taken effective control of Sicily. The Eastern Roman navy had the island blockaded, but fireships made them wary of launching an amphibious assault.
Europe and the Mediterranean, Summer 786
And so the cycle of empires rising and falling continued. The war against Widukind was won, but the Franks had been divided more than ever, and Theoderic and his allies still controlled eastern Gaul. The Western Romans had proven their mettle in Yonne, but had simultaneously lost their African holdings. Widukind may have died, but his legacy would live on in the raiders unleashed on Europe's Atlantic coast. The age of the Vikings was only beginning, while in the south the aged Abd al-Rahman continued his warpath with assaults on Barca. And at the center of the Mediterranean sat the two Roman empires, whose futures were yet to be written.
Up Next: The Falcon's Fate
Well, I finally made an actual advancement to the timeline! I have some ideas for future updates, but the update schedule is going to have to take a back seat to my school work again for the next few months. I'll try to be better about it than last semester though. I hope you all enjoyed this entry, please leave any comments, critiques, ideas or suggestions!
Fun fact, both Guillaume of Autun and Tarasios existed IOTL, but their fates were radically different. As the timeline continues you will see fewer and fewer OTL figures due to butterflies. Basically nobody born after 800 in the regions thus far mapped will exist.
