of Charles was revived in the tenth century and the imperial diadem
appropriated by the German nation. Yet the Saxons sturdily adhered to
their national laws and language; their obstinate refusal to be ruled by
other races was a stumbling-block to the most masterful sovereigns that
medieval Germany produced.

(3) During the years 786-787 Charles was threatened with a conspiracy
against his power in Italy. Tassilo, the vassal Duke of Bavaria, aspired
to independence and was induced by his wife, a daughter of King Didier,
to make common cause with her nation; Areghis, the Lombard ruler of
Benevento, had emphasised his independence by assuming the style and
crown of a king. The two princes made common cause, but were detected
before their plans had matured, and successively terrified into
submission by the appearance of overwhelming armies on their borders.

The Lombard duchy was no permanent acquisition for the Franks, but that
of Bavaria was suppressed, in consequence of a second plot (788). The
addition of this large and wealthy province made the eastern half of the
Frankish kingdom practically coextensive with medieval Germany, and
almost equal in importance to the Romanised provinces of Gaul.

(4) As a natural precaution for the defence of Bavaria, Charles then
turned against the Avars, a race akin to the Huns, who had settled on
the middle Danube after the departure of the Lombards for Italy. The
Avars invaded Bavaria and Friuli as allies of Tassilo (788); they were
punished by three campaigns of extirpation (791-796), which broke their
power and spared only a miserable remnant of their people. Their land
was annexed but not settled; for Germany offered a more tempting field
to the Frankish pioneers. Indeed, some of the surviving Avars were
planted in the Ostmark (Austria), which Charles established as an