LAUSR

“First Saxon Capitulary,” which describes tithes and the exploitation of the vast mineral resources of the Harz Mountains. Charlemagne’s policy of central direction is misunderstood by Rembold (167–171) but is illustrated by the Vita Sturmi. Finally, when the word boves is used to describe draft animals, it refers to oxen, not “cows” (154). Chapter 4 aims to show that “Saxony became Christian during the reign of Charlemagne (188).” Thus, she disputes whatever “evidence” scholars have mobilized to argue for “pagan” survival. As a result, Rembold is forced to treat archaeological information despite her failure to address the methodological problems inherent in dealing with material sources. Thus, she accepts specious arguments proposed by Guy Halsall (193) that burials were not a religious matter and finds little value in arguments made from the great mass of excavated material. Rembold downgrades written “evidence” for paganism by claiming that the phenomenon in hagiographical sources are topoi to enhance the glory of successful churchmen. She asserts that Charlemagne had outdated information when he issued his capitulary regarding Saxon paganism. Rembold recognizes, however, that Charlemagne is credited in Saxon texts with the victory of Christianity. Although chapter 4 also treats both the well-known German translations of scripture and the prevalence of nunneries, Conquest is not a “systematic study of politics, society and Christianization in Carolingian Saxony,” much less a study of the church in toto. Rembold’s assumption that Saxony was under populated and economically underdeveloped leads her in unfortunate directions. The flourishing population and great wealth of the region under Otto I (r. 936–973) makes clear that he inherited a flourishing region that could not have been “developed” in the course of a century. Some parts of Conquest may be of interest to specialists that know the field.