650 Saxo Grammaticus
Princeton University Press, 1974); Eugene L. Cox, “The
Kingdom of Burgundy, the Lands of the House of Savoy
and Adjacent Territories,” in The New Cambridge
Medieval History.Vol. 5, c. 1198–c. 1300,ed. David Abu-
lafia (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999),
358–374; Charles W. Previté-Orton, The Early History of
House of Savoy
University Press, 1912).
Saxo Grammaticus (ca. 1150–1220)Danish cleric,
writer
Saxo Grammaticus, an assumed name, was born probably
at Zealand in DENMARKabout 1150. A Danish cleric, per-
haps a scribe and monk, he wrote at the order of his arch-
bishop, with the help of Latin models and inspired by
sources such as ADAMof Bremen, a history. His Deeds of
the Danesin 16 books related a mythical history and then
a factual history of Denmark. His ornate style and skill as
a writer earned him his nickname Grammaticusor “fine
stylist.” With a rare talent as a storyteller and historian,
Saxo described a number of traditions that compare with
those of the Icelander SNORRISTURLUSONin his prose
Edda.They included sagas, lays, and tales of Hamlet and
WILLIAMTELL. He died in 1220.
See also CANUTE II THE GREAT;WALDEMAR I THE
GREAT;WALDEMARII THECONQUEROR.
Further reading:Saxo Grammaticus, The History of
the Danes,trans. Peter Fisher and ed. Hilda Ellis David-
son (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1979–1980); Eric Chris-
tiansen, The Northern Crusades,2d ed. (London: Penguin,
1997); Karsten Friis-Jensen, ed., Saxo Grammaticus: A
Medieval Author between Norse and Latin Culture(Copen-
hagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 1981).
Saxons and Saxony (Sachsen) The Saxons were a
German people who appeared first in the first century
C.E. in the region north of the mouth of the Elbe, neigh-
boring the Jutes and Angles. Around 200, some of them
left their original home for the northwestern coasts of
FRANCEand later for ENGLAND. Fighting frequently with
the Thuringians and the FRANKS, the remaining popula-
tion gradually occupied the territory extending from the
Ems to the Elbe and Saale Rivers, from the Harz Moun-
tains north to the sea.
The Saxons seem to have comprised four kinds of
people: dominant nobles; free men, essentially small
farmers; freed men from conquered ethnic groups; and
slaves. They settled into four districts: Westphalia,
Angaria, Eastphalia, and Nordalbingia. Lacking a king,
they held annual general assemblies of tribal groups.
In the eighth century and early in the reign of
CHARLEMAGNE, the Franks carried out a military con-
quest and forced conversion to Christianity. Begun in
772, this took almost 30 years of frequent war and was
marked by violent outbreaks of rebellions in 777–785
by the famous WIDUKINDand a more general one in
794–799. By the ninth century, Saxony had become a
still somewhat marginal part of the Frankish Empire.
Christianization had taken hold and a rich group of
monasteries was founded, including the famous abbey
of Corvey in 822. Its aristocratic class became linked to
the Frankish nobility. By the end of the ninth century,
the Liudolfid family from Eastphalia had begun to dom-
inate the country.SAXON DYNASTY AND THE LATER MIDDLE AGES
In 919 the duke of Saxony, Henry I or Henry the Fowler
(d. 936), became king of GERMANY. His son, OTTOI, was
a great warrior, restoring and assuming the imperial title
in 962. In 50 years Saxony had risen high in the Chris-
tian world. But the duties and success of the Ottonians
distracted them from Saxony, and hence its northern sec-
tion was entrusted as the duchy of Saxony to the Billung
family. By the 11th century, Saxony was just another state
in the mosaic of German principalities and HOLYROMAN
EMPIRE. Its duke became one of the electors. It was
divided into small FIEFSin 1180 and its ducal title was
given to Bernhard of Anhalt (d. 1212), the son of Albert
the Bear (d. 1170). The name became attached to various
other areas during the later Middle Ages. In 1423 Freder-
ick I the Warlike (1369–1428) was granted Saxony by the
emperor SIGISMUNDof Luxembourg. It was partitioned
again in 1485. By then its principal towns had become
Dresden and Leipzig.
See alsoHROSWITHAS OFGANDERSHEIM; HUS, JOHN;
OTTOIII.
Further reading:Gerd Althoff “Saxony and the Elbe
Slavs in the Tenth Century,” in The New Cambridge
Medieval History. Vol. 3, c. 900–c. 1024, ed. Timothy
Reuter (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999),
267–292; Karl J. Leyser, Rule and Conflict in an Early
Medieval Society: Ottonian Saxony (London: Edward
Arnold, 1979).Scanderberg SeeSKANDERBEG.Scandinavia See DENMARK; ICELAND ANDICELANDIC
LITERATURE;NORWAY;SWEDEN;VIKINGS.Schism, Great(1054) This willful and conscious
separation of the Western and Eastern Churches the
mid-11th century was based on a mutual consensus, the
outcome of a dispute between the pope and the Western
clergy with the ecclesiastical establishment and patri-
arch of CONSTANTINOPLE. The ordination of priests, the
installation of bishops, and the validity of the sacra-
ments were not initially questioned. The main contro-
versy centered on recognition of the pope’s ultimate
authority.