by Prof. Plinio Correa de Oliveira
“Saint Willehad, bishop and confessor was the first bishop of Bremen, diocese created by Emperor Charlemagne after his conquests. In the year 788, the 21st of his reign, Charlemagne gave that see a certificate that read: “In the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Charles, by the will of Divine Providence, King.
“With the help of the God of hosts we achieved victory in our wars, and from Him alone we received our glory, and it is from Him that we expect happiness and prosperity in this world and an eternal reward in the next.
“Hail to all the faithful of Christ! Hail to all the Saxons saved from their perfidious obstinacy, those who rebelled against our ancestors and who were for a long time rebellious against us and God, until we conquered them not by our strength, but by the strength of the Cross of the Lord.
“From His mercy did we receive the grace of Baptism, which we brought to them, offering them liberty and releasing them from all tributes they owed us. For the love of the One who gave us the victory, we declared them our subjects.
“Since they refused that gift and the yoke of our power, they were defeated by our arms and by the Faith. From now on, they are obliged to pay to Our Lord Jesus Christ and His priests a tithe of all their animals, fruits and crops.”
This text does not lend itself to a comment about St. Willehad because it simply says that he was bishop of Bremen and then mentions Charlemagne’s decree establishing the Bremen diocese in the year 788, so we are obliged to comment about the decree.
It seems a bit extravagant to do a Saint of the Day about a decree. If one reads a decree today one finds nothing to make a ‘Saint of the Day’ with. Take, for example, a decree on traffic regulations, or one – like the one here – creating a new tax. What can that have to do with the spiritual life?
What is interesting for us here is to compare the two decrees so that we can see the complete change of ambience from Christian civilization to the civilization of our days.
Here the emperor specifies the ways in which the tribute must be paid to the Church and makes it obligatory.
In this mural painting in the city hall of Bremen, Charlemagne and St. Willehad flank the Cathedral of Bremen as it appeared c1532
It is interesting to note the close relationships between the civil and ecclesiastical powers at that time, the care the civil power took of the ecclesiastical power, and how the former abundantly provided for the maintenance of the clergy, the worship and the Cathedral of Bremen, first of all for the glory of God and then for the Christianization of those semi-pagan peoples.
Another interesting point is how the emperor describes his own role in enacting the tribute. He shows that the Saxons, a pagan people, were conquered by his arms and he has a right of conquest upon them. He had a legitimate right of conquest because the Saxons were very aggressive and continuously invaded the lands of the Franks, whose king was Charlemagne. They also made provocations, carrying out lootings and crimes in cities along the borders, and seeking to impose their pagan religion on the local people.
So Charlemagne went on a crusade in defense of the Catholic religion, invaded their lands and defeated them. He later went overboard by establishing the principle “believe or die” – those who refused to be baptized, were killed. Naturally, the number of baptisms was huge, and so was that of capital executions. On the occasion, there flowed torrents of baptismal water and blood.
