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Rh of the diet. The other districts are managed by an apostolic vicar at Dresden, under the direction of the minister of public worship. Two nunneries in Lusatia are the only conventual establishments in Saxony, and no others may be founded. Among the smaller religious sects the Moravian Brethren, whose chief seat is at Herrnhut, are perhaps the most interesting. In 1868 civil rights were declared to be independent of religious confession.

Education.-Saxony claims to be one of the most highly educated countries in Europe, and its foundations of schools and universities were among the earliest in Germany. Of the four universities founded by the Saxon electors at Leipzig, Jena, Wittenberg, later transferred to Halle, and Erfurt, now extinct, only the first is included in the present kingdom of Saxony. The endowed schools (Fiirstenschulen) at Meissen and Grimma have long enjoyed a high reputation. There are over 4000 schools; and education is compulsory. Saxony is particularly well-equipped with technical schools, the textile industries being especially fostered by numerous schools of weaving, embroidery and lace-making; but the mining academy at Freiberg and the school of forestry at Tharandt are probably the most widely known. The conservatory of music at Leipzig enjoys. a world-wide reputation; not less the art collections at Dresden.

Finance.-The Saxon financial period embraces a space of two years. For 1908-1909 the “ordinary " budget showed an income of £17,352,833, balanced by the expenditure. The chief sources of income are taxes, state-railways and public forests and domains. The chief expenditure was on the interest and sinking fund of the national debt. The national debt, incurred almost wholly in making and buying railways and telegraphs, and carrying out other public works, amounted at the end of 1909 to £44,84I,880. See the annual Jahrbuch ftlr Statistik des Kénigreichs Sachsen (Dresden); P. E. Richter, Literatur des Lander und Volkskunde des Kénigreichs Sachxen (Dresden, 1903); Zemmrich, Landeskunde des Kiinigreichs Sachsen (Leipzig, 1906); and Pelz, Geologic: des Kénigreichs Sachsen (Leipzig, 1904).,

History.-The name of Saxony has been borne by two distinct blocks of territory. The first was the district in the north-west of Germany, inhabited originally by the Saxons, which became a duchy and attained its greatest size and prosperity under Henry the Lion in the I2th century. In 1180 it was broken up, and the name of Saxony disappeared from the greater part of it, remaining only with the districts around Lauenburg and Wittenberg. Five centuries later Lauenburg was incorporated with Hanover, and Wittenberg is the nucleus of modern Saxony, the name being thus transferred from the west to the east of Germany. In 1423 Meissen and Thuringia were united with Saxe-Wittenberg under Frederick of Meissen, and gradually the name of Saxony spread over all the lands ruled by this prince and his descendants. The earlier Saxony was the district lying between the Elbe and the Saale on the east, the Eider on the north and the Rhine on the west, with a fluctuating boundary on the south. During the 8th century it was inhabited by the Saxons (q.v.), and about this time was first called Saxonia, and afterwards Saxony. For many years the Saxons had been troublesome to the Franks, their neighbours to the east and south, and the intermittent campaigns undertaken against them by Charles Martel and Pippin the Short had scarcely impaired their independence. This struggle was renewed by Charlemagne in 772, and a warfare of thirty-two years' duration was marked by the readiness of the Saxons to take advantage of the difficulties of Charles in other parts of Europe, and by the missionary character which the Frankish king imparted to the war. The subjugation of the Saxons, who were divided into four main branches, was rendered more difficult by the absence of any common ruler, and of a central power answerable for the allegiance of the separate tribes. Einhard, the friend and biographer of Charles, sums up this struggle as follows:-“ It is hard to say how often the Saxons, conquered and humbled, submitted to the king, promised to fulfil his commands, delivered over the required hostages without delay, received the officials sent to them, and were often rendered so tame and pliable that they gave up the service of their heathen gods and agreed to accept Christianity. But just as quickly as they showed themselves ready to do this, did they also always break their promises, so that one could not really say which of these two courses may truly have been easier to them, and from the beginning of the war scarcely a year passed without bringing such change of mind.” In 772 the war was decided upon, and Charles marched from Worms into the land of the Engrians or Angrians. The frontier fortress of Eresburg which stood on the site of the modern Marburg was taken, the I rminsul was destroyed, and the treasures of gold and silver were seized. The Irminsul was a wooden pillar erected to represent the world-sustaining ash Yggdrasil, and was the centre of the worship of the whole Saxon people. Having received hostages Charles left the country; but, in 774 while he was in Italy the Saxons retook Eresburg, and crossing the frontier attacked the church of St Boniface at Fritzlar and ravaged the land of the Franks. The king retaliated by sending troops of cavalry to devastate Saxony, and declared at Quierzy he would exterminate his foes unless they accepted Christianity. In pursuance of this resolve he marched against them early in 77 5, captured the fortress of Sigiburg on the Ruhr, regained and rebuilt Eresburg and left F rankish garrisons in the land. The Engrians, together with the Eastphalians and the Westphalians who dwelt on either side of them, made a formal submission and many of them were baptized; but about the same time some F rankish troops met with a serious reverse at Ltibbecke near Minden. Charles thereupon again took the field, and after ravaging Saxony returned home under the impression that the war was over. In 776, however, the'Saxons were again in arms and retook Eresburg; but they failed to capture Sigiburg, and showed themselves penitent when the king appeared among them. Eresburg was re garrisoned, a new fortress named Carlsburg was erected on the banks of the Lippe, and terms of peace were arranged. In 777' Charles held an assembly at Paderborn, henceforth his headquarters during this war, which was attended by .most of the Saxon chiefs. Hostages were given, oaths of fealty renewed, while many accepted Christianity, and the rudiments of an ecclesiastical system were established. The peace did not last long. A certain Widukind, or'Wittekind, who had doubtless taken part in the earlier struggle, returned from exile in Denmark, and under his leadership the Saxon revolt broke out afresh in 778. The valley of the Rhine from Coblenz to Deutz was ravaged, and the advance of winter prevented Charles from sending more than a flying column to drive back the Saxons. But in 779 he renewed the attack, and after an important Frankish victory at Bocholt the Westphalians again did homage. The civil and ecclesiastical organization of the country was improved, and in 782 the king held an assembly at the source of the Lippe and took further measures to extend his influence. The land was divided into counties, which, however, were given to Saxon chiefs to administer, and it was probably on this occasion that the capitulation de parlibus Saxoniae was issued. This capitulary ordered the celebration of baptism and other Christian rites and ceremonies in addition to the payment of tithes, and forbade the observance of pagan customs on pain of death.

This attack on the religion and property of the Saxons aroused intense indignation, and provoked the rising of 782 which marks the beginning of the second period of the war. The work of devastation was renewed, the priests were driven out, and on the Siintel mountains near Minden, the Frankish forces were almost annihilated. Charles collected a large army, and by his orders 4 500 men who had surrendered were beheaded at Verden. This act made the Saxons more furious than ever, but in 78 3 Charles inflicted two defeats upon them at Detrnold and on the river Hase, and-ravaged their territory from the Weser to the Elbe. This work was continued during the following year by the king and his eldest son Charles, and the Christmas of 784 was spent by the royal family at Eresburg, whence Charles directed various plundering expeditions. The work of conversion was renewed, and an important event took place in 785 when Widukind, assured of his personal safety, surrendered and .was baptized at Attigny together with many'of his companions. Saxony at last seemed to be subdued, and Saxon warriors took service in the Frankish armies. But in 792 some Frankish troops were killed at the mouth of the Elbe, and a similar disaster in the following year was the signal for a renewal of the ravages with great violence, when churches were destroyed, priests killed, or driven away, and many of the people returned to