| He campaigned against the Saxons to his east, Christianising them upon penalty of death and leading to events such as the Massacre of Verden. |
| In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, historians generally approved of the executions of Verden, as displays of piety. |
| Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was one of the first to suggest that Verden cast a shadow over Charlemagne's legacy. |
| Charlemagne ordered the execution of 4,500 Saxons near the confluence of the Aller and the Weser, in what is now Verden. |
| Upon his victory in 787 at Verden, Charles ordered the wholesale killing of thousands of pagan Saxon prisoners. |
| It was in response to this setback that Charlemagne, at the Blood court of Verden, ordered the beheading of 4,500 Saxons who had rebelled. |
