He had
everywhere greatly extended the frontiers of the Frankish dominions and
subjugated the populations comprised in his conquests. He had proved
that his new frontiers would be vigorously defended against new
invasions or dangerous neighbors. He had pursued the Huns and the
Slavons to the confines of the Empire of the East, and the Saracens to
the islands of Corsica and Sardinia. The centre of the dominion was no
longer in ancient Gaul; he had transferred it to a point not far from
the Rhine, in the midst and within reach of the Germanic populations, at
the town of Aix-la-Chapelle, which he had founded, and which was his
favorite residence; but the principal parts of the Gallo-Frankish
kingdom, Austrasia, Neustria, and Burgundy, were effectually welded in
one single mass. What he had done with Southern Gaul has just been
pointed out; how he had both separated it from his own kingdom, and
still retained it under his control. Two expeditions into Armorica,
without taking entirely from the Britons their independence, had taught
them real deference, and the great warrior Roland, installed as count
upon their frontier, warned them of the peril any rising would
encounter.
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