Returning to Saxony in 782, Charles institutes a code of law and appointed counts, both Saxon and Frank.
The laws are severe on religious issues, namely the native paganism of the Saxons.
This stirs a renewal of the old conflict.
In autumn, Widukind returns and leads a revolt that results in many assaults on the church.
The Saxons invade the area of the Chatti, a Germanic tribe already converted by Boniface and firmly in Charles's empire.
Widukind annihilates a Frankish army at the Süntel while Charles is campaigning against the Sorbs.
It is in response to this setback that Charles, in the Massacre of Verden, orders the beheading of forty-five hundred Saxons who had been caught practicing paganism after converting to Christianity, while Widukind escapes to Denmark again.
Charles’ severe and uncompromising position, which earns him the title "butcher of Saxons", causes his close adviser Alcuin of York to urge leniency, as he believes God's word should be spread not by the sword but by persuasion; but the wars continue.
