westwards into the basin of the Yssel, from whence they drove the Prankish Salii into Batavia. In the following centuries we find them in possession of the whole of the basin of the Ems, except the coast district, while that of the Weser with all its tributaries belonged to them as far south as the Diemel, where they bordered on the Hessian Franks, the ancient Chatti. The conquest of the Boructuari who dwelt between the Lippe and the Ruhr marks the extent of their progress towards the south-west. This took place shortly before the end of the 7th century. They frequently came into conflict with the Franks and on several occasions had to submit to their supremacy, notably after their defeat by Clothaire I. in 553. No thorough conquest was, however, carried out until the time of Charlemagne, who, between the years 772 and 785, annexed the whole region as far as the Elbe, destroying in 772 the Irminsul, their great sanctuary, near Marsberg on the Diemel. Up to this time they had remained entirely heathen. In the 8th century and later we find the Saxons divided into three geographical districts known as Westfalahi (a name preserved in Westphalia), Angrarii and Ostfalahi, each of which had in several respects special customs of its own. They were ruled by a number of independent princes, but it is said that they had a national council which met annually at a place called Marklo on the Weser. At the beginning of the following century Charles also conquered the Saxons known as Nordalbingi in western Holstein, a district which had perhaps been occupied by a southward movement from the original home of the tribe.
It is doubtful how far the Saxons who invaded Britain were really distinct from the Angli, for all their affinities both in language and custom are with the latter and not with the Saxons (Old Saxons) of the continent. During the 5th century we hear also of Saxon settlements on the coasts of Gaul. The most important were those at the mouth of the Loire founded in the time of Childeric, Clovis's father, and at Bayeux, in a district which remained in their possession until towards the close of the 6th century. From the 6th century onwards, however, we hear practically nothing of the Saxons as a seafaring people. Almost all the southern coast of the North Sea had now come into the possession of the Frisians, and one can hardly help concluding that most of the maritime Saxons had either voluntarily or by conquest become incorporated in that kingdom.
See Ptolemy ii. 11; Eutropius ix. 21; Zosimus iii. 6; Ammianus Marcellinus xxvi. 4. 5, xxvii. 8. 5, xxviii. 2. 12, 7. 8, xxx. 5. 1 and 4; Notitia dignitatum; Gregory of Tours, Historia Francorum, ii. 19, iv. 10. 14, v. 27, x. 9; Bede, Hist. Eccl. v. 10 ff.; Annales Einhardi; Translatio S. Alexandri; Hucbald, Vita S. Lebuini; Widukind, Res Gestae Saxonicae, i. I ff.
SAXONY, a kingdom of Germany, ranking among the constituent
states of the empire, fifth in area, third in population
and first in density of population, bounded on the S. by Bohemia,
on the W. by Bavaria and the Thuringian states and on the W., N.
and E. by Prussia. Its frontiers have a circuit of 760 m. and,
with the exception of the two small exclaves of Ziegelheim in
Saxe-Altenburg and Liebschwitz on the border of the principality
of Reuss, it forms a compact whole of a triangular shape,
its base extending from N.E. to S.W., and its apex pointing N.W.
Its greatest length is 130 m.; its greatest breadth 93 m., and
the total area is 5787 sq. m. Except in the south, towards
Bohemia, where the Erzgebirge forms at once the limit of the
kingdom and of the empire, the boundaries are entirely political.
Physical Features.-Saxony belongs almost entirely to the central
mountain region of Germany, only the districts along the north
border and around Leipzig descending into the great north-European
plain. The average elevation of the country, however, is not great,
and it is more properly described as hilly than as mountainous.
The chief mountain range is the Erzgebirge, stretching for 90 m.
along the south border, and reaching in the Fichtelbergs (3979 ft.
and 3953 ft.) the highest elevation in the kingdom. The west and
south-west half of Saxony is more or less occupied by the ramifications
and subsidiary groups of this range, one of which is known from its
osition as the Central Saxon chain, and another lower group still
fiarther north as the Oschatz group. The south-east angle of Saxony
is occu ied by the mountains of Upper Lusatia (highest summit
2600 ftg, which form the link between the Erzgebirge and Riesengebirge
in the great Sudetic chain. North-west from this group, and
along both banks of the Elbe, which divides it from the Erzgebirge,
extends the picturesque mountain region known as the Saxon
Switzerland. The action of water and ice upon the soft sandstone of
which the hills here are chiefly composed has produced deep gorges
and isolated fantastic peaks, which, however, though both beautiful
and interesting, by no means recall the characteristics of Swiss
scenery. The highest summit attains a height of 1830 ft.; but the
more interesting peaks, as the Lilienstein, Konigstein and the
Bastei, are lower. With the trifling exception of the south-east of
Bautzen, which sends its waters by the Neisse to the Oder, Saxony
lies wholly in the basin of the Elbe, which has a navigable course of
72 m. from south-east to north-west through the kingdom. Comparatively
few of the numerous smaller streams of Saxony flow
directly to the Elbe, and the larger tributaries only join it beyond the
Saxon borders. The Mulde, formed of two branches, is the second
river of Saxony; others are the Black Elster, the White'Elster, the
Pleisse and the Spree. There are no lakes of any size, but mineral
springs are very abundant. The best known is at Bad Elster in the
Vogtland.
Climate.-The climate of Saxony is generally healthy. It is mildest in the valleys of the Elbe, Mulde and Pleisse and severest in the Erzgebirge, where the district near johanngeorgenstadt is known as Saxon Siberia. The average temperature, like that of central Germany as a whole, varies from 48° to 50° Fahr.; in the Elbe valley the mean in summer is from 62° to 64° and in the winter about 30°; in the Erzgebirge the mean temperature in summer is from 55° to 57°, and in winter 23° to 240. The Erzgebirge is also the rainiest district, 27% to 33% in. falling yearly; the amount decreases as one proceeds northward, and Leipzig, with an average annual rainfall of I7 in., enjoys the driest climate. 7
Population.-In 1905 the population of Saxony was 4,508,601, or 7-4 %pof the total population of the German empire, on 2-7% of its area. Except the free t0wns, Saxony is the most densely peopled member of the empire, and its po ulation is increasing at a more rapid rate than is the case in any of) the larger German states. The growth of the population since 1815, when the kingdom received its present limits, has been as follows: (1815) I,178,802; (1830) 1,402,066; (1840) 1.7<>6.275; (1864) 2.344.094; (1875) 2.760,586; (1895) 3,787,688; (1900)?, ,202,216. The preponderating industrial activity of the kingdom osters the tendency of the population to concentrate in towns, and no German state, with the exception of the Hanseatic towns, has so large a proportion of urban population, this forming 52-97 % of the whole. The people of Saxony are chiefly of pure Teutonic stock; a proportion are Germanized Slavs, and to the south of Bautzen there is a large settlement of above 50,000 Wends, who retain their peculiar customs and language. The following table shows the area and population of the whole kingdom and of each of the five chief governmental districts, or Kreishauptmannschaften, into which it is divided:-
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Governmental Area in Eng (Density per
District. sq. m. Pop' 1900' Pop' 1905' sq. m.,1905. Dresden . . 1674 1,216,489 I,284,397 7674
Leipzig . 1378 1,060,632 1,146,423 832
Bautzen . 953 405,173 426,420 447-4
Chffmfllfl - 799 ' 792,393 ' 851,130 1065-2
Zwickau . . 983 727,529 800,231 814-1
Total 5787 4,202,216 4,508,601 779.1
The chief towns are Dresden (pop. 1905, 1,28, Lei zi 02, 0, Chemnitz (244,405), ' Plauen (105,182),5ZLivicl:f;i, u (618,2§ , S. Ziéaix (34,679), Meissen (32,175), Freiberg (30,869), Bautzen (29,372), Meerane (24,994), Glauchau (24,556), Reichenbach (24,911), Crimmitzschau (23,340), Werdau (19,476), Pirna (19,200).
Communications.-The roads in Saxony are numerous and good. The first railway between Leipzig and Dresden, due entirely to private enterprise, was opened in part in April 1837, and finished in 1840, with a length of' 71 m. In 1850 there were 250; in 1870, 685; in 1880, 1184; and in 1905, 1920 m., together with 25 m. of private line, all worked by the state. There are no canals in- the kingdom, and the only navigable river is the Elbe. 1 A agriculture.-Sax0ny is one of the most fertile parts of Germany, and is agriculturally among the most advanced nations of the world. The lowest lands are the most productive, and fertility diminishes as we ascend towards the south, until on the bleak crest of the Erzgebirge cultivation ceases altogether. Saxon agriculture, though dating its origin from the Wends, was long impeded by antiquated customs, 'while the land was subdivided into small parcels and subjected to vexatious rights. But in 1834'a law was passed providing for the union of the scattered lands belonging to each proprietor, and that may be considered the dawn of modern Saxon agriculture. The richest grain districts are near Meissen, Grimma, Bautzen, Dobeln and Pirna. The chief crop is rye, but oats are hardly second to it. Wheat and barley are grown in considerably less quantity. Very large quantities of potatoes are grown, especially in 3-ie V0 land. Beet is chiefly grownas feeding stuff for cattle, and not gr sugar. Flax is grown in the Erzgebirge and Lusatian mountains,
