The King was now fully determined to put an end to any further opposition by making an offensive campaign. Hitherto the Saxons had been the aggressors, but this year (784) he invaded Saxony and advanced as far as the Elbe. There he learned that Wittekind and Albion were on the opposite shore of the river and that they were desirous of opening negotiations with him. Accordingly he sent messengers to them promising them safe conduct if they wished to meet him. Wittekind sent back word that they were ready to tender allegiance and to be baptized, whereupon Charlemagne arranged for a meeting at his castle at Attigny.[36] When they arrived they were received so graciously that the King’s kindness offset the bitter necessity which had forced them to submit. The reconciliation of Charlemagne and Wittekind amply justified the former’s attitude toward the Saxons. Wittekind, in the presence of the great King, whose majesty and graciousness impressed him and whose words animated him with a new spirit, felt that had he been in Charlemagne’s place he should have acted as the King had done. In view of the event at Attigny, those who criticised Charlemagne were dwarfs whose weak eyes could not see above his sword belt, much less appreciate the majestic spirit that shone in his kingly face. In their own name and in the name of their people, Wittekind and Albion vowed allegiance and were baptized, together with a great number of Saxons. Geva, the wife of Wittekind, who accompanied him, was also baptized. Charlemagne regarded that day at Attigny as the most fortunate in his career. Wittekind, his wife Geva, and Albion were loaded down with gifts and left for their homes escorted by a guard of honor. In a letter to the Pope, Charlemagne requested that a thanksgiving festival be ordered in commemoration of the event. [Illustration: _WITTEKIND’S Submission_] It is related in the tradition concerning Wittekind’s baptism that he subsequently came in disguise to the castle when Charlemagne was celebrating the Christmas festival, and that what he saw and heard there removed the last vestige of his heathen belief and left him a true Christian. Chapter VI Thassilo and the Avars Charlemagne now realized that the time had come for him to deal with Thassilo, Duke of Bavaria, a somewhat difficult matter because of their near relationship, Thassilo being, as already stated, Pepin’s nephew. The Duke was not only secretly conspiring against Charlemagne in Italy, but he was also in communication with the leaders of the Slavs and Thuringians, urging them to resist Charlemagne’s authority. His most serious offence, however, was his effort to induce the Avars[37] to assist in the war against the King.