The religious conditions of the peace were especially obnoxious to the Saxons, who were firmly attached to the faith of their fathers. They had a simple form of nature worship, that displayed itself in a passionate reverence for trees and mountains, regarded as the concrete expression of the powers governing the world. The new expedition of the Franks practically took the form of a crusade; for Charles saw in the gods of the Saxons only demons inimical to the Christian faith. Starting from Worms and accompanied by a large number of ecclesiastics, who were to war against Saxon paganism, the Frankish army, seemingly, met not resistance, and Charles took and destroyed without difficulty the Saxon shrines Irminsul and Eresburg. He withdrew, satisfied now that there was no hindrance in the way of winning the land to Christianity. The character of the expedition is accurately indicated in a brief sentence from the life of Sturm: “He [Charles] gave the servants of the Lord power for teaching and baptizing.” The Saxons, before the Franks retired beyond the Rhine, renewed the terms of peace previously concluded with Pippin, gave hostages for their good behavior, and seemingly made no protest against the introduction of the Church hierarchical system in their land. But the war with the Lombards gave the Saxons the opportunity of casting aside their pledges; they did not desire Frankish ascendancy, and, still less, Christian missionaries. The real situation on his Eastern frontier was so patent that as soon as the Italian expedition had ended with the annihilation of the Lombard kingdom, Charles (775) set out to war on the Saxons, resolved either to force them to accept Christianity or to destroy them as a people. His attack was skilfully and rapidly managed; one of their strong places, Sigiburg, was taken, and Eresburg, previously captured, was turned into a Frankish citadel. The Saxons hesitated to strike back until the Franks were withdrawing across the Weser. Near Brunisberg, where they contested the passage of the Frankish army, the Saxons were outnumbered and decisively beaten. Marching with picked troops Charles advanced into the territory of the Eastphalians, where their leader, Hessi, hastened to take the oath of fidelity to the Frankish monarch and gave hostages. The same method of forcing a capitulation was tried successfully with the Saxon tribe, the Angarians. But meanwhile, the Westphalians had assaulted the Frankish camp in their land, and had been able to occupy it partially. They were forced, however, to withdraw, and while they were retreating they were met by the division of the Frankish army under Charles, and were defeated; so they were obliged to accept the same terms as the Eastphalians and the Angarians. Within a short period the overlordship of the Franks had come to be recognized by the three leading tribes of the Saxon people.