“Se hai un franco per amico non averlo vicino”: le campagne di Carlo Magno alle frontiere del regno

The aim of this paper is to analyse the military campaigns lead by Charlemagne. Since his first campaign in 761 at the side of his father king Pippin of Heristal, the Frankish king and commander wages war after war until his death in 814. During his long reign, only few years passed without fighting a war inside or outside the borders of the Frankish Kingdom. Maybe, was this belligerent behaviour that animated a Byzantine way of saying handed down by Einhard, Charlemagne’s biographer: «Have the Frank for your friend, but not for your neighbour». The author’s purpose is to understand the strategies adopted by Charlemagne during the conquest and submission of the neighbouring peoples, kingdoms, and duchies. The focus, therefore, is directed on the commander, the cunning strategist and determinate leader who was able, during his life, to double the size of the Frankish Kingdom and to reform the Empire in the Western lands of Europe.