Widukind (
Modern German:
Widuking or
Wittekind) was a
Germanic leader of the
Saxons and the chief opponent of the
Frankish king
Charlemagne during the
Saxon Wars from 777 to 785. Charlemagne ultimately prevailed, organized Saxony as a Frankish province and ordered conversions of the pagan Saxons to
Roman Catholicism. In later times, Widukind became a symbol of Saxon independence and a figure of legend.