Amidst their civil divisions, an Arabian emir of Saragossa implored his protection in the diet of Paderborn.

Charlemagne undertook the expedition, restored the emir, and, without distinction of faith, impartially crushed the resistance of the Christians, and rewarded the obedience and services of the Mahometans.

In his absence he instituted the Spanish march, [108] which extended from the Pyrenees to the River Ebro: Barcelona was the residence of the French governor: he possessed the counties of Rousillon and Catalonia; and the infant kingdoms of Navarre and Arragon were subject to his jurisdiction.III.As king of the Lombards, and patrician of Rome, he reigned over the greatest part of Italy, [109] a tract of a thousand miles from the Alps to the borders of Calabria.

The duchy of Beneventum, a Lombard fief, had spread, at the expense of the Greeks, over the modern kingdom of Naples.

But Arrechis, the reigning duke, refused to be included in the slavery of his country; assumed the independent title of prince; and opposed his sword to the Carlovingian monarchy.