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The Carolingian Empire
Conquests: Bavaria
Lombardy shows Charles in rivalry with another king. Saxony shows him at war with the pagans. Bavaria is a case of war within the realm.
Bavaria was technically part of Charles' realm. The duke of Bavaria nominally owed allegiance to the king of the Franks, but in reality the Bavarian dukes had long gone their own way and obeyed no one. Charles determined to insist on his rights.
Not surprisingly, the duke disagreed with Charles' view of matters and a brief war ensued. Charles won, and he divided Bavaria among his counts.
With victory in Bavaria came a new obligation, however. Bavaria had been serving as a buffer between the Christians in the West and a fierce, pagan tribe of horsemen known as the Avars. Since Charles now ruled Bavaria, the task of fighting the border wars with the Avars fell to him.
He was completely successful in his role. In 791, Charles met virtually the entire Avar nation in battle and so thoroughly defeated them that they virtually disappeared as a tribe. Charles now had eliminated three whole peoples: the Lombards, the Saxons, and the Avars. Little wonder that few Frankish nobles dared to risk rebellion.