against the Avars. Upon his death, Gerold's body was taken to the Abbey of Reichenau, in southern Germany, where he was interred. On his tomb was written: Mole sub hac magni servantur membra Geroldi, Huius iura loci cunctis qui viribus auxit, Pannoniis vera Ecclesiae pro pace peremptus, Oppetiit saevo Septembribus ense Kalendis, Sideribusque animam dedit. Artus Saxo fidelis Abstulit, huc retulit dignoque hic clausit honore. This translates to: 'Beneath this monument are kept Gerold's bones, who did everything in his power to increase the rights of this place [Reichenau]; [he was] killed in Pannonia [fighting] for the true peace of the Church. He met the savage sword of the Kalends of September [Sept.1], and gave up his soul to the heavens. His limbs faithful Saxo carried off, and brought hither, and enclosed them here in worthy honour'. Charlemagne and the Franks would go on to defeat the Avars, forcing them to re-settle due to increased hostility from the Slavs to the east. However, Bavaria, under Audulf, would have a much more minor role in the Avar war after Gerold's death. Legacy After Gerold's death in 799 in battle with the Avars, his name lived on. Bavaria, newly brought into the Frankish Kingdom under Charlemagne, would continue to serve as the eastern bulwark of the Franks. It would also see an increased importance within the Frankish Kingdom, being given over to Louis the Pious as his part of the kingdom, after Charlemagne divided it among his heirs. Gerold, while in power, was able to wield traditional Bavarian Law as well as new Frankish customs, allowing the land he presided over to change from an unruly and rebellious duchy into an integrated and functioning cog in the machine of the Frankish kingdom. Gerold was also seen by medieval authors as a champion of the faith, being likened to a Christian martyr, fighting for the peace of the church, in Walafrid Strabo's Visio Wettini, where it says "Since he had such zeal for the Lord, he attacked the heathens to defend the Christian people, [and] suffered the loss of his life; as such he deserved to gleam with eternal trophies, seizing hold of the great gifts of everlasting life". This can be seen as a start of the tradition of fighting to extend the bounds of Christendom by fighting heathen groups such as the Avars; conquering new lands to spread the Christian religion.