 It was in response to this setback that Charlemagne, at the Blood court of Verden, ordered the beheading of 4,500 Saxons who had rebelled.Upon this "Blutgericht", some historians have stated the massacre did not happen, or that it was actually a battle, but according to Alessandro Barbero, none of these claims are credible.The action led to two straight years of constant warfare (783-785), with Charlemagne wintering in central Saxony, at Minden.