Polabian Slavs - History

History

The Polabian Slavs replaced Germanic tribes who emigrated from the 1st to 6th centuries during the Migration Period. Their settlement area was largely stable by the 8th century. Charlemagne enlisted the Obotrites as allies in his campaign against the rebellious Saxons of Holstein. Many of the Slavic tribes became dependencies of the Carolingian Empire and the Franks created the Sorbian March to defend against the Sorbs.Einhard in Vita Karoli Magni describe expedition into Slavic territory led by Charlemagne himself, in 798. The Veleti noted as Wilzi (referred to themselves as Welatabians) were invaded by the Franks because of their continuous expeditions into Obodrite lands, with the Obodrites being allies of the Franks against the Saxons.

German campaigns against the Slavs began in earnest during the Ottonian dynasty. Henry the Fowler attacked the Slavs in several campaigns with his cavalry. During the reigns of Henry and his son Otto I, several marches were established to guard the eastern acquisitions, such as the Billung March to the north and the Marca Geronis to the south. After Gero's death in 965, the Marca Geronis was divided into the Northern March, the March of Lusatia, and the Thuringian March, the latter being divided into the marches of Zeitz, Merseburg, and Meissen. Bishoprics such as Magdeburg, Brandenburg, and Havelberg were founded to support the conversion of the Slavs to Christianity.

After the defeat of Otto II in at the Battle of Stilo in 982, the pagan Slavs rebelled against the Germans the following year; the Hevelli and Liutizi destroyed the Bishoprics of Havelberg and Brandenburg. Some Slavs advanced across the Elbe into Saxon territory, but retreated when the Christian Duke of Poland, Mieszko I, attacked them from the east. The Holy Roman Empire retained only nominal control over the Slavic territories between the Elbe and the Oder. Despite the efforts of Christian missionaries, most Polabian Slavs saw Jesus as a "German god" and remained pagan.

The Obotrite prince Udo and his son Gottschalk expanded their realm by unifying the Obotrite tribes and conquering some Liutizi tribes in the 11th century. They encouraged the establishments of bishoprics to support Christian missionary activity. However, a revolt in 1066 led to the murder of Gottschalk and his replacement by the pagan Kruto of Wagria. Gottschalk's son Henry eventually killed Kruto in 1093.

From 1140-43 Holsatian nobles advanced into Wagria to permanently settle in the lands of the pagan Wagri. Count Adolf II of Holstein and Henry of Badewide took control of Polabian settlements at Liubice and Racisburg. Impressed with the success of the First Crusade, Saxons began calling for a crusade against their Slav neighbors. The Wendish Crusade of 1147, concurrent to the Second Crusade, was largely unsuccessful, resulting in devastation to the Liutizi lands and forced baptisms. The campaign did secure Saxon control of Wagria and Polabia, however. The Abotrites were largely at peace with the Saxons during the following decade, although Slavic pirates raided Denmark.

Beginning in the late 1150s, King Valdemar the Great of Denmark enlisted the aid of Duke Henry the Lion of Saxony against the Slavs; their cooperation led to the death of the Obotrite prince, Niklot, in 1160. The two Christian lords distributed much of the conquered territory among their vassals. When Niklot's exiled son, Pribislav, engineered an Obotrite rebellion, the pair retaliated by occupying Demmin and warding off Pribislav's Liutizian allies.

After conquering Wagria and Polabia during the 1140s, Saxon nobles attempted to expel the native Slavs and replace them with Saxon and Flemish settlers. The 1164 Obotrite revolt led by Niklot's son Pribislav convinced Henry the Lion that keeping the Slavs as allies would be less troublesome. The duke returned the Christian Pribislav to power as Prince of Mecklenburg, Kessin, and Rostock, and a vassal of the Saxons.

Tactics and weaponry were decisive in Denmark's campaigns against the eastern Polabian Slavs. The Danes utilized quick coastal and river raids, tactics similar to those of the Vikings. Although they lacked siege experience, the Danes were able to cripple Slavic regions by burning crops and unwalled suburbs. Slav counterattacks were repulsed by crossbows and Norwegian longbows. The Danes occupied Rugia in 1168, conquering the Rani stronghold of Arkona. Similar to Henry's reinstatement of Pribislav as a Saxon vassal, Valdemar allowed the Rani prince Jaromar to rule as a Christian Danish vassal. After Valdemar refused to share Rugia with Henry, the Saxon duke enlisted the aid of the Obotrite confederacy and the Liutizi against the Danes; Valdemar ended the conflict by paying Henry in 1171.

Alarmed at the expansion of Henry the Lion's power, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa deposed the Saxon duke and redistributed his lands in 1180/81. The withdrawal of Saxon support left the Liutizi and their Pomeranian supporters vulnerable to the Danish fleet. A Slavic fleet attempting to reclaim Rugia was crushed at the Bay of Greifswald on 19 May 1184. Danish monks engaged in missionary activity in Pomeranian abbeys, and Prince Bogislav I of Pomerania surrendered to King Canute VI in 1185 to become the Danish king's vassal.

Pribislav, a Christian prince of the Hevelli, bequeathed his lands to the Saxon Albert the Bear upon his death, thereby leading to the establishment of the Margraviate of Brandenburg.

The Lusatian Sorbs remained independent to a large extent. They were temporarily subdued by Charlemagne, but upon his death the links with the Franks were broken. In a series of bloody wars between 929 and 963 their lands were conquered by King Henry the Fowler and his son Otto the Great and were incorporated into the Kingdom of Germany. By the 14th century, the majority of Slavs living there had been Germanized and assimilated. However, the Sorbs, the descendants of the Milceni and the Lusici, have retained their identity within Lusatia, a region divided between the German states of Brandenburg and Saxony.

Despite their willing conversion to Christianity, the Slavic language was spoken by the descendants of the Drevani in the area of the lower Elbe until the early 18th century.