Lutici
Encyclopedia
The Lutici were a federation of West Slavic
Polabian
tribes, who between the 10th and 12th centuries lived in what is now northeastern Germany
. Four tribes made up the core of the federation: the Redarians (Redari, Redarii), Circipanians (Circipani), Kessinians
(Kessini, Kycini, Chizzini) and Tollensians (Tholenzi). At least in part, the Lutici were a continuation of the Veleti
. In contrast to the former and the neighboring peoples, the Lutici were not led by a Christian monarch or duke, rather power was asserted through consensus formed in central assemblies of the social elites, and the Lutici worshipped nature and several deities. The political and religious center was Rethra (also referred to by several other names, e.g. Riedegost or Radgosc
).
The Lutici were first recorded by written sources in the context of the uprising of 983
, by which they annilihated the rule of the Holy Roman Empire
in the Billung
and Northern March
es. Hostilities continued until 997. Thereafter, tensions with the empire eased, and in 1003 the Lutici entered an alliance with the emperor against duke Boleslaw I of Poland
. Once Boleslaw's successor Mieszko was defeated in 1033
, the alliance broke apart, and a German-Lutician war broke out that lasted until 1035, when the Lutici became tributaries of the empire again, but otherwise retained their independence. A civil war between the core tribes started the decline of the Lutici in 1056/57. The neighboring Obodrites intervened and subdued the northwestern faction of the Lutici.
In 1066, the Lutici succeeded in stirring up a revolt against the Obodrite elites, in the course of which John, the bishop of Mecklenburg, was captured and sacrificed at Rethra. As a consequence, the bishop of Halberstadt and the emperor sacked and destroyed Rethra in subsequent campaigns, and its role as the leading pagan cult site was taken over by the Swantewit temple at Arkona
. Another civil war in the 1070s led to a further decline of the Lutician federation, who then were unable to resist conquests and looting by their neighbors in the following decades.
During the first half of the 12th century, the settlement area of the Lutici was partitioned between Obodrite principalities, the later Duchy of Mecklenburg (west), the re-constituted Northern March
, which became the Margraviate of Brandenburg
(south), and the Duchy of Pomerania
(east). The Lutici were converted to Christianity, and in the 13th century were assimilated by German settlers and became part of the German
people during the Ostsiedlung
.
At least in part, the Lutici were a continuation of the Veleti
(Wilzi, Wilci), who are referred to by sources of the late 8th and first half of the 9th centuries as having inhabited the same region, and according to the Bavarian Geographer
were likewise organized in four tribes (regiones). Whether the Lutici were ethnically identical with the Veleti remains unproven. Contemporary chronicles sometimes connect the Lutici to the Veleti, e.g. Adam von Bremen (Gesta II,22) refers to them as "Leuticios, qui alio nomine Wilzi dicuntur", and Helmold von Bosau (Chronica Slavorum I,2) says "Hii quatuor populi a fortidudine Wilzi sive Lutici appellantur." Modern scholarship sometimes refers to both entities by a double name, e.g. "Wilzen-Lutizen" in German or "Wieleci-Lucice" in Polish.
In the second half of the 9th century, the Veleti disappeared from written records. Lutician tribes first appear in written records after this gap: the Redarii were mentioned first in 928 by Widukind of Corvey
, who listed them in the context of Slavic tribes subdued by Henry I. Incidentally, this list also contains the first mention of the Veleti after beforementioned gap, and the Redarians are listed as a separate entity from the Veleti. In 955, the Tollensians and Circipanians are first mentioned in the annals of St. Gallen
, likewise in addition to the Veleti, in the context of the Battle of Recknitz
(Raxa).
This co-listing of Veleti with Redarians, Tollensians and/or Circipanians was however not repeated in subsequent records, e.g. the Ottonian documents do not mention the Veleti at all, while repeatedly referencing Redarians, Tollensians, Circipanes and other tribes in the respective area. Furthermore, there are only very few mentions of the Veleti in 10th-century sources: in addition to beforementioned records, the Veleti are referenced only in the annals of St. Gallen in 995 and in the annals of Quedlinburg in 995 and 997. According to Fritze (1982), this reflects the uncertain nomenclature after the Veleti's decline, at least as a political entity, in the mid-9th century. A variant of the designation "Lutici" was first recorded in the annals of Hildesheim in 991, and starting in eastern Saxony
, this name was gradually adopted by other chroniclers. The first mention of the Kessinians is an entry in Adam von Bremen's Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum
, referring to the year of 1056.
and Mildenitz
in the west, the Havel
in the south and the Oder
in the east, with the core formed by four tribes: Redarians, Tolensians, Kessinians and Circipanians. Within the federation, power was asserted by representatives of the clans and settlement communities (the "elders"). The highest political institution of both Veleti and Lutici was the assembly of the free, yet in contrast to the Veleti who were led by a prince, the Lutici were a "tribe without a ruler", meaning political power was asserted via discourse in an assembly. This type of government had its roots in the Veleti period: since the mid-9th century, no Veleti princes or kings are recorded, and archaeology has revealed that in this period, many small strongholds were built in the area, in part on the ruins of the earlier, large strongholds. During the Lutician assemblies, decisions were made based on consensus, and once a decision had been made it was enforced by "severe punishment" of any violations. While similar types of government have been postulated for archaic Slavic societies, this was unusual for contemporary ones, who were usually led by a prince, duke or king asserting power via feudal dependencies.
Though missing a monarch, the Lutici had a social hierarchy. Political power was asserted by nobles, priests and free farmers. A reference to social differentiation is made by Thietmar
(Chronicon VI, 25), who reported a progressive fine system imposing higher fines for offenses on persons with a higher social status.
Whether or not the Lutician tribes had a common ethnic identity remains speculative: The cultural differences to the neighboring tribes (Obodrites, Hevelli, Pomeranians) were minor, while differences with the Saxon
and Christian culture and military pressure asserted by the Holy Roman Empire
have most probably resulted in a common identity, evidently in mutual solidarity expressed by the common councils and combined military campaigns. Thietmar (VIII/5) refers to the resulting way of life as libertas more Liuticio.
The most important stronghold of the Lutici was Rethra or Riedegost in the territory of the Redarii. After a period of dominance by the Hevelli, centered on the other important Wendish
stronghold of Brandenburg, the Redarii became a dominant regional power themselves after the 930s. This is documented by the amount of silver tribute the Redarii were to pay to the Holy Roman Empire
, and the failiure of the latter to permanently subdue the area despite multiple campaigns.
original might have been *L'utici.
Table: Spelling variants of "Lutici"
* as adopted from contemporary Latin sources by Anglo-Saxon historiography
The names of the four subtribes relate to their respective settlement areas: the Kessini around their main stronghold Kessin on the lower Warnow
, the Circipani were centered on the upper Peene
, the Tollensians on the Tollense
, and the Redarians lived south of Lake Tollensesee
around Rethra. In the latter case though, it is unknown whether the name of the deity is the root of the stronghold's and the tribe's name or if it is the other way around (see section on Rethra below), and alternative theories connect their name to a hypothetical river "Rada" or propose a translation as "red-haired people". Earlier theories translating "Redarii" as "farmers", "plowers" or "warriors" have been refuted.
The names of these tribes likewise survived in various spelling variants, including Tolensane and Tholenzi for the Tollensians; Circipani, Zcirizspani and Zerezpani for the Circipanians; as well as Riaderi, Redarii, and Rederi for the Redarians.
and Billung
marches, where the corresponding bishoprics of Brandenburg and Havelberg
were de facto annihilated. The rebellion did not only affect Lutician territories, but also those of the neighboring Obodrites (also Abodriti) and Hevelli (also Stodorani). The strategically important Hevellian Brandenburg was sacked by Lutician forces and successfully defended against the Saxon margraves and Hevellian princes. Incidentally, the pagan Luticians appointed Kizo, a Saxon Christian, commander of the Brandenburg. Contemporary German chronicler Thietmar (VI, 25) blames the uprising on maltreatment of the Lutici by the margraves: "warriors, who used to be our servants, now free as a consequence of our injustices ['iniquitates']."
In the Obodrite principality, the Luticians initiated a revolt aiming at the abolishment of feudal rule and Christianity, drawing on consideral support by the Obodrite populace. In part, the Obrodite revolt was successful: The princely family, though in part remaining Christian, dissolved Christian institutions, and the Oldenburg bishop had to abandon his bishopric. The Obodrite rebels destroyed the see in Oldenburg and also the see of the diocese, Hamburg
. The ensuing war with the Saxons however culminated in the sack of the Obodrite stronghold of Mecklenburg
by Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor
in 995.
The uprising had started when the Holy Roman Empire
was weakened by the defeat emperor Otto II
had suffered against the Saracen
s in the Battle of Stilo
(982). Otto II died in Rome
shortly after the rebellion started, and three weeks later, his three-year-old son Otto III was crowned and anointed king of the Germans by the archbishops of Mainz
and Ravenna
in Aachen
(Aix-la-Chapelle) on Christmas 983. The coronation was not undisputed: an oppositional group had formed in the empire supporting the kingship of Bavaria
n duke Henry the Quarrelsome, and the Christian West Slavic dukes Boleslaus II of Bohemia and Mieszko I of Poland
as well as the Christian Obodrite prince Mstivoj
were among the latter's supporters. All of them had accepted Henry's claim to the throne at the Quedlinburg
Hoftag of Easter 984, and only at the Quedlinburg Hoftag of Easter 986 Otto III was accepted as king by the opposition, including the Bohemian and Polish dukes. While neither Mstivoj (also Mistui, died between 992 and 995), nor his son and successor Mstislav were present at the 986 meeting, they continued to maintain close ties to the empire, despite their participation in campaigns into Saxon Northalbinga and Altmark
in the initial stage of the uprising.
Handling of the Lutician rebellion thus became a central objective for the young king, and several campaigns of the Lutici and Obodriti into the eastern Duchy of Saxony
and German campaigns vice versa are recorded for nearly every year of his kingship. Thereby, the Saxons experienced several difficulties resulting from the de-central organization of the Lutici. Apart from the attempted reconquest of the lost sees of the bishoprics, the Saxon armies faced wide heaths, lake- and woodlands that lacked targets suitable to decide the war. According to the annales Quedlinburgensis, the first Saxon campaign of 985 thus followed a tactic of scorched earth
: "with fire and slaughter, they devastated the whole region" (totam terram illam incendiis et caedibus devastaverunt), a characterization that applied to the following campaigns as well. Following a hypothesis forwarded in modern historiography, e.g. by Gerd Althoff, these campaigns had not the primary purpose of a reconquest, but rather the purpose of looting and taking revenge.
The first such campaign Otto III participated in was in 986, when Otto was six years old. In 991, at the age of eleven, he participated in the temporary reconquest of Brandenburg, which was soon lost again due to the treason of a Saxon defector, and in 992 he participated again in the subsequent siege of Brandenburg, where the Saxon army suffered heavy casualties before it was victorious in 993. In 994 however, the war's tide turned again.
Thus, Otto III organized a campaign involving an abundance of princes of the empire, which was also the first campaign he led as an independent ruler, since before 994/995 he had been under tutelage of his mother Theophanu
, and after her death, under the tutelage of his grand-mother, Adelaide
, and Willigis
, archbishop of Mainz. Among the participants of the campaign were Bernard I of Saxony, his former rival Henry the Quarrelsome of Bavaria along with his son and later emperor Henry IV (II)
, also the bishops of Regensburg
and Freising, Magdeburg archbishop Giselher
with his suffragan Eiko, bishop of Meißen, as well as the margraves Gero
and Liuthar, duke Mieszko
's son Boleslaw I of Poland
, a son of duke Boleslaus II of Bohemia, and the latter's rival Soběslav, brother of Adalbert of Prague
. While Henry the Quarrelsome died before the campaign started in 995, and his son Henry IV (II) thereupon returned to Bavaria to secure his succession, the participant's list and the assembled force distinguished this campaign from the mostly Saxon campaigns mounted to crush the rebellion before. The 995 campaign also played a role in Bohemian history: Boleslaus II, against his promises, made use of the absence of his rival Soběslav, marched on the latter's stronghold in Libice (Libitz) and killed the members of his family, the oppositional Slavnikids.
In early 996, Otto III left for Rome to receive the imperial crown from pope Gregory V
. At the same time, Adalbert of Prague
was also in Rome, and both Otto and Adalbert left - on different routes - in June 996, to meet again in Ingelheim and Mainz
during the fall. Adalbert, who in Rome and with the pope's consent had agreed on going on a mission into pagan territory, yet he was still undecided on whether he should try to convert the Lutici or the Old Prussians
. Eventually he settled for a mission to the Prussians, who killed him on 23 April 997. Also in 997, Otto III mounted a last campaign into the areas held by the Lutici, targeting the Hevelli. Afterwards, Otto III instead focussed on plans to re-organize the Holy Roman Empire.
, whom he wanted to integrate
in his renovatio imperii Romani. Mieszko's successor Boleslaw I Chrobry however expanded his realm and denied Otto's successor Henry II
homage for Bohemia
, conquered in 1003. Furthermore, Boleslaw supported the inner-German opposition to Henry. This led Henry to abandon the reconquest of the Lutician areas, and instead offer them an alliance against Boleslaw, first recorded at a meeting in Quedlinburg
on 28 March 1003. Since the Lutici remained pagan, this policy was widely criticized in the empire, especially by the clergy. By 1004, Henry had expelled Boleslaw from Bohemia and adjacent territories in Lusatia
, and by 1005 mounted a counteroffensive.
The Lutici, who participated in the campaign, caused dismay among the Christian army when carrying idols of their deities with them. Thietmar of Merseburg
blames delays that prevented the imperial army from decisively defeating Boleslaw on the Lutici, and obviously it was not in the Lutician interest to eliminate the Boleslaw's threat to Henry as this was the basis for the German-Lutician alliance preventing the resumption of German campaigns into Lutician territory. On the other hand, the delays were caused also by corrupt guides and several Saxon nobles, who also opposed campaigns against Christian Boleslaw and rather supported re-establishing control and mission of the pagan Lutici. The campaign was aborted near Poznan
when Boleslaw's envoys negotiated a peace.
Afterwards, Boleslaw negotiated an anti-Lutician alliance "in Christo" with unknown nobles at Magdeburg
, while "with words and money" trying to instigate Lutician and Bohemian campaigns against Henry at the same time, according to the testimony of Lutician and Bohemian envoys at Regensburg
(Easter 1007). The Lutician and Bohemian envoys demanded a promt attack on Boleslaw, yet Henry faced considerable opposition of several nobles against a renewed war. The war (1007–1013) was then started by Boleslaw, and sources do not mention Lutician participation. The next record of the Lutici in the sources is of negotiations in Amberg
in November 1012, confirming the alliance of 1003. Considerable Lutician forces participated in the two following campaigns of Henry II against Boleslaw in 1015 and 1017.
In 1017 however, two incidents led to the temporary departure of the Lutici from the campaign. First, a stone's throw of a compagnon of margrave Hermann Billung damaged a Lutician idol, and Henry II had to re-concile them with twelve pounds of silver. Secondly, they lost fifty warriors and an idol of a female deity in a flood while crossing the Mulde
river, near Wurzen
. The Lutici interpreted these incidents as bad omen, and departed determined to break the alliance with the emperor. Yet, an assembly was convoked where it was decided to re-enter the war on the emperor's side, and two Lutician armies again attacked Boleslaw later in 1017. One Lutician army joined the emperor's forces in the siege of Glogau (Thietmar VII, 59), while the other attacked another stronghold of Boleslaw and devastated the surrounding region once they had lost 100 men in an unsuccessful attempt to take it (Thietmar VII, 61). Günther, an eremite from Magdeburg, tried to mission in the Lutician lands during the same year without success.
The Peace of Bautzen
(1018) ended the war between Henry and Boleslav, and the Lutici attacked their western neighbors, the Obodrite dukes, during the same year. They justified the attack with the fact that the Obodrites had not participated in the war. The Lutici were supported by part of the Obodrites, and the resulting revolt expelled Obodrite duke Mstislav to Saxony and destroyed the see in Oldenburg. This caused the Danish king Canute the Great
to intervene in 1019, and the duke of Saxony and the bishop of Bremen, previously in a dispute about influence in the Obodrite areas, combined their forces in 1020 and ended the revolt in 1021.
When Henry II died, Boleslaw I of Poland used the power vacuum in the empire to crown himself king in 1025. While he died in the same year, his son and successor Mieszko II also took on the royal title, denied paying homage to the successor of Henry II, emperor Conrad II
, and coveted the Lutici territories. Conrad renewed the German-Lutician alliance. In 1028, Mieszko invaded and devastated the area east of the Saale
river in a campaign which also affected the Lutician associate tribe of the Hevelli. Thus, in the same year, Lutician delegates asked Conrad for help against "tyrant Mieszko" at a synode in Pöhlde
, Conrad's answer however is not recorded. From 1029 to 1032, the emperor mounted several campaigns against Miesko II, utterly defeating him and forcing him into the disadvantegeous Peace of Merseburg
in 1033. Whether Lutician forces participated in the campaigns is not known. With Poland defeated and disintegrating in a civil war, the German-Lutician aliance had lost its basis, and a new war began.
. A Saxon relief army was defeated, whereby 42 knights were killed. Emperor Conrad II however focussed on securing succession in Burgundy
and thus refrained from immediate retaliation. In 1035, the Lutici sacked Werben after an act of treason and killed most of the defendants. Conrad II
, supported by Bretislav of Bohemia, retaliated with a large-scale campaign into the Lutician territories. The result was inconclusive, with both sides suffering heavy casualties.
A subsequent campaign mounted primarily by Saxon nobles resulted in the defeat of the Lutici, who had to agree to a high tribute and provide hostages. Despite the defeat, the Lutici retained their autonomy, and the bishoprics of Brandenburg and Havelberg were not re-instated.
jarl Sven Estridson. After Obodrite ruler Ratibor
and his sons had been killed in battle in 1043, Gottschalk had established himself as the new ruler of the Obodrite and part of the Lutician realm with the support of Sven Estridson and Bernard II, Duke of Saxony
. According to Adam of Bremen
(Gesta
II, 79), Gottschalk went to the "Slavic lands with a mighty force, attacked everybody and caused great fear among the pagans." In 1057, again with the support of Bernard II and Sven Estridson, Gottschalk subdued the Kessini and Circipani and integrated them into his realm.
In 1066, the Lutici were involved in the Obodrite revolt, in the course of which Gottschalk was slain, his wife and her abigails were chased out of Mecklenburg naked, and a monk, Ansvar, and others were stoned to death in Ratzeburg
. Adam of Bremen (III, 51) further recorded the capture of the elderly Mecklenburg bishop "Iohannes" (Johann, John Scotus), who was carried to Rethra, where his severed head was sacrificed to Redigost. However, Halberstadt bishop Burchard sacked Rethra in the winter of 1067/1068, and as a symbol of his victory rode home on the temple's sacred horse
. In the winter of 1069, king and later emperor Henry IV
led a follow-up campaign into the Lutician territories, looting and pillaging the area.
In 1073 however, Henry IV sought to win the Lutici as allies against a Saxon opposition led by Otto of Northeim. According to Bruno of Querfurt
, Henry IV offered to the Lutici the chance of conquering as much Saxon land as they desired. The Saxon nobles then tried to also win the Lutici as allies against Henry IV: Among the Lutici, another civil war broke out between the factions supporting either Otto or Henry, resulting in a high death toll. As a consequence, the Lutici were unable to attack either Henry or Otto. However, due to the emerging Investiture Controversy
, Henry IV had to shift his focus away from the Lutician areas, so the remaining Lutici retained their independence. In 1090, the Obodrite prince Henry
had consolidated the Obodrite realm with Danish and Saxon support, and killed his rival Kruto
. After an Obodrite revolt was quelled in 1093, Henry expanded eastward in several campaigns, and subdued all Lutician areas north of the Havel
river. In 1100/1101, Henry's combined Obodrite and Saxon forces sieged Havelberg
to quell a revolt of the Hevelli and Brisani, while his son Mistue lootet the territory of the nearby Linoni with 300 Slavs and 200 Saxons.
Lothair of Supplinburg defeated Holy Roman Emperor
Henry V
in the Battle of Welfesholz
, the emperor's influence in Saxony and the Wendish
territories had virtually disappeared. On the other hand, Lothair then followed an expansionist policy himself. Among the tribes he campaigned against, regardless of whether they were within the Obodrite sphere of interest, were also the Kessini, whose prince Dumar was subdued, along with his sons, in 1114. This campaign was supported by the (nominal) margrave of the Northern March
, whose army included 300 Circipanian cavalry. Several subsequent campaigns of Lothair into the Lutician areas followed between 1115 and 1127. In 1121, Lothair mounted another successful campaign against the Kessini, this time sacking their main stronghold Kessin
and subduing their prince Sventipolk. In the same year, duke Boleslaw III of Poland mounted a campaign into the Müritz
area. In 1127, a campaign of Lothair was targeted the Gützkow
area. With his campaigns, Lothair renewed the German claim to the areas lost in 983.
In 1127, Kessin was again sacked, along with Werle
, this time by Obodrite prince Sventipolk. A son of Henry (deceased 1125), Sventipolk struggled for his father's heritage against his brother Knud. In his campaign against the Kessini he was supported by Adolf I, Count of Schauenburg. However, Sventipolk, his son Swinike and his brother Knud were all murdered in 1128, and in 1129 Lothair (king of the Germans since 1125) gave the "kingdom of the Obodrites" to Danish Knud Lavard, who was however murdered by a relative in 1131. His successor in the eastern Obodrite realm, up to the Peene
river, was Niklot
.
The eastern Lutician areas between the Peene
, Tollense
, Uecker
and Oder
rivers had by then been subdued by the Pomeranian duke
Wartislaw I
, and the Lutician primores of this area converted to Christianity in 1128
. Thence the Pomeranian dukes occasionally styled themselves dux Liuticiorum. The conversion of the Lutici was accomplished by Otto of Bamberg
, who had also missioned the Pomeranians (Slavic tribe) and the tribes on the lower Oder
(Prissani
and Velunzani
, all under Wartislaw's rule) in 1124/25. Boleslaw III of Poland had subdued Wartislaw after his abovementioned Lutician campaign, and in 1127 was on the verge of attacking Wartislaw again because of the latter's Lutician conquests, which had considerably strengthened Wartislaw's position. When Otto of Bamberg waited for Wartislaw I in Demmin
in 1128 to convert the Lutici, the Pomeranian duke appeared with two armies, and according to Otto's biographer Herbod looted and burned the surrounding areas before he held talks with Otto about the conversion. Wartislaw had also convened a meeting of the Lutician nobles at Usedom
, where they accepted Christianity upon Otto's and Wartislaw's appearance. Otto then destroyed the pagan temples at Wolgast
and Gützkow
, before he mediated in the dispute between Wartislaw I and Boleslaw III. Boleslaw aborted his preparations for war, and in turn Wartislaw accepted Boleslaw's superiority for his territories east of the Oder
, while for the Lutician areas his superior was Lothair. When the pope crowned Lothair Holy Roman Emperor at Rome
on 6 June 1133, he also issued a document addressed at bishop Norbert of Magdeburg listing a "Bishopric of Stettin" for the Lutician areas between Elbe and Oder, and a Pomeranian bishopric for the areas east of the Oder. These bishoprics however never materialized, instead the Bishopric of Wollin was founded in 1140 for the areas then ruled by Wartislaw.
In 1134, Lothair gave the Northern March, i.e. the area south of the Peene
river, to Albrecht the Bear of the House of Ascania. The Wendish Crusade
of 1147 targeted the Obodrite and Lutician areas. After a period of Danish rule in the northern part, the Holy Roman Empire
's duchies of Pomerania
and Mecklenburg
(successor of the Obodrite state) as well as the Margraviate of Brandenburg
(successor of the Northern March) had consolidated in the former Lutician areas. In the course of the Ostsiedlung
, the Lutici were assimilated by German settlers, ultimately becoming part of the German people
.
s or at springs, lakes, and rivers. There, worship and sacrificing were done in the open without the support of priests. In addition, the Lutici maintained several cult sites. The density of Lutician temples was the highest in the whole Slavic settlement area. As of 2002, about twenty such cult sites have been identified, with Rethra (Riedegost) being the most important one before the Svantevit temple at Arkona
took over the leading role after Rethra's destruction. Cult sites such as Rethra were maintained by priests, and since in Lutician society politics was closely tied to religious beliefs and not ruled by a secular monarch, the Rethra priests were extremely influential. According to Thietmar (VI, 25), every Lutician region had its own temple, each home to a special idol.
The maintenance of temple sites marks the transition from the worship of nature to the worship of idols representing personalized deities, a trend that in historiography is interpreted as resulting from contacts to Christianity. While the erection of cult sites flourished since the 10th century, an idol dating to the 7th to 8th century has been found in Feldberg
, and a cult site surrounded by planks was found in the fortress of Groß Raden, dating to the second half of the 9th century.
. According to a third theory, Riedegost was the second name of Thietmar's Zuarasici.
Thietmar (VI, 25) details Rethra's elevated position as follows: "To [Rethra], they bid farewell when they go to war, [Rethra] is honoured with due gift upon their fortunate return, and it is carefully determined [...] by lot and horse [oracle], what sacrifices the priests have to make to the deities. When in their unspeakable wrath however, they are comforted with the blood of animals and humans."
According to Helmold of Bosau, the revolt of 983 was started after a meeting at the civitas Rethre, and the successful beginning of the revolt of 1066 was according to Adam of Bremen celebrated in Rethra by the ritual decapitation of captured bishop Johann of Mecklenburg and the sacrifice of his head, stuck on a lance, to Riedegost. The last historical record of "Rheda" is an entry in the Annals of Augsburg for the year 1068, describing its capture by bishop Burchard and the abduction of its sacred horse. It is assumed that Rethra was destroyed either in this or one of the following campaigns, probably it was destroyed and rebuilt several times since Ebo's Vita Ottonis episcopi Bambergensis
(III, 5) mentions the destruction of "the Lutician civitas and temple" by king Lothair of Supplinburg in 1126/27, without specifying its name.
Thietmar (VI, 23) described Rethra as a castle (urbs) with three horns (tricornis) and three gates (tres in se continens portas), two of which could be reached by land, while the third and smallest one faced a lake (mare) to the east, supposedly a terrifying sight (horribile visu). The castle was surrounded by woodland (silva). Inside the castle, there was a wooden temple grounded on animal horns, and in this temple there were idols of several deities, who each had a name engraved and wore helmet and armor, with Zuarasici being the highest deity. Guidons (vexilla) of these deities were stored inside the temple and were only to leave the room during a war. Thietmar wrote this when the Lutici were allies of the emperor, an alliance he opposed, and included his Rethra report with the purpose of advising the Germans against it. He also explicitly turned to the reader and advised them to not follow the Lutician cult, but instead adhere to the Holy Bible.
Adam of Bremen wrote his Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum
when Rethra was already in decline, and gave a somewhat differing account: according to him, Rethra, "seat of the idols" (sedes ydolatriae) was surrounded by a deep lake and had nine gates. He described Redigast as the superior deity in a large, demonic temple (templum ibi magnum constructum est demonibus, princeps est Redigast), that could be reached by a wooden bridge by those who wanted to sacrifice or ask the oracle. 12th-century chronicler Helmold largely followed Adam's version. The difference in the numbers used by Thietmar ("three", tricornis) and Adam ("nine") might be explained with the symbolic use of these numbers, meant not to accurately describe Rethra, but rather connect it to the underworld. The boar, who according to Thietmar came out of the lake prior to a war to take pleasure in the mud, thereby "terribly shaking and appearing to many", might likewise be a symbol Thietmar used for the devil rather than an actual oracle, in contrast to the horse oracle.
The location of the former temple of Rethra is still unknown. Theories that Rethra might have been at Feldberg
, Wanzka Abbey
or Gnoien
were refuted. Most theories focus on the area of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
, and the Tollensesee
in particular.
burial site near Demmin
revealed that 25.8% of the buried children were under the age of 6 years, another 4.4% under the age of 12 years, adding to an estimated infant mortality of 20%. For those who reached adulthood, the average death age was 40.7 years (males) and 34.1 years (females), and only 4.4%, primarily men, reached an age >60 years. The lower life expectancy of women results from puerperal mortality: An average woman gave birth to three to four children in intervals of three to four years. The average heights of adult males was and for adult women. Medical research of teeth revealed a healthy diet with sufficient protein and low carbohydrate shares and a two-year breastfeeding period. Serious pathological deformations of bones were found in 28% of the adult Sanzkow skeletons, less serious ones in 44%. Most adults suffered from spondylosis deformans, especially men above the age of twenty years, but also women above the age of thirty years. Combined with high rates of arthrosis deformans, likewise primarily affecting males, and other skeleton deformations, this points to high physical strain especially of the male population. An extraordinarily high rate of bone fractures (15% of the adult population, primarily men) indicates massive involvement in battles and accidents. Skull injuries from strokes, swords and arrows were also common. Two bodies at Sanzkow were buried as vampire
s. For one of those, there is evidence for a head injury that might have resulted in brain dysfunctions, this man was banned with three large rocks placed on his face, breast and legs. One woman had a denture, and there is also evidence for trepanation
s.
West Slavs
The West Slavs are Slavic peoples speaking West Slavic languages. They include Poles , Czechs, Slovaks, Lusatian Sorbs and the historical Polabians. The northern or Lechitic group includes, along with Polish, the extinct Polabian and Pomeranian languages...
Polabian
Polabian Slavs
Polabian Slavs - is a collective term applied to a number of Lechites tribes who lived along the Elbe river, between the Baltic Sea to the north, the Saale and the Limes Saxoniae to the west, the Ore Mountains and the Western Sudetes to the south, and Poland to the east. They have also been known...
tribes, who between the 10th and 12th centuries lived in what is now northeastern Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Four tribes made up the core of the federation: the Redarians (Redari, Redarii), Circipanians (Circipani), Kessinians
Kessinians
The Kessinians, also known as Kessini, Chizzini were a medieval West Slavic tribe in what is now northeastern Germany. They inhabited the territory between the Warnow and Recknitz rivers, today split between the districts of Rostock and Vorpommern-Rügen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern...
(Kessini, Kycini, Chizzini) and Tollensians (Tholenzi). At least in part, the Lutici were a continuation of the Veleti
Veleti
The Veleti or Wilzi were a group of medieval Lechites tribes within the territory of modern northeastern Germany; see Polabian Slavs. In common with other Slavic groups between the Elbe and Oder Rivers, they were often described by Germanic sources as Wends. In the late 10th century, they were...
. In contrast to the former and the neighboring peoples, the Lutici were not led by a Christian monarch or duke, rather power was asserted through consensus formed in central assemblies of the social elites, and the Lutici worshipped nature and several deities. The political and religious center was Rethra (also referred to by several other names, e.g. Riedegost or Radgosc
Radgosc
Radgosc was the main town and political center of the Slavic Redarians, one of the four major Lutician tribes, located most likely in present day Mecklenburg...
).
The Lutici were first recorded by written sources in the context of the uprising of 983
Great Slav Rising
The Great Slav Rising von 983 was an uprising of the Slavic Lutici und Obotrite people living to the east of the Elbe in modern north-east Germany...
, by which they annilihated the rule of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
in the Billung
Billung March
The Billung March or March of the Billungs was a frontier region of the far northeastern Duchy of Saxony in the 10th century...
and Northern March
Northern March
The Northern March or North March was created out of the division of the vast Marca Geronis in 965. It initially comprised the northern third of the Marca and was part of the territorial organisation of areas conquered from the Wends...
es. Hostilities continued until 997. Thereafter, tensions with the empire eased, and in 1003 the Lutici entered an alliance with the emperor against duke Boleslaw I of Poland
Boleslaw I of Poland
Bolesław I Chrobry , in the past also known as Bolesław I the Great , was a Duke of Poland from 992-1025 and the first King of Poland from 19 April 1025 until his death...
. Once Boleslaw's successor Mieszko was defeated in 1033
Treaty of Merseburg
The Treaty of Merseburg of 1033 was an agreement between the Salian Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II on one side, and the Piast king of Poland Mieszko II which settled the question of Polish succession which had been contested between Mieszko and his half-brothers Bezprym, Otto, and Dietric, since the...
, the alliance broke apart, and a German-Lutician war broke out that lasted until 1035, when the Lutici became tributaries of the empire again, but otherwise retained their independence. A civil war between the core tribes started the decline of the Lutici in 1056/57. The neighboring Obodrites intervened and subdued the northwestern faction of the Lutici.
In 1066, the Lutici succeeded in stirring up a revolt against the Obodrite elites, in the course of which John, the bishop of Mecklenburg, was captured and sacrificed at Rethra. As a consequence, the bishop of Halberstadt and the emperor sacked and destroyed Rethra in subsequent campaigns, and its role as the leading pagan cult site was taken over by the Swantewit temple at Arkona
Cape Arkona
Cape Arkona is a cape on the island of Rügen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Cape Arkona is the tip of the Wittow peninsula, just a few kilometres north of the Jasmund National Park....
. Another civil war in the 1070s led to a further decline of the Lutician federation, who then were unable to resist conquests and looting by their neighbors in the following decades.
During the first half of the 12th century, the settlement area of the Lutici was partitioned between Obodrite principalities, the later Duchy of Mecklenburg (west), the re-constituted Northern March
Northern March
The Northern March or North March was created out of the division of the vast Marca Geronis in 965. It initially comprised the northern third of the Marca and was part of the territorial organisation of areas conquered from the Wends...
, which became the Margraviate of Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
(south), and the Duchy of Pomerania
Duchy of Pomerania
The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....
(east). The Lutici were converted to Christianity, and in the 13th century were assimilated by German settlers and became part of the German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
people during the Ostsiedlung
Ostsiedlung
Ostsiedlung , also called German eastward expansion, was the medieval eastward migration and settlement of Germans from modern day western and central Germany into less-populated regions and countries of eastern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The affected area roughly stretched from Slovenia...
.
Veleti origins
Veleti
The Veleti or Wilzi were a group of medieval Lechites tribes within the territory of modern northeastern Germany; see Polabian Slavs. In common with other Slavic groups between the Elbe and Oder Rivers, they were often described by Germanic sources as Wends. In the late 10th century, they were...
(Wilzi, Wilci), who are referred to by sources of the late 8th and first half of the 9th centuries as having inhabited the same region, and according to the Bavarian Geographer
Bavarian Geographer
The Bavarian Geographer is a conventional name given by Jan Potocki in 1796 to the author of an anonymous medieval document Descriptio civitatum et regionum ad septentrionalem plagam Danubii ....
were likewise organized in four tribes (regiones). Whether the Lutici were ethnically identical with the Veleti remains unproven. Contemporary chronicles sometimes connect the Lutici to the Veleti, e.g. Adam von Bremen (Gesta II,22) refers to them as "Leuticios, qui alio nomine Wilzi dicuntur", and Helmold von Bosau (Chronica Slavorum I,2) says "Hii quatuor populi a fortidudine Wilzi sive Lutici appellantur." Modern scholarship sometimes refers to both entities by a double name, e.g. "Wilzen-Lutizen" in German or "Wieleci-Lucice" in Polish.
In the second half of the 9th century, the Veleti disappeared from written records. Lutician tribes first appear in written records after this gap: the Redarii were mentioned first in 928 by Widukind of Corvey
Widukind of Corvey
Widukind of Corvey was a Saxon historical chronicler, named after the Saxon duke and national hero Widukind who had battled Charlemagne. Widukind the chronicler was born in 925 and died after 973 at the Benedictine abbey of Corvey in East Westphalia...
, who listed them in the context of Slavic tribes subdued by Henry I. Incidentally, this list also contains the first mention of the Veleti after beforementioned gap, and the Redarians are listed as a separate entity from the Veleti. In 955, the Tollensians and Circipanians are first mentioned in the annals of St. Gallen
Annales Sangallenses maiores
The Annales Sangallenses maiores are annals compiled in St. Gallen, covering the years 927 through to 1059. They continue the Annales Alamannici, the St. Gallen version of which reaches up to 926....
, likewise in addition to the Veleti, in the context of the Battle of Recknitz
Battle of Recknitz
The Battle of Recknitz river]]") was fought on 16 October 955 between the forces of Otto I of Germany allied with the Rani tribe on one side, and the Obotrite federation under Nako and his brother Stoinegin with their allied and tributary Slav neighbours on the other in the region of present-day...
(Raxa).
This co-listing of Veleti with Redarians, Tollensians and/or Circipanians was however not repeated in subsequent records, e.g. the Ottonian documents do not mention the Veleti at all, while repeatedly referencing Redarians, Tollensians, Circipanes and other tribes in the respective area. Furthermore, there are only very few mentions of the Veleti in 10th-century sources: in addition to beforementioned records, the Veleti are referenced only in the annals of St. Gallen in 995 and in the annals of Quedlinburg in 995 and 997. According to Fritze (1982), this reflects the uncertain nomenclature after the Veleti's decline, at least as a political entity, in the mid-9th century. A variant of the designation "Lutici" was first recorded in the annals of Hildesheim in 991, and starting in eastern Saxony
Duchy of Saxony
The medieval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein...
, this name was gradually adopted by other chroniclers. The first mention of the Kessinians is an entry in Adam von Bremen's Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum
Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum
Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum is a historical treatise written between 1075 and 1080 by Adam of Bremen. It covers the period from 788 to the time it was written. The treatise consist of:*Liber I...
, referring to the year of 1056.
Organization
The Lutici were a federation of several smaller tribes between the WarnowWarnow
The Warnow is a river in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany. It flows into the Baltic Sea near the town of Rostock, in its borough Warnemünde....
and Mildenitz
Mildenitz (river)
Mildenitz is a river of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.-See also:*List of rivers of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern...
in the west, the Havel
Havel
The Havel is a river in north-eastern Germany, flowing through the German states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. It is a right tributary of the Elbe river and in length...
in the south and the Oder
Oder
The Oder is a river in Central Europe. It rises in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder-Neisse line...
in the east, with the core formed by four tribes: Redarians, Tolensians, Kessinians and Circipanians. Within the federation, power was asserted by representatives of the clans and settlement communities (the "elders"). The highest political institution of both Veleti and Lutici was the assembly of the free, yet in contrast to the Veleti who were led by a prince, the Lutici were a "tribe without a ruler", meaning political power was asserted via discourse in an assembly. This type of government had its roots in the Veleti period: since the mid-9th century, no Veleti princes or kings are recorded, and archaeology has revealed that in this period, many small strongholds were built in the area, in part on the ruins of the earlier, large strongholds. During the Lutician assemblies, decisions were made based on consensus, and once a decision had been made it was enforced by "severe punishment" of any violations. While similar types of government have been postulated for archaic Slavic societies, this was unusual for contemporary ones, who were usually led by a prince, duke or king asserting power via feudal dependencies.
Though missing a monarch, the Lutici had a social hierarchy. Political power was asserted by nobles, priests and free farmers. A reference to social differentiation is made by Thietmar
Thietmar of Merseburg
Thietmar of Merseburg was a German chronicler who was also bishop of Merseburg.-Life:...
(Chronicon VI, 25), who reported a progressive fine system imposing higher fines for offenses on persons with a higher social status.
Whether or not the Lutician tribes had a common ethnic identity remains speculative: The cultural differences to the neighboring tribes (Obodrites, Hevelli, Pomeranians) were minor, while differences with the Saxon
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
and Christian culture and military pressure asserted by the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
have most probably resulted in a common identity, evidently in mutual solidarity expressed by the common councils and combined military campaigns. Thietmar (VIII/5) refers to the resulting way of life as libertas more Liuticio.
The most important stronghold of the Lutici was Rethra or Riedegost in the territory of the Redarii. After a period of dominance by the Hevelli, centered on the other important Wendish
Wends
Wends is a historic name for West Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It does not refer to a homogeneous people, but to various peoples, tribes or groups depending on where and when it is used...
stronghold of Brandenburg, the Redarii became a dominant regional power themselves after the 930s. This is documented by the amount of silver tribute the Redarii were to pay to the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, and the failiure of the latter to permanently subdue the area despite multiple campaigns.
Names and spelling variants
The name of the Lutici has survived in its many Latinized spelling variants used by contemporary chroniclers, most of which are still used in modern historiography in addition to their English, German and Polish renderings. The etymology of these terms is not sure, it has been proposed that they derive from the ur-Slavic root *ljutъ, meaning "wild", "fierce", or from the Slavic root *lutъ or its Latin equivalent lutum, meaning "swamp". The PolabianPolabian language
The Polabian language is an extinct West Slavic language that was spoken by the Polabian Slavs in present-day North-Eastern Germany around the Elbe river, from which derives its name...
original might have been *L'utici.
Table: Spelling variants of "Lutici"
| Latinized form* | Anglicized form | Germanized form | Polonized form |
| Lutici | Luticians | - | Lucice |
| Leutici | Leuticians | - | - |
| Liutici | Liuticians | - | - |
| Lyutici | - | - | - |
| Lutitii | Lutitians | - | - |
| - | Liutitians | - | - |
| Lutizi | Lutizians | Lutizen | - |
| Leutizi | Leutizians | Leutizen | - |
| Liutizi | Liutizians | Liutizen | - |
The names of the four subtribes relate to their respective settlement areas: the Kessini around their main stronghold Kessin on the lower Warnow
Warnow
The Warnow is a river in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany. It flows into the Baltic Sea near the town of Rostock, in its borough Warnemünde....
, the Circipani were centered on the upper Peene
Peene
The Peene is a river in Germany. The Westpeene, Kleine Peene and Ostpeene flow into the Kummerower See, and from there as Peene proper to Anklam and into the Oder Lagoon....
, the Tollensians on the Tollense
Tollense
The Tollense is a river in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in northeastern Germany, right tributary of the Peene. The river starts as the outflow of the lake Tollensesee in Neubrandenburg...
, and the Redarians lived south of Lake Tollensesee
Tollensesee
Tollensesee is a lake in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It belongs to the Mecklenburg Lake District. At an elevation of 14.8 m, its surface area is 17.4 km². Its maximum depth is about 33 m. The lake is 10.4 km long and between 1.5 and 2.5 km wide....
around Rethra. In the latter case though, it is unknown whether the name of the deity is the root of the stronghold's and the tribe's name or if it is the other way around (see section on Rethra below), and alternative theories connect their name to a hypothetical river "Rada" or propose a translation as "red-haired people". Earlier theories translating "Redarii" as "farmers", "plowers" or "warriors" have been refuted.
The names of these tribes likewise survived in various spelling variants, including Tolensane and Tholenzi for the Tollensians; Circipani, Zcirizspani and Zerezpani for the Circipanians; as well as Riaderi, Redarii, and Rederi for the Redarians.
Revolt of 983
In 983, the Lutici initiated an open rebellion, and in the ensuing war (983-995) succeeded in revoking imperial control over most of the NorthernNorthern March
The Northern March or North March was created out of the division of the vast Marca Geronis in 965. It initially comprised the northern third of the Marca and was part of the territorial organisation of areas conquered from the Wends...
and Billung
Billung March
The Billung March or March of the Billungs was a frontier region of the far northeastern Duchy of Saxony in the 10th century...
marches, where the corresponding bishoprics of Brandenburg and Havelberg
Bishopric of Havelberg
The Bishopric of Havelberg was a Roman Catholic diocese founded by King Otto I, King of the Germans, in 946. The diocese was suffragan to the Archbishopric of Magdeburg. Its most famous bishop was Anselm of Havelberg. Its seat was in Havelberg in the Northern March and it roughly covered the...
were de facto annihilated. The rebellion did not only affect Lutician territories, but also those of the neighboring Obodrites (also Abodriti) and Hevelli (also Stodorani). The strategically important Hevellian Brandenburg was sacked by Lutician forces and successfully defended against the Saxon margraves and Hevellian princes. Incidentally, the pagan Luticians appointed Kizo, a Saxon Christian, commander of the Brandenburg. Contemporary German chronicler Thietmar (VI, 25) blames the uprising on maltreatment of the Lutici by the margraves: "warriors, who used to be our servants, now free as a consequence of our injustices ['iniquitates']."
In the Obodrite principality, the Luticians initiated a revolt aiming at the abolishment of feudal rule and Christianity, drawing on consideral support by the Obodrite populace. In part, the Obrodite revolt was successful: The princely family, though in part remaining Christian, dissolved Christian institutions, and the Oldenburg bishop had to abandon his bishopric. The Obodrite rebels destroyed the see in Oldenburg and also the see of the diocese, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. The ensuing war with the Saxons however culminated in the sack of the Obodrite stronghold of Mecklenburg
Dorf Mecklenburg
Dorf Mecklenburg is a municipality in the Nordwestmecklenburg district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany....
by Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto III , a King of Germany, was the fourth ruler of the Saxon or Ottonian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. He was elected King in 983 on the death of his father Otto II and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 996.-Early reign:...
in 995.
The uprising had started when the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
was weakened by the defeat emperor Otto II
Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto II , called the Red, was the third ruler of the Saxon or Ottonian dynasty, the son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy.-Early years and co-ruler with Otto I:...
had suffered against the Saracen
Saracen
Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...
s in the Battle of Stilo
Battle of Stilo
The Battle of Stilo or Cape Colonna was fought on 13 or 14 July 982 near Crotone in Calabria between the forces of the Emperor Otto II and his Italo-Lombard allies and those of the Kalbid emir of Sicily, Abu al-Qasim...
(982). Otto II died in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
shortly after the rebellion started, and three weeks later, his three-year-old son Otto III was crowned and anointed king of the Germans by the archbishops of Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
and Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
in Aachen
Aachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
(Aix-la-Chapelle) on Christmas 983. The coronation was not undisputed: an oppositional group had formed in the empire supporting the kingship of Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n duke Henry the Quarrelsome, and the Christian West Slavic dukes Boleslaus II of Bohemia and Mieszko I of Poland
Mieszko I of Poland
Mieszko I , was a Duke of the Polans from about 960 until his death. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was son of Siemomysł; grandchild of Lestek; father of Bolesław I the Brave, the first crowned King of Poland; likely father of Świętosława , a Nordic Queen; and grandfather of her son, Cnut the...
as well as the Christian Obodrite prince Mstivoj
Mstivoj
Mstivoj was an Obodrite prince from 965 or 967 until his death. He inherited his position along with his brother Mstidrag from their father Nako in an unknown year.-Name:...
were among the latter's supporters. All of them had accepted Henry's claim to the throne at the Quedlinburg
Quedlinburg
Quedlinburg is a town located north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. In 1994 the medieval court and the old town was set on the UNESCO world heritage list....
Hoftag of Easter 984, and only at the Quedlinburg Hoftag of Easter 986 Otto III was accepted as king by the opposition, including the Bohemian and Polish dukes. While neither Mstivoj (also Mistui, died between 992 and 995), nor his son and successor Mstislav were present at the 986 meeting, they continued to maintain close ties to the empire, despite their participation in campaigns into Saxon Northalbinga and Altmark
Altmark
The Altmark is a historic region in Germany, comprising the northern third of Saxony-Anhalt. As the initial territory of the Brandenburg margraves, it is sometimes referred to as the "Cradle of Prussia", as by Otto von Bismarck, a native from Schönhausen near Stendal.- Geography :The Altmark is...
in the initial stage of the uprising.
Handling of the Lutician rebellion thus became a central objective for the young king, and several campaigns of the Lutici and Obodriti into the eastern Duchy of Saxony
Duchy of Saxony
The medieval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein...
and German campaigns vice versa are recorded for nearly every year of his kingship. Thereby, the Saxons experienced several difficulties resulting from the de-central organization of the Lutici. Apart from the attempted reconquest of the lost sees of the bishoprics, the Saxon armies faced wide heaths, lake- and woodlands that lacked targets suitable to decide the war. According to the annales Quedlinburgensis, the first Saxon campaign of 985 thus followed a tactic of scorched earth
Scorched earth
A scorched earth policy is a military strategy or operational method which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area...
: "with fire and slaughter, they devastated the whole region" (totam terram illam incendiis et caedibus devastaverunt), a characterization that applied to the following campaigns as well. Following a hypothesis forwarded in modern historiography, e.g. by Gerd Althoff, these campaigns had not the primary purpose of a reconquest, but rather the purpose of looting and taking revenge.
The first such campaign Otto III participated in was in 986, when Otto was six years old. In 991, at the age of eleven, he participated in the temporary reconquest of Brandenburg, which was soon lost again due to the treason of a Saxon defector, and in 992 he participated again in the subsequent siege of Brandenburg, where the Saxon army suffered heavy casualties before it was victorious in 993. In 994 however, the war's tide turned again.
Thus, Otto III organized a campaign involving an abundance of princes of the empire, which was also the first campaign he led as an independent ruler, since before 994/995 he had been under tutelage of his mother Theophanu
Theophanu
Theophanu , also spelled Theophania, Theophana or Theophano, was born in Constantinople, and was the wife of Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor.-Family:...
, and after her death, under the tutelage of his grand-mother, Adelaide
Adelaide of Italy
Saint Adelaide of Italy , also called Adelaide of Burgundy, was the second wife of Otto the Great, Holy Roman Emperor...
, and Willigis
Willigis
Saint Willigis was Archbishop of Mainz from 975 until his death as well as a statesman of the Holy Roman Empire.-Life:...
, archbishop of Mainz. Among the participants of the campaign were Bernard I of Saxony, his former rival Henry the Quarrelsome of Bavaria along with his son and later emperor Henry IV (II)
Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry II , also referred to as Saint Henry, Obl.S.B., was the fifth and last Holy Roman Emperor of the Ottonian dynasty, from his coronation in Rome in 1014 until his death a decade later. He was crowned King of the Germans in 1002 and King of Italy in 1004...
, also the bishops of Regensburg
Bishopric of Regensburg
The Bishopric of Regensburg was a small prince-bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire, located in what is now southern Germany. It was elevated to the Archbishopric of Regensburg in 1803 after the dissolution of the Archbishopric of Mainz, but became a bishopric again in 1817.-History:The diocese...
and Freising, Magdeburg archbishop Giselher
Giselher
Giselher is a king of Burgundy in the Nibelungenlied, brother to kings Gunther and Gernot. Historically, these correspond to three sons of king Gebicca, Gundomar, Gislaharius , and Gundaharius , who ruled the Burgundians in the 410s...
with his suffragan Eiko, bishop of Meißen, as well as the margraves Gero
Gero
Gero I , called the Great , ruled an initially modest march centred on Merseburg, which he expanded into a vast territory named after him: the marca Geronis. During the mid-10th century, he was the leader of the Saxon Drang nach Osten.-Succession and early conflicts:Gero was the son of Count...
and Liuthar, duke Mieszko
Mieszko I of Poland
Mieszko I , was a Duke of the Polans from about 960 until his death. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was son of Siemomysł; grandchild of Lestek; father of Bolesław I the Brave, the first crowned King of Poland; likely father of Świętosława , a Nordic Queen; and grandfather of her son, Cnut the...
's son Boleslaw I of Poland
Boleslaw I of Poland
Bolesław I Chrobry , in the past also known as Bolesław I the Great , was a Duke of Poland from 992-1025 and the first King of Poland from 19 April 1025 until his death...
, a son of duke Boleslaus II of Bohemia, and the latter's rival Soběslav, brother of Adalbert of Prague
Adalbert of Prague
This article is about St Adalbert of Prague. For other uses, see Adalbert .Saint Adalbert, Czech: ; , , Czech Roman Catholic saint, a Bishop of Prague and a missionary, was martyred in his efforts to convert the Baltic Prussians. He evangelized Poles and Hungarians. St...
. While Henry the Quarrelsome died before the campaign started in 995, and his son Henry IV (II) thereupon returned to Bavaria to secure his succession, the participant's list and the assembled force distinguished this campaign from the mostly Saxon campaigns mounted to crush the rebellion before. The 995 campaign also played a role in Bohemian history: Boleslaus II, against his promises, made use of the absence of his rival Soběslav, marched on the latter's stronghold in Libice (Libitz) and killed the members of his family, the oppositional Slavnikids.
In early 996, Otto III left for Rome to receive the imperial crown from pope Gregory V
Pope Gregory V
Pope Gregory V, né Bruno of Carinthia , Pope from May 3, 996 to February 18, 999, son of the Salian Otto I, Duke of Carinthia, who was a grandson of the Emperor Otto I the Great . Gregory V succeeded Pope John XV , when only twenty-four years of age...
. At the same time, Adalbert of Prague
Adalbert of Prague
This article is about St Adalbert of Prague. For other uses, see Adalbert .Saint Adalbert, Czech: ; , , Czech Roman Catholic saint, a Bishop of Prague and a missionary, was martyred in his efforts to convert the Baltic Prussians. He evangelized Poles and Hungarians. St...
was also in Rome, and both Otto and Adalbert left - on different routes - in June 996, to meet again in Ingelheim and Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
during the fall. Adalbert, who in Rome and with the pope's consent had agreed on going on a mission into pagan territory, yet he was still undecided on whether he should try to convert the Lutici or the Old Prussians
Old Prussians
The Old Prussians or Baltic Prussians were an ethnic group, autochthonous Baltic tribes that inhabited Prussia, the lands of the southeastern Baltic Sea in the area around the Vistula and Curonian Lagoons...
. Eventually he settled for a mission to the Prussians, who killed him on 23 April 997. Also in 997, Otto III mounted a last campaign into the areas held by the Lutici, targeting the Hevelli. Afterwards, Otto III instead focussed on plans to re-organize the Holy Roman Empire.
German-Lutician alliance against Poland
After the Lutici gained independence, Otto III allied against them with Mieszko I of PolandMieszko I of Poland
Mieszko I , was a Duke of the Polans from about 960 until his death. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was son of Siemomysł; grandchild of Lestek; father of Bolesław I the Brave, the first crowned King of Poland; likely father of Świętosława , a Nordic Queen; and grandfather of her son, Cnut the...
, whom he wanted to integrate
Congress of Gniezno
The Congress of Gniezno was an amical meeting between the Polish duke Bolesław I Chrobry and Emperor Otto III, which took place at Gniezno on March 11, 1000...
in his renovatio imperii Romani. Mieszko's successor Boleslaw I Chrobry however expanded his realm and denied Otto's successor Henry II
Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry II , also referred to as Saint Henry, Obl.S.B., was the fifth and last Holy Roman Emperor of the Ottonian dynasty, from his coronation in Rome in 1014 until his death a decade later. He was crowned King of the Germans in 1002 and King of Italy in 1004...
homage for Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, conquered in 1003. Furthermore, Boleslaw supported the inner-German opposition to Henry. This led Henry to abandon the reconquest of the Lutician areas, and instead offer them an alliance against Boleslaw, first recorded at a meeting in Quedlinburg
Quedlinburg
Quedlinburg is a town located north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. In 1994 the medieval court and the old town was set on the UNESCO world heritage list....
on 28 March 1003. Since the Lutici remained pagan, this policy was widely criticized in the empire, especially by the clergy. By 1004, Henry had expelled Boleslaw from Bohemia and adjacent territories in Lusatia
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
, and by 1005 mounted a counteroffensive.
The Lutici, who participated in the campaign, caused dismay among the Christian army when carrying idols of their deities with them. Thietmar of Merseburg
Thietmar of Merseburg
Thietmar of Merseburg was a German chronicler who was also bishop of Merseburg.-Life:...
blames delays that prevented the imperial army from decisively defeating Boleslaw on the Lutici, and obviously it was not in the Lutician interest to eliminate the Boleslaw's threat to Henry as this was the basis for the German-Lutician alliance preventing the resumption of German campaigns into Lutician territory. On the other hand, the delays were caused also by corrupt guides and several Saxon nobles, who also opposed campaigns against Christian Boleslaw and rather supported re-establishing control and mission of the pagan Lutici. The campaign was aborted near Poznan
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
when Boleslaw's envoys negotiated a peace.
Afterwards, Boleslaw negotiated an anti-Lutician alliance "in Christo" with unknown nobles at Magdeburg
Magdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
, while "with words and money" trying to instigate Lutician and Bohemian campaigns against Henry at the same time, according to the testimony of Lutician and Bohemian envoys at Regensburg
Regensburg
Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
(Easter 1007). The Lutician and Bohemian envoys demanded a promt attack on Boleslaw, yet Henry faced considerable opposition of several nobles against a renewed war. The war (1007–1013) was then started by Boleslaw, and sources do not mention Lutician participation. The next record of the Lutici in the sources is of negotiations in Amberg
Amberg
Amberg is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the Upper Palatinate, roughly halfway between Regensburg and Bayreuth. Population: 44,756 .- History :...
in November 1012, confirming the alliance of 1003. Considerable Lutician forces participated in the two following campaigns of Henry II against Boleslaw in 1015 and 1017.
In 1017 however, two incidents led to the temporary departure of the Lutici from the campaign. First, a stone's throw of a compagnon of margrave Hermann Billung damaged a Lutician idol, and Henry II had to re-concile them with twelve pounds of silver. Secondly, they lost fifty warriors and an idol of a female deity in a flood while crossing the Mulde
Mulde
The Mulde is a river in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Elbe and 124 km in length.The river is formed by the confluence, near Colditz, of the Zwickauer Mulde and the Freiberger Mulde , both rising from the Ore Mountains...
river, near Wurzen
Wurzen
Wurzen is a town in the Leipzig district, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Mulde, here crossed by two bridges, 25 km east of Leipzig, by rail N.E. of Leipzig on the main line to Dresden...
. The Lutici interpreted these incidents as bad omen, and departed determined to break the alliance with the emperor. Yet, an assembly was convoked where it was decided to re-enter the war on the emperor's side, and two Lutician armies again attacked Boleslaw later in 1017. One Lutician army joined the emperor's forces in the siege of Glogau (Thietmar VII, 59), while the other attacked another stronghold of Boleslaw and devastated the surrounding region once they had lost 100 men in an unsuccessful attempt to take it (Thietmar VII, 61). Günther, an eremite from Magdeburg, tried to mission in the Lutician lands during the same year without success.
The Peace of Bautzen
Peace of Bautzen
The Peace of Bautzen or the Peace of Budziszyn was a treaty concluded on January 30, 1018 between the Ottonian Holy Roman Emperor Henry II and the Piast ruler of Poland Boleslaw I which ended a series of Polish-German wars over the control of Lusatia and Upper Lusatia as well as Bohemia,...
(1018) ended the war between Henry and Boleslav, and the Lutici attacked their western neighbors, the Obodrite dukes, during the same year. They justified the attack with the fact that the Obodrites had not participated in the war. The Lutici were supported by part of the Obodrites, and the resulting revolt expelled Obodrite duke Mstislav to Saxony and destroyed the see in Oldenburg. This caused the Danish king Canute the Great
Canute the Great
Cnut the Great , also known as Canute, was a king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden. Though after the death of his heirs within a decade of his own and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, his legacy was largely lost to history, historian Norman F...
to intervene in 1019, and the duke of Saxony and the bishop of Bremen, previously in a dispute about influence in the Obodrite areas, combined their forces in 1020 and ended the revolt in 1021.
When Henry II died, Boleslaw I of Poland used the power vacuum in the empire to crown himself king in 1025. While he died in the same year, his son and successor Mieszko II also took on the royal title, denied paying homage to the successor of Henry II, emperor Conrad II
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
Conrad II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1027 until his death.The son of a mid-level nobleman in Franconia, Count Henry of Speyer and Adelaide of Alsace, he inherited the titles of count of Speyer and of Worms as an infant when Henry died at age twenty...
, and coveted the Lutici territories. Conrad renewed the German-Lutician alliance. In 1028, Mieszko invaded and devastated the area east of the Saale
Saale
The Saale, also known as the Saxon Saale and Thuringian Saale , is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Franconian Saale, a right-bank tributary of the Main, or the Saale in Lower Saxony, a tributary of the Leine.-Course:The Saale...
river in a campaign which also affected the Lutician associate tribe of the Hevelli. Thus, in the same year, Lutician delegates asked Conrad for help against "tyrant Mieszko" at a synode in Pöhlde
Pöhlde
Pöhlde is a village in southern Lower Saxony in Germany. It is part of the town Herzberg am Harz. It has a population of 2207 . Archaeological excavation has revealed traces of settlement dating to the 2nd through 4th centuries AD. The town is noted for its Benedictine abbey...
, Conrad's answer however is not recorded. From 1029 to 1032, the emperor mounted several campaigns against Miesko II, utterly defeating him and forcing him into the disadvantegeous Peace of Merseburg
Treaty of Merseburg
The Treaty of Merseburg of 1033 was an agreement between the Salian Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II on one side, and the Piast king of Poland Mieszko II which settled the question of Polish succession which had been contested between Mieszko and his half-brothers Bezprym, Otto, and Dietric, since the...
in 1033. Whether Lutician forces participated in the campaigns is not known. With Poland defeated and disintegrating in a civil war, the German-Lutician aliance had lost its basis, and a new war began.
German-Lutician war
In 1033, a Lutician army repeatedly attacked the fortress of Werben on the ElbeElbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
. A Saxon relief army was defeated, whereby 42 knights were killed. Emperor Conrad II however focussed on securing succession in Burgundy
Kingdom of Arles
The Kingdom of Arles or Second Kingdom of Burgundy of the High Middle Ages was a Frankish dominion established in 933 from lands of the early medieval Kingdom of Burgundy at Arles...
and thus refrained from immediate retaliation. In 1035, the Lutici sacked Werben after an act of treason and killed most of the defendants. Conrad II
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor
Conrad II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1027 until his death.The son of a mid-level nobleman in Franconia, Count Henry of Speyer and Adelaide of Alsace, he inherited the titles of count of Speyer and of Worms as an infant when Henry died at age twenty...
, supported by Bretislav of Bohemia, retaliated with a large-scale campaign into the Lutician territories. The result was inconclusive, with both sides suffering heavy casualties.
A subsequent campaign mounted primarily by Saxon nobles resulted in the defeat of the Lutici, who had to agree to a high tribute and provide hostages. Despite the defeat, the Lutici retained their autonomy, and the bishoprics of Brandenburg and Havelberg were not re-instated.
Civil wars and Obodrite rule
In 1056/1057, the Lutician federation disintegrated in a civil war (lutizischer Bruderkrieg, "Lutician brother-war"). Kessini and Circipani fought against Tollensians and Redarii. The dispute was decided by an intervention of the Obodrite prince Gottschalk, son-in-law of the DanishDenmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
jarl Sven Estridson. After Obodrite ruler Ratibor
Ratibor (Polabian prince)
Ratibor was a prince of the Obotrite confederacy from the Polabian tribe. His capital was Racisburg, which was named in his honor....
and his sons had been killed in battle in 1043, Gottschalk had established himself as the new ruler of the Obodrite and part of the Lutician realm with the support of Sven Estridson and Bernard II, Duke of Saxony
Bernard II, Duke of Saxony
Bernard II was the Duke of Saxony , the third of the Billung dynasty, a son of Bernard I and Hildegard. He had the rights of a count in Frisia....
. According to Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen
Adam of Bremen was a German medieval chronicler. He lived and worked in the second half of the eleventh century. He is most famous for his chronicle Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum .-Background:Little is known of his life other than hints from his own chronicles...
(Gesta
Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum
Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum is a historical treatise written between 1075 and 1080 by Adam of Bremen. It covers the period from 788 to the time it was written. The treatise consist of:*Liber I...
II, 79), Gottschalk went to the "Slavic lands with a mighty force, attacked everybody and caused great fear among the pagans." In 1057, again with the support of Bernard II and Sven Estridson, Gottschalk subdued the Kessini and Circipani and integrated them into his realm.
Ratzeburg
Ratzeburg is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the Kreis of Lauenburg.-History:...
. Adam of Bremen (III, 51) further recorded the capture of the elderly Mecklenburg bishop "Iohannes" (Johann, John Scotus), who was carried to Rethra, where his severed head was sacrificed to Redigost. However, Halberstadt bishop Burchard sacked Rethra in the winter of 1067/1068, and as a symbol of his victory rode home on the temple's sacred horse
Horse worship
Horse worship is a pagan practice that existed in Europe in the Iron Age and perhaps the Bronze Age. The horse was seen as divine, as a sacred animal associated with a particular deity, or as a totem animal impersonating the king or warrior. Horse cults and horse sacrifice were originally a feature...
. In the winter of 1069, king and later emperor Henry IV
Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry IV was King of the Romans from 1056 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 until his forced abdication in 1105. He was the third emperor of the Salian dynasty and one of the most powerful and important figures of the 11th century...
led a follow-up campaign into the Lutician territories, looting and pillaging the area.
In 1073 however, Henry IV sought to win the Lutici as allies against a Saxon opposition led by Otto of Northeim. According to Bruno of Querfurt
Bruno of Querfurt
Saint Bruno of Querfurt , also known as Brun and Boniface, is a sainted missionary bishop and martyr, who was beheaded near the border of Kievan Rus and Lithuania while trying to spread Christianity in Eastern Europe...
, Henry IV offered to the Lutici the chance of conquering as much Saxon land as they desired. The Saxon nobles then tried to also win the Lutici as allies against Henry IV: Among the Lutici, another civil war broke out between the factions supporting either Otto or Henry, resulting in a high death toll. As a consequence, the Lutici were unable to attack either Henry or Otto. However, due to the emerging Investiture Controversy
Investiture Controversy
The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was the most significant conflict between Church and state in medieval Europe. In the 11th and 12th centuries, a series of Popes challenged the authority of European monarchies over control of appointments, or investitures, of church officials such...
, Henry IV had to shift his focus away from the Lutician areas, so the remaining Lutici retained their independence. In 1090, the Obodrite prince Henry
Henry (Obotrite prince)
Henry was an Obotrite prince or king from the Nakonid dynasty; he was regarded by contemporaries as "King of the Slavs"...
had consolidated the Obodrite realm with Danish and Saxon support, and killed his rival Kruto
Kruto
Kruto , son of Grin or Grinus, was a prince of Wagria. James Westfall Thompson believed his family belonged to the Rani of Rugia....
. After an Obodrite revolt was quelled in 1093, Henry expanded eastward in several campaigns, and subdued all Lutician areas north of the Havel
Havel
The Havel is a river in north-eastern Germany, flowing through the German states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. It is a right tributary of the Elbe river and in length...
river. In 1100/1101, Henry's combined Obodrite and Saxon forces sieged Havelberg
Havelberg
Havelberg is a town in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the Havel, and part of the town is built on an island in the centre of the river. The two parts were incorporated as a town in 1875...
to quell a revolt of the Hevelli and Brisani, while his son Mistue lootet the territory of the nearby Linoni with 300 Slavs and 200 Saxons.
Division and conversion of the Lutician areas
When in 1115 Saxon dukeDuchy of Saxony
The medieval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein...
Lothair of Supplinburg defeated Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
Henry V
Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry V was King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor , the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. Henry's reign coincided with the final phase of the great Investiture Controversy, which had pitted pope against emperor...
in the Battle of Welfesholz
Battle of Welfesholz
The Battle of Welfesholz was fought on February 11, 1115 between the Imperial army of the Holy Roman Empire and a rebellious Saxon force.Henry V, uncontested King of the Romans since 1106, had inherited the Investiture Controversy from his father Henry IV...
, the emperor's influence in Saxony and the Wendish
Wends
Wends is a historic name for West Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It does not refer to a homogeneous people, but to various peoples, tribes or groups depending on where and when it is used...
territories had virtually disappeared. On the other hand, Lothair then followed an expansionist policy himself. Among the tribes he campaigned against, regardless of whether they were within the Obodrite sphere of interest, were also the Kessini, whose prince Dumar was subdued, along with his sons, in 1114. This campaign was supported by the (nominal) margrave of the Northern March
Northern March
The Northern March or North March was created out of the division of the vast Marca Geronis in 965. It initially comprised the northern third of the Marca and was part of the territorial organisation of areas conquered from the Wends...
, whose army included 300 Circipanian cavalry. Several subsequent campaigns of Lothair into the Lutician areas followed between 1115 and 1127. In 1121, Lothair mounted another successful campaign against the Kessini, this time sacking their main stronghold Kessin
Kessin
Kessin is a village and a former municipality in the district of Rostock, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Since 7 June 2009, it is part of the municipality Dummerstorf....
and subduing their prince Sventipolk. In the same year, duke Boleslaw III of Poland mounted a campaign into the Müritz
Müritz
Müritz is a former Kreis in the southern part of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is named after the lake Müritz. Neighboring districts were Demmin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the district-free city Neubrandenburg, the district Ostprignitz-Ruppin in Brandenburg, Parchim and Güstrow...
area. In 1127, a campaign of Lothair was targeted the Gützkow
Gützkow
Gützkow is a town in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated 18 km south of Greifswald at the Peene River's northern bank. Gützkow was the center of the medieval County of Gützkow.-History:...
area. With his campaigns, Lothair renewed the German claim to the areas lost in 983.
In 1127, Kessin was again sacked, along with Werle
Werle
Werle was a fiefdom, or Herrschaft in German, in the Holy Roman Empire that was founded in 1235. It was created in the partition of territories in Mecklenburg that followed the death of Henry Borwin II of Mecklenburg ....
, this time by Obodrite prince Sventipolk. A son of Henry (deceased 1125), Sventipolk struggled for his father's heritage against his brother Knud. In his campaign against the Kessini he was supported by Adolf I, Count of Schauenburg. However, Sventipolk, his son Swinike and his brother Knud were all murdered in 1128, and in 1129 Lothair (king of the Germans since 1125) gave the "kingdom of the Obodrites" to Danish Knud Lavard, who was however murdered by a relative in 1131. His successor in the eastern Obodrite realm, up to the Peene
Peene
The Peene is a river in Germany. The Westpeene, Kleine Peene and Ostpeene flow into the Kummerower See, and from there as Peene proper to Anklam and into the Oder Lagoon....
river, was Niklot
Niklot
Niklot or Nyklot was a pagan chief or prince of the Slavic Obotrites and an ancestor of the House of Mecklenburg. From 1130 or 1131 until his death he was chief of the Obotrite confederacy, the Kissini, and the Circipani. At the same time he was Lord of Schwerin, Quetzin, and Malchow...
.
Peene
The Peene is a river in Germany. The Westpeene, Kleine Peene and Ostpeene flow into the Kummerower See, and from there as Peene proper to Anklam and into the Oder Lagoon....
, Tollense
Tollense
The Tollense is a river in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in northeastern Germany, right tributary of the Peene. The river starts as the outflow of the lake Tollensesee in Neubrandenburg...
, Uecker
Uecker
The Uecker or Ucker is a river in the northeastern German states of Brandenburg, where it is known as the Ucker, and of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its source lies in the Uckermark district, near the village Alt-Temmen. It flows north through Lake Oberuckersee, Lake Mollensee and Lake Unteruckersee,...
and Oder
Oder
The Oder is a river in Central Europe. It rises in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder-Neisse line...
rivers had by then been subdued by the Pomeranian duke
Duchy of Pomerania
The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....
Wartislaw I
Wartislaw I, Duke of Pomerania
Wartislaw I was the first historical ruler of the Duchy of Pomerania and the founder of the Griffin dynasty....
, and the Lutician primores of this area converted to Christianity in 1128
Conversion of Pomerania
Medieval Pomerania was converted from Slavic paganism to Christianity by Otto von Bamberg in 1124 and 1128 , and in 1168 by Absalon .Earlier attempts, undertaken since the 10th century, failed or were short-lived...
. Thence the Pomeranian dukes occasionally styled themselves dux Liuticiorum. The conversion of the Lutici was accomplished by Otto of Bamberg
Otto of Bamberg
Saint Otto of Bamberg was a medieval German bishop and missionary who, as papal legate, converted much of Pomerania to Christianity.-Life:Otto was born into a noble family in Mistelbach, Franconia...
, who had also missioned the Pomeranians (Slavic tribe) and the tribes on the lower Oder
Oder
The Oder is a river in Central Europe. It rises in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder-Neisse line...
(Prissani
Prissani
The Prissani or Pyritzans or Pyrzyczanie were a medieval tribe in Pomerania. They were first mentioned as "Prissani" with 70 civitas by the Bavarian Geographer, ca. 845. They are associated with the Pomeranians, and were based in the lower Oder region around the modern town of Pyrzyce...
and Velunzani
Velunzani
The Wolinians, Wolinianie, Velunzani, or Uelunzani were a medieval tribe in Pomerania. They were first mentioned as "Velunzani" with 70 towns by the Bavarian Geographer, ca. 845. Associated with both the Veleti and the Pomeranians, they were based on the island of Wolin and the adjacent mainland...
, all under Wartislaw's rule) in 1124/25. Boleslaw III of Poland had subdued Wartislaw after his abovementioned Lutician campaign, and in 1127 was on the verge of attacking Wartislaw again because of the latter's Lutician conquests, which had considerably strengthened Wartislaw's position. When Otto of Bamberg waited for Wartislaw I in Demmin
Demmin
Demmin is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It was the capital of the former district Demmin.- Name :...
in 1128 to convert the Lutici, the Pomeranian duke appeared with two armies, and according to Otto's biographer Herbod looted and burned the surrounding areas before he held talks with Otto about the conversion. Wartislaw had also convened a meeting of the Lutician nobles at Usedom
Usedom (town)
Usedom is a town in Vorpommern-Greifswald district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is the seat of the Amt of Usedom-Süd, to which 14 other communities also belong.-Geography:...
, where they accepted Christianity upon Otto's and Wartislaw's appearance. Otto then destroyed the pagan temples at Wolgast
Wolgast
Wolgast is a town in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the bank of the river Peenestrom, vis-a-vis the island of Usedom that can be accessed by road and railway via a bascule bridge...
and Gützkow
Gützkow
Gützkow is a town in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated 18 km south of Greifswald at the Peene River's northern bank. Gützkow was the center of the medieval County of Gützkow.-History:...
, before he mediated in the dispute between Wartislaw I and Boleslaw III. Boleslaw aborted his preparations for war, and in turn Wartislaw accepted Boleslaw's superiority for his territories east of the Oder
Oder
The Oder is a river in Central Europe. It rises in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder-Neisse line...
, while for the Lutician areas his superior was Lothair. When the pope crowned Lothair Holy Roman Emperor at Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
on 6 June 1133, he also issued a document addressed at bishop Norbert of Magdeburg listing a "Bishopric of Stettin" for the Lutician areas between Elbe and Oder, and a Pomeranian bishopric for the areas east of the Oder. These bishoprics however never materialized, instead the Bishopric of Wollin was founded in 1140 for the areas then ruled by Wartislaw.
In 1134, Lothair gave the Northern March, i.e. the area south of the Peene
Peene
The Peene is a river in Germany. The Westpeene, Kleine Peene and Ostpeene flow into the Kummerower See, and from there as Peene proper to Anklam and into the Oder Lagoon....
river, to Albrecht the Bear of the House of Ascania. The Wendish Crusade
Wendish Crusade
The Wendish Crusade was an 1147 campaign, one of the Northern Crusades and also a part of the Second Crusade, led primarily by the Kingdom of Germany inside the Holy Roman Empire and directed against the Polabian Slavs ....
of 1147 targeted the Obodrite and Lutician areas. After a period of Danish rule in the northern part, the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
's duchies of Pomerania
Duchy of Pomerania
The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....
and Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern...
(successor of the Obodrite state) as well as the Margraviate of Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
(successor of the Northern March) had consolidated in the former Lutician areas. In the course of the Ostsiedlung
Ostsiedlung
Ostsiedlung , also called German eastward expansion, was the medieval eastward migration and settlement of Germans from modern day western and central Germany into less-populated regions and countries of eastern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The affected area roughly stretched from Slovenia...
, the Lutici were assimilated by German settlers, ultimately becoming part of the German people
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
.
Religion
Traditionally, the Lutici worshipped nature in sacred groveSacred grove
A sacred grove is a grove of trees of special religious importance to a particular culture. Sacred groves were most prominent in the Ancient Near East and prehistoric Europe, but feature in various cultures throughout the world...
s or at springs, lakes, and rivers. There, worship and sacrificing were done in the open without the support of priests. In addition, the Lutici maintained several cult sites. The density of Lutician temples was the highest in the whole Slavic settlement area. As of 2002, about twenty such cult sites have been identified, with Rethra (Riedegost) being the most important one before the Svantevit temple at Arkona
Cape Arkona
Cape Arkona is a cape on the island of Rügen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Cape Arkona is the tip of the Wittow peninsula, just a few kilometres north of the Jasmund National Park....
took over the leading role after Rethra's destruction. Cult sites such as Rethra were maintained by priests, and since in Lutician society politics was closely tied to religious beliefs and not ruled by a secular monarch, the Rethra priests were extremely influential. According to Thietmar (VI, 25), every Lutician region had its own temple, each home to a special idol.
The maintenance of temple sites marks the transition from the worship of nature to the worship of idols representing personalized deities, a trend that in historiography is interpreted as resulting from contacts to Christianity. While the erection of cult sites flourished since the 10th century, an idol dating to the 7th to 8th century has been found in Feldberg
Feldberger Seenlandschaft
Feldberger Seenlandschaft is a municipality in the district Mecklenburgische Seenplatte, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany....
, and a cult site surrounded by planks was found in the fortress of Groß Raden, dating to the second half of the 9th century.
Rethra
The main deity worshipped in Rethra was reported as Zuarasici by Thietmar (VI, 23), and as Redigost (Redigast, Riedegost) by Adam of Bremen (II, 21; III, 51) and Helmold (I, 2). This is interpreted by historians and linguists in different ways: probably, the different names mark the transition from an appellativum related with the Iranian root xvar, "sun", to a distinct personalized deity with the name Riedegost. This could then have been adopted as the name of the temple (Rethra) and as the name of the tribe settling there (Redarii). Following the alternative hypothesis, it was the other way around: Adam of Bremen and Helmold mistakenly adopted the name of the temple site as the name of the deity, which was correctly identified by Thietmar and corresponds with Svarožič or SvarogSvarog
Svarog is a Slavic deity known primarily from the Hypatian Codex, a Slavic translation of the Chronicle of John Malalas. Svarog is there identified with Hephaestus, the god of the blacksmith in ancient Greek religion, and as the father of Dažbog, a Slavic solar deity...
. According to a third theory, Riedegost was the second name of Thietmar's Zuarasici.
Thietmar (VI, 25) details Rethra's elevated position as follows: "To [Rethra], they bid farewell when they go to war, [Rethra] is honoured with due gift upon their fortunate return, and it is carefully determined [...] by lot and horse [oracle], what sacrifices the priests have to make to the deities. When in their unspeakable wrath however, they are comforted with the blood of animals and humans."
According to Helmold of Bosau, the revolt of 983 was started after a meeting at the civitas Rethre, and the successful beginning of the revolt of 1066 was according to Adam of Bremen celebrated in Rethra by the ritual decapitation of captured bishop Johann of Mecklenburg and the sacrifice of his head, stuck on a lance, to Riedegost. The last historical record of "Rheda" is an entry in the Annals of Augsburg for the year 1068, describing its capture by bishop Burchard and the abduction of its sacred horse. It is assumed that Rethra was destroyed either in this or one of the following campaigns, probably it was destroyed and rebuilt several times since Ebo's Vita Ottonis episcopi Bambergensis
Otto of Bamberg
Saint Otto of Bamberg was a medieval German bishop and missionary who, as papal legate, converted much of Pomerania to Christianity.-Life:Otto was born into a noble family in Mistelbach, Franconia...
(III, 5) mentions the destruction of "the Lutician civitas and temple" by king Lothair of Supplinburg in 1126/27, without specifying its name.
Thietmar (VI, 23) described Rethra as a castle (urbs) with three horns (tricornis) and three gates (tres in se continens portas), two of which could be reached by land, while the third and smallest one faced a lake (mare) to the east, supposedly a terrifying sight (horribile visu). The castle was surrounded by woodland (silva). Inside the castle, there was a wooden temple grounded on animal horns, and in this temple there were idols of several deities, who each had a name engraved and wore helmet and armor, with Zuarasici being the highest deity. Guidons (vexilla) of these deities were stored inside the temple and were only to leave the room during a war. Thietmar wrote this when the Lutici were allies of the emperor, an alliance he opposed, and included his Rethra report with the purpose of advising the Germans against it. He also explicitly turned to the reader and advised them to not follow the Lutician cult, but instead adhere to the Holy Bible.
Adam of Bremen wrote his Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum
Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum
Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum is a historical treatise written between 1075 and 1080 by Adam of Bremen. It covers the period from 788 to the time it was written. The treatise consist of:*Liber I...
when Rethra was already in decline, and gave a somewhat differing account: according to him, Rethra, "seat of the idols" (sedes ydolatriae) was surrounded by a deep lake and had nine gates. He described Redigast as the superior deity in a large, demonic temple (templum ibi magnum constructum est demonibus, princeps est Redigast), that could be reached by a wooden bridge by those who wanted to sacrifice or ask the oracle. 12th-century chronicler Helmold largely followed Adam's version. The difference in the numbers used by Thietmar ("three", tricornis) and Adam ("nine") might be explained with the symbolic use of these numbers, meant not to accurately describe Rethra, but rather connect it to the underworld. The boar, who according to Thietmar came out of the lake prior to a war to take pleasure in the mud, thereby "terribly shaking and appearing to many", might likewise be a symbol Thietmar used for the devil rather than an actual oracle, in contrast to the horse oracle.
The location of the former temple of Rethra is still unknown. Theories that Rethra might have been at Feldberg
Feldberger Seenlandschaft
Feldberger Seenlandschaft is a municipality in the district Mecklenburgische Seenplatte, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany....
, Wanzka Abbey
Wanzkaer See
Wanzkaer See is a lake in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. At an elevation of 58.5 m, its surface area is 2.03 km².- External links :...
or Gnoien
Gnoien
Gnoien is a small town in the Rostock district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It is situated 40 km southeast of Rostock....
were refuted. Most theories focus on the area of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Mecklenburg-Strelitz (district)
Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a Kreis in the southern part of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. The district was created by merging the three previous districts Neubrandenburg, Neustrelitz and Strasburg in 1994. On 4 September 2011, it was merged into Mecklenburgische Seenplatte...
, and the Tollensesee
Tollensesee
Tollensesee is a lake in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It belongs to the Mecklenburg Lake District. At an elevation of 14.8 m, its surface area is 17.4 km². Its maximum depth is about 33 m. The lake is 10.4 km long and between 1.5 and 2.5 km wide....
in particular.
12th century burial site at Sanzkow
Archaeological records suggest a life expectancy of 20 to 30 years, primarily due to a high infant and child mortality. Excavations in the SanzkowSiedenbrünzow
Siedenbrünzow is a municipality in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany....
burial site near Demmin
Demmin
Demmin is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It was the capital of the former district Demmin.- Name :...
revealed that 25.8% of the buried children were under the age of 6 years, another 4.4% under the age of 12 years, adding to an estimated infant mortality of 20%. For those who reached adulthood, the average death age was 40.7 years (males) and 34.1 years (females), and only 4.4%, primarily men, reached an age >60 years. The lower life expectancy of women results from puerperal mortality: An average woman gave birth to three to four children in intervals of three to four years. The average heights of adult males was and for adult women. Medical research of teeth revealed a healthy diet with sufficient protein and low carbohydrate shares and a two-year breastfeeding period. Serious pathological deformations of bones were found in 28% of the adult Sanzkow skeletons, less serious ones in 44%. Most adults suffered from spondylosis deformans, especially men above the age of twenty years, but also women above the age of thirty years. Combined with high rates of arthrosis deformans, likewise primarily affecting males, and other skeleton deformations, this points to high physical strain especially of the male population. An extraordinarily high rate of bone fractures (15% of the adult population, primarily men) indicates massive involvement in battles and accidents. Skull injuries from strokes, swords and arrows were also common. Two bodies at Sanzkow were buried as vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s. For one of those, there is evidence for a head injury that might have resulted in brain dysfunctions, this man was banned with three large rocks placed on his face, breast and legs. One woman had a denture, and there is also evidence for trepanation
Trepanation
Trepanning, also known as trephination, trephining or making a burr hole, is a surgical intervention in which a hole is drilled or scraped into the human skull, exposing the dura mater in order to treat health problems related to intracranial diseases. It may also refer to any "burr" hole created...
s.
External links
- MGH Scriptores Rerum Germanicarum Nova Series (SS rer. Germ. N.S.) IX. Thietmari Merseburgensis Episcopi. Chronicon (Scan)
- MGH Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum separatim editi (SS rer. Germ.) II. Magistrati Adam Bremensis. Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum (Scan)
- MGH Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum separatim editi (SS rer. Germ.) XXXII. Helmoldi Presbyteri Bozovienis. Chronica Slavorum (Scan)
- MGH Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum separatim editi (SS rer. Germ.) LXXII. Annales Quedlinburgenses (Scan)
- MGH V Scriptorum III. Annales Augustani (Scan of page 128, containing Burchard's 1068 Rethra campaign)