Ratibor (died 1043) was a prince

Prince

Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...

 of the Obotrite confederacy

Obotrites

The Obotrites , also commonly known as the Obodrites, Abotrites, or Abodrites, were a confederation of medieval West Slavic tribes within the territory of modern Mecklenburg and Holstein in northern Germany . For decades they were allies of Charlemagne in his wars against Germanic Saxons and Slavic...

 from the Polabian

Polabians (tribe)

The Polabians were a constituent Lechitic tribe of the Obotrites who lived between the Trave and the Elbe. The main settlement of the Polabians was Racisburg , named after their Prince Ratibor...

 tribe. His capital was Racisburg

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:...

, which was named in his honor.

After Saxons

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...

 killed Prince Udo

Udo (Obotrite prince)

Udo , born Pribignev , was an Obodrite leader in the early eleventh century. His name Udo, of Germanic origin, was probably given him at his Christian baptism, perhaps after his possible godfather, Lothair Udo I of Stade...

 of the Obotrites in 1028, his son Gottschalk was taken to be raised at the court of 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...

 of Denmark

Denmark

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...

. Ratibor led the Obotrite confederacy during Gottschalk's absence.

Sven Estridson, Jarl of Denmark, desired independence from King Magnus I of Norway

Magnus I of Norway

Magnus I , known as the Good or the Noble, was the King of Norway from 1035 to 1047 and the King of Denmark from 1042 to 1047. He was an illegitimate son of king Olaf II of Norway, but fled with his mother in 1028 when his father was dethroned. In 1035 he returned to Norway and was crowned king at...

 in 1042. Because Magnus was supported by his brother-in-law, Duke Bernard II

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....

 of Saxony, Sven achieved an alliance with the Obotrites through the mediation of Gottschalk. However, Ratibor was killed in a siege by Magnus in 1043. In an attempt to avenge their father, his sons were killed in the same year in a battle at Lürschau

Lürschau

Lürschau is a municipality in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany....

Heath on 28 September.