The lands inhabited by the Wends were rich in resources, which played a factor in the motivations of those who participated in the crusade. The mild climate of the Baltic area allowed for the cultivation of land and livestock. Animals of this region were also thickly furred, supporting the dependence on fur trading. Access to the coastline also developed fishing and trade networks.[2] The land was attractive for the resources it boasted, and the crusade offered an opportunity for noble families to gain part of it.
By the early 12th century, the German archbishoprics of Bremen and Magdeburg sought the conversion to Christianity of neighboring pagan West Slavs through peaceful means.[3] During the preparation of the Second Crusade to the Holy Land, a papal bull was issued supporting a crusade against these Slavs. The Slavic leader Niklot preemptively invaded Wagria in June 1147, leading to the march of the crusaders later that summer. They achieved an ostensible forced baptism of Slavs at Dobin but were repulsed from Demmin. Another crusading army marched on the already Christian city of Szczecin (Stettin), whereupon the crusaders dispersed upon arrival (see below).
The Christian army, composed primarily of Saxons and Danes, forced tribute from the pagan Slavs and affirmed German control of Wagria and Polabia through colonization, but failed to convert the bulk of the population immediately.
Background
The Ottonian dynasty supported eastward expansion of the Holy Roman Empire towards Wendish (West Slavic) lands during the 10th century. The campaigns of King Henry the Fowler and Emperor Otto the Great led to the introduction of burgwards to protect German conquests in the lands of the Sorbs. Otto's lieutenants, Margraves Gero and Hermann Billung, advanced eastward and northward respectively to claim tribute from conquered Slavs. Bishoprics were established at Meissen, Brandenburg, Havelberg, and Oldenburg to administer the territory. A majority of Wendish tribes had been Christianized from the German conquests, but in 983 they returned to paganism when a great Slavic rebellion reversed the initial German gains.[4] While the burgwards allowed the Saxons to retain control of Meissen, they lost Brandenburg and Havelberg. The Elbe River then became the eastern limit of German-Roman control.
By the early 12th century, the Archbishoprics of Bremen, Magdeburg and Gniezno sought the conversion of the pagan Slavs to Christianity through peaceful means: notable missionaries included Vicelin, Norbert of Xanten, and Otto of Bamberg (sent to Pomerania by Bolesław III Wrymouth of Poland). Lacking support from the Salian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire, secular Saxon princes seeking Slavic territory found themselves in a military stalemate with their adversaries. Christians, especially Saxons from Holstein, and pagans raided each other across the Limes Saxonicus, usually for tribute.
The idea of a crusade against the Wends first originated in the Magdeburg Letter, originally sent around 1107 to 1110, in which an anonymous author makes an appeal against the Wends.[5] The Magdeburg Letter makes the case that the Wends are pagans and that any fight against them is justified and the land that they inhabit is "our Jerusalem".[6] In the letter no formal spiritual indulgence is offered apart from a general salvation of the soul, but an emphasis is put on acquiring land. The author says, "these gentiles [pagans] are most wicked, but their land is the best, rich in meat, honey, corn, and birds; and if it were well cultivated none could be compared to it for the wealth of its produce. So say those who know it. And so, most renowned Saxon, French, Lorrainers, and Flemings and conquerors of the world, this is an occasion for you to save your souls and, if you wish it, acquire the best land in which to live."[7] The references made to the wealth of resources in the Slavic lands would have been especially appealing to those who were motivated by material gain. The Magdeburg letter established the ideas of a northern crusade and land acquisition that would come to play defining roles of the Wendish Crusade.
From 1140–43 Holsatian nobles advanced into Wagria to permanently settle in the lands of the pagan Wagri. Count Adolf II of Holstein and Henry of Badewide took control of Polabian settlements which would later become Lübeck and Ratzeburg; Vicelin was subsequently installed as bishop at Oldenburg. Adolf sought peace with the chief of the Obodrite confederacy, Niklot, and encouraged German colonization and missionary activity in Wagria.[8]
The fall of Edessa in Syria in 1144 shocked Christendom, causing Pope Eugenius III and St. Bernard of Clairvaux to preach a Second Crusade to reinforce Outremer. While many south Germans volunteered to crusade in the Middle East, the north German Saxons were reluctant. They told Bernard of their desire to campaign against the Slavs at a Reichstag meeting in Frankfurt on 13 March 1147. The Wends were seen as a threat to Christendom as they were apostates, meaning the crusade against them would be justified.[9] Approving of the Saxons' plan, Pope Eugenius III issued a papal bull known as the Divina dispensatione on 11 April 1147. As part of the bull, Eugenius III fulfilled and validated a promise made by Bernard that the same indulgences would be offered to those who crusaded against the Wends as those who went to fight in the Middle East. These indulgences offered a complete forgiveness of sin, meaning there was to be no difference between the spiritual rewards of the different crusaders.[10] Those who volunteered to crusade against the Slavic pagans were primarily Danes, Saxons, and Poles,[11] although there were also some Bohemians.[12] In preaching the Crusade, Bernard feared that those who participated were doing so only for the possible material gain. In an effort to persuade crusaders to focus on spiritual conversion, Bernard said, "We prohibit completely that a truce be made for any reason with these people [Wends] either for money or tribute, until such time as, with the aid of God either their religion or their nation shall be destroyed," which was an condition added to the papal bull.[13] The German monarchy took no part in the crusade, which was led by Saxon families such as the Ascanians, Wettin, and Schauenburgers.[14]Papal legateAnselm of Havelberg was placed in overall command.
War
Henry's duchies Saxony and Bavaria
Upset at Adolf's participation in the crusade, Niklot preemptively invaded Wagria in June 1147, and, along with the Wagrians, decimated newly settled Fleming and Frisian villages, leading to the march of the crusaders in late summer 1147. By attacking first, Niklot gave further justification for the Crusade as he legitimized the Wends as a serious threat to Christendom. After expelling the Obodrites from his territory, Adolf signed a peace treaty with Niklot. The remaining Christian crusaders targeted the Obodrite fort Dobin and the Liutizian fort Demmin.
The forces attacking Dobin included those of the Danes Canute V and Sweyn III, Archbishop Adalbert II of Bremen, and Duke Henry the Lion of Saxony. Avoiding pitched battles, Niklot ably defended the marshland of Dobin. One army of Danes was defeated by Slavs from Dobin, while another had to defend the Danish fleet from Niklot's allies, the Rani of Rügen. Henry and Adalbert maintained the siege of Dobin after the retreat of the Danes. When some crusaders advocated ravaging the countryside, others objected by asking, "Is not the land we are devastating our land, and the people we are fighting our people?"[2] The Saxon army under Henry the Lion withdrew after Niklot agreed to have Dobin's garrison undergo baptism.
The Saxon army directed against Demmin was led by several bishops, including those of Mainz, Halberstadt, Münster, Merseburg, Brandenburg, Olmütz, and Bishop Anselm of Havelberg. While their stated goal was to achieve the conversion of the pagans, most also sought additional territory and tithe for their dioceses; AbbotWibald of Corvey went in the hopes of acquiring the island of Rügen. The Demmin campaign also included the secular margraves Conrad I and Albert the Bear, who hoped to expand their marches. A Royal Polish contingent wanted to add to the Bishopric of Lebus. Marching from Magdeburg, Albert the Bear recovered Havelberg, lost since the 983 Slavic rebellion. The crusaders then destroyed a pagan temple and castle at Malchow. After an unsuccessful siege of Demmin, a contingent of crusaders was diverted by the margraves to attack central Pomerania instead. They reached the already Christian city Szczecin, whereupon the crusaders dispersed after meeting with Bishop Adalbert of Pomerania and Duke Ratibor I of Pomerania.
Aftermath
The Wendish Crusade achieved mixed results. While the Saxons affirmed their possession of Wagria and Polabia, Niklot retained control of the Obodrite land east of Lübeck. The Saxons also received tribute from Niklot, enabled the colonization of the Bishopric of Havelberg, and freed some Danish prisoners. However, the disparate Christian leaders, mostly Canute and Sweyn, regarded their counterparts with suspicion and accused each other of sabotaging the campaign.
According to Bernard of Clairvaux, the goal of the crusade was to battle the pagan Slavs "until such a time as, by God's help, they shall either be converted or deleted".[15] However, the crusade failed to achieve the conversion of most of the Wends. In preaching the Crusade, Bernard had urged to not make truce or accept any form of tribute, but the crusaders did receive tribute from Niklot as mentioned, which contributed to Bernard's perception of the crusade as a failure. The Saxons achieved largely token conversions at Dobin, as the Slavs returned to their pagan beliefs once the Christian armies dispersed; Albert of Pomerania explained, "If they had come to strengthen the Christian faith ... they should have done so by preaching, not by arms".[16] There was no Wendish clergy established nor any Christian literature translated into the language of the Wends.[17] Without any institutions in place, the forced conversion of the Wends was not sustainable. The only successful conversions were achieved by the Danes. The Danes recaptured the island of Rügen in 1168 and were able to re-Christianize it through the establishment of churches and by allowing Prince Jaromit of Rügen to remain in power after he fully accepted Christianity.[18] The Danes were able to be successful through their method of encouraging Christianity rather than focusing solely on controlling the newly acquired land.
In this way, the Crusade could be viewed as a success in terms of its successful acquisition of Slavic lands as it encouraged colonization by German settlers. It also began a long-lasting crusade against the Wends that lasted the rest of the twelfth century. By the 1160s, most of the Wends had come under the control of the Saxons or the Danes. However, in 1180 when Henry the Lion and Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa had a falling out, the Danes were able to assert political control over a majority of the region.[19] The effects of the Wendish Crusade was long-lasting through the impacts it had on extending political and colonial power in the Baltic region.
Wends is a historical name for Slavs who inhabited present-day northeast Germany. It refers not to a homogeneous people, but to various people, tribes or groups depending on where and when it was used. In the modern day, communities identifying as Wendish exist in Slovenia, Austria, Lusatia, the United States, and Australia.
The Obotrites or Obodrites, also spelled 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 the Germanic Saxons and the Slavic Veleti. The Obotrites under Prince Thrasco defeated the Saxons in the Battle of Bornhöved (798). The still-Pagan Saxons were dispersed by the emperor, and the part of their former land in Holstein north of Elbe was awarded to the Obotrites in 804, as a reward for their victory. This however was soon reverted through an invasion of the Danes. The Obotrite regnal style was abolished in 1167, when Pribislav was restored to power by Duke Henry the Lion, as Prince of Mecklenburg, thereby founding the Germanized House of Mecklenburg.
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. A Lutician rebellion in 983 reversed German control over the region until the establishment of the March of Brandenburg by Albert the Bear in the 12th century.
Polabian Slavs, also known as Elbe Slavs and more broadly as Wends, is a collective term applied to a number of Lechitic tribes who lived scattered along the Elbe river in what is today eastern Germany. The approximate territory stretched from the Baltic Sea in the north, the Saale and the Limes Saxoniae in the west, the Ore Mountains and the Western Sudetes in the south, and Poland in the east.
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. It has a population of 6,436 (2020).
The Veleti, also known as Veletians, Wilzi, Wielzians, and Wiltzes, were a group of medieval Lechitic tribes within the territory of Western Pomerania, related to Polabian Slavs. They had formed together the Confederation of the Veleti, also known as the Union of the Veleti, a loose monarchic confederation of the tribes. Said state existed between the 6th and 10th centuries, after which, it was succeeded by the Lutician Federation.
The West Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak the West Slavic languages. They separated from the common Slavic group around the 7th century, and established independent polities in Central Europe by the 8th to 9th centuries. The West Slavic languages diversified into their historically attested forms over the 10th to 14th centuries.
Wolkwitz is a family name, or surname, of German/Yiddish/Western-Slavic origins.
The Wagri, Wagiri, or Wagrians were a tribe of Polabian Slavs inhabiting Wagria, or eastern Holstein in northern Germany, from the ninth to twelfth centuries. They were a constituent tribe of the Obodrite confederacy.
Kruto the Wend, son of Grin or Grinus, was a prince of Wagria. James Westfall Thompson believed his family belonged to the Rani of Rugia.
Henry was an Obotrite prince or king (1093–1127) from the Nakonid dynasty; he was regarded by contemporaries as "King of the Slavs". The Obotrite realm reached its greatest area during Henry's rule, extending from the Elbe to the Oder and from the Havelland to the Baltic Sea.
The Rani or Rujani were a West Slavic tribe based on the island of Rugia (Rügen) and the southwestern mainland across the Strelasund in what is today northeastern Germany.
Niklot or Nyklot was a chief or prince of the Slavic Obotrites and an ancestor of the House of Mecklenburg. He became chief of the Obotrite confederacy, including the Kissini and the Circipani, between the years 1130 and 1131. He remained in this position until his death in 1160. At the same time he was Lord of Schwerin, Quetzin and Malchow. For nearly 30 years he resisted Saxon princes, especially Henry the Lion during the Wendish Crusade.
The Battle of Verchen was a battle between Saxons and West Slavic Obotrites on 6 July 1164.
Adalbert of Pomerania was the first bishop of the 12th century Pomeranian bishopric, with its see in Wolin. He was a monk of the Michaelsberg Abbey, Bamberg and former chaplain to Bolesław III Wrymouth of Poland, whence he knew the Pomeranian language of the temporarily Polish-subjugated West Slavic population, whereas the Joms Vikings and other Germanic inhabitants of the Pomeranian coast understood his old German language.
Pomerania during the High Middle Ages covers the history of Pomerania in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Medieval Pomerania was converted from Slavic paganism to Christianity by Otto of Bamberg in 1124 and 1128, and in 1168 by Absalon.
The Lutici or Liutizi(known by various spelling variants) 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, Circipanians (Circipani), Kessinians 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 Radgosc.
In the Slavic revolt of 983, Polabian Slavs, Wends, Lutici and Obotrite tribes, that lived east of the Elbe River in modern north-east Germany overthrew an assumed Ottonian rule over the Slavic lands and rejected Christianization under Emperor Otto I.
Ostsiedlung is the term for the Early Medieval and High Medieval migration of ethnic Germans and Germanization of the areas populated by Slavic, Baltic and Uralic peoples; the most settled area was known as Germania Slavica. Germanization efforts included eastern parts of Francia, East Francia, and the Holy Roman Empire and beyond; and the consequences for settlement development and social structures in the areas of settlement. Other regions were also settled, though not as heavily. The Ostsiedlung encompassed multiple modern and historical regions, primarily Germany east of the Saale and Elbe rivers, the states of Lower Austria and Styria in Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic, but also in other parts of Central and Eastern Europe.
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