The Obotrites ( Latin : Obotriti , Abodritorum , Abodritos ) or Obodrites , also spelled Abodrites ( German : Abodriten ), were a confederation of medieval West Slavic tribes within the territory of modern Mecklenburg and Holstein in northern Germany (see Polabian Slavs ). 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 .
17-752: The Bavarian Geographer , an anonymous medieval document compiled in Regensburg in 830, contains a list of the tribes in Central Eastern Europe to the east of the Elbe. The list includes the Nortabtrezi (Obotrites) - with 53 civitates . Adam of Bremen referred to them as the Reregi because of their lucrative trade emporium Reric . In common with other Slavic groups, they were often described by Germanic sources as Wends . The main tribes of
34-726: Is largely geographic in nature, and its understanding of Eastern European geography is limited, so it may be a case of cosmography . The document has a short introductory sentence and a list of 58 tribal names in Central and Eastern Europe , east of the Elbe and north of the Danube to the Volga River to the Black Sea and Caspian Sea (most of them of Slavonic origin, with Ruzzi , and others such as Vulgarii , etc.). Absent on
51-2921: The Danube ' ). The name "Bavarian Geographer" was first bestowed (in its French form, " Géographe de Bavière ") in 1796 by Polish count and scholar Jan Potocki . The term is now also used at times to refer to the document itself. It was the first Latin source to claim that all Slavs have originated from the same homeland, called the Zeriuani . Descriptio civitatum et regionum ad septentrionalem plagam Danubii . Isti sunt qui propinquiores resident finibus Danaorum, quos vocant Nortabtrezi , ubi regio, in qua sunt civitates LIII per duces suos partite. Uuilci , in qua civitates XCV et regiones IIII. Linaa est populus, qui habet civitates VII. Prope illis resident, quos vocant Bethenici et Smeldingon et Morizani, qui habent civitates XI. Iuxta illos sunt, qui vocantur Hehfeldi , qui habent civitates VIII. Iuxta illos est regio, que vocatur Surbi , in qua regione plures sunt, que habent civitates L. Iuxta illos sunt quos vocant Talaminzi, qui habent civitates XIII. Beheimare , in qua sunt civitates XV. Marharii habent civitates XL. Uulgarii regio est inmensa et populus multus habens civitates V, eo quod mutitudo magna ex eis sit et non sit eis opus civitates habere. Est populus quem vocant Merehanos , ipsi habent civitates XXX. Iste sunt regiones, que terminant in finibus nostris. Isti sunt, qui iuxta istorum fines resident. Osterabtrezi, in qua civitates plus quam C sunt. Miloxi, in qua civitates LXVII. Phesnuzi habent civitates LXX. Thadesi plus quam CC urbes habent. Glopeani , in qua civitates CCCC aut eo amplius. Zuireani habent civitates CCCXXV. Busani habent civitates CCXXXI. Sittici regio inmensa populis et urbibus munitissimis. Stadici, in qua civitates DXVI populousque infinitus. Sebbirozi habent civitates XC. Unlizi populus multus civitates CCCCXVIII. Neriuani habent civitates LXXVIII. Attorozi habent civitates CXLVIII, populus ferocissimus. Eptaradici habent civitates CCLXIII. Uuilerozi habent civitates CLXXX. Zabrozi habent civitates CCXII. Znetalici habent civitates LXXIIII. Aturezani habent civitates CIIII. Chozirozi habent civitates CCL. Lendizi habent civitates XCVIII. Thafnezi habent civitates CCLVII. Zeriuani , quod tantum est regnum, ut ex eo cuncte genetes Sclauorum exorte sint et originem, sicut affirmant, ducant. Prissani civitates LXX. Uelunzani civitates LXX. Bruzi plus est undique quam de Enisa ad Rhenum Uuizunbeire Caziri civitates C. Ruzzi. Forsderen. Liudi. Fresiti. Serauici. Lucolane. Ungare . Uuislane . Sleenzane civitates XV. Lunsizi civitates XXX. Dadosesani civitates XX. Milzane civitates XXX. Besunzane civitates II. Uerizane civitates X. Fraganeo civitates XL. Lupiglaa civitates XXX. Opolini civitates XX. Golensizi civitates V. The short document, written in Latin ,
68-687: The Přemyslid duke Vratislaus I of Bohemia . Baçlabič was the prince of Hevelli from 921-936, succeeded by Tugumir . Brenna was occupied by the German king Henry the Fowler in his 928/29 Slavic campaign and incorporated into the Marca Geronis . Henry's successor Otto I in 948 established the Bishopric of Brandenburg in order to Christianize the pagan population. These efforts were aborted in
85-507: The dukes and grand dukes of Mecklenburg . [REDACTED] Works related to Geographus Bavarus at Wikisource Bavarian Geographer The epithet " Bavarian Geographer " ( Latin : Geographus Bavarus ) is the conventional name for the anonymous author of a short Latin medieval text containing a list of the tribes in Central and Eastern Europe , headed Descriptio civitatum et regionum ad septentrionalem plagam Danubii ( Latin for ' Description of cities and lands north of
102-597: The 8th century onwards. West Slavic tribes (" Wends ") had settled in the Germania Slavica region from the 7th century onwards. The Hehfeldi as they were called by the Bavarian Geographer about 850 built their main fortification at Brenna (later to become Brandenburg an der Havel ) and a large eastern outpost at the current site of Spandau . In 906 the Hevelli princess Drahomíra married
119-894: The Obotrites kept its power throughout the Germanisation and ruled their country (except during a short interruption in Thirty Years' War ) as House of Mecklenburg until the end of monarchies in Germany in November Revolution 1918 . Previously, the Obodrites were dominated by the Naconids ; Eastern (Far) Pomerania was ruled by the Pomeranian House (Grifichi). The rulers of Obotrite lands were later
136-604: The Obotritic confederation were: Other tribes associated with the confederation include: As allies of the Carolingian kings and the empire of their Ottonian successors, the Obotrites fought from 808 to 1200 against the kings of Denmark , who wished to rule the Baltic region independently of the empire. When opportunities arose, for instance upon the death of an emperor, they would seek to seize power; and in 983 Hamburg
153-671: The course of the 983 Great Slav Rising in the Northern March , which again defied German control over the region. Together with the neighbouring Sprevane in the east, the Hevelli waged war against not only the German Saxon forces to the west, but also other Slavic tribes. The baptized Hevelli prince Pribislav (died 1150) finally bequested his lands to the Ascanian count Albert the Bear . Albert until 1157 could re-conquer
170-513: The document is disputed. Although early commentators suggested that it could have been compiled in Regensburg , the list seems to have been taken from Codex Reginbertinus II , recorded in the 9th century in the library of the Reichenau Abbey and named after a local librarian. Based on these findings, Bernhard Bischoff attributes it to a monk active at Reichenau from the 830s to 850s. Aleksandr Nazarenko finds it more probable that
187-497: The first list are mentioned: In the second list are mentioned: Hehfeldi The Hevelli or Hevellians/ Navellasîni (sometimes Havolane ; German : Heveller or Stodoranen ; Polish : Hawelanie or Stodoranie ; Czech : Havolané or Stodorané ) were a tribe of the Polabian Slavs , who settled around the middle Havel river in the present-day Havelland region of Brandenburg in eastern Germany from
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#1732766049869204-477: The following centuries. However, up to the late 15th century most villagers in the Obotritic area were still speaking Slavic dialects ( Polabian language ), although subsequently their language was displaced by German . The Polabian language survived until the beginning of the 19th century in Hanoverian Wendland, eastern Lower Saxony (bordering modern Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). The ruling clan of
221-464: The list are Polans , Pomeranians and Masovians , tribes first of whom are believed to have settled along the shores of the Warta river during the 8th century, as well Dulebes , Volhynians and White Croats , but instead mentioning several unknown tribes hard to identify. There is also some information about the number of strongholds ( Latin : civitates ) possessed by some of the tribes, however
238-482: The list was composed in the 870s, when Saint Methodius is believed to have resided at Reichenau. The document may have been connected with his missions in the Slavic lands. Henryk Łowmiański demonstrated that the list consists of two parts, which may be datable to different periods and attributed to distinct authors. In modern times, some scholars attribute the information from this document to be limited, because it
255-487: The number in several instances seems exaggerated. The list consists of two parts, first describing the tribes in the Eastern neighborhood of Francia ( iste sunt regiones ... nostris ), while the second or near or outside the zone of the first going in different directions. The tribes can be geographically grouped into Danubian, Silesian-Lusatian, Baltic, and Eastern Vistulan-Caspian. According to Łowmiański (1958), in
272-602: Was destroyed by the Obotrites under their king, Mstivoj . At times they levied tribute from the Danes and Saxons . Under the leadership of Niklot , they resisted a Christian assault during the Wendish Crusade . German missionaries such as Vicelinus converted the Obotrites to Christianity . In 1170 they acknowledged the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Empire , leading to Germanisation and assimilation over
289-603: Was discovered in 1772 in the Bavarian State Library , Munich by Louis XV 's ambassador to the Saxon court, Comte Louis-Gabriel Du Buat-Nançay . It had been acquired by the Wittelsbachs with the collection of the antiquarian Hermann Schädel (1410–85) in 1571. The document was much discussed in the early 19th-century historiography, notably by Nikolai Karamzin and Joachim Lelewel . The provenance of
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