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124-558: The Hungarians invaded the Duchy of Bavaria in late June or early July 955 with 8,000–10,000 horse archers , infantry , and siege engines , intending to draw the main German army, under Otto I, into battle in the open field and destroy it. The Hungarians laid siege to Augsburg on the river Lech . Otto I advanced to relieve the city with an army of 8,000 heavy cavalry , divided into eight legions. As Otto I approached Augsburg on 10 August,

248-512: A "catastrophic defeat". Following the tactical disaster, the Hungarians reached the end of almost a century as Europe's dominant military. Moreover, after 955, the Hungarians completely ceased all campaigns westwards. In addition, Otto I did not launch any further military campaigns against them; their leader Fajsz was dethroned following their defeat and succeeded as Grand Prince of the Hungarians by Taksony . This battle has been viewed as

372-710: A Hungarian invasion. According to Prince-Bishop Ulrich, "they devastated the land of Noricum from the Danube to the Black Forest , which goes to the mountainous regions". According to Widukind , "he (Otto) started the march against the enemy like he wouldn't get tired in the previous war, only taking some of the Saxons by him, as the Slavic war threatened them". Saxony was distant from Augsburg and its environs, and considerable time would have elapsed waiting for his arrival. Ulm

496-493: A Hungarian surprise attack destroyed the Duchy of Bohemia rearguard legion. The Hungarian force stopped to plunder the German camp and Conrad, Duke of Lorraine led a counter-attack with heavy cavalry , dispersing the Hungarians. Otto I then brought his army into battle against the main Hungarian army that barred his way to Augsburg. The German heavy cavalry defeated the lightly armed and armored Hungarians in close combat, but

620-796: A Saxon vassal, Valdemar allowed the Rani prince Jaromar to rule as a Christian Danish vassal. After Valdemar refused to share Rugia with Henry, the Saxon duke enlisted the aid of the Obotrite confederacy and the Liutizi against the Danes; Valdemar ended the conflict by paying Henry in 1171. Alarmed at the expansion of Henry the Lion's power, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa deposed the Saxon duke and redistributed his lands in 1180/81. The withdrawal of Saxon support left

744-417: A border city of Swabia, under siege. Augsburg had been heavily damaged during a rebellion against Otto I in 954. The city was defended by Bishop Ulrich . He ordered his contingent of soldiers to not fight the Hungarians in the open and reinforce the main south gate of the fortress instead. He motivated them with the 23rd Psalm ("Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death"). While this defense

868-534: A class of civil servants and a national militia founded, and several small districts were brought under the duke's authority. The result was a unity and order in the duchy which enabled Maximilian to play an important part in the Thirty Years' War ; during the earlier years of which he was so successful as to acquire the Upper Palatinate and the electoral dignity which had been enjoyed since 1356 by

992-666: A later so-called Upper Palatinate. Thus, the electoral dignity for the line was passed onwards to the Palatinate. With the recognition of the limits of domination by the Bavarian Duke in the year 1275, Salzburg of Bavaria went into their final phase. When the Salzburg Archbishop issued its own country regulations in 1328, Salzburg become a largely independent state within the Holy Roman Empire. In

1116-859: A list of the tribes in Central Europe to the east of the Elbe. Among other tribes it lists the Uuilci ( Veleti ) with 95 civitates , the Nortabtrezi ( Obotrites ) with 53 civitates, the Surbi ( Sorbs ) with 50 civitates, the Milzane ( Milceni ) with 30 civitates, the Hehfeldi ( Hevelli ) with 14 civitates and so on. The Great Soviet Encyclopedia classifies the Polabian Slavs in three main tribes,

1240-499: A prince of an unknown name, son of Boleslaus I . The eighth division, commanded by Otto I, and slightly larger than the others, included Saxons, Thuringians , and the King's personal guard, the legio regia . The King's contingent consisted of hand-picked troops. A late Roman legion had 1,000 men, so Otto I's army may have numbered 7,000–9,000 troops. Augsburg was defended by professional milites (soldiers). The Hungarians, also known as

1364-413: A revolt in 1066 led to the murder of Gottschalk and his replacement by the pagan Kruto of Wagria. Gottschalk's son Henry eventually killed Kruto in 1093. From 1140 to 1143 Holsatian nobles advanced into Wagria to permanently settle in the lands of the pagan Wagri. Count Adolf II of Holstein and Henry of Badewide took control of Polabian settlements at Liubice and Racisburg . Impressed with

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1488-587: A symbolic victory for the knightly cavalry , who would define European warfare in the High Middle Ages , over the nomadic light cavalry that characterized warfare during the Early Middle Ages in Central and Eastern Europe . Paul K. Davis writes, the "Magyar defeat ended more than 90 years of their pillaging western Europe and convinced survivors to settle down, creating the basis for

1612-842: 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. The Polabian Slavs were largely conquered by Saxons and Danes since the 9th century and were subsequently included and gradually assimilated within the Holy Roman Empire . The tribes were gradually Germanized and assimilated in

1736-498: Is very likely that the Hungarians could have completed an orderly retreat once the floodwaters receded and the Battle of Lechfeld would have remained a draw. The captured Magyars were either executed, or sent back to their ruling prince, Taksony , missing their ears and noses. The Hungarian leaders Lél, Bulcsú and Súr, who were not Árpáds , were executed after the battle. Duke Conrad was also killed, after he loosened his mail armour in

1860-465: The Archbishopric of Cologne for his brother Ernest in 1583, and this dignity remained in the possession of the family for more than 200 years. In 1597 he abdicated in favour of his son Maximilian I . Maximilian I found the duchy encumbered with debt and filled with disorder, but ten years of his vigorous rule effected a remarkable change. The finances and the judicial system were reorganised,

1984-851: The Billung March to the north and the Marca Geronis to the south. After Gero 's death in 965, the Marca Geronis was divided into the Northern March , the March of Lusatia , and the Thuringian March , the latter being divided into the marches of Zeitz , Merseburg , and Meissen . Bishoprics such as Magdeburg , Brandenburg , and Havelberg were founded to support the conversion of the Slavs to Christianity . After

2108-798: The Bishop of Würzburg acquired the diocese of Bamberg and thus became the Duke of Franconia . The Hohenstaufen Frederick I Barbarossa attempted reconciliation with the Welfs and, in 1156, gave back the Duchy of Bavaria to the Welf Henry the Lion ; however, the East Mark remained in Babenberg hands, and it was thus elevated to the Duchy of Austria as compensation for the loss of Bavaria. The elevation of

2232-588: The Diocese of Würzburg in 742. In the adjacent Alamannic ( Swabian ) lands west of the Lech river, Augsburg was a bishop's seat. When Boniface established the Diocese of Passau in 739, he could already build on local Early Christian traditions. In the south, Saint Rupert had founded in 696 the Diocese of Salzburg , probably after he had baptized Duke Theodo of Bavaria at his court in Regensburg, becoming

2356-566: The Duchy of Styria in 1180 under Margrave Ottokar IV —the younger tribal duchy came to an end. From 1180 to 1918, the Wittelsbachs were the rulers of Bavaria, as dukes, later as electors and kings. When Count Palatine Otto VI. of Wittelsbach became Otto I, Duke of Bavaria in 1180, the Wittelsbach treasury was rather low. In the following years it was significantly augmented by purchase, marriage, and inheritance. Newly acquired land

2480-754: The Franks because of their continuous expeditions into Obodrite lands, with the Obodrites being allies of the Franks against the Saxons . German campaigns against the Slavs began in earnest during the Ottonian dynasty . Henry the Fowler attacked the Slavs in several campaigns with his cavalry. During the reigns of Henry and his son Otto I , several marches were established to guard the eastern acquisitions, such as

2604-610: The Holy Roman Emperors were again strongly opposed by Bavaria, especially by the ducal House of Welf . In the final conflict between the Welf and Hohenstaufen dynasties, Duke Henry the Lion was banned and deprived of his Bavarian and Saxon fiefs by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa . Frederick passed Bavaria over to the House of Wittelsbach , which held it until 1918. The Bavarian dukes were raised to prince-electors during

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2728-459: The Kingdom of Germany and halted nomad incursions into Western Europe for good. Otto I was proclaimed emperor and father of the fatherland by his army after the victory and he went on to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 962 largely on the basis of his strengthened position after the Battle of Lechfeld. The most important source is a monograph commissioned by Ulrich of Augsburg , which describes

2852-580: The Lombards . The conquest of the Lombard Kingdom by Charlemagne entailed the fall of Tassilo, who was deposed in 788. From that point, Bavaria was administered by Frankish prefects , first of whom was Gerold , who governed Bavaria from 788 to 799. By establishing direct rule over Bavaria, the Franks provoked the neighbouring Avars . At that time, the eastern Bavarian border, towards the Avars,

2976-562: The Marcha Orientalis under the Babenbergs to a Dukedom established it as the nucleus of the later state of Austria (Ostarrichi). Henry the Lion founded numerous cities, including Munich in 1158. Through his strong position as ruler of the two duchies of Saxony and Bavaria, he came into conflict with Frederick I Barbarossa. With the banishment of Henry the Lion and the separation of the March of Styria from Bavaria—raised to

3100-1049: The Obotrites , the Veleti , and the Lusatian Sorbs . The main tribes of the Obotritic confederation were the Obotrites proper ( Wismar Bay to the Schweriner See ); the Wagrians (eastern Holstein ); the Warnabi ( Warnower ) (the upper Warnow and Mildenitz ); and the Polabians proper (between the Trave and the Elbe ). Other tribes associated with the confederation include the Linones ( Linonen ) near Lenzen ,

3224-695: The Ottonian descendants of Henry I, a cadet branch of the Saxon royal dynasty, the conflict of the Bavarian dukes with the German (from 962: Imperial ) court continued: in 976, Emperor Otto II deposed his rebellious cousin Duke Henry II of Bavaria and established the Duchy of Carinthia on former Bavarian territory granted to the former Luitpolding Count palatine Henry III , who also became Margrave of Verona. Though Henry II reconciled with Emperor Otto's widow Theophanu in 985 and regained his duchy,

3348-631: The Pannonian basin to northern Italy in 568 and the succession of the Avars , as well as with the settlement of West Slavic Czechs on the adjacent territory beyond the Bohemian Forest at about the same time. At around 743, the Bavarian duke Odilo vassalised the Slavic princes of Carantania (roughly corresponding with the later March of Carinthia ), who had asked him for protection against

3472-427: The Saxon and Danish heavy cavalry . Religion was an important aspect of Polabian society. Much of their territory was dotted with holy places in nature to which the Slavs could pray and make offerings to Slavic gods . The priesthood was an important class which developed images and objects of worship. Polabian towns often included elaborate temples often visited for offerings and pilgrimages. In contrast, priests in

3596-719: The Saxon Rebellion of 1073. Henry entrusted Bavaria to Welf , a scion of the Veronese margravial House of Este and progenitor of the Welf dynasty , which intermittently ruled the duchy for the next 110 years. Only with the establishment of Welf rule as dukes from 1070 by Henry IV was there a re-emergence of the Bavarian dukes. This period is characterized by the Investiture Controversy between Emperor and Pope, which strengthened Welf rule through siding with

3720-738: The Thirty Years' War in 1623, and to kings by Napoleon in 1806. The duchy chaired the bench of the secular princes to the Reichstag of the Empire. The medieval Bavarian stem duchy covered present-day Southeastern Germany and most parts of Austria along the Danube river, up to the Hungarian border which then ran along the Leitha tributary in the east. It included the Altbayern regions of

3844-416: The Uckermark . Smaller tribes included the Došane along the Dosse , the Zamzizi in the Ruppin Land , and the Rěčanen on the upper Havel . Along the lower Havel and near the confluence of the Elbe and the Havel lived the Nelětici, the Liezizi, the Zemzizi, the Smeldingi ( Smeldinger ), and the Bethenici. The middle Havel region and the Havelland were settled by the Hevelli , a tribe loosely connected to

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3968-403: The Upper Palatinate ) up to the Enns in the east and southward across the Brenner Pass to the Upper Adige in present-day South Tyrol . The first documented duke was Garibald I , a scion of the Frankish Agilolfings , who ruled from 555 onward as a largely independent Merovingian vassal. On the eastern border, changes occurred with the departure of the West Germanic Lombard tribes from

4092-539: The archbishop of Salzburg joined the enemy. Harold was blinded and exiled to Tyrol , while his wealth was taken by Henry's vassals, upsetting many more Bavarian counts, who took up arms against the king. In spite of the growing of the resistance, Otto gained a shining victory at Mühldorf , proceeding to siege Regensburg . Much of the city had already burned down, however its folk withstood Otto's siege machines for long before giving up in their hunger, as no external help arrived. The internal situation hardly improved after

4216-595: The knes took overall command. The prince's voivot ensured military service from the warriors and taxes from the peasantry. While the countryside provided land forces, the towns were known for their longships , which were lighter and lower than those used by the Danes and Swedes . From a distance, Polabian fleets resembled those of the Scandinavians, although targets would recognize the Slavs' closely cropped hair and shrieking battle cries when they grew close. Polabian cavalry used small horses which were effective in quick raiding campaigns, but less effective against

4340-426: The legio regia , stronger than any of the others in both numbers and quality. The main Hungarian army blocked Otto I's way to Augsburg. A contingent of Hungarian horse-archers crossed the river west of Augsburg and immediately attacked the Bohemian legion from the flank. The Bohemians were routed and the two Swabian legions were badly damaged. The Hungarians stopped to plunder the German baggage train and Duke Conrad

4464-403: The river Enns and the Vienna Woods , represented a significant gain for the security of Bavaria. At first, that territory was placed under the jurisdiction of the Bavarian prefect Gerold (d. 799), and subsequently organized as a frontier unit, that became known as the (Bavarian) Eastern March ( Latin : marcha orientalis ). It provided safety for Bavaria's eastern borders, securing as well

4588-422: The "Apostle of Bavaria". In 798, Pope Leo III created the Bavarian ecclesiastical province with Salzburg as metropolitan seat and Regensburg , Passau, Freising, and Säben (later Brixen) as suffragan dioceses. With the rise of the Frankish Empire under the Carolingian dynasty , the autonomy of the Bavarian dukes, previously enjoyed under the Merovingians, was reduced and subsequently terminated. In 716,

4712-453: The 1140s, Saxon nobles attempted to expel the "native" Slavs and replace them with Saxon and Flemish settlers. The 1164 Obotrite revolt led by Niklot's son Pribislav convinced Henry the Lion that keeping the Slavs as allies would be less troublesome. The duke returned the Christian Pribislav to power as Prince of Mecklenburg , Kessin , and Rostock , and a vassal of the Saxons. Tactics and weaponry were decisive in Denmark's campaigns against

4836-480: The 14th and 15th centuries, upper and lower Bavaria were repeatedly subdivided. Four Duchies existed after the division of 1392: Bavaria-Straubing , Bavaria-Landshut , Bavaria-Ingolstadt and Bavaria-Munich . These dukes often waged war against each other. Duke Albrecht IV of Bavaria-Munich united Bavaria in 1503 through war and primogeniture . However, the originally Bavarian offices Kufstein , Kitzbühel and Rattenberg in Tirol were lost in 1504. In spite of

4960-411: The Avarian territory beyond the river Enns , and started to advance along the river Danube , divided in two columns, but found no active resistance, and soon reached the region of Vienna Woods , at the very gates of the Pannonian Plain . No decisive battles were fought, since the Avars had fled before the advancing Frankish army. Frankish acquisition of new eastern regions, particularly those between

5084-431: The Bad assumed the ducal title, becoming the first Duke of Bavaria from the Luitpolding dynasty . However, the Austrian march remained occupied by the Hungarians and the Pannonian lands were irrecoverably lost. Nevertheless, the self-confidence of the Bavarian dukes was an ongoing matter of dispute in the newly established Kingdom of Germany : Duke Arnulf's son Eberhard was deposed by King Otto I of Germany in 938; he

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5208-474: The Carolingians had incorporated the Franconian lands in the north, formerly held by the Dukes of Thuringia , whereby the bishops of Würzburg gained a dominant position. In the west, the Carolingian mayor of the palace Carloman had suppressed the last Alamannic revolt at the 746 Blood court at Cannstatt . The last tribal stem duchy to be incorporated was Bavaria in 788, after Duke Tassilo III had tried in vain to maintain his independence through an alliance with

5332-463: The Drevani in the area of the lower Elbe until the early 18th century. A Polabian prince was known as a knez . His power was relatively greater in Slavic society than those of Danish or Swedish kings in their kingdoms, although it was not absolute. He was the general leader of his tribe and was foremost among its nobles, holding much of the forested hinterland and expecting reverence from his warriors. However, his authority largely extended only to

5456-400: The Dutch provinces Holland , Zeeland and Friesland and the Hainaut (1345) were, however, lost under his successors. In 1369, Tyrol fell through the Treaty of Schärding to the Habsburgs. The Luxemburgish rider followed in 1373 and the Dutch counties fell to Burgundy in 1436. In the 1329 Treaty of Pavia , Emperor Louis divided ownership in a Palatine region, with the Rhine Palatinate, and

5580-400: The German lands to the south of the Danube, and then retreated back to their native country via Lotharingia , to the West Frankish Kingdom and finally, through Italy . That is to say, a wide sweeping U-turn that initially started westward, then progressed to the south, and then finally to the east back to their homeland; and thus escaping retribution in German territory. The King was aware of

5704-405: The Great and were incorporated into the Kingdom of Germany . By the 14th century, the majority of Slavs living there had been Germanized and assimilated. However, the Sorbs , the descendants of the Milceni and the Lusici, have retained their identity within Lusatia , a region divided between the German states of Brandenburg and Saxony . The Slavic language was spoken by the descendants of

5828-441: The Great." The Hungarian leaders Bulcsú , Lehel and Súr were taken to Regensburg and hanged with many other Hungarians. The German annihilation of the Hungarian army definitively ended the attacks of Magyar nomads against Latin Europe. One of Otto's allies, the bishop of Cremona, claimed that the victory at Lechfeld left the Hungarians so cowed that they would not "dare to mutter." The Hungarian historian Gyula Kristó calls it

5952-420: The Hungarian camp, liberating prisoners and reclaiming booty. However, Otto I did not chase the Magyars much longer that day and for several reasons. This proved to be a wise decision. Although the Hungarians suffered heavy losses, so did the king's forces. Three legions, in the rear of the relief column, had been decimated. Furthermore, because of their heavy equipment, Otto I's men were no doubt more affected by

6076-445: The Hungarian movements. According to the chronicler Widukind of Corvey , Otto I "pitched his camp in the territory of the city of Augsburg and joined there the forces of Henry I, Duke of Bavaria , who was himself lying mortally ill nearby, and by Duke Conrad with a large following of Franconian knights. Conrad's unexpected arrival encouraged the warriors so much that they wished to attack the enemy immediately." The arrival of Conrad,

6200-468: The King instead opted to spend the night after the battle in Augsburg. On 11 August he specifically issued the order that all river crossings were to be held. This was done so that as many of the Hungarians as possible and specifically their leaders, could be captured and killed. This strategy proved successful, as Duke Henry of Bavaria captured a number of their leaders and killed them. Some Hungarians tried to flee across an unknown river but were swept away by

6324-413: The Lechfeld is the flood plain that lies along the river Lech . The battle appears as the second Battle of Augsburg in Hungarian historiography . The first Battle of Lechfeld happened in the same area forty-five years earlier. Gerhard writes that the Hungarian forces advanced across the Lech to the river Iller and ravaged the lands in between. They then withdrew from the Iller and placed Augsburg,

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6448-435: The Leubuzzi who were associated with medieval Poland. Small groups of West Slavs lived on the Main and the Regnitz near Bamberg , in northeastern Bavaria . The Polabian Slavs partly replaced the Germanic tribes who had emigrated by the 6th century during the migration period . According to radiocarbon dating , the first Slavs reached Southwestern Hungary, Suchohrad in Western Slovakia and Prague in Czechia in

6572-417: The Liutizi and their Pomeranian supporters vulnerable to the Danish fleet. A Slavic fleet attempting to reclaim Rugia was crushed at the Bay of Greifswald on 19 May 1184. Danish monks engaged in missionary activity in Pomeranian abbeys, and Prince Bogislaw I surrendered to King Canute VI in 1185 to become the Danish king's vassal. Pribislav , a Christian prince of the Hevelli , bequeathed his lands to

6696-470: The Magyars, had a very different structure and fighting style than the Ottonian military. The Magyars preferred fighting at a distance with mounted archers over fighting in close combat with melee weapons, furthermore, the Magyars wore much lighter armor than Otto I's men. While there is some debate as to the number of mounted archers included in the Magyar forces, historians believe there was anywhere between 8,000–10,000 mounted archers. While this fighting style

6820-412: The Red used the opportunity to attack the vulnerable Hungarians and shatter them. Conrad returned to Otto I with captured Hungarian banners. Conrad's victory prevented the German army from being encircled. Otto I rallied his men with a speech in which he claimed the Germans had better weapons than the Hungarians. Otto I then led the German army into battle with the main Hungarian force, defeating them. How

6944-414: The Redarier south and east of the Tollensesee on the upper Havel . The Redarier were the most important of the Veleti tribes. The Rani of Rügen , not to be confused with the older Germanic Rugians , are sometimes considered to be part of the Veleti. South of the Rani were the Ucri ( Ukranen ) along the Ucker and the Morici ( Morizani , Müritzer ) along the Müritz ; the former gave their name to

7068-414: The Saale. Joachim Herrmann considered that the core Sorbian tribes surely were Colodici, Siusler and Glomaci, and that they also settled and influenced around Magdeburg , Havelland, Thuringia and northeast Bavaria. To the East possibly later included the Lusici of Lower Lusatia and the Milceni of Upper Lusatia , while to the East of them were the Selpoli and the Besunzanen, and on the middle Oder

7192-405: The Saxon Albert the Bear upon his death, thereby leading to the establishment of the Margraviate of Brandenburg . The Lusatian Sorbs remained independent to a large extent. They were temporarily subdued by Charlemagne , but upon his death the links with the Franks were broken. In a series of bloody wars between 929 and 963 their lands were conquered by King Henry the Fowler and his son Otto

7316-436: The Slavic territories between the Elbe and the Oder. Despite the efforts of Christian missionaries, most Polabian Slavs saw Jesus as a " German god " and remained pagan . The Obotrite prince Udo and his son Gottschalk expanded their realm by unifying the Obotrite tribes and conquering some Liutizi tribes in the 11th century. They encouraged the establishments of bishoprics to support Christian missionary activity. However,

7440-413: The Travnjane near the Trave , and the Drevani in the Hanoverian Wendland and the northern Altmark . The Veleti , also known as the Liutizians or Wilzians, included the Kessinians ( Kessiner , Chyzzini ) along the lower Warnow and Rostock ; the Circipani ( Zirzipanen ) between the Recknitz , Trebel , and Peene Rivers; the Tollenser east and south of the Peene along the Tollense River; and

7564-434: The Veleti. East of the Hevelli lived the Sprevane of the lower Dahme and Spree rivers. Small tribes on the middle Elbe included the Morizani and the Zerwisti. The Sorbs confederation in the Elbe-Saale region included Citici, Serimunt, Colodici, Siusler, Nizici, Glomaci ( Daleminzier ) and Nisanen who lived along the upper Elbe, while the Chutici, Plisni, Gera, Puonzowa, Tucharin, Weta, and groups of Nelětici lived near

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7688-411: The aftermath of Lothair's death. However, Conrad III was successfully elected as King of Germany in 1138; fearing Henry's power, Conrad denied Henry his investiture with the Duchy of Saxony , claiming that it was unlawful for a duke to hold two duchies. This, compounded with his bitterness for being denied the throne, prompted Henry to refuse to swear his oath of allegiance to Conrad. As a consequence, he

7812-448: The archers, this gave the royal legion the opportunity to directly assault the Magyars in close combat, which was not the Magyar's area of strength. Conrad's forces would then wheel in from Otto I's left wing, putting the Hungarians in danger of being enveloped. Seeing the day going against them, the Hungarians retreated in ordered formations across the Lech to the east. Otto I's army pursued, killing every captured Hungarian. The Germans took

7936-498: The autumn of the same year (788). In Regensburg , he held a council and regulated issues regarding the Bavarian frontier counties ( marches ), thus preparing the basis for future actions in the east. In 790, the Avars tried to negotiate a peace settlement with the Franks, but no agreement was reached. Bavaria then became the main base for the Frankish campaign against the Avars, which was initiated in 791. A large Frankish army, personally led by Charlemagne , crossed from Bavaria in to

8060-441: The bases of his power, with Regensburg as the seat of his government. Due mainly to the support of the Bavarians, Arnulf could take the field against Charles in 887, and secure his own election as German king in the following year. In 899 Bavaria passed to Louis the Child , during whose reign continuous Hungarian ravages occurred. Resistance to these inroads became gradually feebler, and tradition has it that on 5 July, 907, almost

8184-428: The central authority led to a new strengthening of the German stem duchies . At the same time, East Francia was exposed to the rising threat from Hungarian invasions, especially in the Bavarian March of Austria ( marchia orientalis ) beyond the Enns river. In 907 the army of Luitpold, Margrave of Bavaria suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Pressburg . Luitpold himself was killed in action and his son Arnulf

8308-487: The current. Some sought refuge in nearby villages. The destruction of the Hungarian army continued on 12 August, when heavy rainfall and flooding allowing the German troops, operating from nearby fortifications, to kill almost all the fleeing Hungarian soldiers. The majority of these fortifications had been built and fortified during the reign of Otto I's father, Henry I of Saxony, as part of his defense-in-depth strategy against enemy invaders. If these had not been in place, it

8432-413: The decree of 1506, Albert's oldest son William IV was compelled to grant a share in the government in 1516 to his brother Louis X , an arrangement which lasted until the death of Louis in 1545. William followed the traditional Wittelsbach policy of opposition to the Habsburgs until in 1534 he made a treaty at Linz with Ferdinand I , the king of Hungary and Bohemia . This link strengthened in 1546, when

8556-460: The defeat of Otto II at the Battle of Stilo in 982, the pagan Slavs rebelled against the Germans the following year; the Hevelli and Liutizi destroyed the Bishoprics of Havelberg and Brandenburg, and Obotrites (Mstivoj) destroyed Hamburg. Some Slavs advanced across the Elbe into Saxon territory, but retreated when the Christian Duke of Poland, Mieszko I , attacked them from the east. The Holy Roman Empire retained only nominal control over

8680-468: The defeat of the rebellion, as the nephews of Prince Hermann of Saxony frequently raided the duchy, allying with Polabian principalities . In early July Otto received Hungarian legates, who claimed to come in peace, but who the Germans suspected were actually assessing the outcome of the rebellion. After a few days, he let them go with some small gifts. Soon, couriers from Otto I's brother Henry I, Duke of Bavaria , arrived to inform Otto I in Magdeburg of

8804-456: The duke obtained extensive rights over the bishoprics and monasteries from the pope. He then took measures to repress the reformers, many of whom were banished; while the Jesuits , whom he invited into the duchy in 1541, made the Jesuit College of Ingolstadt , their headquarters in Germany. William died in March 1550 and was succeeded by his son Albert V , who had married a daughter of Ferdinand I. Early in his reign Albert made some concessions to

8928-554: The eastern Polabian Slavs. The Danes utilized quick coastal and river raids, tactics similar to those of the Vikings . Although they lacked siege experience, the Danes were able to cripple Slavic regions by burning crops and unwalled suburbs. Slav counterattacks were repulsed by crossbows and Norwegian longbows . The Danes occupied Rugia in 1168, conquering the Rani stronghold of Arkona . Similar to Henry's reinstatement of Pribislav as

9052-416: The elder branch of the Wittelsbach family. The Electorate of Bavaria then consisted of most of the modern regions of Upper Bavaria , Lower Bavaria , and the Upper Palatinate . Polabian Slavs Polabian Slavs , also known as Elbe Slavs and more broadly as Wends , is a collective term applied to a number of Lechitic ( West Slavic ) tribes who lived scattered along the Elbe river in what

9176-513: The emperor Charles V obtained the help of the duke during the war of the league of Schmalkalden by promising him in certain eventualities the succession to the Bohemian throne, and the electoral dignity enjoyed by the count palatine of the Rhine . William also did much at a critical period to secure Bavaria for Catholicism . The reformed doctrines had made considerable progress in the duchy when

9300-458: The emperor's sons, a tradition maintained by Henry's Salian successors. This period saw the rise of many aristocratic families, such as the Counts of Andechs and the House of Wittelsbach . In 1061, the dowager empress Agnes of Poitou enfeoffed the Saxon count Otto of Nordheim with the Duchy. Nevertheless, her son King Henry IV seized the duchy on fallacious grounds, which ultimately led to

9424-520: The escape of these Hungarians on the above-mentioned occasions, and was determined to trap them. He therefore ordered his brother, Archbishop Bruno , to keep the Lotharingian forces in Lotharingia. With a powerful force of knights pressing them from the west, and an equally strong force of knights chasing them from the east, the Hungarians would be unable to escape. Located south of Augsburg,

9548-495: The exiled Duke of Lotharingia (Lorraine), and Otto I's son-in-law, was particularly heartening because he had recently thrown in his lot with the Magyars, but now returned to fight under Otto I; in the ensuing battle he lost his life. A legion of Swabians was commanded by Burchard III, Duke of Swabia , who had married Otto I's niece Hedwig. Also among those fighting under Otto I was Boleslaus I, Duke of Bohemia . Otto I himself led

9672-429: The field to engage the enemy in close combat. Ulrich writes of himself that he was unarmed, wearing only a stola while mounted on a warhorse, and all the arrows and stones bypassed him. According to him, the Hungarians could enter the gates anytime, however they lost their commander during the attack, and withdraw to their camp taking the body. At first the defenders thought that the Hungarians were victorious and resuming

9796-566: The first-third of the 6th century, and Regensburg of Northeast Bavaria in 568. The earliest dating of Prague -type pottery and sites between Elbe and Saale and Sukow -type in Northeastern Germany was found to be from 590s. However, palynology and other evidence show that the land in Germany became forested and not well resettled by the Slavs, with most material and sites dating since the 8th century. Slavic settlement area

9920-584: The following centuries; the Sorbs are the only descendants of the Polabian Slavs to have retained their identity and culture. The Polabian language is now extinct. However, the two Sorbian languages are spoken by approximately 22,000–30,000 inhabitants of the region and the languages are regarded by the government of Germany as official languages of the region. The Bavarian Geographer , an anonymous medieval document compiled in Regensburg in 830, contains

10044-586: The following years, the Germans started to threaten Transdanubia , with border fights erupting at the Enns river . According to Hrotsvitha , Henry brought back lots of booty and prisoners from the Avars (Hungarians). In 952, Otto put even Italy under the protection of the Bavarian army, and westward invasions of the Magyars discontinued for a short time. The next year saw an internal war breaking out in Francia under

10168-453: The infantry approached the center of the Magyar formation, Conrad's cavalry, posted on the left wing and protected on its flank from nearby cliffs, would stay out of range of the Hungarian archers but would also attempt to draw them more to their right. Meanwhile the royal legion, under Otto I's personal leadership, engaged the enemy from the right. Although the King's forces suffered losses from

10292-550: The invading Avars. The residence of the largely independent Agilolfing dukes was then Regensburg , the former Roman Castra Regina , on the Danube river. During Christianization , Bishop Corbinian laid the foundations for the later Diocese of Freising before 724; Saint Kilian in the 7th century had been a missionary of the Franconian territory in the north, then ruled by the Dukes of Thuringia , where Boniface founded

10416-663: The land into Upper Bavaria with the Palatinate and the Nordgau (headquartered in Munich) and Lower Bavaria (with seats in Landshut and Burghausen). There is still today a distinction made between upper and lower Bavaria (cf. Regierungsbezirke ). Despite renewed division after a short time of reunification, Bavaria gained new heights of power with Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor , who became the first Wittelsbach emperor in 1328. The newly gained areas of Brandenburg (1323), Tyrol (1342),

10540-550: The late 1150s, King Valdemar the Great of Denmark enlisted the aid of Duke Henry the Lion of Saxony against the Slavs; their cooperation led to the death of the Obotrite prince, Niklot , in 1160. The two Christian lords distributed much of the conquered territory among their vassals. When Niklot's exiled son, Pribislav , engineered an Obotrite rebellion, the pair retaliated by occupying Demmin and warding off Pribislav's Liutizian allies. After conquering Wagria and Polabia during

10664-625: The latter retreated in good order. Otto I did not pursue, returning to Augsburg for the night and sending out messengers to order all local German forces to hold the river crossings in Eastern Bavaria and prevent the Hungarians from returning to their homeland. On 11 and 12 August, the Hungarian defeat was transformed into disaster, as heavy rainfall and flooding slowed the retreating Hungarians and allowed German troops to hunt them down and kill them all. The Hungarian leaders were captured, taken to Augsburg and hanged. The German victory preserved

10788-535: The leadership of the king's son Liudolf, Duke of Swabia , and son-in-law Conrad, Duke of Lorraine , mainly because of the occupation of Italy. In 954, the brothers called in the Hungarians, who arriving in the Rhineland , upset the territory. According to a chronicler, they devastated France miserably. The warriors returned from the successful adventure safely through Burgundy and Northern Italy . The year 955 started badly for King Otto. Despite his best efforts,

10912-577: The main Ottonian military defeated the Hungarians, however, is somewhat unclear. This is because Widukind's account of the battle is remarkably short and lacking in detail, which is surprising considering the significance of the battle. This has left some historians to speculate how the battle played out based on the strategies outlined in Vegetius's Epitome of Military Science , which heavily influenced Ottonian strategy. According to these historians, while

11036-607: The main communication between Frankish possessions in Bavaria and Pannonia. In his 817, Ordinatio Imperii , Charlemagne's son and successor Emperor Louis the Pious tried to maintain the unity of the Carolingian Empire : while imperial authority upon his death was to pass to his eldest son Lothair I , the younger brothers were to receive subordinate realms. From 825, Louis the German styled himself "King of Bavaria" in

11160-499: The modern state of Bavaria , with the lands of the Nordgau march (the later Upper Palatinate ), but without its Swabian and Franconian regions. The separation of the Duchy of Carinthia in 976 entailed the loss of large East Alpine territories covering the present-day Austrian states of Carinthia and Styria as well as the adjacent Carniolan region in today's Slovenia . The eastern March of Austria —roughly corresponding to

11284-482: The next day. It's likely that Otto and Ulrich had communicated in the previous days, and that's why the king knew that the city needed a relief force quickly. He departed from Ulm at least by day 7. The order of march of the German army was as follows: the three Bavarian contingents, the Frankish contingent under Duke Konrad, the royal unit (the center), the two contingents of Swabians and the Bohemian contingent guarding

11408-437: The number of mounted archers available for the Hungarians. Another weakness is the fact that the bows used by the Magyars proved ineffective during inclement weather like rain. Without the ability to play to their strength, the Magyars would be forced to rely on melee combat, which was another weakness for them. On 9 August, the German scouts reported that the Hungarian army was in the vicinity. Otto I deployed his army for battle

11532-622: The older Bavarian duchy can be traced to the year 551/555. In his Getica , the chronicler Jordanes writes: "That area of the Swabians has the Bavarii in the east, the Franks in the west ..." Until the end of the first duchy, all rulers descended from the family of the Agilolfings . The Bavarians then colonized the area from the March of the Nordgau along the Naab river (later called

11656-727: The peasantry. With the exception of Arkona on Rügen , few Polabian towns on the Baltic coast were built near the shore, out of concern for pirates and raiders. While not highly populated compared to Flanders or Italy , the Polabian towns were relatively large for the Baltic region, such as in comparison to those of Scandinavia. The majority of Polabian Slavs were peasants in small villages who engaged in agriculture (rich in grains, flax) and animal husbandry (poultry, cattle). Some villagers were fishermen, beekeepers, or trappers. Farmland

11780-795: The pope's position. After Henry V , the last of the Salian emperors, died in 1125, Lothair III of the House of Supplinburg was elected to the throne; the Bavarian duke Henry the Proud had married Lothair's daughter Gertrude , and was thus promised her inheritance. When conflict arose with anti-king Conrad III , nephew of Henry V and member of the Swabian House of Hohenstaufen , the Bavarian duke threw his support behind Lothair, further increasing his social capital and increasing his chances of election as King of Germany as well as Duke of Saxony in

11904-523: The power of the Bavarian dukes was further diminished by the rise of the Franconian House of Babenberg , ruling as Margraves of Austria ( Ostarrichi ), who became increasingly independent. The last Ottonian duke, Henry IV of Bavaria , was elected King of the Romans in 1002 as Henry II. At different times, the duchy was ruled by the German kings in personal union, by dependent dukes, or even by

12028-538: The present state of Lower Austria — was likewise elevated to a duchy in its own right by 1156. Over the centuries, several further seceded territories in the territory of the former stem duchy, such as the County of Tyrol or the Archbishopric of Salzburg , gained Imperial immediacy . From 1500, a number of these Imperial states were members of the Bavarian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire. The origins of

12152-643: The reformers, who were still strong in Bavaria; but about 1563 he changed his attitude, favoured the decrees of the Council of Trent , and pressed forward the work of the Counter-Reformation . As education passed by degrees into the hands of the Jesuits, the progress of Protestantism was effectually arrested in Bavaria. The succeeding duke, Albert's son, William V , had received a Jesuit education and showed keen attachment to Jesuit tenets. He secured

12276-572: The remnants of the tribe in alliance with the Hungarians and became duke of the Bavarians in 911, uniting Bavaria and Carinthia under his rule. The German king Conrad I unsuccessfully attacked Arnulf when the latter refused to acknowledge his royal supremacy. The Carolingian reign in East Francia ended in 911, when Arnulf's son, King Louis the Child , died without heirs. The discontinuation of

12400-424: The series of actions from the German point of view. Another source is the chronicler Widukind of Corvey , who provides some important details. In 947, Berthold, Duke of Bavaria , a competent military leader passed away and was succeeded by Henry I , brother of King Otto I . For this reason, the Hungarians have attacked Bavaria , says Aventinus , however they weren't able to penetrate deep into East Francia . In

12524-493: The siege, only to realize that they were going back to the other side of the Lech. During the night, the defenders took positions in all towers and the Hungarians completely surrounded the city with siege engines and infantry, who were driven forward by the whips of the Hungarian leaders. Next day, when the fights barely started they were informed by the traitor Berchtold of Risinesburg that Otto I deployed his troops near. The siege

12648-499: The state of Hungary ." 48°22′N 10°54′E  /  48.367°N 10.900°E  / 48.367; 10.900 Duchy of Bavaria The Duchy of Bavaria ( German : Herzogtum Bayern ) was a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century. It was settled by Bavarian tribes and ruled by dukes ( duces ) under Frankish overlordship. A new duchy

12772-446: The stifling heat than their lightly armored opponents. Simply put, the King and his men were in no position to pursue and destroy the Magyars that day, leaving the initial battle a draw. The Magyars were also known to pull off feigned retreats, when they would lure their opponents into more advantageous positions, like open fields, then they would turn and defeat them. A notable example occurred in 910 against East Frankish forces. This time

12896-597: The success of the First Crusade , Saxons began calling for a crusade against their Slav neighbors. The Wendish Crusade of 1147, concurrent to the Second Crusade , was largely unsuccessful, resulting in devastation to the Liutizi lands and forced baptisms . The campaign did secure Saxon control of Wagria and Polabia , however. The Obotrites were largely at peace with the Saxons during the following decade, although Slavic pirates raided Denmark. Beginning in

13020-423: The summer heat and one arrow struck his throat. Upon destruction of the Hungarian forces, the German army proclaimed Otto I father of the fatherland and emperor. In 962, on the strength of this, Otto I went to Rome and had himself crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XII . Historian Pierre Riché writes that Otto I was regarded by many thereafter as a "new Charlemagne", which also led to him being called "Otto

13144-424: The supply train in the rear. The Bavarians were placed at the head of column, according to Delbrück, because they were marching through Bavarian territory and they therefore knew the territory best. All of these were mounted. They could make take the maximum distance of 25 kilometers per day. The German army marched through woodland that protected them from the Hungarian arrowstorm but also made it more difficult to see

13268-405: The territory controlled by his governor, or voivod . Each voivod governed small territories based around fortifications. Princely power often differed between tribes. The Obodrite prince Henryk was able to maintain a sizable army ca. 1100 at the expense of the towns, and the importance of knez within the Obodrites only increased after his death. The prince of the Rani , on the other hand,

13392-518: The territory that was to become the centre of his power. When the brothers divided the Empire by the 843 Treaty of Verdun , Bavaria became part of East Francia under King Louis the German , who upon his death bequested the Bavarian royal title to his eldest son Carloman in 876. Carloman's natural son Arnulf of Carinthia , raised in the former Carantanian lands, secured possession of the March of Carinthia upon his father's death in 880, and became King of East Francia, in 887. Carinthia and Bavaria were

13516-554: The whole of the Bavarian tribe perished in the Battle of Pressburg against these formidable enemies. During the reign of Louis the Child, Luitpold , Count of Scheyern, who possessed large Bavarian domains, ruled the Mark of Carinthia , created on the southeastern frontier for the defence of Bavaria. He died in the great battle of 907, but his son Arnulf , whose last name was the Bad, rallied

13640-411: Was also a central point of concentration for all the contingents that were assembling. Strategically, therefore, this was the best location for Otto I to concentrate his forces before making the final descent upon the Hungarians. There were other troops that had an influence on the course of the battle. On previous occasions, in 932 and 954 for example, there had been Hungarian incursions that had invaded

13764-481: Was chosen as the place to unite the anti-Hungarian forces. The battle took place six weeks after the first report of an invasion, and historian Hans Delbrück asserts that they could not have possibly made the march in time. The King ordered his troops to concentrate on the Danube, in the vicinity of Neuburg and Ingolstadt . He did this in order to march on the Hungarian line of communications and catch them in their rear while they were raiding northeast of Augsburg. It

13888-500: Was created from this area during the decline of the Carolingian Empire in the late ninth century. It became one of the stem duchies of the East Frankish realm, which evolved as the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire . During internal struggles in the Ottonian dynasty , the Bavarian territory was considerably diminished by the separation of the newly established Duchy of Carinthia in 976. Between 1070 and 1180,

14012-540: Was crushed in 954. In 952, Duke Henry I also received the Italian March of Verona , which Otto I had seized from King Berengar II of Italy . He still had to deal with the Hungarian threat, which was not eliminated until King Otto's victory at the 955 Battle of Lechfeld . The Magyars retreated behind the Leitha and Morava rivers, facilitating a second wave of German Ostsiedlung into the areas of today's Lower Austria , Istria and Carniola . Although ruled by

14136-460: Was dispossessed of all of his territories, and Bavaria was given to his Babenberg half-brother Leopold IV, Margrave of Austria in 1139. The Duchy of Swabia consisted largely of countryside during the reign of the Staufer king, while Franconia became the center of Staufer power, having been invested with the title dux Francorum orientalium , in 1115 by Henry V. This lasted until 1168, when

14260-678: Was divided into a unit called a kuritz ( Latin : uncus ), for which peasants paid grain taxes to the voivot . Polabian society developed during the 9th and 10th centuries under pressure from the Holy Roman Empire and the Vikings of Scandinavia . They were often forced to pay tribute to the kings of Denmark , Catholic bishops, and imperial margraves . Polabian society became militarized and its leaders began organizing armed forces and defenses. Many Polabian magnates lived in forest fortresses, while towns were inhabited by warriors and burghers . The magnates often raided Germanic territories or engaged in piracy. In times of large-scale war,

14384-410: Was effective, especially during raids against small villages and small military forces, historians have pointed out some weaknesses. One such weakness is the difficulty that came with raising horses that were suited for battle. Not only do horses require a large area to graze, but training them to be comfortable in battle takes a significant amount of time. This weakness was the biggest factor that limited

14508-517: Was going on, the King was raising an army to march south. Simon of Kéza mentions that the Hungarians harassed Augsburg with attacks all day and night. That means before the real siege they wished to take the city by rushes. After admitting that this tactic doesn't work, a major action took place on 8 August at the eastern gate, which the Magyars tried to storm in large numbers, suspecting that it has weak defense because of its difficult accessibility. Ulrich led his professional milites soldiers out into

14632-632: Was largely stable by the 8th century. Charlemagne enlisted the Obotrites as allies in his campaign against the rebellious Saxons of Holstein . Many of the Slavic tribes became dependencies of the Carolingian Empire and the Franks created the Sorbian March to defend against the Sorbs . Einhard in Vita Karoli Magni describes an expedition into Slavic territory led by Charlemagne himself, in 798. The Veleti noted as Wilzi (referred to themselves as Welatabians ) were invaded by

14756-473: Was limited by the local senate , which was led by the high priest at Cape Arkona ; the Rani knez was essentially first among the tribe's landowners. The power of the prince and his governors was often restricted by the river towns, known to chroniclers as civitates , especially within the territory of the Veleti. Polabian towns were centered on small earthworks arranged in circles or ovals. The gord

14880-472: Was no longer given as a fief, but managed by servants. Also, powerful families, such as the counts of Andechs, died out during this period. Otto's son Ludwig I of Wittelsbach was enfeoffed in 1214 with the County Palatine of the Rhine . Since there was no preference for succession of the firstborn in the Wittelsbach dynasty, in contrast to many governments of this time, there was in 1255 a division of

15004-411: Was situated at the highest altitude of the town and held a barracks, citadel, and princely residence. It was often protected by a moat, walls, and wooden towers. Below the gord , but still within the town walls, was the urbs or suburbium , which held the residences for the nobility and merchants. The towns often held wooden temples for Slavic gods within the urbs . Outside of the walls were homes for

15128-666: Was situated on the river Enns . Already in 788, the Avars made an incursion into Bavaria, but Franko-Bavarian forces repelled them, and then launched a counterattack towards neighbouring Avarian regions, situated along the river Danube , east of the Enns. The two sides clashed near the river Ybbs , on the Ybbs Field ( German : Ybbsfeld ), where the Avars suffered a significant defeat (788). In order to secure Bavaria's eastern borders, and resolve other political and administrative questions, Charlemagne came to Bavaria in person, during

15252-461: Was succeeded by his younger brother Berthold . In 948, King Otto finally disempowered the Luitpoldings and installed his younger brother Henry I as Bavarian duke. The late Duke Berthold's minor heir, Henry III , was fobbed off with the office of a Bavarian Count palatine . The last attempt of the Luitpoldings to regain power by joining the rebellion of King Otto's son Duke Liudolf of Swabia

15376-414: Was suspended, and the Hungarian leaders held a war council. As the Hungarians departed, Count Dietpald of Dillingen used the opportunity to lead soldiers to Otto I's camp during the night. According to Widukind, Otto I had at his disposal eight legiones (divisions) that included three from Bavaria , two from Swabia , one from Franconia under Duke Conrad and one well-trained legion from Bohemia , under

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