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58-641: The name Windic is derived from Wends ( German : Wenden ), the name for Western Slavs settling in the Germania Slavica contact zone. The medieval German term Windisch referred to the Slovene language , but also to Slavic languages in general. It has the same etymology as Wendische , the historic German term for the Sorbian -speaking population in Lusatia . In the 6th and 7th century

116-745: A comital , princely and ducal dynasty in the Holy Roman Empire . Named after Gorizia Castle in Gorizia (now in Italy , on the border with Slovenia ), they were originally " advocates " ( Vogts ) in the Patriarchate of Aquileia who ruled the County of Gorizia ( Görz ) from the early 12th century until the year 1500. Staunch supporters of the Emperors against the papacy , they reached

174-647: A dominus Carniole (Lord of Carniola) and succeeded his father as Duke of Austria and Styria in the following year. In 1248 the title was picked up by Duke Ulrich III of Carinthia , who had married Agnes of Merania after Frederick's death in 1246. When Duke Ulrich died in 1269, King Ottokar II of Bohemia occupied and unified Carniola, the Windic March, the valley of the Savinja , and the Slovenj Gradec as "the march" of his vast kingdom extending from

232-602: A duke, but remained independent. Their leaders met in the temple of Rethra . In 983, many Wend tribes participated in a great uprising against the Holy Roman Empire , which had previously established Christian missions, German colonies and German administrative institutions ( Marken such as Nordmark and Billungermark ) in pagan Wendish territories. The uprising was successful and the Wends delayed Germanisation for about two centuries. Wends and Danes had early and continuous contact including settlement, first and mainly through

290-550: A strong admixture with Germans and continued to use West Slavic languages were still termed Wends . With the gradual decline of the use of these local Slavic tongues, the term Wends slowly disappeared, too. Some sources claim that in the 13th century there were actual historic people called Wends or Vends living as far as northern Latvia (east of the Baltic Sea) around the city of Wenden . Henry of Livonia (Henricus de Lettis) in his 13th-century Latin chronicle described

348-664: A tribe called the Vindi . Today, only one group of Wends still exists: the Lusatian Sorbs in present-day Eastern Germany, with international diaspora. The term "Wends" derived from the Roman-era people called in Latin : Venetī , Venethī [ˈwe.ne.t̪ʰiː] or Venedī [ˈwe.ne.d̪iː] ; in ‹See Tfd› Greek : Οὐενέδαι , translit.   Ouenédai [u.eˈne.ðe] . This people

406-575: 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 (such as the Texas Wends ), and Australia . In German-speaking Europe during

464-598: Is documented as a count in the Bavarian gau of Pustertal . The progenitor of the Meinhardiner, Count Meinhard I of Gorizia, and his brother Engelbert, count palatine of Bavaria, may be his sons. The dynasty first appeared around Lienz and in the 11th century gained the office of a vogt at the town of Gorizia ( Görz ) in the Patriarchate of Aquileia. Tyrol already in the early and later Middle Ages

522-673: Is mentioned by Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy as inhabiting the Baltic coast. In the 1st millennium AD, during the Slavic migrations which split the Slavs into Southern, Eastern and Western groups, some West Slavs moved into the areas between the Rivers Elbe and Oder - moving from east to west and from south to north. There they assimilated the remaining Germanic population that had not left

580-489: Is one of the reasons for future military campaigns against them by the Carolingians, especially Charles Martel and Charlemagne. While the Wends were arriving in so-called Germania Slavica as large homogeneous groups, they soon divided into a variety of small tribes, with large strips of woodland separating one tribal settlement area from another. Their tribal names were derived from local place names, sometimes adopting

638-544: Is today north-eastern Germany. This did not, however, affect the Wendish people in today's Saxony , where a relatively stable co-existence of German and Slavic inhabitants as well as close dynastic and diplomatic cooperation of Wendish and German nobility had been achieved. (See: Wiprecht of Groitzsch). In 1168, during the Northern Crusades , Denmark mounted a crusade led by Bishop Absalon and King Valdemar

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696-529: The Ben Nevis seeking greater liberty, in order to settle an area of central Texas, primarily Serbin . The Wends succeeded, expanding into Warda , Giddings , Austin, Houston, Fedor, Swiss Alp, Port Arthur, Mannheim, Copperas Cove, Vernon, Walburg, The Grove, Bishop, and the Rio Grande Valley. A strong emphasis on tradition, principles, and education is evident today in families descendant from

754-726: The Albertine Line , after Meinhard's younger brother Albert , took over the original possessions in the County of Gorizia, the Puster Valley , as well as the title of palatine counts in Carinthia (together with the domains in the upper Drava Valley). Both branches participated in the coalition against the Premyslid king Ottokar II of Bohemia on the side of king Rudolf I of Germany and were awarded vast estates after

812-654: The Austrian House of Habsburg inherited Carinthia and Carniola from the Gorizia-Tyrol branch. The Habsburgs held these lands until 1918. Henry's only surviving daughter Margaret "Maultasch" and her husband John Henry of Luxembourg were able to retain the County of Tyrol. In 1363 she ceded the county to the Habsburg duke Rudolph IV of Austria after her only son with her second husband Duke Louis V of Bavaria , Count Meinhard III of Gorizia-Tyrol had died in

870-731: The Baltic Sea to the Adriatic . After 1282, despite King Rudolf I's grant to his sons, Carniola and the Windic march were united under the control of the Meinhardiner duke Meinhard of Carinthia . During this period, the entity became known as the County in the March and Möttlig ( Metlika ). After 1374, the Windic March fell to the House of Habsburg . The Habsburgs however soon pawned it to

928-591: The Counts of Cilli who remained the de facto rulers of the territory until their extinction in 1456. The Habsburgs retook the Windic March together with all other Cilli possessions in the Holy Roman Empire. They immediately reunited it with Carniola, and the Windic March thus ceased to be a separate political entity. The head of the House of Habsburg continued carrying the title of "Lord on the Windic March" in

986-577: The Middle Ages , the term "Wends" was interpreted as synonymous with "Slavs" and sporadically used in literature to refer to West Slavs and South Slavs living within the Holy Roman Empire . The name has possibly survived in Finnic languages ( Finnish : Venäjä [ˈʋe̞.næ.jæ] , Estonian : Vene [ˈve.ne] , Karelian : Veneä ), denoting modern Russia . According to one theory, Germanic peoples first applied this name to

1044-649: The Patriarch of Aquileia . From 1127 to 1131 the margravial territory was further expanded in several campaigns by the Counts of Weichselburg (or Weichselberg, modern Višnja Gora ) against Croatia in the union with Hungary . Backed by the Archbishop of Salzburg , they conquered the territory around Metlika up to the Kolpa River in the southeast, the later White Carniola ( Bela krajina ) region. Until 1209

1102-510: The Přemyslid heiress Anne . However, as Henry left no male heirs, the Gorizia-Tyrol branch became extinct upon the death of his daughter Margaret in 1369. Their lands were inherited by the Habsburgs. The Albertine line maintained the rule in the comital lands around Gorizia , in the Puster Valley and in western Carinthia (which comprised the territory of contemporary East Tyrol ) until

1160-779: The Saxons , a Wend ( Wende ) was a Slav living in the area west of the River Oder , an area later entitled Germania Slavica , settled by the Polabian Slav tribes (mentioned above) in the north and by others, such as the Sorbs and the Milceni , further south (see Sorbian March ). The Germans in the south used the term Winde instead of Wende and applied it, just as the Germans in the north, to Slavs they had contact with; e.g.,

1218-457: The ancient Veneti . For the medieval Scandinavians , the term Wends ( Vender ) meant Slavs living near the southern shore of the Baltic Sea ( Vendland ), and the term was therefore used to refer to Polabian Slavs like the Obotrites , Rugian Slavs , Veleti / Lutici , and Pomeranian tribes . For people living in the medieval Northern Holy Roman Empire and its precursors, especially for

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1276-609: The gorizian Burghut . First, the Council of Ten of the Republic of Venice considered appointing Lukas von Graben as their supreme commander in Friuli. However, since Virgil von Graben ended the contract with Venice about the succession in the County of Gorizia and negotiated with Maximilian I, this appointment did not materialize. In the end Leonhard leaned towards the Habsburgs and signed an inheritance treaty with Maximilian I. After

1334-505: The grand title of the Emperor of Austria . 45°48′7.2″N 14°49′53.55″E  /  45.802000°N 14.8315417°E  / 45.802000; 14.8315417 Wends Wends ( Old English : Winedas [ˈwi.ne.dɑs] ; Old Norse : Vindar ; German : Wenden [ˈvɛn.dn̩] , Winden [ˈvɪn.dn̩] ; Danish : Vendere ; Swedish : Vender ; Polish : Wendowie , Czech : Wendové )

1392-527: The Baltic shores (and, in turn, the Wends often raided the raiders). The Holy Roman Empire and its margraves tried to restore their marches. In 1068/69, a German expedition took and destroyed Rethra , one of the major pagan Wend temples. The Wendish religious centre shifted to Arkona thereafter. In 1124 and 1128, the Pomeranians and some Lutici were baptised. In 1147, the Wend crusade took place in what

1450-568: The Counts of Weichselburg held extended possessions in the Windic March. Through a marriage to the last heiress Sophia of Weichselburg, the Counts of Andechs , then at the peak of their power as Margraves of Istria and Dukes of Merania came to dominate the territory. It was part of the dowry of Agnes of Merania , daughter of Duke Otto I of Andechs-Merania , upon her marriage with the Frederick II of Babenberg , son of Duke Leopold VI of Austria , in 1229. Frederick II thereafter called himself

1508-606: The German-Roman Empire) explicitly recognised in its Art. 31 that the German-Roman Empire was a multi-national entity with "diverse nations distinct in customs, manner of life, and in language". For that it stipulated "the sons, or heirs and successors of the illustrious prince electors, ... since they are expected in all likelihood to have naturally acquired the German language, ... shall be instructed in

1566-718: The Germanic tradition (e.g. Heveller from Havel , Rujanes from Rugians ). Settlements were secured by round burghs made of wood and clay, where either people could retreat in case of a raid from the neighbouring tribe or used as military strongholds or outposts. Some tribes unified into larger, duchy-like units. For example, the Obotrites evolved from the unification of the Holstein and Western Mecklenburg tribes led by mighty dukes known for their raids into German Saxony . The Lutici were an alliance of tribes living between Obotrites and Pomeranians. They did not unify under

1624-644: The Gorizia line of the Meinhardiner dynasty, maintained their residence in Gorizia, until the line died out in 1500. The descendants of Meinhard IV, who was Count of Tyrol as Meinhard II, ruled Tyrol until 1363. In 1286 Meinhard IV had also received the rule over the Duchy of Carinthia and the adjacent March of Carniola by the Habsburg king Rudolph I of Germany in turn for his support against King Ottokar II of Bohemia . Meinhard's son Henry in 1306 married Anne ,

1682-580: The Great against the Wends of Rugia in order to convert them to Christianity. The crusaders captured and destroyed Arkona , the Wendish temple-fortress, and tore down the statue of the Wendish god Svantevit . With the capitulation of the Rugian Wends, the last independent pagan Wends were defeated by the surrounding Christian feudal powers. From the 12th to the 14th centuries, Germanic settlers moved into

1740-665: The Habsburg Empire. The enlightened views of the Republic of Venice and its decision-makers would have recognized the Gorizian (Meinhardin) bastard Von Graben himself as the new Count of Gorizia. Another suggestion was that Von Graben would hand over the County of Gorizia to the Republic and in exchange would receive all Gorizia castles and lordships in Friuli and Venice as a fief. But it didn't come to that. In 1498, Virgil von Graben gave his son Lukas von Graben authority over

1798-642: The Lion in 1180. One result of their becoming rulers of the area, was that the area is now called "Tyrol", after their ancestral castle. Between 1253 and 1258 the Counts of Görz assumed the power in the Tyrolean lands, after the counts at Castle Tyrol had failed to produce a male heir. In 1237 Count Meinhard III had married Adelheid, daughter of Count Albert IV of Tyrol , who died in 1253 leaving no male heirs, and could in this way claim Tyrol as his inheritance. His son and successor Count Meinhard IV not only expanded

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1856-535: The Middle Ages, the kings of Denmark and of Denmark–Norway used the titles King of the Wends (from 1362) and Goths (from the 12th century). The use of both titles was discontinued in 1973. The Wendish people co-existed with the German settlers for centuries and became gradually assimilated into the German-speaking culture. The Golden Bull of 1356 (one of the constitutional foundations of

1914-683: The Polabians from Bavaria Slavica or the Slovenes (the names Windic March , Windisch Feistritz , Windischgraz , or Windisch Bleiberg near Ferlach still bear testimony to this historical denomination). The same term was sometimes applied to the neighboring region of Slavonia , which appears as Windischland in some documents prior to the 18th century. Following the 8th century, the Frankish kings and their successors organised nearly all Wendish land into marches . This process later turned into

1972-509: The Wendish lands in large numbers, transforming the area's culture from a Slavic to a Germanic one. Local dukes and monasteries invited settlers to repopulate farmlands devastated in the wars, as well as to cultivate new farmlands from the expansive woodlands and heavy soils, with the use of iron-based agricultural tools that had developed in Western Europe. Concurrently, a large number of new towns were created under German town law with

2030-436: The Wendish pioneers. Today, thousands of Texans and other Americans (many unaware of their background), can lay claim to the heritage of the Wends. Historically, the term "Wends" has also occurred in the following contexts: House of Gorizia The Counts of Gorizia ( German : Grafen von Görz ; Italian : Conti di Gorizia ; Slovene : Goriški grofje ), also known as the Meinhardiner, House of Meinhardin , were

2088-580: The Windic March ( Marca Vinedorum ) of Duke Valuk ( Wallucus Dux ), located in the Eastern Alps , in 631. The territory of the Windic march was contained within the larger March of Carniola in Carolingian times, but under King Otto I of Germany from about 960 on it was separated from Upper Carniola ( Gorenjska ) and integrated into the March of Savinja (or Soune ). In 976 it was attached to

2146-730: The area in the Migration period . Their German neighbours adapted the term they had been using for peoples east of the River Elbe before to the Slavs, calling them Wends as they called the Venedi before and probably the Vandals as well. In his late sixth century work History of Armenia , Movses Khorenatsi mentions their raids into the lands named Vanand after them. The Wends are mentioned in Fredegar IV.74-75. The lived east of

2204-535: The closest South Danish islands of Møn , Lolland and Falster , all having place-names of Wendish origin . There were also trading and settlement outposts by Danish towns as important as Roskilde, when it was the capital: 'Vindeboder' (Wends' booths) is the name of a city neighbourhood there. Danes and Wends also fought wars due to piracy and crusading. After their successes in 983 the Wends came under increasing pressure from Germans, Danes and Poles . The Poles invaded Pomerania several times. The Danes often raided

2262-420: The county, but also molded it into a more homogeneous country. He also created an administration, which, by the standards of his time, can only be called exemplary. Nevertheless, the three areas of country were too far apart to be ruled by a single count, and therefore it was decided to divide the county in 1267/71, when Meinhard IV ceded the County of Gorizia to his younger brother Albert I . Albert's descendants,

2320-399: The death of Leonhard on 12 April 1500 and the Gorizia inheritance in favor of the Habsburgs, the Venetians saw their failure solely in the actions of the lords Virgil and Lukas von Graben . Upon his death, Austrian troops immediately occupied the town of Gorizia and Virgil vin Graben became his successor as imperial stadtholder of Lienz in East Tyrol . The Habsburgs (re-)united Lienz with

2378-471: The eldest daughter of King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia , and after the sudden death of his brother-in-law King Wenceslaus III in the same year even ascended the Bohemian throne. He however had to deal with claims raised by the Habsburg scion Rudolph III , son of King Albert I of Germany , and in the long run both could not prevail against Count John of Luxembourg , who became Bohemian king in 1310. As Henry himself left no male heirs upon his death in 1335,

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2436-419: The extinction of the dynasty, sickly Leonhard became subject to the competing pressures of both the Imperial Habsburg monarchy and the Republic of Venice , which both competed for his heritage. During his later reign his administrator Virgil von Graben was persuaded by grand promises by King Maximilian I to end his hitherto secret association with the Venetians and instead advocate the country's accession to

2494-437: The former's defeat in the Battle of Marchfeld. In 1286, the Gorizia-Tyrol line became Dukes of Carinthia and landraves of Carniola , and took over de facto rule in Savinja , while the Albertine branch was granted most of the Windic March and the County of Metlika . In 1306 and again from 1307 to 1310, Henry of Gorizia-Tyrol ruled as King of Bohemia and hold the titular title of King of Poland , due to his marriage with

2552-437: The grammar of the Italian and Slavic (i.e. Wendish) tongues, beginning with the seventh Year of their age." Many geographical names in Central Germany and northern Germany can be traced back to a Slavic origin. Typical Slavic endings include -itz, -itzsch and -ow. They can be found in city names such as Delitzsch and Rochlitz . Even names of major cities like Leipzig and Berlin are most likely of Wendish origin. Today,

2610-418: The height of their power in the aftermath of the battle of Marchfeld between the 1280s and 1310s, when they controlled most of contemporary Slovenia , western and south-western Austria and part of northeast Italy mostly as (princely) Counts of Gorizia and Tyrol , Landgraves of Savinja and Dukes of Carinthia and Carniola . After 1335, they began a steady decline until their territories shrunk back to

2668-401: The introduction of legally enforced markets, contracts and property rights. These developments over two centuries were collectively known as the Ostsiedlung (German eastward expansion). A minority of Germanic settlers moved beyond the Wendish territory into Hungary, Bohemia and Poland, where they were generally welcomed for their skills in farming and craftsmanship. The Polabian language

2726-462: The kings of Sweden were officially called kings of the Swedes , the Goths and the Wends (in Latin translation: kings of Suiones , Goths and Vandals ) ( Swedish : Svears, Götes och Wendes Konung ). After the Danish monarch Queen Margrethe II chose not to use these titles in 1972 the current Swedish monarch, Carl XVI Gustaf also chose only to use the title King of Sweden" ( Sveriges Konung ), thereby changing an age-old tradition. From

2784-408: The newly founded Duchy of Carinthia . After Margrave William of Soune had been killed by the deposed Carinthian duke Adalbero in 1036, the Windic march was separated from Carinthia and reattached to the newly established March of Carniola, which was thereafter sometimes called "Carniola and the Windic March". In 1077 King Henry IV of Germany put Carniola and the Windic March under the direction of

2842-420: The only remaining minority people of Wendish origin, the Sorbs , maintain their traditional language and culture and enjoy cultural self-determination exercised through the Domowina . The third minister president of Saxony Stanislaw Tillich (2008–2017) is of Sorbian origin, being the first head of a German federal state with an ethnic minority background. In 1854, the Wends of Texas departed Lusatia on

2900-473: The original County of Gorizia by the mid 1370s. Their remaining lands were inherited by the Habsburg ruler Maximilian I . The Meinhardiner where mentioned as Count of Gorizia in 1117. From 1253, the dynasty ruled the County of Tyrol . In 1271, their vast possessions were split. The main branch kept the recently acquired Tyrol and became known as Counts of Gorizia-Tyrol or the Meinhardiner Line after Meinhard, Duke of Carinthia . The cadet branch, known as

2958-439: The river Elbe and were neighbours of the Saxons. The Saxons paid tribute to the Merovingian Kingdom since Chlothar I (511-561). They had to pay 500 cows yearly and had the obligation to guard the sector of the Frankish border against the Wends. However, the Saxons broke their oath under Dagobert I which resulted in frequent raids of Wends into Frankish territory and spreading out over Thuringia and other territory. The Saxon duplicity

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3016-483: The same year. The Counts of Gorizia were moreover the Bailiffs of Aquileja. They are famous in numismatics as publishers of the first German golden coin, the "Zwainziger". The renowned diplomat and minnesinger Oswald von Wolkenstein was a subject of the Counts of Gorizia. The Gorizia branch of the dynasty became extinct in the year 1500, when the last male family member Count Leonhard of Gorizia , Count Palatine of Carinthia , died without issues. Years before, facing

3074-402: The scenery with their numerous castles mostly south of the Brenner Pass . One of that noble families were the Counts of Tyrol, named after the Castle Tyrol near the town of Meran . They speedily ascended as bailiffs, who exercised the judicial power for the Trient and Brixen prince-bishops and finally took over the secular power in southern Bavaria after the deposition of the Welf duke Henry

3132-436: The series of Crusades . By the 12th century, all Wendish lands had become part of the Holy Roman Empire. In the course of the Ostsiedlung , which reached its peak in the 12th to 14th centuries, this land was settled by Germans and reorganised. Due to the process of assimilation following German settlement , many Slavs west of the Oder adopted the German culture and language . Only some rural communities which did not have

3190-428: The term was used by Bavarian settlers to refer to the Slavic population in the East Alpine principality of Carantania . The medieval geographic term windisches Land referred also to the region of Slavonia . In this usage, March is defined as a frontier or border area between two countries or territories. The Chronicle of Fredegar mentions "Sclavos coinomento Winedorum" in 623. Samo 's tribal union included

3248-447: The year 1500, when the family's last count ( Leonhard of Gorizia ) died without an heir. His remaining estates were inherited by the Austrian House of Habsburg. The dynasty probably hailed from the Rhenish Franconian Siegharding dynasty, which originally descended from the Kraichgau region and in the 10th century ruled in the Chiemgau of the German stem duchy of Bavaria . One Sieghardinger named Meginhard (or Meinhard, d. 1090)

3306-463: Was an important mountain pass area with the lowest crossings over the Central Eastern Alps , vital for the Holy Roman Emperors to reach the Kingdom of Italy . The centres of the Imperial power were initially two Prince-bishoprics established by Emperor Conrad II in 1027, Brixen ( Bressanone ) and Trient (Trento). The bishops were the sovereigns of many semi-free compulsory henchmen ( ministeriales ) and local noblemen which styled until today

3364-449: Was spoken in the central area of Lower Saxony and in Brandenburg until around the 17th or 18th century. The German population assimilated most of the Wends, meaning that they disappeared as an ethnic minority - except for the Sorbs . Yet many place names and some family names in eastern Germany still show Wendish origins today. Also, the Dukes of Mecklenburg , of Rügen and of Pomerania had Wendish ancestors. Between 1540 and 1973,

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