Viking Age
814-1043






The Wends in the 11th to 13th century



In the 11th century, Slavic rebellions continued. The Hevellers and Lusatians had to be subdued by conquest; castles, monasteries and churches were built to ensure that the Slaves would not revert to their old ways. Both the DUCHY OF BRANDENBURG and the DUCHY OF SAXONY emerged as a result of that conquest.
The rulers of the Obodrites (1170) and Pomoranians accepted both christianity and the sovereignty of the Empire, the former thus being transformed into the DUCHY OF MECKLENBURG, the latter into the DUCHY OF POMERANIA.

With the conquest of Brandenburg and Saxony came a massive settlement. New villages were settled by Germans for German farmers had advanced ploughing techniques permitting them to turn heavy clay soil which the Slavic population had left untouched. Settlers from Flanders and Holland came and drained swamps, turning the land into fertile farmland (Potsdam). Bishoprics were established with seat at NAUMBURG, MEISSEN, MERSEBURG, BRANDENBURG, HAVELBERG, suffragan to Magdeburg. The language of the church was Latin. In the early 13th century, many cities were founded - Meissen, Berlin, Frankfurt/Oder, Dresden, etc., the burghers of which originated from Germany; they were placed under MAGDEBURG CITY LAW. Another group were the MINING CITIES of the south (FREIBERG etc.) with their distinct law, again cities German in character.
For the Obodrites the DIOCESIS OF SCHWERIN was formed, for the Pomoranians the DIOCESIS OF KAMMIN. Both dukes, seeing the positive effect of German settlement on the revenues of their neighbours, invited German settlers - both burghers and farmers - to come into their country and settle. The cities founded within Mecklenburg and Pomorania followed LUEBECK CITY LAW.
Because of this development, three languages were used parallel : Latin in education and as the dominant language of writing; German dialects in the cities, in German villages and as the language of commerce, and Slavic dialects in the Slavic villages as well as (for some time) at the courts of the Dukes of Mecklenburg and Pomerania. Over time the Slavic population was assimilated, the Slavic nobility and the Slavs living in the cities earlier than on the countryside. With the reformation (mass held in German; elementary schooling obligatory) the assimilation of Slavic villages accelerated. Today, only the Sorb minority living in Lusatia still speaks a West Slavic language.






EXTERNAL
LINKS 		The Conversion and destruction of the Wends, by E. Skip Knox
DOCUMENTS
REFERENCE


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on November 12th 2004

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