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Confederation of West Slavic tribes in present-day northern Germany (8th century – 1167)
Obotritic confederation
8th century–1167
A black bull's head, the alleged symbol of the Obotrites and their princes (chieftains)
Arms of the House of Nikloting, princes of the Obotritic confederation
Main territory of the Obotritic confederation
Expansion of the Obotritic confederation under Prince Thrasco († 809) after victory over the Nordalbingian Saxons
Status
Independent confederation of Polabian Slavic tribes
Capital
Veligard or Veligrad (German: Michelenburg)
Common languages
Polabian, Old Saxon
Religion
Polabian[a] Slavic paganism, the known major cults:
Prove in Stargard, Wagria
Podaga in Plön, Wagria
Zhiva according to Helmold
Svarozhich/Radegast according to Helmold
folk polytheism of minor cults
Chernobog according to Helmold
Saxon paganism (Nordalbingian Saxons) Chalcedonian Christianity (missionaries, some nobles)
Government
Hereditary monarchy (Principality)
Prince
• ?–ca. 795 (first)
Witzlaus
• 1160–1167 (last)
Pribislav
History
• Formed
8th century
• Accepted Saxon suzerainty
1167
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Polabian Slavs
Nordalbingia (Duchy of Saxony)
Billung March (Duchy of Saxony)
Holy Roman Empire
∟Principality of Mecklenburg
∟Duchy of Saxony
Kingdom of Denmark
Today part of
Germany
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).[1] 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.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
^Jensen, Carsten Selch (2006). "Abodrites" (PDF). In Alan V. Murray (ed.). The Crusades: An Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. p. 3. OCLC 70122512.
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...
three main tribes, the Obotrites, the Veleti, and the Lusatian Sorbs. The main tribes of the Obotritic confederation were the Obotrites proper (Wismar Bay...
Tove of the Obotrites, also called Tova, Tofa or Thora, (10th century) was a Slavic princess and a Danish Viking Age queen consort, the spouse of King...
descended linearly from the princes (or kings) of a Slavic tribe, the Obotrites, and had its original residence in a castle (Mecklenburg) in Dorf Mecklenburg...
and the term was therefore used to refer to Polabian Slavs like the Obotrites, Rugian Slavs, Veleti/Lutici, and Pomeranian tribes. For people living...
Estrid of the Obotrites (c. 979 – 1035) was Queen of Sweden in the Viking age, a West Slavic princess married to Olof Skötkonung, King of Sweden c. 1000–1022...
murdered in Reric in 810. Thrasco had a son, Cedragus, the Obotrite prince from 819 to 826. The Obotrites were a confederation of West Slavic tribe that lived...
Estrid (Old Norse: Æstriðr, Ástríðr) was a rich and powerful 11th-century Swedish woman whose long family saga has been recorded on five or six runestones...
is now eastern Poland and north-western Ukraine. Among them were the Obotrites and other tribes that Frankish sources referred to as "Wends". The 11th-century...
living in the Netherlands Slavomir Miklovš, Croatian cleric Slavomir, Obotrites prince Slavomír Sławomir This page or section lists people that share...
Thietmar of Merseburg and Widukind of Corvey. He was the co-ruler of the Obotrites, and, according to Thietmar's Chronicle written in 1012/1018, the brother...
the 12th century, Wittenburg belonged to the territory of the Polaben Obotrites. Wittenburg was first mentioned in 1154 and gained town privileges in...
after the 6th century (see Völkerwanderung), also known as Wends and Obotrites. They arrived about A.D. 700 and the Pomeranian/Kashubian (Slavic) name...
the House of Mecklenburg, a dynasty with Slavic roots also known as the Obotrites or Niklotides, Schwerin was the capital of the Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin...
of Saxony and King Valdemar the Great of Denmark. The territory of the Obotrites was largely partitioned between Saxon lords, but Pribislav continued to...
to Neustria and gave their now vacant lands to the loyal king of the Obotrites. Einhard, Charlemagne's biographer, said on the closing of the conflict:...
Sea, formed a natural border with the Wagria lands settled by Slavic Obotrites. In 772, Charlemagne, ruler of the Franks, started the Saxon Wars to conquer...
of the Elbe and removing the Saxon population, giving the land to his Obotrite allies. During this campaign, the Danish king Gudfred, uneasy at the extension...
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