Battle of Lenzen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Battle of Lenzen took place on September 4, 929 between Saxony and Elbe Slavs near Lenzen .

Widukind von Corvey reports on the victory of the Saxons over the Slavic Redarians in his Saxon history, written around 967, that the then East Frankish King Heinrich I had subjugated the Slavic tribes of the Abodrites , Wilzen , Heveller , Daleminzier , Bohemia and Redarians militarily and made them subject to tribute . In August 929, however, the Redarians broke the peace, rose up against the obligation to pay tribute and destroyed the Saxon castle Walsleben an der Uchte in what is now Saxony-Anhalt . After this success, "all barbaric peoples" joined the victorious Redarii.

Thereupon Heinrich I sent the two Counts Bernhard (as those responsible for the territory of the Redarians) and Thietmar as commander-in-chief of a Saxon army with equal rights to besiege Lenzen Castle and thus put down the uprising. This castle was east of the Elbe in the area of ​​the Slavic Linonians . After a five-day siege , Saxon scouts reported that a huge Slavic relief army was approaching and was expected to attack the next morning. The Saxons kept watch all night in the pouring rain, prayed and assured themselves and their commander support for the upcoming battle, affirming their duty of support on oath. As day dawned, the Redarians' army, consisting mainly of foot soldiers , attacked the besiegers. Due to the rain-soaked soil and their soaked clothing, the attackers could not develop their full strength, so that the numerically inferior Saxons withstood the Slavic army. While there were heavy losses in the center on both sides in an unsuccessful battle, the Saxons achieved slight advantages on the wings . Finally, Bernhard ordered Count Thietmar to launch a flank attack , which deployed 50 " armored men" - possibly armored riders . Thereupon the army of the Slavs began to disintegrate. Some of the fleeing tried to escape into the besieged castle, but Thietmar's troops blocked their way and killed them. The other part went to a moor or a lake, where many drowned. While most of the Redarians' cavalry escaped, all the foot soldiers are said to have died. Widukind names a fantastic favored number of an incredible 200,000 Redariians. On the part of the Saxons, however, only a few nobles died.

Subsequently, the victorious Saxon army turned to the besieged Lenzen Castle, whose occupation and its "king" (rex) surrendered immediately. The castle was looted and all residents were enslaved. Bernhard and Thietmar returned to Saxony with 800 prisoners, where they and the other leaders were given an honorable welcome by the king. The king had all the prisoners beheaded .

literature

  • Christian Marlow: Ottonian-Slavic contacts in the 10th century . epubli, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-7375-2916-7 .
  • Sébastien Rossignol: The rise and fall of the linons. Unsuccessful ethnogenesis in the lower Middle Elbe . In: Karl-Heinz Willroth, Jens Schneewieß (ed.): Slawen an der Elbe (=  Göttingen research on prehistory and early history . Volume 1 ). Wachholtz, Göttingen 2011, p. 15-38 ( PDF ).
  • Lutz Partenheimer : The emergence of the Mark Brandenburg . With a Latin-German source attachment. 1st and 2nd edition. Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2007, p. 20-23 .

Web links