Christianization of the Elbe Slavs

The collective term of the Elbe Slavs includes a large number of Slavic tribes that were able to survive in Central Europe , which had long been Christianized , until the mid-12th century . This was mainly due to political factors and alliance constellations that prevented comprehensive Christianization as early as the 9th and 10th centuries.

prehistory

After the division of the Frankish Empire by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, an expansive policy beyond the Elbe was out of the question. Due to minor military conflicts, the East Franconian Empire under Ludwig the German was still too busy securing its own position of power. This was only to change with the increasingly regular incursions into the empire by the Hungarians . After they had crushed Bayern near Pressburg in 907 , they had become a serious threat. Heinrich I , the first Saxon on the East Frankish throne, was thus forced to react to the dangers from the East. These reactions were limited primarily to military advances; a missionary concept was not yet recognizable. The usual procedure was the conquest of the Slavic tribal castle, annual tribute payments, and the provision of hostages.

From Otto I to the plague epidemics of the 14th century

It was only when Otto I came to power (936) that the policy towards the Elbe Slavs changed so that missionary work played an important role in his concept from the very beginning. In keeping with the tradition of Charlemagne , who had brought Christianity to the Saxons, Otto I wanted to spread the faith in the Slavic regions as well. The ruler, who was quite open to the Slavs, lived for some time on the border and pursued a strategy of military strength and the spread of Christianity. With the successful battles on the Lechfeld and the Recknitz , calm returned for a short time on the eastern border of his empire, and he was able to do important preparatory work for a future Christianization. Magdeburg , which was elevated to the status of an archbishopric , became an important starting point for the Slavic mission east of the Elbe, where the previously founded dioceses in Havelberg and Brandenburg were supposed to initiate the Christianization of the Elbe Slavs . For the mission of the Abodrites , Otto I founded another diocese in 972 in Oldenburg, East Holstein . Incited by the defeat of his successor, Otto II , near Crotone in southern Italy and beset by the high demands for tribute, the Slavs rose in 983 and destroyed the first attempts at Christianization. The Liutizen and Abodriten destroyed the episcopal seats in Brandenburg and Havelberg, and until the 12th century there was a cultural separation in Central Europe.

For this period, the bishops had to work far from their actual official seats. Significant progress, however, was made in Poland , where Prince Mieszko I , with the active help of his very devout wife, decisively advanced Christianization. Due to changing alliances, the Liutizen and other Elbe Slavs were able to hold out into the 12th century. In the absence of princely rulership structures by the Wilzen and Lutizen, they did not "form states", which would have been the prerequisite for organized Christianization. Thus there was a pagan island between the Elbe and the Oder in largely Christianized Central Europe. Only in the course of the Wendenkreuzzug of 1147 could some dioceses be re-established. An impressive example of this is the construction of the Havelberg Cathedral , which was intended to illustrate the importance of the city as the new center of the Christian church east of the Elbe. After their submission, the Wends were baptized , often assuming dummy baptisms to portray the crusade as a success. And yet they formed the canonical basis for the implementation of further missionary work.

One of the most important protagonists of the crusade was the later Margrave of Brandenburg, Albrecht the Bear . With a mixture of diplomacy and violence, he tried to take every opportunity to expand his sphere of rule. In 1157 he came from the former Nordmark into the possession of the Mark Brandenburg , for whose development he recruited settlers from the Altreich. In doing so, he made a decisive contribution to the second phase of the eastern settlement.

From the 13th century, the Teutonic Order, an organization that pushed the eastern settlement, especially on the south-eastern Baltic coast, even further advanced. Settlers were recruited in large numbers, an effective means of the time.

The Saxon princes, especially the Margraves of Brandenburg, who were able to acquire large areas as a result of the Wendenkreuzzug, were interested in using the settlers to make their lands profitable ( valorization ). To do this, they made use of religious organizations, especially the Cistercians .

The brothers Johann I and Otto III were of particular importance for the area of ​​today's Brandenburg . , Margrave of Brandenburg. Because of their services to the country's expansion and development of the region, they were also called the city founders. The Märkische Fürstenchronik praises them: "In their efforts to hold church services they held many chaplains, and they settled preachers , Friars Minor and monks of the Cistercian Order in their countries ."

After the initial armed conflicts and the submission of many of the Slavic tribes, the further expansion of the country was largely peaceful. The steady influx of new settlers, some of whom were also recruited by the remaining Slavic rulers, only broke off as a result of the plague epidemics in the middle of the 14th century . At this point in time, most of the areas in question were already settled and developed.

method

In the time of Otto the Great, it was initially planned that proselytizing should take place peacefully. Missionary work by force and baptism by the sword should be avoided. However, it quickly became apparent that this missionary work did not fall on fertile ground.

One reason for this was the language barrier; there were only a few texts in the Slavic language, and very few missionaries had more than rudimentary knowledge of them. The behavior of many German princes who were only interested in increasing their own power and increasing their income was just as obstructive. In this environment, the missionaries were usually received with hostility, and some of them were also martyred . After the severe setback in 983 and the martyrdom of the Christian ruler of the Abodrites Gottschalk in 1066, violence increasingly dictated missionary work. This culminated in 1147 in the Wenden Crusade .

The original places of worship were mostly destroyed and the new Christian shrines built on their foundations. The first parish churches of the Christian new settlers were almost exclusively wooden churches. Stone churches were not built on a large scale until the 13th century. From a topographical point of view, the church usually formed the center of the settlement. To demonstrate the superiority of the Christian God, pagan objects were also walled up in the churches in some cases. So the Slavs were always reminded of which deity was more powerful. In the course of the Wenden Crusade, the pagan shrines were destroyed again and the Slavs were forced to adopt the Christian way of life and tradition, to bury their dead in cemeteries and to attend mass on Christian feast days. With the military submission of the Slavic tribes east of the Elbe, the way was paved for the orders of the Cistercians and the Premonstratensians . Through their missionary work and their Christian way of life, they ensured the anchoring of the Christian faith between the Elbe and Oder. As a rule, these religious communities tried to secure and expand their acquired territories by settling colonists. For them at the beginning there was the construction of a monastery, from there the further development of the country started. If you look at this constant influx of new settlers, it must be stated that it was not just missionary work that was responsible for the Christianization of the area between the Elbe and Oder, but also, above all, the extensive high - medieval development of the country by the princely territorial lords.

literature

• Helmut Assing : Brandenburg, Anhalt and Thuringia in the Middle Ages. Ascanians and Ludovingians building princely territorial rule. Edited by Tilo Köhn, Lutz Partenheimer , Uwe Zietmann on the author's 65th birthday . Böhlau, Cologne et al. 1997, ISBN 3-412-02497-X .
• Helmold von Bosau: Slavic Chronicle. 2nd, improved edition. Retransmitted and explained by Heinz Stoob . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1973, ISBN 3-534-00175-3 .
• Dietrich kurz : Slavic paganism and Christian church between the Elbe and Oder from the 10th to the 12th century. In: Geraldine Saherwala, Felix Escher (Red.): Slavs and Germans between the Elbe and the Oder. 1000 years ago: The Slav uprising of 983. Berlin Society for Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory, Berlin 1983, pp. 48–68.
• Herbert Ludat : On the Elbe and the Oder around the year 1000. Sketches on the politics of the Ottonian Empire and the Slavic powers in Central Europe. Böhlau, Cologne et al. 1971, ISBN 3-412-07271-0 .
• Herbert Ludat (Ed.): Slavs and Germans in the Middle Ages. Selected essays on questions of their political, social and cultural relationships (= Central German Research. Vol. 86). Böhlau, Cologne et al. 1982, ISBN 3-412-01981-X .
• Michael Müller-Wille : Slavic mission in Central Europe (= Academy of Sciences and Literature Mainz. Treatises of the humanities and social sciences class. Year 2006, No. 1). Steiner, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-515-08864-4 .
• Lutz E. von Padberg : Christianization in the Middle Ages. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2006, ISBN 3-534-17595-6 .
• Lutz Partenheimer: Albrecht the Bear. Founder of the Mark Brandenburg and the Principality of Anhalt. Böhlau, Cologne et al. 2001, ISBN 3-412-06301-0 .
• Winfried Schich (ed.): Cistercian economy and cultural landscape (= studies on the history, art and culture of the Cistercians. Vol. 3). Lukas, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-931836-12-6 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Ulrich Waack: Church building and economy. Lukas, Berlin 2009, p. 142, note 336.