God loaf

Godelaib († 808 in Reric ) was the governor of the Danish king Göttrik in Reric, where he was executed as a traitor by this.

Godelaib is mentioned for the year 808 in the Annales regni Francorum in connection with a campaign of the Danish king Göttrik against the Abodrites . The name Godelaib is the Latinized version of Guḋleifr , a Nordic name. The sources themselves do not make a gentile assignment, instead mentioning Godelaib only as alius dux , i.e. as another duke . A Danish origin of Godelaib is still possible.

The multiethnic sea trading center Reric, located on the abodritic Baltic Sea coast, was liable to the Danish King Göttrik. Immediately adjacent to Reric was the territory of the Abodritic velvet ruler Drasco . After he had incorporated the extra-territorial free port of Reric into his territory with the help of Göttrik's renegade governor Godelaib, Göttrik undertook a large-scale punitive expedition and sailed with a fleet from Schleswig across the Baltic Sea to Reric. There he took Godelaib captive by a ruse and had him hanged on a gallows as a traitor. Drasco managed to escape. Göttrik destroyed Reric and at least relocated the Danish merchants to Haithabu .

swell

Annales regni Francorum

Remarks

↑ Although he chased away the Abodrite Duke Drasco, who did not trust the loyalty of his compatriots, and cunningly captured the god's loaf, another duke, and hung it on a gallows and made two thirds of the Abodrites payable, he lost the best and bravest of his warriors, including his brother's son Reginold, who was killed during the siege of a castle with many Danish greats. - (Annales regni Francorum 808)
↑ Christian Lübke : The relations between Elbe and Baltic Sea Slavs and Danes from the 9th to the 12th century in: Ole Harck, Christian Lübke: Between Reric and Bornhöved: the relations between the Danes and their Slavic neighbors from the 9th to the 13th. Century: Contributions to an international conference, Leipzig, 4th-6th centuries. December 1997. , Franz Steiner Verlag, 2001, p. 30 and Sandra Polzer, The Franks and the North. Due to the difficulty of interpreting early medieval sources on the history of Denmark , Vienna 2008, page 61, even relatives of the godelaib to the Göttriks family are possible
↑ Torsten Kempke, Scandinavian-Slavic contacts on the southern Baltic coast in the 7th to 9th centuries , in: Ole Harck, Christian Lübke: Between Reric and Bornhöved: the relations between the Danes and their Slavic neighbors from the 9th to the 13th century : Contributions to an international conference, Leipzig, 4.-6. December 1997 , Franz Steiner Verlag, 2001, pages 9–22, here page 10 f.
↑ Godafrid destroyed the trading post on the coast before his departure, which was called Reric in Danish and brought his empire great advantage by paying taxes. - (Annales regni Francorum 808)
↑ Christian Lübke: The relations between Elbe and Baltic Sea Slavs and Danes from the 9th to the 12th century in: Ole Harck, Christian Lübke: Between Reric and Bornhöved: the relations between the Danes and their Slavic neighbors from the 9th to the 13th. Century: Contributions to an international conference, Leipzig, 4th-6th centuries. December 1997 , Franz Steiner Verlag, 2001, page 30 points out that a clearly defined relationship existed between Göttrik and Godelaib, from which Godelaib had sheared: Gudfred wanted to demonstrate his rightful power over Godelaib and as his by executing this punishment Judges act. Although Lübke classifies the name Godelaib as Danish, he considers it to be an abodrite; on the other hand, Sunhild Kleingärtner , Kulturtransfer und Eliten in the area of the southwestern Baltic Sea coast in the early and middle Slavic period in: Sébastien Rossignol (ed.), Medieval Elites and Culture Transfer East of the Elbe: Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archeology and History in Medieval Eastern Central Europe , Göttingen 2009, pages 11–26, here page 18, fn. 23 generally assume that the Danish king had appointed a representative on site.

↑ According to the sources, the change in the status quo came from the Abodrites: In the meantime, the Danish king Godofrid had several traders say that he had heard that the Emperor had become angry with him for having led an army against the Abodrites and himself in the past year avenged for the insults done to him. (Annales regni Francorum 809)

↑ In addition Sandra Polzer, The Franks and the North. On the difficulty of interpreting early medieval sources on the history of Denmark , Vienna 2008, page 61, according to which the choice of the type of execution, namely hanging on the gallows, indicates the punishment of a traitor. In contrast to beheading, hanging was considered a disgraceful punishment in the early Middle Ages.

↑ Since Drasco was murdered in Reric in 810, it can be assumed that the Abodrites continued to operate the trading center as a new protective power, which also explains the archaeological findings.

personal data
SURNAME	God loaf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Gudleifr
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Governor of the Danish King Göttrik in Reric
DATE OF BIRTH	8th century
DATE OF DEATH	808
Place of death	Reric

[1] Although he chased away the Abodrite Duke Drasco, who did not trust the loyalty of his compatriots, and cunningly captured the god's loaf, another duke, and hung it on a gallows and made two thirds of the Abodrites payable, he lost the best and bravest of his warriors, including his brother's son Reginold, who was killed during the siege of a castle with many Danish greats. - (Annales regni Francorum 808)

[2] Christian Lübke : The relations between Elbe and Baltic Sea Slavs and Danes from the 9th to the 12th century in: Ole Harck, Christian Lübke: Between Reric and Bornhöved: the relations between the Danes and their Slavic neighbors from the 9th to the 13th. Century: Contributions to an international conference, Leipzig, 4th-6th centuries. December 1997. , Franz Steiner Verlag, 2001, p. 30 and Sandra Polzer, The Franks and the North. Due to the difficulty of interpreting early medieval sources on the history of Denmark , Vienna 2008, page 61, even relatives of the godelaib to the Göttriks family are possible

[3] Torsten Kempke, Scandinavian-Slavic contacts on the southern Baltic coast in the 7th to 9th centuries , in: Ole Harck, Christian Lübke: Between Reric and Bornhöved: the relations between the Danes and their Slavic neighbors from the 9th to the 13th century : Contributions to an international conference, Leipzig, 4.-6. December 1997 , Franz Steiner Verlag, 2001, pages 9–22, here page 10 f.

[4] Godafrid destroyed the trading post on the coast before his departure, which was called Reric in Danish and brought his empire great advantage by paying taxes. - (Annales regni Francorum 808)

[5] Christian Lübke: The relations between Elbe and Baltic Sea Slavs and Danes from the 9th to the 12th century in: Ole Harck, Christian Lübke: Between Reric and Bornhöved: the relations between the Danes and their Slavic neighbors from the 9th to the 13th. Century: Contributions to an international conference, Leipzig, 4th-6th centuries. December 1997 , Franz Steiner Verlag, 2001, page 30 points out that a clearly defined relationship existed between Göttrik and Godelaib, from which Godelaib had sheared: Gudfred wanted to demonstrate his rightful power over Godelaib and as his by executing this punishment Judges act. Although Lübke classifies the name Godelaib as Danish, he considers it to be an abodrite; on the other hand, Sunhild Kleingärtner , Kulturtransfer und Eliten in the area of the southwestern Baltic Sea coast in the early and middle Slavic period in: Sébastien Rossignol (ed.), Medieval Elites and Culture Transfer East of the Elbe: Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archeology and History in Medieval Eastern Central Europe , Göttingen 2009, pages 11–26, here page 18, fn. 23 generally assume that the Danish king had appointed a representative on site.

[6] According to the sources, the change in the status quo came from the Abodrites: In the meantime, the Danish king Godofrid had several traders say that he had heard that the Emperor had become angry with him for having led an army against the Abodrites and himself in the past year avenged for the insults done to him. (Annales regni Francorum 809)

[7] In addition Sandra Polzer, The Franks and the North. On the difficulty of interpreting early medieval sources on the history of Denmark , Vienna 2008, page 61, according to which the choice of the type of execution, namely hanging on the gallows, indicates the punishment of a traitor. In contrast to beheading, hanging was considered a disgraceful punishment in the early Middle Ages.

[8] Since Drasco was murdered in Reric in 810, it can be assumed that the Abodrites continued to operate the trading center as a new protective power, which also explains the archaeological findings.