Wends/Slavs/Pomeranians as Allies of the Margraves of Brandenburg in 1229. Voice in the Discussion on Political Alliances of the Rulers of West Pomerania in the 1220’s

Abstract

In 1229, a battle took place on the River Plane near Brandenburg. In the battle, troops of the Margraves of Brandenburg John I and Otto III met the army of the ministeriales of the Magdeburg Archbishopric, led by Archbishop Albert II von Käfernburg himself. The mar- graves were supported by a strong detachment of Slavs / Wends coming from Slavic countries. An analysis of narrative sources, mainly the Saxon World Chronicle and the Deeds of the Archbishops of Magdeburg, makes it possible to identify the Slavs / Wends with the subjects of Pomeranian dukes. They supported the margraves of Brandenburg and thus the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Otto the Child. Hence, in the described period, the Pomeranians have not broken with Denmark yet. The war with Valdemar II occurred only in the 1230’s, when the king of Denmark openly supported Rügen, while the margraves of Brandenburg and the duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg altered their policies aiming at an agreement with the Hohenstaufen.

Keywords

• Wends
• Slavs
• Pomeranians
• Brandenburg
• West Pomerania
• Margraves of Brandenburg John I and Otto III