Stellinga, Uprising of the

Stellinga, Uprising of the 

an insurrection of Saxon peasants during the years 841–843. The uprising of the stellinga was led by the früing class, free Saxons who were being enserfed by recently arrived Frankish feudal lords and the local Saxon aristocracy, the atheling class. The free Saxons were joined by half-free villagers, laets.

The stellinga, referred to as “children of the old law” by medieval chroniclers, rebelled against enserfment, advocating a return to the prefeudal order. According to contemporary sources, they drove almost all of their feudal lords out of the country and lived by their old customs, each according to his own law. The uprising was suppressed by Louis the German, who was supported by Saxon noblemen.

REFERENCE

Neusykhin, A. I. Vozniknovenie zavisimogo krest’ianstva kak klassa rannefeodal’nogo obshchestva v Zapadnoi Evrope VI-VIII vv. Moscow, 1956. Chapter 4.