Wend State

Wend State 

an early feudal state of the Polabian Slavs—the Bodrichi (Obodrites), Liutichi, and Pomeranians —that existed from the 1040’s to the first third of the 12th century on the shores of the Baltic Sea between the mouths of the Laba and Oder rivers. The unification of the Wend (Slavic) tribes under the rule of one princedom, which was caused by the process of feudalization, was accelerated by the need to repel German-Catholic aggression. The creator of the Wend State, the Bodrichi prince Gotshalk (ruled from 1044-66), and his successor, Prince Krutoi (1066-93), temporarily crushed the separatism of the tribal nobility. However, the instability of the Wend State was already apparent at the turn of the 12th century. Prince Hen-rikh (the son of Gotshalk), also called king in the documents, fell under the influence of the nobility, which had sought the help of the Saxons or Danes and summoned the German bishops. Weakened by internal discords, the Wend State disintegrated completely about 1129.

REFERENCES

Pavinskii, A. Polabskie slaviane v bor’be s nemtsami v VIII-X vv. St. Petersburg, 1871.
Gratsianskii, N. P. “Zael’bskie slaviane v bor’be s nemetskoi agres-siei v X-XII vv.” Istoricheskii zhurnal, 1942, no. 8.
Koroliuk, V. D. “Gosudarstvo Gotshalka (11 v.).” In Slavianskii sbornik. Moscow, 1947.
Brankaĉk, J. “Zur frühen Geschichte der Westslawen zwischen Elbe/Saale und Oder.” Geschichte in der Schule, 1957, fasc. 5-6, 9-10.

V. V. DOROSHENKO