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The Battle on the Raxa river (german: Schlacht an der Raxa) was fought on 16 October 955 over control of the Billung march (in present-day
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...
, northeast
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
) between the forces of Otto I of Germany allied with the
Rani ''Rani'' in Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, sometimes spelled ''Ranee'', is a Hindu/Sanskrit feminine given name. The term is the female form of the term for princely rulers in South and Southeast Asia and applies equally to the wife of a ...
tribe on one side, and the
Obotrite The Obotrites ( la, Obotriti, Abodritorum, Abodritos…) or Obodrites, also spelled Abodrites (german: Abodriten), were a confederation of medieval West Slavic tribes within the territory of modern Mecklenburg and Holstein in northern Germany ( ...
federation under Nako and his brother Stoigniew (Stoinef, Stoinneg, Stoinegin, Ztoignav) with their allied and tributary
Slav Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...
neighbours on the other. The Raxa river is identified with either the
Recknitz The Recknitz (historically known as ''Raxa'') is a river in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in northeastern Germany. The Recknitz's glacial valley stretches as far south as the heights at Glasewitz near Güstrow. The river has no definite source, but rathe ...
or the
Elde The Elde () is a river in northern Germany (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and a few km in Brandenburg), a right tributary of the Elbe. Its total length is . The Elde originates near Altenhof, south of Malchow. It first flows southeast towards the southe ...
river. The German victory over the Slavs followed up on the August victory at the
Lechfeld The Battle of Lechfeld was a series of military engagements over the course of three days from 10–12 August 955 in which the Kingdom of Germany, led by King Otto I the Great, annihilated the Hungarian army led by ''Horka (title), Harka ''Bulcs ...
over the
Magyars Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Uralic ...
and marked the high point of Otto's reign.


Background

While King Otto was distracted by his campaigns against the Magyars, his vassals
Wichmann the Younger Wichmann II the Younger (also spelled ''Wigmann'' or ''Wichman'') (about 930 – 22 September 967) was a member of the Saxon House of Billung. He was a son of Count Wichmann the Elder and his wife Frederuna, a niece of Queen Matilda. The cousin of ...
and his brother
Egbert the One-Eyed Egbert the One-Eyed (german: Ekbert der Einäugige) (died 4 April 994) was the second son of Wichmann the Elder and the younger brother of Wichmann the Younger. He was thus of the elder line of the Billung family. His nickname derives from the fact ...
instigated a Slav revolt in the Billung March. The Obotrites invaded
Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
and sacked the Cocarescemians' settlement, killing the men of arms-bearing age and carrying off the women and children into slavery. According to
Widukind of Corvey Widukind of Corvey (c. 925after 973) was a medieval Saxon chronicler. His three-volume ''Res gestae Saxonicae sive annalium libri tres'' is an important chronicle of 10th-century Germany during the rule of the Ottonian dynasty. Life In view of ...
, in the aftermath of Lechfeld, Otto pressed hard into Slav territory, where Wichmann and Egbert had sought refuge. Otto razed the Slav population centres and soon had encircled them; he offered to spare his enemies if they would surrender. A Slav
embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...
came to an assembly Otto held in Saxony and offered to pay annual tribute in return for being allowed self-government; "otherwise," they said, they would "fight for their liberty."Reuter (1991), pp. 161–62. Reuter argues that this is indicative of a change in German governing practice: a change from overlordship, which the Slavs were willing to accept, to lordship, which the Slavs protested. Dendrodates reveal that in the context of the Saxon-Obotrite conflict, the Slavs in present-day northeast Germany started to build many forts – only few forts were built before. A second phase of extensive fort construction occurred in the 980s, in the context of the great uprising of 983.


Contemporary accounts

The course of the battle is described in
Widukind of Corvey Widukind of Corvey (c. 925after 973) was a medieval Saxon chronicler. His three-volume ''Res gestae Saxonicae sive annalium libri tres'' is an important chronicle of 10th-century Germany during the rule of the Ottonian dynasty. Life In view of ...
's chronicle '' Rerum gestarum Saxonicarum'' lib. III c. LIII-LV and, in less detail, in
Thietmar of Merseburg Thietmar (also Dietmar or Dithmar; 25 July 9751 December 1018), Prince-Bishop of Merseburg from 1009 until his death, was an important chronicler recording the reigns of German kings and Holy Roman Emperors of the Ottonian (Saxon) dynasty. Two ...
's ''
Chronicon In historiography, a ''chronicon'' is a type of chronicle or annals. Examples are: * ''Chronicon'' (Eusebius) * ''Chronicon'' (Jerome) *''Chronicon Abbatiae de Evesham'' *'' Chronicon Burgense'' *'' Chronicon Ambrosianum'' *''Chronicon Compostellan ...
'' lib. II.12. Short mentions of the battle are recorded in the respective paragraphs about the year 955 in the continuation of the annals of Prüm Abbey and the annals of St. Gallen Abbey.


Location

Sources are vague about the site of the battle. Widukind of Corvey said the battlefield was the swampy valley of a river named ''Raxa'', which has been identified as either the
Recknitz The Recknitz (historically known as ''Raxa'') is a river in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in northeastern Germany. The Recknitz's glacial valley stretches as far south as the heights at Glasewitz near Güstrow. The river has no definite source, but rathe ...
or
Elde The Elde () is a river in northern Germany (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and a few km in Brandenburg), a right tributary of the Elbe. Its total length is . The Elde originates near Altenhof, south of Malchow. It first flows southeast towards the southe ...
river.


Battle

According to
Timothy Reuter Timothy Alan Reuter (25 January 1947 – 14 October 2002), grandson of the former mayor of Berlin Ernst Reuter, was a German-British historian who specialized in the study of medieval Germany, particularly the social, military and ecclesiastical ...
, Otto I's army of the day was drawn from every ''regnum'' (
duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a Middle Ages, medieval country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once exis ...
) of the
German kingdom The Kingdom of Germany or German Kingdom ( la, regnum Teutonicorum "kingdom of the Germans", "German kingdom", "kingdom of Germany") was the mostly Germanic-speaking East Frankish kingdom, which was formed by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, especi ...
, even
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
. According to
Widukind of Corvey Widukind of Corvey (c. 925after 973) was a medieval Saxon chronicler. His three-volume ''Res gestae Saxonicae sive annalium libri tres'' is an important chronicle of 10th-century Germany during the rule of the Ottonian dynasty. Life In view of ...
, who gave the only surviving detailed record of the battle, Otto I's campaign came to a halt at the bank of the ''Raxa'' river, where the Obotrites and their allies, led by Stoigniew (Stoinef), had taken a defensive position on the opposite embankment. Otto's margrave
Gero Gero I ( – 20 May 965), sometimes called the Great ( la, magnus),Thompson, 486. Also se was a German nobleman who ruled an initially modest march centred on Merseburg in the south of the present German state of Saxony-Anhalt, which he expande ...
, together with the allied tribe of the ''Ruani'' – most probably the earliest mention of the
Rani ''Rani'' in Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia, sometimes spelled ''Ranee'', is a Hindu/Sanskrit feminine given name. The term is the female form of the term for princely rulers in South and Southeast Asia and applies equally to the wife of a ...
– secretly moved to a distinct part of the river to build three bridges, while a feint assault by the remaining forces distracted Stoigniew's army. Stoigniew realized too late that Otto's forces were already crossing the river on another side, and the ensuing encounter was won by the latter. The fate of Stoigniew is described by both Widukind of Corvey and
Thietmar of Merseburg Thietmar (also Dietmar or Dithmar; 25 July 9751 December 1018), Prince-Bishop of Merseburg from 1009 until his death, was an important chronicler recording the reigns of German kings and Holy Roman Emperors of the Ottonian (Saxon) dynasty. Two ...
. While both agree that he was decapitated, their accounts on how that happened differ: Widukind says that during the battle, Stoigniew was chased into a wood, defeated, disarmed and beheaded by a soldier named Hosed, who was handsomely rewarded after presenting Otto with Stoigniew's severed head.
Thietmar of Merseburg Thietmar (also Dietmar or Dithmar; 25 July 9751 December 1018), Prince-Bishop of Merseburg from 1009 until his death, was an important chronicler recording the reigns of German kings and Holy Roman Emperors of the Ottonian (Saxon) dynasty. Two ...
claims the captured Stoigniew, whom he calls Stoinneg, was decapitated by Otto. After the battle, according to Widukind, Stoinegin's head was raised on a pole and seven hundred captured Slavs were executed before sundown.Thompson (1928), p. 489. The annals of St. Gallen also report the violent death of Stoigniew, whom they name Ztoignav, but do not detail how he had died. They do however date the battle to the day of their patron,
Saint Gall Gall ( la, Gallus; 550 646) according to hagiographic tradition was a disciple and one of the traditional twelve companions of Columbanus on his mission from Ireland to the continent. Deicolus was the elder brother of Gall. Biography The ...
– i.e. 16 October.


Sources


References


Bibliography

;Primary sources *''
Annales Sangallenses maiores The ''Annales Sangallenses maiores'' (Latin for ''Greater Annals of St Gall'') are annals compiled in St Gallen, covering the years 927 through to 1059. They continue the ''Annales Alamannici The ''Annales Almannici'', which are also referred ...
editit I. ab Arx. Pars altera a. 919 – 1056,'' in Georg Heinrich Pertz (ed.): MGH SS 1, Hannover 1826
p. 79 (a. 955).
*''Reginonis abbatis Prumiensis Chronicon cum continuatione Treverensi,'' in Friedrich Kurze (ed.): MGH SS rer. Germ. 50, Hannover 1890
p. 168 (a. 955).
*'' Thietmari Merseburgensis episcopi chronicon,'' in Robert Holtzman (ed.): ''Die Chronik des Bischofs Thietmar von Merseburg und ihre Korveier Überarbeitung.'' MGH SS rer. Germ. NS 9, Berlin 1935
pp. 50 ff.
*'' Widukindi monachi Corbeiensis rerum gestarum Saxonicarum libri tres,'' in Paul Hirsch et al. (eds.): MGH SS rer. Germ. 60, Hannover 1935
pp. 132 ff.
;Literature *Joachim Henning: ''Der slawische Siedlungsraum und die ottonische Expansion östlich der Elbe. Ereignisgeschichte – Archäologie – Dendrochronologie.'' In: Joachim Henning (ed.): Europa im 10. Jahrhundert. Archäologie einer Aufbruchszeit. Internationale Tagung in Vorbereitung der Ausstellung "Otto der Große, Magdeburg und Europa," Mainz 2002, pp. 131–146. *Leyser, Karl
"Henry I and the Beginnings of the Saxon Empire."
''The English Historical Review'', Vol. 83, No. 326. (Jan., 1968), pp 1–32. *Heike Reimann, Fred Ruchhöft, Cornelia Willich: Rügen im Mittelalter. Eine interdisziplinäre Studie zur mittelalterlichen Besiedlung auf Rügen (Forschungen zur Geschichte und Kultur des Östlichen Mitteleuropa vol. 36), Stuttgart 2011. *
Timothy Reuter Timothy Alan Reuter (25 January 1947 – 14 October 2002), grandson of the former mayor of Berlin Ernst Reuter, was a German-British historian who specialized in the study of medieval Germany, particularly the social, military and ecclesiastical ...
: ''Germany in the Early Middle Ages 800–1056''. New York: Longman, 1991. *
James Westfall Thompson James Westfall Thompson (1869–1941) was an American historian specializing in the history of medieval and early modern Europe, particularly of the Holy Roman Empire and France. He also made noteworthy contributions to the history of literacy, Hist ...
: ''Feudal Germany''. 2 vol. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1928. {{DEFAULTSORT:Raxa, Battle on the 950s conflicts Battles involving the Holy Roman Empire Obotrites 955 10th century in East Francia 10th century in Germany