Thrasco (Latin: Thrasucon, Drascon)(*Daržĭkŭ) (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

795 – 810) was the Prince (

knyaz A , also , ''knjaz'' or (), is a historical Slavs, Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times. It is usually translated into English language, English as 'prince', 'king' or 'duke', depending on specific historical c ...

) of the Obotrite confederation from 795 until his death in 810. He succeeded his father, Witzlaus II, who had been ambushed and killed by the revolting

Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

. Thrasco defeated the Saxons in the battle on Schwentine River in 798. He was murdered in

Reric Reric or Rerik was one of the Viking Age multi-ethnic Slavic- Scandinavian emporia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, located near Wismar in the present-day German state of Mecklenburg-VorpommernOle Harck, Christian Lübke, Zwischen Reri ...

in 810. Thrasco had a son, Cedragus, the Obotrite prince from 819 to 826.

Background

The Obotrites were a confederation of West Slavic tribe that lived on the shores of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

on the areas of nowadays

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

and

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

. Thrasco's father, Witzlaus II (r. 747-795), assumed power in 747, shortly after the death of his father Aribert II (r. 724–747). As allies to Frankish King

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

, Witzlaus II marched against the

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

in 782 and devastated their army (see Saxon wars, middle phase). The Franks issued a

blood court High, middle and low justices are notions dating from Western feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judicial power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the holders could inflict upon their subjects and other dependents. The scale ...

, and massacred 4,500 Saxon captives at Verden. This provoked the nearby Slavic tribe of

Veleti The Veleti, also known as Veletians, Wilzi, Wielzians, and Wiltzes, were a group of medieval Lechitic tribes within the territory of Western Pomerania, related to Polabian Slavs. They had formed together the Confederation of the Veleti, also kn ...

, which hated the Franks, to assemble under their leader Dragovit, including the Linonen Slavs and the

Danes Danes (, ), or Danish people, are an ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. History Early history Denmark ...

. The Frankish-led contingent of Obotrites,

Sorbs Sorbs (; ; ; ; ; also known as Lusatians, Lusatian Serbs and Wends) are a West Slavs, West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting the parts of Lusatia located in the German states of Germany, states of Saxony and Brandenburg. Sorbs tradi ...

and

Frisians The Frisians () are an ethnic group indigenous to the German Bight, coastal regions of the Netherlands, north-western Germany and southern Denmark. They inhabit an area known as Frisia and are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland an ...

crossed the

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

and

Havel The Havel () is a river in northeastern Germany, flowing through the States of Germany, states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. The long Havel is a right tributary of the Elbe. However, the direct distance from ...

and defeated the outnumbered army of Dragovit in 786, or by 789. The Veleti were forced to recognize Frankish suzerainty, and pledge loyalty, as well as surrender a large number of hostages. Dragovit was obliged to pay tribute to the Franks and to accept the baptism of his people by Christian missionaries. The Nordalbingians (Saxons) revolted against the Franks once again, and Witzlaus was dispatched to tackle them, however, he was caught and killed in an ambush in Liuini, in 795.

Life

Thrasco succeeded his father, and continued the warfare against the Saxons. An Engrian revolt followed in 796, but Charlemagne's personal presence and the aid of loyal Christian Saxons and Slavs (including Obotrites) immediately crushed it. Charlemagne then continued his goal to convert

Old Saxony Old Saxony was the homeland of the Saxons who fought the Frankish empire during the Early Middle Ages, until they conquered it and converted it into a Carolingian stem duchy in the 8th century, the Duchy of Saxony. Contemporary authors such a ...

into Christianity from paganism. The Frankish-Obotrite forces were led by Thrasco and ''legatus'' Eburisus. According to

Einhard Einhard (also Eginhard or Einhart; ; 775 – 14 March 840) was a Franks, Frankish scholar and courtier. Einhard was a dedicated servant of Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious; his main work is a biography of Charlemagne, the ''Vita Karoli M ...

's chronicles, the Nordalbingians lost 4,000 soldiers and were forced to retreat. The battle finally ended the Nordalbingian resistance to Christianization. Charlemagne ordered further massacres, and deportations; their areas in

became sparsely populated and were given to the Obotrites. The Sorbs then ended their vassalage to the Franks and revolted, invading

Austrasia Austrasia was the northeastern kingdom within the core of the Francia, Frankish Empire during the Early Middle Ages, centring on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers. It included the original Frankish-ruled territories within what had ...

Charles the Younger Charles the Younger ( – 4 December 811) was the son of the Frankish ruler Charlemagne and his wife Queen Hildegard. Charlemagne's second son, Charles gained favour over his older, possibly illegitimate half brother Pepin. Charles was entruste ...

launched a campaign against the

Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

in 805, and after killing Duke Lecho of the Bohemians, Charles himself crossed the

Saale The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale ( ) and Thuringian Saale (), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Fränkische Saale, Franconian Saale, a right-bank tributary of the M ...

with his army and killed Sorbian princes

Miliduch Miliduch (also Miliduh and , , ; d. 806) was a knyaz of the Sorbs_(tribe), Sorbs. Formerly allied to Charlemagne, the Sorbs ended their vassalage to the Franks and rebelled, invading Austrasia. Charles the Younger launched a campaign against the S ...

and Nussito, near modern-day

Weißenfels Weißenfels (; often written in English as Weissenfels) is the largest town of the Burgenlandkreis district, in southern Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, approximately south of Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle. His ...

, in 806. The region was laid to waste, upon which the other Slavic chieftains submitted and gave hostages. In 808, Danish king

Gudfred Gudfred was a ninth century Danish king who reigned from at least 804 to 810. Alternate spellings include ''Godfred'' (Danish), ''Göttrick'' (German), ''Gøtrik'' (Danish), ''Gudrød'' (Danish), and ''Godofredus'' (Latin). He stands at the thre ...

, after building the

Danevirke The Danevirke or Danework (modern Danish language, Danish spelling: ''Dannevirke''; in Old Norse language, Old Norse: ''Danavirki'', in German language, German: ''Danewerk'', literally meaning ''Earthworks (archaeology), earthwork of the Danes'') ...

(for the defence of a possible Frankish attack), crossed into Obotrite area at

(modern

Wismar Wismar (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar () is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city of Mecklenburg after Rostock, Schwerin and ...

) and forced them to acknowledge him as their suzerain. The port was part of a strategic trade route, and Gudfred destroyed the town and forced the merchants to resettle at

Hedeby Hedeby (, Old Norse: ''Heiðabýr'', German: ''Haithabu'') was an important Danish Viking Age (8th to the 11th centuries) trading settlement near the southern end of the Jutland Peninsula, now in the Schleswig-Flensburg district of Schleswig ...

(in Danevirke). In 810, Thrasco was murdered by a vassal of Gudfred in Reric.Chronicon Moissiacense 810

Aftermath

The Frankish subjects in the frontiers were quiet for a decade, then the

revolted in 816, and were quickly followed by the Obotrites, led by Slavomir, Thrasco's successor. Slavomir was however abandoned by his people, and by 818, Cedragus, Thrasco's son, inherited the leadership of the Obotrites.

Annotations

Notes

References

Primary sources

Secondary sources

* Nalepa J., ''Drożko'' :''Słownik Starożytności Słowiańskich'', t. I, Wrocław 1961, (całość), pp. 387–388 * Łowmiański H., ''Początki Polski'', t. V, Warszawa 1973, p. 252, 255–256 * Turasiewicz A., ''Dzieje polityczne Obodrzyców: od IX wieku do utraty niepodległości w latach 1160–1164'', Kraków 2004, , p. 45–51 * Wachowski K., ''Słowiańszczyzna zachodnia'', Poznań 2000, (Wznowienia, t. 6), , , p. 58–59, 69–72, 74, 77–78, * * *
The History Of Vandalia: Containing The Ancient And Present State Of ..., Thomas Nugent
* *Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI), Vol. 9, Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, JSTOR (Organization), 1880, p. 224 *J. F. Verbruggen, The art of warfare in Western Europe during the Middle Ages, pp. 314–315 {{DEFAULTSORT:Thrasco 810 deaths Obotrite princes Year of birth unknown