Liubice, also known by the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
name Alt-Lübeck ("Old Lübeck"), was a medieval
West Slavic settlement near the site of modern
Lübeck
Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...
,
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 ...
. Liubice was located at the confluence of the
Schwartau with the
Trave
The Trave () is a river in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is approximately long, running from its source near the village of Gießelrade in Ostholstein to Travemünde, where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It passes through Bad Segeberg, Bad Old ...
across from
Teerhof Island, approximately four kilometres north of Lübeck's island old town. The residence of
Henry
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
, the Christian prince of the
Obotrites
The Obotrites ( la, Obotriti, Abodritorum, Abodritos…) or Obodrites, also spelled Abodrites (german: Abodriten), were a confederation of medieval West Slavs, West Slavic tribes within the territory of modern Mecklenburg and Holstein in norther ...
, Liubice was destroyed after his death by the pagan
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 ...
of
Rugia.
History
Slavic tribes began migrating to the
Bay of Lübeck
The Bay of Lübeck (, ) is a basin in the southwestern Baltic Sea, off the shores of German states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein. It forms the southwestern part of the Bay of Mecklenburg.
The main port is Travemünde, a b ...
in the 7th century, replacing migrating
Germanic tribes
The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...
. The
Wagri
The Wagri, Wagiri, or Wagrians were a tribe of Polabian Slavs inhabiting Wagria, or eastern Holstein in northern Germany, from the ninth to twelfth centuries. They were a constituent tribe of the Obodrite confederacy.
In the Slavic uprisings of 9 ...
ans and
Polabians
Polabian Slavs ( dsb, Połobske słowjany, pl, Słowianie połabscy, cz, Polabští slované) is a collective term applied to a number of Lechitic ( West Slavic) tribes who lived scattered along the Elbe river in what is today eastern German ...
established numerous villages and castles, including
Starigard
Oldenburg in Holstein () is a town at the southwestern shore of the Baltic Sea. The nearest city is Lübeck. The town belongs to the (historical) region of Holstein, today in the state Schleswig-Holstein of Germany.
Oldenburg was the chief tow ...
,
Plune,
Racisburg, and Liubice, whose name means "lovely".
Liubice was sparsely populated during the 9th and 10th centuries. In the middle of the 11th century, the settlement began to develop. Starting in 1055 during the rule of
Gottschalk Gottschalk or Godescalc (Old High German) is a male German name that can be translated literally as " servant of God". Latin forms include ''Godeschalcus'' and ''Godescalcus''.
Given name
* Godescalc of Benevento, 8th-century Lombard duke
*Godescal ...
, a
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
prince of the
Obotrite confederacy, the old castle was rebuilt. Gottschalk was killed during an uprising in 1066 and replaced as Obotrite prince by the
pagan
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...
Kruto
Kruto the Wende (or Cruto) (died 1093), son of Grin or Grinus, was a prince of Wagria.Joachim Herrmann, ''Die Slawen in Deutschland'' (Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1985), 366. James Westfall Thompson believed his family belonged to the Rani of Rugia ...
. Liubice's castle was modified for the second time in 1087, near the end of Kruto's reign. Because the fortifications were located on a peninsula between the Schwartau and Trave Rivers, a twelve metre wide trench was created to separate Liubice from the mainland, essentially creating an island fortress.
Liubice reached its height during the reign of the prince or "King of the Slavs", the Christian
Henry
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
, who avenged his father Gottschalk's death by killing Kruto in 1093. The harbour settlement of Liubice, which lay in the borderland between the Wagrians, Polabians, and Obotrites, was chosen as Henry's royal residence. The relatively small castle's walls had a diameter of approximately 75 to 100 metres. The castle church built by Henry c. 1100 was the earliest discernible stone construction in the region; members of the princely family were buried inside the church. The princely palace probably lay northwest of the castle's own Christian church, while a granary was east of the church. Cattle stalls were located to the southeast next to the ramparts. The castle complex also contained houses for the garrison and probably goldsmithing workshops or a
mint
MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...
. The castle was surrounded by a wooden earthworks with a southern gate. Southwest of the castle under the protection of its walls was a settlement of craftsmen. To the northwest across the trench was a poorer settlement, probably of servants. To the southwest across the Trave was a colony of foreign, mostly
Saxon
The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic
*
*
*
*
peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
, merchants who were allowed their own Christian church.
Around 1100 Liubice was besieged by the fleet of the pagan
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 ...
, but with the assistance of Saxons from
Holstein
Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...
, Henry forced the Rani to pay tribute.
[Herrmann, p. 218] The Obotrite state collapsed after the death of Henry and end of the
Nakonid The Nakonids were the leading noble family of the Slavic peoples of the Elbe River from ca. 960 until 1129. They were themselves of Obotrite origin and engineered the formation of a Slavic principality in the region. They became extinct in the male ...
dynasty in 1127; the Rani returned to sack Liubice in 1128.
With the death of
Canute Lavard
Canute Lavard ( Danish: Knud Lavard; cognate with English Lord) (12 March 1096 – 7 January 1131) was a Danish prince. Later he was the first Duke of Schleswig and the first border prince who was both a Danish and a German vassal, a position ...
in 1131, the Obotrite lands were partitioned between
Niklot
Niklot or Nyklot (1090 – August 1160) was a chief or prince of the Slavic Obotrites and an ancestor of the House of Mecklenburg. He became chief of the Obotrite confederacy, including the Kissini and the Circipani, between the years 1130 and 11 ...
, who received
Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg (; nds, label=Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) 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 ...
, and
Pribislav, who received
Wagria
WagriaArnold, Benjamin (1991). ''Princes and territories in medieval Germany'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, p. 156. . (german: Wagrien, ''Waierland'' or ''Wagerland'') is the northeastern part of Holstein in the German state ...
and Polabia. Pribislav chose Liubice as his residence in order to assert his claims for the inheritance of Henry, but he was reduced to being a Saxon vassal in Wagria after being defeated by
Henry of Badewide
Henry of Badewide (or Badwide) (german: Heinrich von Badewide) (died ca. 1164) was a Saxon Count of Botwide (after 1149) and Count of Ratzeburg (after 1156).
Henry came from a knightly family from Lüneburg. He took his name from Bode near Ebst ...
in the late 1130s. Liubice and the
Oldenburg region were ravaged by another Rani campaign in 1138 in which the castle's church was destroyed.
Granted Wagria and
Segeberg
Segeberg (; frr, Segebärj) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the southwest and clockwise) the districts of Pinneberg, Steinburg and Rendsburg-Eckernförde, the city of Neumünster, the districts of Plön, Ost ...
by Duke
Henry the Lion
Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180.
Henry was one of the most powerful German p ...
in 1143, Count
Adolf II of Holstein
Adolf II of Holstein ( – 6 July 1164) was the Count of Schauenburg and Holstein from 1130 until his death, though he was briefly out of Holstein from 1137 until 1142. He succeeded his father Adolf I under the regency of his mother, Hildewa. ...
founded the new
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
settlement of
Lübeck
Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...
four kilometres from Liubice on a peninsula called
Bucu
Bucu or Buku is a hill island surrounded by the Trave and Wakenitz Rivers in Lübeck, Germany. It is also the name of a medieval Slavic castle, now ruined, on the island. Count Adolf II of Holstein founded Lübeck on the island in 1143. The ''Bu ...
at the confluence of the
Wakenitz
The Wakenitz is a river in southeastern Schleswig-Holstein and at the border to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
The Wakenitz's source is the Ratzeburger See in Ratzeburg. It is about long and drains into the Trave in Lübeck. The majority of its eas ...
with the Trave.
[Herrmann, p. 320] The remaining Slavic inhabitants of the region held their assemblies at Lübeck's
Marienkirche until the 13th century. Some of the older Slavic laws were incorporated into Lübeck's city code,
Lübeck law
The Lübeck law (german: Lübisches (Stadt)Recht) was the family of codified municipal law developed at Lübeck, which became a free imperial city in 1226 and is located in present day Schleswig-Holstein. It was the second most prevalent form of ...
.
Excavation
Archaeological findings in the 1970s indicated that Liubice was older than previously thought. The oldest wall dates back to 819, while further sections of the wall date to 1055 and 1087. Dendrochronological date indicates two repairs on the wall and activity inside of the castle in 1002 and 1035. The stone church, discovered in 1852, was preceded by a wooden church. Plaiting and block construction were found scattered inside the ruins of the castle complex.
See also
*
Timeline of Lübeck
Footnotes
References
*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liubice
Destroyed cities
History of Lübeck
Ruins in Germany
West Slavic history
Obotrites
Archaeological sites in Germany
1138 in Europe