Stoigniew (died October 16, 955) was an

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 ( ...

leader, reigning in the middle of the tenth century. He is mentioned as a member of the princely

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 the medieval chronicles of

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 ...

and

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 ...

. He was the co-ruler of the Obotrites, and, according to Thietmar's Chronicle written in 1012/1018, the brother of Prince

Nakon Nako, Nakon, Nakko, or Nacco (flourished 954 – c. 966) was an Obotrite leader who, along with his brother Stoigniew, led the forces of a Slavic confederacy in a revolt against the Germans, especially Herman Billung, Duke of Saxony. Małeck ...

. Widukind, in his '' Res gestae Saxonicae'' about 70 years earlier, mentioned a ''princeps barbarorum'' as Nakon's brother, though without giving his name. Both ruled over large territories of the

Polabian Slavs 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 ...

, roughly corresponding to present-day

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 the adjacent parts of

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 ...

up to the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) 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 Repu ...

river. Another interpretation denotes Stoigniew as an autonomous ruler in the Circipania territory. An entry in the ''

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 ...

'' report that in October 955, Stoigniew led the united Slavic forces of Obotrite,

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

, Circipani and

Tollensians The Tollensians ( la, Tholenzi, pl, Dołężanie, Tolężanie, Dolency, Doleczanie) were a West Slavic tribe inhabiting the shores of the lower and middle Tollense (Dołęża) river, after which they were named. They were part of the Veleti/Lutici ...

into the

Battle on the Raxa 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, northeast Germany) between the forces of Otto I of Germany allied with the Rani tr ...

against the

East Frankish East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire, empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided t ...

(

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 **Ger ...

) king

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Francia, East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the olde ...

. Previous negotiations with the

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 ...

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 ...

had failed. The Obotrites were defeated and Stoigniew was beheaded by one of Otto's knights.

Annotations

*Name: also spelled Stojgniew, Stojgnev, Stoinef, Stoiniew, Stoinneg, Ztoignav. Obotrite princes 10th-century births People executed by decapitation 955 deaths