Obotrites

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The Obotrites (German: Abodriten), also commonly known as the Obodrites, Abotrites, or Abodrites, were a confederation of medieval West Slavic tribes within the territory of modern Mecklenburg and Holstein in northern Germany (see Polabian Slavs). For decades they were allies of Charlemagne in his wars against Germanic Saxons and Slavic Veleti. In 798 the Obodrites, ruled by prince Dröko, defeated Saxons in the battle under ¿wi¿ciana. The still heathen Saxons were dispersed by the emperor, and part of their former land in Holstein, including Hamburg, was awarded to the Obotrites in 804, as a reward for their victory. The Bavarian Geographer, an anonymous medieval document compiled in Regensburg in 830, contains a list of the tribes in Central Eastern Europe to the east of the Elbe. The list includes the Nortabtrezi (Obotrites) - with 53 civitates. Adam of Bremen referred to them as the Reregi because of their lucrative trade emporium Reric. In common with other Slavic groups, they were often described by Germanic sources as Wends.