View source for Wends

==History==

===Rise (500–1000)===
In the 1st millennium AD, during the [[Slavs|Slavic]] migrations which split the Slavs into Southern, Eastern and Western groups, some [[West Slavs]] moved into the areas between the Rivers Elbe and Oder - moving from east to west and from south to north. There they assimilated the remaining [[Germanic peoples#History|Germanic]] population that had not left the area in the [[Migration period]].<ref>[[Sebastian Brather|Brather, Sebastian]] (2004). "[https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00112980 The beginnings of Slavic settlement east of the river Elbe]". ''Antiquity'', Volume 78, Issue 300. pp. 314–329</ref> Their German neighbours adapted the term they had been using for peoples east of the River Elbe before to the Slavs, calling them ''Wends'' as they called the ''Venedi'' before and probably the ''[[Vandals]]'' as well. In his late sixth century work ''[[History of Armenia (book)|History of Armenia]]'', [[Movses Khorenatsi]] mentions their raids into the lands named Vanand after them.<ref>Istorija Armenii Mojseja Horenskogo, II izd. Per. N. O. Emina, M., 1893, s.55-56.</ref>

The Wends are mentioned in Fredegar IV.74–75. They lived east of the river Elbe and were neighbours of the Saxons. The Saxons paid tribute to the Merovingian Kingdom since Chlothar I (511–561). They had to pay 500 cows yearly and had the obligation to guard the sector of the Frankish border against the Wends. However, the Saxons broke their oath under Dagobert I which resulted in frequent raids of Wends into Frankish territory and spreading out over Thuringia and other territory. The Saxon duplicity is one of the reasons for future military campaigns against them by the Carolingians, especially Charles Martel and Charlemagne.

While the Wends were arriving in so-called ''Germania Slavica'' as large homogeneous groups, they soon divided into a variety of small tribes, with large strips of woodland separating one tribal settlement area from another. Their tribal names were derived from local place names, sometimes adopting the Germanic tradition (e.g. [[Heveller]] from ''Havel'', [[Rani (Slavic tribe)|Rujanes]] from [[Rugians]]). Settlements were secured by round ''burghs'' made of wood and clay, where either people could retreat in case of a raid from the neighbouring tribe or used as military strongholds or outposts.

Some tribes unified into larger, duchy-like units. For example, the [[Obotrites]] evolved from the unification of the ''[[Holstein]]'' and Western ''[[Mecklenburg]]'' tribes led by mighty dukes known for their raids into German [[Old Saxony|Saxony]]. The [[Lutici]] were an alliance of tribes living between Obotrites and Pomeranians. They did not unify under a duke, but remained independent. Their leaders met in the temple of [[Rethra]].

In 983, many Wend tribes participated in a great uprising against the [[Holy Roman Empire]], which had previously established Christian missions, German colonies and German administrative institutions (''Marken'' such as ''[[Northern March|Nordmark]]'' and ''[[Billungermark]]'') in pagan Wendish territories. The uprising was successful and the Wends delayed Germanisation for about two centuries.

Wends and Danes had early and continuous contact including settlement, first and mainly through the closest South Danish islands of [[Møn]], [[Lolland]] and [[Falster]], all having place-names of Wendish origin{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}. There were also trading and settlement outposts by Danish towns as important as Roskilde, when it was the capital: 'Vindeboder' (Wends' booths) is the name of a city neighbourhood there. Danes and Wends also fought wars due to piracy and crusading.<ref>{{cite web |title=Venderne og Danmark |url=http://static.sdu.dk/mediafiles//Files/Om_SDU/Institutter/Ihks/Projekter/Middelalderstudier/Venderne_og_Danmark.pdf |archive-date=November 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121116144129/http://static.sdu.dk/mediafiles//Files/Om_SDU/Institutter/Ihks/Projekter/Middelalderstudier/Venderne_og_Danmark.pdf }}</ref>

===Decline (1000–1200)===
{{Main|Wendish Crusade}}
After their successes in 983 the Wends came under increasing pressure from Germans, [[Denmark|Danes]], and [[Polish people|Poles]]. The Poles invaded [[Pomerania]] several times. The Danes often raided the Baltic shores (and, in turn, the Wends often raided the raiders). The Holy Roman Empire and its [[margrave]]s tried to restore their marches.

In 1068/69, a German expedition took and destroyed [[Rethra]], one of the major pagan Wend temples. The Wendish religious centre shifted to [[Cape Arkona|Arkona]] thereafter. In 1124 and 1128, the Pomeranians and some Lutici were baptised. In 1147, the ''[[Wendish Crusade|Wend crusade]]'' took place in what is today north-eastern Germany. This did not, however, affect the Wendish people in today's [[Saxony]], where a relatively stable co-existence of German and Slavic inhabitants as well as close dynastic and diplomatic cooperation of Wendish and German nobility had been achieved (see: [[Wiprecht of Groitzsch]]).

In 1168, during the [[Northern Crusades]], [[Denmark]] mounted a crusade led by Bishop [[Absalon]] and King [[Valdemar I of Denmark|Valdemar the Great]] against the [[Rani (Slavic tribe)|Wends of Rugia]] in order to convert them to Christianity. The crusaders [[Siege of Arkona|captured and destroyed Arkona]], the Wendish temple-fortress, and tore down the statue of the Wendish god [[Svetovid|Svantevit]]. With the capitulation of the Rugian Wends, the last independent pagan Wends were defeated by the surrounding Christian feudal powers.

From the 12th to the 14th centuries, Germanic settlers moved into the Wendish lands in large numbers, transforming the area's culture from a Slavic to a Germanic one. Local dukes and monasteries invited settlers to repopulate farmlands devastated in the wars, as well as to cultivate new farmlands from the expansive woodlands and heavy soils, with the use of iron-based agricultural tools that had developed in Western Europe. Concurrently, a large number of new towns were created under [[German town law]] with the introduction of legally enforced markets, contracts and property rights. These developments over two centuries were collectively known as the {{Lang|de|[[Ostsiedlung]]}} (German eastward expansion). A minority of Germanic settlers moved beyond the Wendish territory into Hungary, Bohemia and Poland, where they were generally welcomed for their skills in farming and craftsmanship.

The [[Polabian language]] was spoken in the central area of [[Lower Saxony]] and in [[Brandenburg]] until around the 17th or 18th century.<ref>[[Harry van der Hulst]]. ''Word Prosodic Systems in the Languages of Europe.'' Walter de Gruyter. 1999. p. 837.</ref><ref>[[Britannica Online Encyclopedia]]. [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/335581/Lekhitic-languages#ref32572 Lekhitic languages]. {{Retrieved| access-date=2013-03-09}}</ref> The German population assimilated most of the Wends, meaning that they disappeared as an ethnic minority - except for the [[Sorbs]]. Yet many place names and some family names in eastern Germany still show Wendish origins today. Also, the [[Duke of Mecklenburg|Dukes of Mecklenburg]], of [[Principality of Rügen|Rügen]] and of [[Dukes of Pomerania|Pomerania]] had Wendish ancestors.

Between 1540 and 1973, the kings of [[Sweden]] were officially called ''kings of the [[Swedish people|Swedes]], the [[King of the Goths|Goths]] and the [[King of the Wends|Wends]]'' ({{Langx|la|Suecorum, Gothorum et Vandalorum Rex}}; {{Langx|sv|Svears, Götes och Wendes Konung}}). From the Middle Ages, the kings of [[Denmark]] and of [[Denmark–Norway]] also used the titles ''King of the [[King of the Wends|Wends]]'' (from 1362) and ''[[King of the Goths|Goths]]'' (from the 12th century). The use of both titles was discontinued in 1972 by Queen [[Margrethe II]] of Denmark, and in 1973 by King [[Carl XVI Gustaf]] of Sweden.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lagen.nu/1973:702 |title=Kungl. Maj:ts kungörelse med anledning av konung Gustaf VI Adolfs frånfälle |publisher=Lagen.nu |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140712202406/https://lagen.nu/1973:702 |archive-date=12 July 2014}}</ref>