Charenza, also Karentia or Karenz, later also Gharense, was a medieval '' Slavic burgwall'' on the island of

Rügen Rügen (; Rani: ''Rȯjana'', ''Rāna''; , ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic ci ...

in 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 ...

. It was the administrative centre of the Rani tribe and of the

Principality of Rugia A principality (or sometimes princedom) is a type of monarchical state or feudal territory ruled by a prince or princess. It can be either a sovereign state or a constituent part of a larger political entity. The term "principality" is often ...

. Today, the remnants are called Venz Castle ().

Name

The name Charenza (also spelt ''Karentia'' or ''Karenz'') may be derived from an old personal name, ''Chareta'', or from the Rani word for "root", ''Koreta''. In its original form, the name was Korenitsa.

Temples

Charenza was not only the administrative hub of the Rani tribe, but also a religious centre with the temples of Rugievit, Porevit and Porenut. The main religious centre of the Rani, however, was Arkona on Wittow.

Danish conquest

In 1168, King Valdemar I of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

and his archbishop

Absalon Absalon (21 March 1201) was a Danish statesman and prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the bishop of Roskilde from 1158 to 1192 and archbishop of Lund from 1178 until his death. He was the foremost politician and church father of De ...

captured Arkona. Charenza surrendered a few days later after negotiations with the Rugian princes Tetzlav and Jaromar I. The temples were destroyed, the princes agreed to become Danish vassals and the population adopted the Christian faith. In 1180, the administrative centre of the

was moved to

Rugard The Rugard, at , is the highest elevation in the central region of the German Baltic Sea island of Rügen. This push end moraine was formed in the Weichselian glaciation, last ice age and lies on the northeastern perimeter of the town of Bergen ...

(today

Bergen auf Rügen Bergen auf Rügen is the capital of the former district of Rügen in the middle of the island of Rügen in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. Since 1 January 2005, Bergen has moreover been the administrative seat of the '' Amt'' of Bergen au ...

, just a few kilometres to the southeast).

Records

In the 12th century, Charenza was mentioned by

Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. He is the author ...

and Helmold von Bosau. The last records are from the early 13th century. When the Danish king raised money to build 12 churches on

, one of them was the ''capelle nostre in Charenz'', which in 1232 was granted the village of Gagern as a fief. In 1234, when the Rugian prince Vitslav I granted

Lübeck law The Lübeck law () 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 municipal law in medieval and e ...

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish language, Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German language, German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklen ...

, the document was signed in Charenza. The last record mentioning Charenza was in 1237. In the 14th century, "Gharense" was mentioned as belonging to the parish of Gingst.

Coordinates

Older research located Charenza at Garz (), while newer studies locate Charenza near Venz ( Trent community, ), the supposed site of Gharense, which also fits the hints given in the ''

Gesta Danorum ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark and is an essentia ...

'' of

for Charenza's location.

References

*Kratzke, Reimann, Ruchhöft: ''Garz und Rugendahl auf Rügen im Mittelalter.'' In: ''Baltische Studien 2004 – Pommersche Jahrbücher für Landesgeschichte.'' Neue Folge Bd. 90, Verlag Ludwig, Kiel 2005, pp. 25–52, *Sven Wichert: ''Beobachtungen zu Karentia auf Rügen im Mittelalter.'' In: ''Baltische Studien 2005 – Pommersche Jahrbücher für Landesgeschichte.'' Neue Folge Bd. 91, Verlag Ludwig, Kiel 2006, pp. 31–38, {{ISBN, 3-937719-35-0

External links

Garz Castle
Principality of Rügen Early Slavic archaeology