The Hevelli or Hevellians/ Navellasîni (sometimes ''Havolane''; or ''Stodoranen''; or ''Stodoranie''; or ''Stodorané'') were a tribe of the Polabian Slavs, who settled around the middle

Havel The Havel () is a river in northeastern Germany, flowing through the States of Germany, states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. The long Havel is a right tributary of the Elbe. However, the direct distance from ...

river in the present-day Havelland region of

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

in eastern

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

from the 8th century onwards. West Slavic tribes (" Wends") had settled in the '' Germania Slavica'' region from the 7th century onwards. The ''Hehfeldi'' as they were called by the Bavarian Geographer about 850 built their main fortification at Brenna (later to become

Brandenburg an der Havel Brandenburg an der Havel (; ) is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, which served as the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg until it was replaced by Berlin in 1417. With a population of 72,040 (as of 2020), it is located on the banks of the ...

) and a large eastern outpost at the current site of Spandau. In 906 the Hevelli princess Drahomíra married the Přemyslid duke Vratislaus I of Bohemia. Baçlabič was the prince of Hevelli from 921-936, succeeded by Tugumir.Hirsch, Paul and H.-E. Lohmann (eds.), (1935). ''Die Sachsengeschichte des Widukind von Korvei''. MGH Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum 60. Hanover. Brenna was occupied by the German king Henry the Fowler in his 928/29 Slavic campaign and incorporated into the ''

Marca Geronis The ''Marca Geronis'' or March of Gero was a vast marches, super-march in the middle of the tenth century. It was probably created for Thietmar, Margrave of Merseburg, Thietmar in the 920s and passed consecutively to his two sons, Siegfried, Margra ...

''. Henry's successor Otto I in 948 established the Bishopric of Brandenburg in order to Christianize the pagan population. These efforts were aborted in the course of the 983 Great Slav Rising in the Northern March, which again defied German control over the region. Together with the neighbouring Sprevane in the east, the Hevelli waged war against not only the German Saxon forces to the west, but also other Slavic tribes. The baptized Hevelli prince Pribislav (died 1150) finally bequested his lands to the Ascanian count

Albert the Bear Albert the Bear (; 1100 – 18 November 1170) was the first margrave of Brandenburg from 1157 to his death and was briefly duke of Saxony between 1138 and 1142. Life Albert was the only son of Otto, Count of Ballenstedt, and Eilika of Sa ...

. Albert until 1157 could re-conquer the territory of the former Northern March, whereafter he established the Margraviate of Brandenburg. The Slavic Hevelli were gradually assimilated by German settlers in the course of the '' Ostsiedlung''.

References

genealogie-mittelalter.de
(German) {{Slavic ethnic groups (VII-XII century) Polabian Slavs Lechites Havelland

See also

References