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Reric or Rerik was one of the
Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...
multi-ethnic Slavic- Scandinavian emporia on the southern coast of 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 ...
, located near
Wismar Wismar (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar () is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city of Mecklenburg after Rostock, Schwerin and ...
in the present-day German state of
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its Anglicisation, anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a Federated state, state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's States of Germany, sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpom ...
Ole Harck, Christian Lübke, Zwischen Reric und Bornhöved: Die Beziehungen zwischen den Dänen und ihren slawischen Nachbarn vom 9. Bis ins 13. Jahrhundert: Beiträge einer internationalen Konferenz, Leipzig, 4.-6. Dezember 1997, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2001, p.25, Reric was established probably in 735Tummuscheit 2013: 107 shortly after
Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...
of the Obodrite tribe had started to settle the region.Ole Harck, Christian Lübke, Zwischen Reric und Bornhöved: Die Beziehungen zwischen den Dänen und ihren slawischen Nachbarn vom 9. Bis ins 13. Jahrhundert: Beiträge einer internationalen Konferenz, Leipzig, 4.-6. Dezember 1997, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2001, pp.11,12, At the turn of the 9th century, the citizens of Reric allied with
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
, who used the port as part of a strategic trade route that would avoid areas of
Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...
and Danish control. It was destroyed in 808 AD by the Viking (Danish) king Gudfred. The destroyed place was rebuilt by the Obodrites and continued to operate for a short until Drasco was murdered in Reric in 810 at the instigation of Gudfred. After that, the tradespeople were reportedly moved by the king to the Viking emporium of Hedeby (also ''Haithabu'') near modern Schleswig.


Location

The location of Reric was long disputed. Older theories suggested Oldenburg,
Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...
,S. Brathe
Rerik
// Johannes Hoops ''Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde'' 2nd edition, Walter de Gruyter, 2003, pp.514,515,
Mecklenburg Castle, and Alt-Gaarz, renamed Rerik in 1938. Since the 1990s, Reric is thought to be identical with an archaeological site near Groß Strömkendorf, located on the eastern shore of the Bay of Wismar. This version is based on results presented by the
University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...
and
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its Anglicisation, anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a Federated state, state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's States of Germany, sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpom ...
's State Department for Archaeology, who partially excavated about 20
hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...
s of the site between 1995 and 1999.


Archaeology

There is a certain amount of circumstantial evidence for Groß Strömkendorf being Reric such as identical foundation and destruction dates. Groß Strömkendorf was a deep water port with a planned layout. Initially north of the present site, the earlier settlement - probably established in 735 - was gradually moved south in the 760s, the original area being turned into a cemetery. The new, extended site contained buildings similar to the sunken floor buildings of West Stow in England. Pottery included, among others, tatting ware and shelly ware. The primary type of pottery found so far was the
Sukow Sukow is a municipality in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 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 ...
type, associated used by the
West Slavs The West Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak the West Slavic languages. They separated from the common Slavic group around the 7th century, and established independent polities in Central Europe by the 8th to 9th centuries. The West Slavic langu ...
during the 8th century.Ole Harck, Christian Lübke, Zwischen Reric und Bornhöved: Die Beziehungen zwischen den Dänen und ihren slawischen Nachbarn vom 9. Bis ins 13. Jahrhundert: Beiträge einer internationalen Konferenz, Leipzig, 4.-6. Dezember 1997, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2001, p.12, Pottery of the succeeding Feldberg type was also found, though in considerably lower number. Imported pottery from western countries was only scarcely represented. Hoards of Norwegian schist whetstones were found, also evidence of
textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...
,
iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...
and
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
working, but no major industrial evidence, indicating that production was likely for local use only. Unfinished products and garbage pieces point at the production of items made of
glass Glass is an amorphous (non-crystalline solid, non-crystalline) solid. Because it is often transparency and translucency, transparent and chemically inert, glass has found widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in window pane ...
, metals including
iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...
,
amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...
, and horn. The most recent find of wood that can be dated is from the year 811 and the finding situation suggests that the settlement ceased to exist a little later.Tummuscheit 2013: 108 The settlement stretched 500 meters along the coast, and covered a surface of at least 20 hectars.Tummuscheit 2013: 103 Within a 10 kilometer range around the settlement, remains of Slavic open settlements have been found. The nearby fortified strongholds of
Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) 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, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...
and Ilow were, like Reric, founded in the early 8th century, thus constituting some of the earliest Slavic settlements near the Baltic coast.


Decline

As reported by the ''
Royal Frankish Annals The ''Royal Frankish Annals'' (Latin: ''Annales regni Francorum''), also called the ''Annales Laurissenses maiores'' ('Greater Lorsch Annals'), are a series of annals composed in Latin in Carolingian Francia, recording year-by-year the state of ...
'' () of 808 Ain D, Danish king Gudfred (also ''Godofrid'', ''Gøttrik'') had received plenty of tribute from Reric in the years before, but in 808 "destroyed" the emporium and took with him "the merchants hereof". Gudfred resettled them in Hedeby (also ''Haithabu'', ''Sliasthorp''), a contemporary emporium closer to
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 ...
. This event was part of ongoing warfare between
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
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...
's
Frankish Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–887) was a Frankish-dominated empire in Western and Central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lomba ...
, in the course of which the
Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...
had allied with the Obodrites. The destruction of the site may not have been total, since an Obodrite duke, Drazko, is reported murdered at Reric the following year. The archeological finds since the 1990s perfectly match these records, as the latest dateable wellwoods found in Reric are from the years 806, 809 and 811. "''Reregi''", an alternative name of the Obodrites used by the medieval chroniclers Adam of Bremen and Helmold of Bosau, is probably a rendering of "Reric".


See also

* Pomerania during the Early Middle Ages * Raróg


Literature

* Astrid Tummuscheit: ''Groß Strömkendorf. Zur Entwicklung des frühmittelalterlichen Seehandelsplatzes anhand dendrochronologischer Datierungen'', in: The Early Slavic Settlement in Central Europe in the light of new dating evidence, S. 103–119, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology Polish Academy of Science (Hg.), Wroclav 2013


References

{{Baltic emporia Former states and territories of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Obotrites Archaeological sites in Germany Former populated places in Germany