Battle of Norditi
TheBattle of Norditi(‹See Tfd›German:Schlacht bei Norditi),Battle of Nordendi(Schlacht von Nordendi) orBattle of Hilgenried Bay(Schlacht an der Hilgenrieder Bucht) was a battle between aFrisianarmy under ArchbishopRimbertofBremen-Hamburg and an army of DanishVikingsin 884, which resulted in the complete withdrawal of the Vikings fromEast Frisia.
Sources
[edit]The first known record of the battle was written down in the same year in theAnnales Fuldenseson 25 December 884,[1]where, in a short note, a battle between theFrisiansandNormansin thegauofNorditi(in loco, qui vocatur Norditi) is mentioned, in which the latter had been defeated.[2]The localisation of thisgauas the area that later becameNorderlandappears to be very likely, even though the town ofNordenmay not have existed at this point in time.[3]The annals further record that Archbishop Rimbert had composed a letter about the events to ArchbishopLiutbertof Mainz, which has not survived however. It is possible that church historian,Adam of Bremen,had this letter before him when he covered the battle in greater detail in the first book of hisGesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificumand named the place of the battle, in a slight spelling variation, asNordwidi.[4]The two medieval sources were later embellished inUbbo Emmius' account inRerum Frisicarum Historiaein 1546, without appearing to have any other sources to hand.
Battle
[edit]In the second half of the 9th century, Danish Vikings established bases on the East Frisian coast, from which they harassed the local population. Archbishop Rimbert of Bremen-Hamburg, who had had to break off his mission to the Vikings in Scandinavia, which had been begun by his predecessorAnsgar,was deeply concerned about this threat to the Church and the Empire. He therefore called on the Frisian population to resist the intruders and personally led them in the autumn of 884.
In the course of the ensuing battle, the Frisian army succeeded in pushing the Vikings back intoHilgenried Baynear Norden (in the municipality ofHagermarsch) where many were surprised by the incoming tide and drowned as they fled. According to Adam of Bremen, Rimbert's words and prayers played a vital part in the successful outcome, whilst local tradition also emphasized the courage and love of freedom of the Frisians. According to Adam of Bremen, 10,377 Vikings were killed in the battle and great treasures were captured by the Frisians, but these figures may be exaggerated. The traditional Norden account also says that, during the battle, Rimbert prayed over a great stone at theSt. Ludger's Church.Today, the water that is gathers in its hollows is still said to heal warts.[citation needed]
The liberated estates and captured treasures were subsequently managed as communal property. The Battle of Norditi is thus the foundation story for theTheelachtof Norden, a co-operative tribal association and is one of the possible reasons behind the conferring of "Friesian Freedom"on the Frisian population by theRoman-German emperors.
References
[edit]- ^Regesta Imperii."Annales Fuldenses V.(884 dez. 25 Papia)"(in German).Retrieved4 May2012.
- ^Gjallar."Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum - liber I, c. 41 (884)"[The History of the Hammaburg Church of the Pontiffs - Book I, c. 41 (884)] (in German).Retrieved4 May2012.
- ^Bunte, B. (1892). "Die älteste Bezeichnung für Norden" [The oldest name for north].Emder Jahrbuch 10[Emder yearbook 10] (in German). pp. 119–121.
- ^Gjallar."Annales Fuldenses (884)"(in German).Retrieved4 May2012.
Literature
[edit]- B. Bunte:Die älteste Bezeichnung für Norden,In:Emder Jahrbuch 10,1892, pp. 119–121.
- R. Folkerts:Die Theelacht zu Norden. Ein seit 1100 Jahren auf genossenschaftlicher Basis geführter Familienverband,1986.
- Fritz Freese:Lewer doot as Slav. Die Saga der Normannenschlacht im Jahr 884 in der Hilgenrieder Bucht bei Norden.Norden, 1976.
External links
[edit]- Battle of Nordendiat home.arcor.de.
- Battle of Nordendiat www.wikinger-norddeich.de.