The Early Hanses 23
the establishment of a merchant settlement near Old Lübeck, which was, with
the exception of Prague, the first castle-town in the Slavic Region permanently
inhabited by long distance traders.32 To the obvious detriment of nearby Wolin
(Vineta/Jumne/Jomsburg), Stettin (on the Oder) developed into an important
commercial center along the Oder River. Meanwhile, trade relationships on
the Baltic Region grew stronger. From about the turn of the twelfth century,
one notices a distinct Russian influence on the churches of Gotland, an island
whose population had voluntarily converted to Christianity during the elev-
enth century when returning merchants brought along Christian priests.33
Additionally, marriages between Swedish, Danish, Polish and Russian ruling
families demonstrate close dynastic and more than likely commerce-related
connections. For example, Prince Mistislaw Vladimirovich, or King Harald of
Novgorod in Nordic sources, married the daughter of the Swedish King, Inge i
and in turn their daughter, Ingeborg, was married to Knut Lavard, who reigned
as both Jarl of Schleswig and, for a short time, King of the Abotrites (d. 1131).
According to the Knytlinga Saga, which dates from the second half of the thir-
teenth century, their son, Waldemar i of Denmark (b. 1131; r. 1157, d. 1182), was
supposedly born in Russia and spent his early childhood in Novgorod.34
Trade, Mission and Conquest: The Baltic Region in the
Twelfth Century
During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it is impossible for the historian
to distinguish between the missions and the commerce of the Baltic Region.
However, it is possible to identify three distinct groups that inserted them-
selves into this complicated arrangement. These groups were the Roman
Church, the merchants (primarily Lower German), and the nobility. Beginning
in the early twelfth century, the attention of German princes was increas-
ingly drawn to the Baltic Region. Lothar of Supplingenburg, who was pro-
claimed Duke of the Saxons in 1106, directed his political influence towards
the northern Slavic lands, in particular, against the Ruganer and the continen-
tal Ranes. Lothar considered Denmark not only a country merely bordering
the empire, but also an important political power worthy of consideration
32 Ernst Pitz, Europäisches Städtewesen und Bürgertum. Von der Spätantike bis zum hohen
Mittelalter (Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1991), 241.
33 Blomkvist, Discovery, 385–390.
34 Anti Selart, Livland und die Rus im 13. Jahrhundert, Quellen und Studien zur baltischen
Geschichte, vol. 21 (Cologne: Böhlau, 2007), 34.