26 Hammel-Kiesow
Segeberg Castle and in 1134, presumably from his court in Halberstadt, awarded
certain privileges to the Gotlanders residing within his sphere of influence.
In this, the western Slavs did not fail to recognize the danger that threatened
their political and cultural independence. In his chronicle, Helmold of Bosau
meticulously and precisely analyzes the situation associated with the erection
of Segeberg Castle from the perspective of a Slavic Prince.45 What is more,
the Slavs razed Old Lübeck almost immediately after the death of Lothar in
- Obviously, the Slavs had seen a center for German influence in the pres-
ence of this castle settlement. However, by destroying the old settlement, they
had paved the way for the establishment of the Lower German city of Lübeck,
which received its charter only a short time later in the year 1143.
We can place the origin of early Hanseatic history within this era while
remaining fully aware that the era was actually a continuum comprising
three distinct turning points: the first taking place around 970/1000, the sec-
ond around 1075, and the third and final turning point between 1120 and 1150.
However, the direct influence of Lothar on the southwestern Baltic was only
one of several events through which the cards in the Baltic Region were dealt
anew at that time. In the period between 1120 and 1140, Gotland (primarily)
separated from the Empire of the Svear, opened its doors to foreign merchants
from the West and South (previously, only Russian merchants seem to have
played any role as guests), and developed into a central emporium for the trade
between East and West that maintained its importance for the next 150 years.
Meanwhile, Novgorod also split off from the Kievan Rus and became a Boyar
Republic under an elected prince. However, Novgorod’s separation from the
Kievan Rus resulted in the loss of its trade relations with Byzantium. This devel-
opment not only affected Novgorod itself, but also Birka/Sigtuna.46 Ultimately,
the three regions central to Baltic trade, including the southwestern coastal
areas that had come under German influence, the Island of Gotland that had
become a trans-shipment and trading center, and the ‘Republic’ of Novgorod,
which was centrally located for trade with Russia, became conjoined during
the 1130s. This development would come to shape the history of the Baltic
Region for the next 150 years.
During this period, the Low German merchant settlement of Lübeck
received a city charter, and for the first time introduced a model for the
western European communal town into the Baltic coast. By adopting the
name Liubice (Middle Low German Lubike), the new inhabitants of that
settlement proclaimed the continuation of the ruined Slavic castle town’s
45 Helmold, Slawenchronik, c. 53.
46 Blomkvist, Discovery, 392–400.