Wessex 743of PRAGUE. Wenceslas became a very popular saint, con-
sidered the perpetual prince of Bohemia.
Further reading: Marvin Kantor, The Origins of
Christianity in Bohemia: Sources and Commentary
(Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press, 1990),
59–110, 143–244; Frantisek Dvorník, The Life of Saint
Wenceslas (Prague: State Printing Office, 1929); Karel
Stloukal, Saint Wenceslas in the History and the Traditions
of the Czechoslovak People(Prague: National Democrat
Political Club, 1929).
Wends Wends were initially a German collective desig-
nation used from the sixth century for SLAVS. It continued
to have that meaning for those Slavs living in the German
part of the HOLYROMANEMPIRE. It was also applied to
the peoples the Germans encountered in their armed col-
onization and missionary efforts along the Baltic Sea. As
late as the 15th century the term was still applied to
towns situated in that region, such as LÜBECK, Hamburg,
Luneburg, Rostock, Wismar, and Stralsund. The name
had its specific origins in a tribal confederation that
migrated into the region between the Oder and the Elbe-
Saale Rivers, during the second half of the sixth century
and the early seventh century. These Wendish tribes actu-
ally had little in common. They originated in various
regions; had different religious, cultural, and economic
traditions, and spoke different dialects. They evolved
from the ninth century into numerous other Slav and
Baltic peoples. They were converted to Christianity with
considerable difficulty in several waves and Crusades
from the 10th to the 13th century.
See alsoTEUTONICKNIGHTS, ORDER OF;WALDEMARI
THEGREAT.
Further reading:A. P. Vlasto, The Entry of the Slavs
into Christendom: An Introduction to the Medieval History of
the Slavs(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1970).
wergild(wergeld) Wergildwas literally the “price of a
man” or “man payment.” It was an initially optional com-
position paid by the offender to the victim or to the family
of the victim under the direction of public or tribal
authorities. It was designed to replace, or at least offer an
alternative to, the right of private vengeance, at that time a
generally accepted recourse for damaged parties. It could
furthermore be seen as an effort by nascent public author-
ities to assert their power over subjects. The traditional
right of vengeance was related to the principle of family
solidarity and joint liability, since the actions of one mem-
ber of a group could produce consequences for the whole
group. While offering protection to members, it could also
cause severe problems to everyone in a group because of
the irresponsible actions of one member. At the same time
the early medieval state offered little as a source of justice.
Law codes minutely fixed tariffs according to the
social quality, age, or gender of the offended person and
the gravity of the offense committed. Initially established
for the handling of serious offenses, it expanded in scope
to include all kinds of damages. Even compensation for a
broken tooth was covered, still tied to the eminence or
social status of the victim. Such compositions were at
first optional. The MEROVINGIANkings were among the
first to try to enforce this procedure to replace private
vengeance, with such procedure related to their authority.
They even began enforcing the death penalty when it was
deemed appropriate. The CAROLINGIANScontinued the
practice. By the 11th century, private vengeance had usu-
ally been eliminated as an acceptable judicial alternative.
The concept of the payment of wergild for satisfying pub-
lic or private justice, based at first on a subjective scale of
remedies, was on its way to becoming more objective and
impersonal in theory and practice, taking into considera-
tion the personal qualities of the parties involved in
applying or arbitrating justice in legal disputes.
Further reading:B. S. Phillpotts, Kindred and Clan in
the Middle Ages and After: A Study in the Sociology of the
Teutonic Races(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1913); Marc Bloch, Feudal Society,2 vols., trans. L. A.
Manyon (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961
[1939]); Alexander Callander Murray, Germanic Kingship
Structure: Studies in Law and Society in Antiquity and the
Early Middle Ages(Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medi-
aeval Studies, 1983), 135–155.Wessex Wessex was a kingdom in Anglo-Saxon Britain.
Its origins were in the convergence of two groups of West
Saxons. Their migration west was opposed by the Britons
of Devon in a series of battles from the early sixth century
to the Battle of Durham in 577. In that battle the Saxons
gained possession of the old Roman cities of Cirencester,
Gloucester, and Bath. The Saxons then controlled the
coast and cutting off the Britons of Cornwall from those of
WALES. After pausing in the early seventh century, Wessex
resumed expansion from about 650. This group of Saxons
accepted Christianity in 635, but it was not universally
accepted for another 50 years. It took more than 40 years
to defeat the inhabitants of Somerset and Devon, who
were driven to cross the channel to BRITTANY.
By 700, most of Devonshire and all of Somerset and
Dorset were under the control of the kings of Wessex. In
the ninth century Wessex began to expand again, engulfing
eastward the modern countries of Sussex, Surrey, Kent, and
Essex. The Wessex king, ALFRED THEGREAT, defeated a
great Danish invasion in 878. By 886, with the extinction of
the line of the Mercian kings, Alfred’s authority was recog-
nized in all parts of ENGLANDnot under Danish rule, which
he had limited to the DANELAW. Alfred had become the king
of an Anglo-Saxon England, and the history of Wessex
become the history of England and its ruling dynasties.
Further reading:J. H. Bettey, Wessex from A.D. 1000
(London: Longman, 1986); D. N. Dumville, Wessex
and England from Alfred to Edgar: Six Essays on Political,
Cultural, and Ecclesiastical Revival(Woodbridge: Boydell