The Early Hanses 25
of German merchants.42 During the time of Henry of Old Lübeck (1095–1127),
who had more than likely been crowned King of the Abotrites by Lothar iii
(though the traditional account is ambiguous), the western Slavs were prob-
ably a considerable factor in the power structure of the region. This suspicion
is affirmed by the afore-mentioned coinage, produced during this time period,
as well as by the sheer size of the Slavic fleets. According to Snorri Sturluson,
Ratibor’s fleet supposedly comprised 300 ships in the year 1136. By the assess-
ment of additional sources, the fleet of Prince Boguslaw of Pomerania boasted
as many as 500 ships in 1184.43
Following the death of Henry of Old Lübeck, Lothar iii appointed Jarl Knut
Lavard (the Dane) King of the Abotrites. Jarl Knut was, of course, married to
the Novgorod Princess Ingeborg and as result of his elevation and by virtue of
his marriage, became ruler of the southwest Baltic coastline, including the key
trading centers of Schleswig and Old Lübeck, and more than likely controlled
or at least had designs upon the domination of the east-west seaborne trading
route to Novgorod. It is in this context that the Knytlinga Saga of the late thir-
teenth century provides another fascinating clue.
In the saga, Knut’s marriage is attributed to his contact with a merchant
from Sambia, who suggested to Knut the advantages offered by the trade
with the Baltic States and Russia itself in such a manner that Knut is thought
to have established additional contacts to these areas by means of his mar-
riage to the Novgorod Princess. In the saga, the new seaborne trading route,
the Austerwegr, may have been used as basis for the saga’s poetic narration.
It crossed the open waters of the Baltic Sea from Gotland and led on from
Northern Courland either into the Gulf of Finland or into the mouth of the
Duna River, taking the place of the “older route of the Kings.”44 Unfortunately,
Knut Lavard was murdered in 1133. However, this murder was not exclusively
the product of internecine quarrels and jealousy within the Danish Dynasty. It
had much to do with Knut’s involvement in disputes regarding the dominion
of the Baltic Region.
These disputes involved two coalitions. One comprised Knut Lavard and
Novgorod, and was opposed by the other, which included the Kings of Poland
and Svear as well as the Prince of the Kievan Rus. In the wake of Knut’s death,
Lothar iii himself took control of the coastal region. There he erected the
42 Radtke, “Schleswig,” 409f.
43 Lech Leciejewicz, “Maritime activities of the Western Slavs in the Early Middle Ages,” in
Vytautas Kazakevičius and Vladas Žulkus, ed., The Balts and their Neighbours in the Viking
Age, Archaelogia Baltica vol. 2 (Vilnius: Zara, 1997), 95–104, 101.
44 Blomkvist, Discovery, 401f.