Stelle Et quia nuntiabatur Godofridum rege...; (Annales regni Francorum (787 - 829), a. 808 (125-6)) [5893]

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ID 5893
Text Annales regni Francorum (787 - 829) Anonymous - Annals
Quotation Et quia nuntiabatur Godofridum regem Danorum in Abodritos cum exercitu traiecisse, Carlum filium suum ad Albiam cum valida Francorum et Saxonum manu misit, iubens vesano regi resistere, si Saxoniae terminos adgredi temptaret. Sed ille stativis per aliquot dies in litore habitis, expugnatis etiam et manu captis aliquot Sclavorum castellis cum magno copiarum suarum detrimento reversus est. Nam licet Drasconem ducem Abodritorum popularium fidei diffidentem loco pepulisset, Godelaibum alium ducem dolo captum patibulo suspendisset, Abodritorum duas partes sibi vectigales sibi fecisset, optimos tamen militum suorum et manu promtissimos amisit et cum eis filium fratris sui nomine Reginoldum, qui in obpugnatione cuiusdam oppidi cum plurimis Danorum primoribus interfectus est. Filius autem imperatoris Carlus Albiam ponte iunxit et exercitum, cui praeerat, in Linones et Smeldingos qui et ipsi ad Godofridum regem defecerant, quanta potuit celeritate transposuit populatisque circumquaque eorum agris transito iterum flumine cum incolomi exercitu in Saxoniam se recepit. Erant cum Godofrido in expeditione praedicta Sclavi, qui dicuntur Wilzi, qui propter antiquas inimicitias, quas cum Abodritis habere solebant, sponte se copiis eius coniunxerunt; ipsoque in regnum suum revertente, cum praeda, quam in Abodritis capere potuerunt, et ipsi domum regressi sunt. Godofridus vero, priusquam reverteretur, distructo emporio, quod in oceani litore constitutum lingua Danorum Reric dicebatur et magnam regno illius commoditatem vectigalium pesolutione praestabat, translatique inde negotiatoribus, soluta classe ad portum, qui Sliesthorp dicitur, cum universo exercitu venit. Ibi per aliquot dies moratus limitem regni sui, qui Saxoniam respicit, vallo munire constituit, eo modo, ut ab orientali maris sinu, quem illi Ostarsalt dicunt, usque ad occidentalem oceanum totam Egidorae fluminis aquilonalem ripam munimentum valli praetexeret, una tantum porta dimissa, per quam carra et equites emitti et recipi potuissent. Diviso itaque opere inter duces copiarum domum reversus est.
Translation Since he was informed that Godofrid, the king of the Danes, with his army had crossed over into the land of the Obodrites, he sent his son Charles with a strong host of Franks and Saxons to the Elbe, with orders to resist the mad king if he should attempt to attack the borders of Saxony. Godofrid set up quarters on the shore for some days and attacked and took a number of Slavic castles in hand-to-hand combat. Then he withdrew, suffering severe casualties. He expelled Thrasco, duke of the Obodrites, who did not trust the loyalty of his countrymen, hanged on the gallows Godelaib, another duke, whom he had caught by treachery, and made two-thirds of the Obodrites tributary. But he lost the best and most battle-tested of his soldiers. With them he lost Reginold, his brother's son, who was killed at the siege of a town along with a great number of Danish nobles. But Charles, the son of the emperor, built a bridge across the Elbe, and moved the army under his command as fast as he could across the river against the Linones and the Smeldingi. These tribes had also defected to Godofrid. Charles laid waste their fields far and wide and after crossing the river again returned to Saxony with his army unimpaired. On this expedition Godofrid had as his allies the Slavs called Wilzi, who joined his forces voluntarily because of their ancient conflicts with the Obodrites. When Godofrid returned home, they also went home with the booty which they had been able to capture from the Obodrites. But Godofrid before his return destroyed a trading place on the seashore, in Danish called Reric, which, because of the taxes it paid, was of great advantage to his kingdom. Transferring the merchants from Reric he weighed anchor and came with his whole army to the harbor of Schleswig. There he remained for a few days and decided to fortify the border of his kingdom against Saxony with a rampart, so that a protective bulwark would stretch from the eastern bay, called Ostarsalt, as far as the western sea, along the entire north bank of the River Eider and broken by a single gate through which wagons and horsemen would be able to leave and enter. After dividing the work among the leaders of his troops he returned home. (Trans. Scholz and Rogers, pp. 88-9)
Quotation source a. 808 (125-6)
Temporal Coverage 808 - 808
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Spatial Coverage Objects
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