page_title: Pomerania during the Early Middle Ages
section_title: Billung and Northern marches (936–983)
hierarchical_section_title: Pomerania during the Early Middle Ages / Billung and Northern marches (936–983)
caption_attribution_description: English: snippet of map: File:Central Europe, 919-1125.jpg in WP:Commons File:Central Europe, 919-1125.jpg
context_page_description: Pomerania during the Early Middle Ages covers the History of Pomerania from the 7th to the 11th centuries.
  The southward movement of Germanic tribes during the migration period had left territory later called Pomerania largely depopulated by the 7th century. Between 650 and 850 AD, West Slavic tribes settled in Pomerania. The tribes between the Oder and the Vistula were collectively known as Pomeranians, and those west of the Oder as Veleti and later Lutici. A distinct Slavic tribe, the Rani, was based on the island of Rügen and the adjacent mainland. In the 8th and 9th centuries, Slavic-Scandinavian emporia were set up along the coastline as powerful centers of craft and trade.
  In 936, the Holy Roman Empire set up the Billung and Northern marches in Western Pomerania, divided by the Peene river. The Liutician federation regain independence in an uprising of 983 but succumbed to internal conflicts and disintegrated in the course of the 11th century. In late 960s, Polish Piasts acquired parts of eastern Pomerania, where the short-lived Diocese of Kołobrzeg was installed in 1000 AD. The Pomeranians regained independence during the Pomeranian uprising of 1005.
context_section_description: In 936, the area west of the Oder River was incorporated in the March of the Billungs (north of the Peene River) and the Northern March (south of the Peene River) of the Holy Roman Empire. The respective bishoprics were the Diocese of Hamburg-Bremen and Diocese of Magdeburg. In the Battle of Recknitz ("Raxa") in 955, German and Rani forces commanded by Otto I of Germany suppressed an Obodrite revolt in the Billung march, instigated by Wichmann the Younger and his brother Egbert the One-Eyed In 983, the area regained independence in an uprising initiated by the Liutizian federation. The margraves and bishops upheld their claims, but were not able to reinforce them despite various expeditions. A similar pagan reaction in Denmark between 976 and 986, initiated by Sven Forkbeard, forced his father Harald Bluetooth to exile to Wollin.
caption: Northern Central Europe, 919-1125. March of the Billungs is indicated, Northern March is the area south of it (purple). Independent Pomeranian areas are indicated (rose)
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