Editing Hedeby (section)

==History==

===Origins===
Hedeby is first mentioned in the Frankish chronicles of [[Einhard]] (804), who was in the service of [[Charlemagne]], as a place Charlemagne stayed in the summer of 804, at the end of the [[Saxon Wars]]. In 808 the Danish king [[Gudfred|Godfred]] (Lat. Godofredus) destroyed a competing [[Early Slavs|Slav]] trade centre named [[Reric]], and it is recorded in the Frankish chronicles that he resettled the merchants from there to Hedeby. This may have provided the initial impetus for the town to further develop.<ref name="kalmring">{{ cite book |last=Kalmring |first=Sven | date=2010 |title=Der Hafen von Haithabu |trans-title=The Harbour of Haithabu |url=https://macau.uni-kiel.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/macau_derivate_00004519/Der_Hafen_von_Haithabu.pdf |language=German |location=Neumünster |publisher=Wachholtz Verlag |isbn=9783529014147 |pages=42–43}}</ref>

The same sources record that Godfred strengthened the [[Danevirke]], an earthen wall that stretched across the south of the Jutland peninsula. The Danevirke joined the defensive walls of Hedeby to form an east–west barrier across the peninsula, from the marshes in the west to the Schlei inlet leading into the Baltic in the east.

The town itself was surrounded on its three landward sides (north, west, and south) by earthworks. At the end of the 9th century the northern and southern parts of the town were abandoned for the central section. Later a 9-metre (29-ft) high semi-circular wall was erected to guard the western approaches to the town. On the eastern side, the town was bordered by the innermost part of the Schlei inlet and the bay of [[Haddebyer Noor]].

===Timeline===
{| class="toccolours" align="centre" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="margin:0 0 1em 1em; font-size: 95%;"
|colspan=1 style="padding:0.3em;border-collapse:collapse;background-color:#ccccff" align=center|based on Elsner<ref>{{cite book |first=Hildegard |last=Elsner |year=1989 |title=Wikinger Museum Haithabu: Schaufenster einer frühen Stadt |location=Neumünster |publisher=Wachholtz}}</ref>
|-
|valign=top|'''793'''
|Viking raid on [[Lindisfarne]] - traditional date for the beginning of the [[Viking Age]].
|-
|valign=top|'''804'''
|First mention of Hedeby
|-
|valign=top|'''808'''
|Destruction of [[Reric]] and migration of tradespeople to Hedeby
|-
|'''c. 850'''
|Construction of a church at Hedeby
|-
|'''886'''
|The [[Danelaw]] is established in [[England]], following Viking invasion
|-
|'''911'''
|The Vikings settle in [[Normandy]]
|-
|'''948'''
|Hedeby becomes a bishopric
|-
|'''965'''
|Visit of [[Ibrahim ibn Yaqub al-Tartushi|Al-Tartushi]] to Hedeby
|-
|'''974'''
|Hedeby falls to the [[Holy Roman Empire]]
|-
|'''983'''
|Hedeby returns to Danish control
|-
|'''c. 1000'''
|The Viking [[Leif Erikson]] explores [[Vinland]], probably in Newfoundland
|-
|'''1016–1042'''
|Danish kings rule in England
|-
|'''1050'''
|The Norwegian King [[Harald Hardrada]] destroys Hedeby
|-
|'''1066'''
|Final destruction of Hedeby by a Slavic army.
|-
|'''1066'''
|Traditional end of the [[Viking Age]]
|}

===Rise===
Hedeby became a principal marketplace because of its geographical location on the major trade routes between the [[Frankish Empire]] and [[Scandinavia]] (north-south), and between the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] and the [[North Sea]] (east-west). Between 800 and 1000 the growing economic power of the [[Vikings]] led to its dramatic expansion as a major trading centre. Along with [[Birka]] and [[Schleswig]], Hedeby's prominence as a major international trading hub served as a foundation of the [[Hanseatic League]] that would emerge by the 12th century.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Smith |first=Jillian R. |date=May 2010 |title=Hanseatic Cogs and Baltic Trade: Interrelations Between Trade, Technology and Ecology |chapter=2 |publisher=University of Nebraska at Lincoln |chapter-url=http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/anthrotheses/4 |access-date=1 July 2019}}</ref>

Hedeby played an important role in the international Viking slave trade between Europe and Byzantines as well as the Islamic world.<ref>{{Citation |last=Roşu |first=Felicia |title=Slavery in the Black Sea Region, c.900–1900: Forms of Unfreedom at the Intersection between Christianity and Islam |date=2021-12-02 |work=Slavery in the Black Sea Region, c.900–1900 |url=https://brill.com/display/title/55443?language=en&srsltid=AfmBOooRrv-jGRA4aZc6Cq5LwyK4zHzmGwaOmQwrf9LG4OFZKgH4v8UM |access-date=2025-04-16 |publisher=Brill |language=en |isbn=978-90-04-47089-7}}</ref> People taken captive during the Viking raids across Eastern Europe could be sold to [[Slavery in al-Andalus|Moorish Spain]] via the [[Dublin slave trade]]<ref name="aroundtheworldineightyyears.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.aroundtheworldineightyyears.com/viking-dublin/|title=The Slave Market of Dublin|date=23 April 2013}}</ref> or transported to Hedeby or [[Brännö]] in Scandinavia and from there via the [[Volga trade route]] to Russia, where Slavic slaves and furs were sold to Muslim merchants in exchange for Arab silver ''[[dirham]]'' and silk, which have been found in [[Birka]], [[Wolin|Wollin]] and [[Dublin]];<ref>The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 3, C.900-c.1024. (1995). Storbritannien: Cambridge University Press. p. 91</ref> initially this trade route between Europe and the Abbasid Caliphate passed [[Khazar slave trade|via the Khazar Kaghanate]],<ref>The World of the Khazars: New Perspectives. Selected Papers from the Jerusalem 1999 International Khazar Colloquium. (2007). Nederländerna: Brill. p. 232</ref> but from the early 10th-century onward it went [[Volga Bulgarian slave trade|via Volga Bulgaria]] and from there by caravan to [[Khwarazm]], to the [[Samanid slave trade|Samanid slave market]] in Central Asia and finally via Iran to [[slavery in the Abbasid Caliphate|the Abbasid Caliphate]].<ref>The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 3, C.900-c.1024. (1995). Storbritannien: Cambridge University Press. p. 504</ref>

The following indicates the importance achieved by the town:
* The town was described by visitors from England ([[Wulfstan of Hedeby|Wulfstan]] - 9th century) and the Mediterranean ([[Ibrahim ibn Yaqub al-Tartushi|Al-Tartushi]] - 10th century).
* Hedeby became the seat of a bishop (948) and belonged to the Archbishopric of [[Hamburg]] and [[Archdiocese of Bremen|Bremen]].
* The town minted its own coins (from 825).
* [[Adam of Bremen]] (11th century) reports that ships were sent from this ''portus maritimus'' to Slavic lands, to [[Sweden]], [[Sambia Peninsula|Samland]] (''Semlant'') and even [[Greece]].

A Swedish dynasty founded by [[Olof the Brash]] is said to have ruled Hedeby during the last decades of the 9th century and the first part of the 10th century. This was told to [[Adam of Bremen]] by the Danish king [[Sweyn Estridsson]], and it is supported by three [[runestone]]s found in Denmark. Two of them were raised by the mother of Olof's grandson [[Sigtrygg Gnupasson]]. The third runestone, discovered in 1796, is from Hedeby, the ''[[Stone of Eric]]'' ({{langx|sv|Erikstenen}}). It is inscribed with [[Runic alphabet#Younger Fuþark|Norwegian-Swedish runes]]. It is, however, possible that Danes also occasionally wrote with this version of the [[Runic alphabet#Younger Fuþark|younger futhark]].

===Lifestyle===
Life was short and crowded in Hedeby. The small houses were clustered tightly together in a grid, with the east–west streets leading down to jetties in the harbour.<ref name="denmark_org" />

While Hedeby primarily served as a trade emporium, archaeological evidence demonstrates that it had produced many goods locally. Discovery and analysis of excavated artifacts reveal that tools such as spindle whorls, spindle rods, loom weights, and bone needles were standardized products. The distribution of these various tools demonstrates that there was a wide range of textiles produced at Hedeby, ranging from coarse fabric for sailcloth and outer-garments, to fine worsted wool fabric for higher quality clothes.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Corsi |first=Maria R. D. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv13vdj3q |title=Urbanization in Viking Age and Medieval Denmark: From Landing Place to Town |date=2020 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press}}</ref> More than 340,000 pieces related to comb making, tools for working leather, remains of ironworking and goldsmithing, and mercury from fire gilding were also found. <ref>{{Cite book |last=Corsi |first=Maria R. D. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv13vdj3q |title=Urbanization in Viking Age and Medieval Denmark: From Landing Place to Town |date=2020 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press}}</ref> There was also evidence found for the presence of a glass furnace active in the site from the period of 850 to 900. A total of 7,700 decorative beads have been unearthed in Hedeby, although it is likely that a small percentage of those were produced in situ.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Delvaux |first=Matthew C. |date=2018 |title=Colors of the Viking Age: A Cluster Analysis of Glass Beads from Hedeby |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26678008 |journal=Journal of Glass Studies |volume=60 |pages=41–68 |issn=0075-4250}}</ref> The presence of these artifacts at the site indicate that Hedeby had a robust local economy that produced a wide variety of goods, likely for domestic use and for trade at the sites markets.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Corsi |first=Maria R. D. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv13vdj3q |title=Urbanization in Viking Age and Medieval Denmark: From Landing Place to Town |date=2020 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press}}</ref>

Analysis of some of Hedeby’s burial sites provide evidence for the existence of an aristocracy. Graves that are lavishly furnished with jewelry, commodities, weapons and armor set apart from more humble inhumation sites indicate an established degree of stratification among Hedeby’s society.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lorenzen |first=Daniel Henvig |date=2018-01-01 |title=The Vikings of Haithabu (8th -10th Century AD): Burials and Identity (Master&#39;s thesis 2018) |url=https://www.academia.edu/36892711/The_Vikings_of_Haithabu_8th_10th_Century_AD_Burials_and_Identity_Masters_thesis_2018_}}</ref>

The trade and production of beads was tied to a robust fashion within Hedeby. Beads made of varying materials such as carnelian, rock crystal, amber, jet, silver, brass, bronze, and mosaic glass have been found in the harbor excavation sites, burials, and throughout the settlement. Dating of these finds reveals that there was a change in style roughly every 10-35 years within the settlement.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Delvaux |first=Matthew C. |date=2018 |title=Colors of the Viking Age: A Cluster Analysis of Glass Beads from Hedeby |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26678008 |journal=Journal of Glass Studies |volume=60 |pages=41–68 |issn=0075-4250}}</ref>

[[Ibrahim ibn Yaqub al-Tartushi|Al-Tartushi]], a late 10th-century traveller from [[al-Andalus]], provides one of the most colourful and often quoted descriptions of life in Hedeby. Al-Tartushi was from [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordoba]] in [[Spain]], which had a significantly more wealthy and comfortable lifestyle than Hedeby. While Hedeby may have been significant by Scandinavian standards, Al-Tartushi was unimpressed:
:''"Slesvig (Hedeby) is a very large town at the extreme end of the world ocean... The inhabitants worship [[Sirius]], except for a minority of Christians who have a church of their own there.... He who slaughters a sacrificial animal puts up poles at the door to his courtyard and impales the animal on them, be it a piece of cattle, a ram, billy goat or a pig so that his neighbours will be aware that he is making a sacrifice in honour of his god. The town is poor in goods and riches. People eat mainly fish which exist in abundance. Babies are thrown into the sea for reasons of economy. The right to divorce belongs to the women.... Artificial eye make-up is another peculiarity; when they wear it their beauty never disappears, indeed it is enhanced in both men and women. Further: Never did I hear singing fouler than that of these people, it is a rumbling emanating from their throats, similar to that of a dog but even more bestial."''<ref name="denmark_org">{{cite web |author=Consulate General of Denmark in New York |title=Factsheet |url=http://www.denmark.org/about_denmark/factsheets_articles/factsheets_vikings.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060113013845/http://www.denmark.org/about_denmark/factsheets_articles/factsheets_vikings.html |archive-date=January 13, 2006 |access-date=January 14, 2006}}</ref>

===Destruction===
The town was sacked in 1050 by King [[Harald Hardrada]] of Norway during a conflict with King [[Sweyn II of Denmark]]. He set the town on fire by sending several burning ships into the harbour, the charred remains of which were found at the bottom of the Schlei during recent excavations. A Norwegian ''[[skald]]'', quoted by [[Snorri Sturluson]], describes the sack as follows:
:''Burnt in anger from end to end was Hedeby[..]''
:''High rose the flames from the houses when, before dawn, I stood upon the stronghold's arm''<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://heimskringla.no/wiki/Sagan_af_Haraldi_har%C3%B0r%C3%A1%C3%B0a | title=Sagan af Haraldi harðráða – heimskringla.no}}</ref>

In 1066 the town was [[Looting|sacked]] and burned by [[West Slavs]].<ref>{{cite news|author1=Nancy Marie Brown|title=The Far Traveler: Voyages of a Viking Woman|date=6 October 2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aUE9ZFNeCBsC&pg=PT110 |access-date=6 March 2016|pages=95|isbn=9780547539393}}</ref> Following the destruction, Hedeby was slowly abandoned. People moved across the [[Schlei]] [[Förde|inlet]], which separates the two peninsulas of [[Angeln]] and [[Schwansen]], to the growing town of [[Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein|Schleswig]]. Hedeby’s royal tolls and levies were transferred to the town by the monarchy.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Corsi |first=Maria R. D. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv13vdj3q |title=Urbanization in Viking Age and Medieval Denmark: From Landing Place to Town |date=2020 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press}}</ref>