Slavic history is sadly underestimated.

As a Westerner with obvious Slavic Heritage I sadly wasn't taught much about Eastern Europe. So thanks!

The comments in a nutshell: - Wends were actually German - Wends were actually Serbs - Wends were actually Scanian - Wends were actually Balts - Wends were actually Poles - Wends were actually Albanians - Wends were actually Russians - Wends were Slavs and Slavs ruled the Baltic and Finland - Wends were actually Korean(yes someone posted this)

I was disappointed to see how little information there is about Wendish history on freely available online sources after first having read about them in Morkinskinna, so it's great to finally see a well-produced summary on KZfaq!

The Slavic heritage (including genetic) in what is now Germany and Austria is enormous and widely unrecognized at the same time. There are even Austrians who prefer to talk about their supposed Celtic roots while sweeping under the rug their obviously Slavic surnames.

The Kings of Denmark claimed to be "King of the Danes, Goths, Cimbri, Vends" only in 1972 when her Majesty Margrethe II became Queen of Denmark, for some reason Vends were left out. Same happened in Sweden, where they left out the "King of the Vends" part.

Videos like this make me realize just how watered down the educational system really is. We always talk about the Vikings that went West, but never about the ones that went East.

This was Amazing! Sending love to all of our Slavic, Estonian and Scandinavian friends from California. My family is Lagegren of Sweden. We always wondered what happened to all of the gold? My Grandfather would say it was hidden in the caves of the Bosphorus Straight, buried forever. Thank you for this wonderful look into our past. Many Blessings of love and friendship 🙏🏻💕

Thank you for this video. I am from Serbia..... love you all. 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

I always wanted to know the origin of my surname Wendhausen. Each year more information is associated with my research. I knew that Wendhausen would be the name of a region in Germany, it would be something like wend's house. A property owned by wend . And now I found out that the Wends were a pirate tribe. It's really exciting to discover that my ancestors were so interesting. Thank you for the vídeo 😊❤

Interestingly, the names for Russia in Finnic languages (Venäjä in Finnish and Venemaa in Estonian) derive from the Wends. The term being a general name for all Slavs would make sense, as this borrowing of "Wend" into Finnic predates the eastern Slavic migrations north and it was borrowed from Germanic speakers centuries before Slavs migrated and established themselves as neighbours to Finnic speakers. Finnic speakers probably acquired the word when conducting trade with Germanic speakers in Scandinavia and northern Germany, where they then came into contact with Slavs or "Wends" and just took the word that the people they were already familiar with used for them. Venäjä is something along the lines of "Wendia" and Venemaa "Wendland".

My first playthrough of crusader kings 2 was as the obotrites around 860, and what a first impression that was, fell in love with the game since and the wends still have a special place in my heart.

Theres a documented battle that took place in Glasgow, The wends famous female leader known as Big Wendy, a term still used in Glasgow to this day. clashed with a large tribe called the Young team. who where lead off by a great leader called Tanzer, After consuming several Horns of a sacred drink know as buckie they went right ahead. The wends retreated to their boats never to return again, to this day in Glasgow if you run away from a fight you get called a big wendy.

Hey man another fantastic and well made video. I’ve been following your videos for a while and just want to say great work. I appreciate the content or more obscure peoples, places, or topics the most. I will share your channel with friends. I have no doubt you’ll have 5 then 10k subscribers very soon. Keep up the great work!

As a Serb I can tell the same for Balkan peninsula. Serbs always had Knez (or Knyaz) and Župan as a leader title. Major gods Perun, Triglav, Veles are here present even today in toponyms. Ratibor as a name is used widely. Love for all Slavic brothers and let no German or Latin nation to divide us anymore. They always try to make us fighting each other.

I love the use of Elder Scrolls music in the background! Thanks for highlighting some Slavic history, as it is so rarely covered.

The similarity that the Wends had with their Germanic and Baltic neighbors reminds me of how the Mongols competed against Turkic and Tungusic peoples who also had a similar nomadic cavalry culture.

What a hidden gem this channel. Subscribed immediately.

Interesting description of the Wends temple in Radogoszcz/Retra: In the country of the Redars there is a triangular town with three gates leading to it, called Radogoszcz, which is surrounded on all sides by a great wilderness, untouched by the natives' hand and revered as sacred. Two gates of this stronghold are open to all entering, the third from the eastern side is the smallest and opens onto a path that leads to the nearby and terrible-looking lake. There is only one temple in the city, intricately built of wood and resting on a foundation of wild beast horns. Its outer walls are decorated with various images of gods and goddesses - as you can see if you look closely - in a strange carved way, while inside there are man-made gods in terrible helmets and armor, each with a name carved on the bottom. The first of them is called Swarożyc and is especially honored by all pagans. There are also banners (stanice), which they do not take anywhere, unless they are needed for a military expedition, and then they are carried by foot warriors. To guard all this with due diligence the natives appointed separate priests. When they gather here to offer sacrifices to idols or to appease their wrath, priests alone are allowed to sit while others stand. Whispering mysterious words to each other, they tremble in digging the earth in order to examine the essence of doubtful matters by the lots they have cast. At the end of these divination, they cover the lots with green turf and, having driven two spearheads crosswise into the ground, they humbly lead a horse through them, which they regard as the greatest thing and they venerate as sacred. Then, casting lots, by which they had previously examined the matter, they resume the divination by this divine beast, as it were. If both of these omens show the same sign, then these tribes follow it in their operation; if not, they sadly abandon the enterprise altogether. From antiquity, which has been falsified by various erroneous tales, comes the testimony that whenever they are threatened by the grievous annoyances of a long civil war, a great boar emerges from the above-mentioned lake, foam glistening on its white tusks, and delights to roll in a puddle amid terrible tremors in the sight of all. . As many districts in this country, there are as many temples, and as many images of idols are worshiped by the infidels, but among them, the aforementioned city has priority. When they go to war, they always salute him; when they return safely from it, they honor him with due gifts, and by lots and by horse, as has been said above, they diligently examine what a fitting sacrifice the priests should make to the gods. The silent wrath of the gods is appeased by the sacrifices of men and cattle. - Thietmar of Merseburg.

New subscriber, here - very glad to find you & to see that the algorithm has chosen your channel! Keep up the great work and thank you for preserving history. 👍

Great video, pre-Christian history simply does not get enough attention. Great channel you got going here man just found it!

Take a look in google translator and see how it says “Russia” in Finnish (Venäjä) and Estonian (Venemaa/ Vene) languages. Does anyone still have doubts about who the Wends are? 😂

Other tribes along the Baltic coast became merchants rather than pirates. Just east of the Wends was Wolin (Volinn), one of the greatest trade centres in Europe in the tenth century. It boasted a large Greek population who came to trade Byzantine goods for furs and amber. Even many Vikings came in their longboats to shop there when they got tired of raiding.

respect to the Slavs and Danish people from Morocco 🇲🇦🇩🇰🇨🇿🇧🇬🇭🇷🇭🇺🇲🇪🇸🇮🇸🇰🇷🇺🇷🇸🇵🇱

Knew the name but knew little about the Wends, now I know more. Good vlog.

So cool. Im not Slavic, but my youngest daughter about a quarter slav. I have always found their history fascinating.

Good to know some history about the Viking & Slavic people! ❤

It is a pleasant surprise to see the history of the lands where I live discussed by foreign historians. Western Pomerania / Vorpommern is an extremely interesting region rich in history.

We have few Stargard in Poland one is not far from Szczecin. It is call Stargard Szczecinski. Greetings from Poland.

Awesome video! Tack så mycket! I am especially interested in listening more about societies in northern europe during the first millenium AD as well as the complex geopolitics betwen them. Please keep doing the fantastic work you are doing!

Excellent narration on a little know subject, thanks!

good video, in fact this baltic powers were strong. In the vikings tv serie, the first episode begins with a battle with eastern populations.

The finnish and estonian vikings mentioned in end are Oesilians (modern day estonian island of Saaremaa) and Curonians (modern day coastal latvia), Curonians were baltic peoples that spoke non latvian or lithuanian related language while Oesilians were islander estonians. In 2012 the biggest viking ship burial was discovered in Salme( location in Saaremaa) which predated sack of Lindisfarne

Foreigners called these people “Wends.” Today Germans call them “Sorbs” or “Lusetian Sorbs.” These people, however know their history and know who they are, they call themselves “Srbi” or “Serbs.” The Wends/Sorbs are Serbians and are the same as their brothers in Serbia.

This is awesome, I want to learn more. Keep up the great work.

I never knew the Wends were into piracy. I remember a long time ago I read somewhere that in medieval Germany a guild had rejected a man from joining, because his mother was a Wend.

I live in Italy, NE region called "Veneto". In a book I read many years ago about a little town called "Cologna Veneta" it was written that "Veneti" were a slavic tribe

I like studying history as a hobby, and this is awesome! Keep it up! New subscriber here! 😊❤

Thankyou for this piece of forgotten wonderful piece of history

Thanks for this video. After being force fed Greek, Roman, and some Egyptian mythology and history all through school, it's good to hear there were actually other civilizations with their own religions, mythology, and lore.

I have Wendish heritage through my paternal grandmother.. Thank you for this video and history. So little is known about them..

The movie "The Thirteenth Warrior" combines the Wends with the Beowulf story... the result is bizarre and non-historical, but entertaining.

Incredible video. Thanks for the info!

Been reading about the northern crusades recently and now I know how to pronounce Wend.

Great job on the research - we need to hear more of those Slavic stories because those stories are ours - Slavic folks.. It would be fantastic to have a movies series about exploits of those western Slavs - the Vends.

Really hope you do more of the pre and early medieval history

Great video. It’s such an overlooked topic:)

Good morning from western Canada. A buddy sent me a link to your channel yesterday. It hadn't even occured to me how massive my knowledge gap is about northern European history. I'm having a great time learning new things. Thanks much 👍

My Mom is German but my Dad was windish and i never knew anything about them because he didnt know much himself beeing born before ww2 everyone beeing dead when he was a kid. very intresting thank you

Bravo! Wow! Absolutely riveting new information for me. Thank you for the many hours of research, illustration collection and a great delivery! Most Respectfully, Michael Weeks, San Antonio Texas.

Please make more videos about the Wends!

Great content and presentation. 😊

The Wends did a great job of forcing thier enemys from raiding them, by throwing smart strong adventures to attack. They were more viking then the danes perhaps.

Thank you. My family comes from that Wendish area and it has been the best info I have found. Many thanks.

I’m glad you included sources, thanks!

Thank you for this video man! I did not know anything about the Wends lol

Very interesting! "Forgotten" peoples like this are always interesting. Same with Baltic history in general. Cheers!

Great content! 👍

Brilliant video sir. I would love a dedicated video on the Teutonic order with their activities in the Holy land as well as a Video on the Northern Crusades and the Livonian Order, Livonian Brothers of the Sword. Thank you.

Filmen var jättebra. Må Gud vara med dig

To this day, the Germans call the Lusatian Serbs as Wends

Sounds similar to my ancestors, the Curonians. I hope to see a future video about them from you!

Very well done and narrated.

Superb documentary! Well done my good man!!! 👍👍👍👍

One thing you need to credit the Vieleti with was their great pagan rebellion of 983 AD when they sent all the dukes, margraves, priests and bishops running from their lands while taking almost no casualties themselves.

Thank you for the very interesting video. Having recently learned that my family is old Pomeranian, your information was very informative. In view of the cruel attempts by the Church to convert our ancestors to Christianity, one can see the accuracy of the Apostle Paul's prediction of the corruption that would take place, when he told the elders from Ephesus, "I know that after my going away oppressive wolves will enter in among you and will not treat the flock with tenderness, and from among you yourselves men will rise and speak twisted things to draw away the disciples after themselves." Acts 20:29,30, Matthew 7:15

History, gotta luv it. Another great story to pass around the campfire. 👍✌️

Thank you. I had some idea of the northern crusade but I never knew what preceded it.

This is so interesting and well done.I think Slavic tribes are so interesting.The Slavs certainly reshaped the maps of the world.On a personal note.I have mostly Western European ethnic dna.I had some Slavic dna too surprisingly.I just don’t understand we Europeans think we are so different when we aren’t.History and even dna says otherwise.

Interesting video. Only through genealogy research of my Danish branch (Bornholm) did I encounter the Wends. They were on the fringe of my searching so I haven't looked into their background. Bornholm and the Hammershus fortress were in center of everything going into or leaving the Baltic Sea. Plus being so close to the northern coast of modern day Germany and Poland + Sweden, there was constant contact with land activity. The Danes/Bornholmers seemed to be fighting with someone, seemed like nonstop from Viking era to 1800s. I know they went east a lot, often in company with forces from Lubeck,Germany. The video has shed some light on why the eastern campaigns were happening. Later Bornholm was incorporated into the Hanseatic League so it was natural to team up with the northern Germans on expeditions. And if things got boring or too quiet they'd start another fight/war with the Swedes. The Swedes got tired of Bornholm and the Hammershus fortress invading them. So the last time the Swedes got onto Bornholm they wrecked the beautiful fortress, as you see it today. Yes, its quite a wild history and I've only skimmed the surface.

great video, thanks

Ace of Base probably have a descendance from the obotrit princesses that got nine children with Olof Treasureking/Skötkonung. One daughter Iryna married Jaroslav of Kyiv. Their daughter Anna married the french king Henri Capet...

Btw Lithiuanians and Latvians did not exist by then in the 12th century. There were quite many tribes, which joined or/and got assimilated later to form L&L.

I love how Vinland Saga is so authentic that you can use it for referencing.

Your videos are always of the highest quality

Thank you for that history (I learned quite a bit).

I know I'm two weeks late in requesting this, but I cast my vote for an episode regarding the Teutonic Knights. My Mom's family is Transylvanian Saxon, and the books I read say there is a connection between the two groups.

We are Slavs, we are The Glorious ones!

Riga was holly isle, what was major center of Slav paganism. Jomesborg was actually located in neighbor isle Wolin. It is why it was not subjugated, serving as operation base of Jomsviking.

Somuch to learn! Thank you.

Interesting. Before this all i knew about the Wends were a passing reference in Beowulf, and the fact that the Wends, aka Sorbs, were an officially recognized minority in the Communist German Democratic Republic (1949-1989).

I Love learning.... This info is all new to me. I thought there was none more feared than Vikings, but they were hardened by their neighbors

Ohhh yeah this is a KZfaq niche I’ve been looking for. I lived in Russia 2019-2020 before Covid and got super into Slavic history and folklore

Subscribed. Keep it coming.

Great video. Thank you!! Please make more videos on the Wends. Did their descendants become the Poles?

To expand this episode a little bit, as I think a lot of data was missed. 1. Wends is just an "outsiders" name for the people and the name they used for all themselves is *Sorbs* (Sorbi, Serbi). 2. Also Vandals is the other name in use for the Wends. 3. Berlin was originally Slavic town and it was called *Barlyin/Brlyin* which in translation means Swamp Town, as it was surrounded by swamps in that period. 4. Hamburg was called *Treva* (Trava), Frankfurt was called *Žunyin* , Stuttgart was called *Stadograd* (or Kony Stada), Wetzlar was called *Vetyilar* (Većlar), München was called *Monahovo* , Leipzig was called *Lipešić* , Dresden was called *Driyeždany* (Driyeždanj) etc. 5. Saxony was foreign term, originally it was *Shashka* (Šaška), Brandenburg was originally called *Branyborska* (Braniborska), Bavaria (Bayern) was originally *Boyerna* (Boierna) etc. 6. Slavs were pagan at that time but they mostly prayed to the One god and his name was *Perun/Pervun* , which literarily means The First One, or The One. In Scandinavia they had just a different dialect for him and called him *Odin/Edin* which also means The First, The One. Also while Im at, the name of *Thor/Dor* literarily means The Gift or The Gifted One. The name of *Loki/Lagi* in literal translation means The Lying One, The Liar. These are all Slavic names, just in different dialect. 7. Little bit trivia from the literary works. Beowulf from the Saga of Beowulf, in original *Beowulk*, literarily means the White Wolf. Grendel in original was *Gerdan/Grdan*, which means The Huge One, and also The Ugly One. The uncle of king Hrodgar (Rodar), was originally Hropy Wulk (Hropi Wulfaz) and it literarily means Lame Wolf or sometimes called Kratky (Kratki), as one of his legs was shorter etc. There is a ton more, but that would be good for now.

Great video filled in a gap in my knowledge about the Wends

Really interesting and overlooked topic.

It's good to learn more about the Wends. A few years ago my wife and I visited some of the Wendish church sites and museum in Texas, USA, but I didn't learn this part of their history there. I've ever since been curious to learn more.

Fascinating information. Thank you very much for this video! I had never heard of the Wends before.

I am interested history , from ancient to modern, thank you for this information!

Love your content 👍

Don’ t forget that the Danes at times also allied up with the Baltic Slavs against for instance the Non Scandinavian rulers of the British Isles. In the last known Scandinavian attempt to regain control over the English throne in (I think) 1072, after the battle of Hastings and the Norman victory in 1066, there were many Slavic ships with Slavic crews rallied by the Danes that participated in the invasion attempt.

The surname “Wendt” in Germany likely comes from the Wends. Many people in Europe, European-Americans, etc., likely do not realize how similar the Poles, Wends, Sorbs, Lithuanians, Moravians, Silesians, Latvians, Czechs/Bohemians, Pomeranians, etc. are to the Swedes, Prussians, Saxons/Saxon Germans, Danes, Goths, Austrians, Bavarians, Thuringians, Hessians, etc., more esp. regarding physical appearance. Northern Europeans in general have many similarities with each other, from Ireland and Scotland, France, etc. clear over to Finland, Russia, etc. I’m not talking about white supremacy, I’m just talking about greater European brotherhood and respect for each other. Particularly in this case, better relations between Slavic and Germanic/Celtic peoples…

Ahh that voice . I recognize it right away. Another awesome channel.

This was so good I subbed.

Its funny as an Serbian i understand meaning of 3 cities he mentions as Wedish. Stargard - Starigrad = old city ; Liubice (similar to Slovenian Ljubljana) = mistresses, Vologost = the big bull ; Sczecin = dont know the meaning, but we have many smal places that you prounounce them the same as that Sczecin we just write it diferently = Čečin.

The most feared and the ''best'' people come from all around the baltic sea. From Norse, Germanic; Finnic and Slavic people

You’ve just earned a new subscriber!

GREAT & INTERESTING VIDEO, THANK YOU! AM INTERESTED IN HISTORY, & AM A SERB ON MY MATERNAL SIDE WITH AUSTRIAN RUSSIAN MIXED IN AS WELL. LOVED HEARING MY ANCESTORS HISTORY, A STRONG PROUD PEOPLE!