Battle of Cedynia
The Battle of Zehden took place between 972 Duke Mieszko I of Poland and the Margrave appointed by the Emperor Otto I. Hodo of the Mark Lausitz.
Background
Margrave Hodo was responsible for the driving of the tribute, the Emperor of Mieszko and the various Slavic tribes had forced east of the Elbe. After the division of the great Saxon Ostmark that arose only after the completion of the conquest of the region by Margrave Gero elbslawischen I. 937, the area between the Elbe and the Oder from 966 fragmented territorially into individual smaller boundary markers. Mieszko, the weakness of the Saxons on their eastern flank wanted to do for the benefit of, to conquer the economically important region around the Oder to Pomerania with the then major trading center Wolin and thus to gain access to the Baltic Sea. In the fight against Polans Siegfried, Count stood to Walbeck and father of the late Bishop of Merseburg and chroniclers Thietmar of Merseburg, Margrave Hodo at militarily.
Course
The news of this battle are very sparse. The fight took place in a rut on the Oder, directly opposite the later city or mountain, north of Frankfurt. The only existing road lay beside an overgrown with trees high hill and the area was mostly swamp -like.
Mieszko and his men rode to the Oder and his brother Cidebur took position near the place Cidini. Hodo followed Mieszko, who fled to Cedini. There Cideburs army waited on Hodo and attacked from the surrounding hills to. The battle became a massacre and a few German - Saxon troops escaped, including the counts Hodo and Siegfried. 973, during the Diet of Quedlinburg, founded Emperor Otto I. between the warring parties to peace. However, Mieszko had to make as a hostage to secure peace his son Bolesław.
The battle is narrated by the chroniclers Gallus Anonymus and Thietmar of Merseburg.
Contemporary relevance
After the city had been conquered Zehden 1945 by the Red Army, named the Polish administration to the place in Cedynia. In 1972 was built on the occasion of the 1,000 th anniversary of the battle a monument that commemorates the Battle of Zehden.