Rani (Slavic tribe)

The Ranen ( Rujanen, possibly Slavic " The Red " ) were a West Slavic people on the island of Rügen and the surrounding mainland.

Culture and Religion

The princes of the Ranen ruled from the hill forts Charenza (now Venzer hillfort ) and the Rugard (now Bergen) from. I also had a powerful priestly caste with large estates and regional influence.

The polytheistic religion of the Ranen knew a number of multi -headed gods who were worshiped as larger than life wooden statues of various temples. The religious center was the Jaromarsburg today called temple at Cape Arkona, in which the four -headed chief god was worshiped Svantevit.

After the destruction Rhetras in the year 1068/69 Arkona took over its importance as a religious center of pagan Baltic Slavs. On Svantevit the name Wittow could go back, probably because the entire peninsula belonged to the temple.

Other important gods were their patron saint and Rugievit Porenut and Porevit, whose temples were in Charenza, and Tjarnaglofi, who was worshiped in a temple today Hertha castle called on Jasmund.

Economy

Language

The language of the Ranen was a polabischer dialect in the Lechitic branch of the West Slavic. In the course of the country's development and the associated (low ) German colonization in the 13th century the Ostniederdeutsche official and soon even under the Ranen everyday language was. The last Ranisch speaking woman is supposed to be 1404 died on Jasmund.

History

Main article: Principality of Rügen

The formation of the tribe of Ranen came after a part of the immigrant in the wake of the Great Migration from the 6th century in the former East Germanic settlement areas Slavs chambers opened up on and around Rügen, which were inhabited before the Great Migration of the Rugiern. Parts of the island and surrounding mainland, however, were continuously inhabited, so that the rest of the population rugische probably assimilated and anes her name in the Slavicized form to the R ( uj ) passed.

Mention is the Ranen at Widukind of Corvey, when they won the battle of the Raxa against Wilzen and Obodrites 955 in alliance with the Germans. Beginning of the 12th century the Danes tried several times to break the Terran supremacy in the southern Baltic Sea.

The Ranen lost their independence, when the Christian Danes on 15 and June 16, 1168 conquered by King Valdemar I and the Bishop Absalon of Roskilde, the temple castle on the Cape Arkona. According to the Danish taking this main sanctuary capitulated and gave the Ranen Charenza without a fight. In response, the Ruegen princes turned to Christianity and so secured their supremacy in the new time into it. Prince Jaromar I became a vassal of the King of Denmark and the island became part of the Danish Roskilde bishopric, while the mainland was transferred to the diocese of Schwerin. The Ranen were now fighting on the side of the Danes against Pomerania, Pomerania until 1186 was quite become Danish.

To consolidate the monasteries of Christianity Hilda, mountains and Neuenkamp were built.

During this time, the medieval German colonization in the Ranen were Christianized and from the westelbischen areas migrated Lower Saxony, Westphalia, Holstein, Friesian, Dutch and Flemish too.

Thus died the polabische language of the Slavs also Rügen Ranen mentioned at the beginning of the 15th century from final. Most of today's place names on Rügen are but - like many surnames - Slavic origin.

With Wizlaw III. of Rügen died in 1325, the last Slavic prince of Rügen.