colonisation in medieval germany

7/28/2019 Colonisation in Medieval Germany

1/29

Dutch and Flemish Colonization in Mediaeval GermanyAuthor(s): James Westfall ThompsonReviewed work(s):Source: American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 24, No. 2 (Sep., 1918), pp. 159-186Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2763957 .

Accessed: 16/12/2012 15:25

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to

American Journal of Sociology.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded on Sun, 16 Dec 2012 15:25:18 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucpresshttp://www.jstor.org/stable/2763957?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/2763957?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucpress


2/29

DUTCH AND FLEMISH COLONIZATION INMEDIAEVAL GERMANY'JAMES WESTFALL THOMPSONUniversityfChicago

The progressmade in recentyears in economic nd socialhistory as changed oth heaxis and theorbit fhistoricalnter-pretation. Political, ynastic, nd military istory,he historyfgovernments,aws, and institutions,as ceased to interestmanystudents fhistoryn thesedays. The Aristotelian ind fWest-ernEurope nd America as discovered ew ources f nformationand new subjects f investigation.No one of thesequestionssmore mportanto themediaevalisthan hatofdemography.Among he discoveries hich he modern tudyofmediaevalhistory as made is the profoundlyrganic nd heterogeneousnatureof mediaeval ociety-the complexityf its composition,the variety f ts texture. The sharpcleavageoncesupposed otohave existed etweenhe three lassesofmediaeval ociety, enowknow,was nota hard and narrow ineofseparation,ut aseries f ocialgradations,ome f hem oslighthat heir arallax,so tospeak,hasnotyetbeen ccuratelyetermined.2The light astuponthe conditionf themediaeval easantryin the courseof these social and economic esearches as been

I The literature pon this subject is very arge. It is citedfully n Kretschmer,HistorischeGeographievon Mitteleuropa Berlin, I904), 37I-72; in Schulze, DieKolonisierungnd GermanisierungerGebietewischenaale und Elbe (Leipzig,i896),I29; in K6tzschke,DeutscheWirtschaftsgeschichte,og. These books have briefaccounts. Lamprecht,DeutscheGeschichte3d ed., I906), III, 309-42, has a greatamountofsuggestivematerialpacked intoa smallcompass. R. K6tzschke'sQuellenzur Geschichteer ostdeutschen olonisationim I2. bis 14. JahrhundertLeipzig:Teubner, 9I2) iS an indispensable ollection fthecharters. Helnold's Chronica la-vorum, d. Schmeidler Leipzig: Hahn, I909), is the best narrative source. MayI also mentionmy article, The GermanChurchand the Conversionof the BalticSlavs," in the AmericanJournal of Theology, pril and July, 9i6; and another,"GermanEast Colonization,"n Proceedings fAmerican istoricalAssociation, 9i6.2 See my articleon "ProfitableFields of Investigation n Mediaeval History,"AmericanHistoricalReview April, 9I3), 500.

I59

This content downloaded on Sun, 16 Dec 2012 15:25:18 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/29

i6o THE AMERICAN JOURNALOF SOCIOLOGYenormous. One of the most nterestingf these findingss thestartling iscovery hat the rural population f Europe in theMiddleAges was probablymorenomadic nd less sedentaryhanthe ower lasses f ociety oday.' Thesedisplacementsfpopula-tionwerenotuponthegiganticcale of the Germanmigrationsnthe fifth entury r the Norse and Hungarian nvasions f theninth nd tenth enturies.Neverthelessheywere mass move-ments f argedimension-waves f popularmigrationometimessucceeding ne another hrough seriesof years, which wereprimarily otived ydesire ormprovementfmaterial onditionand powerfullyffectedy economic istress nd the pressure fsocial forces. The Frankish olonizationf the SpanishMarchin the timeofCharlemagnend Louis thePious is an example fsuch movement2 moremportantnd more ypicals thehistoryof the eastward xpansionf theGerman eopleunder heSaxon,Franconian, nd Hohenstaufenulers, nd theircolonization fMecklenburg,randenburg,omerania,ndSilesia.3In thispioneeraborDutch andFlemishmmigrantsromheLow Countries layedno unimportantart. The emigrationfthe peasantryf modern olland ndBelgiumn thetwelfthndthirteenthenturies nd their ettlementn numerous catteredcoloniesn LowerGermany asdueto the simultaneousperationofexpulsive orces t home nd the attraction hich new andpresented.MediaevalBelgium haredwithLombardy he honor fbeingthemostdensely opulated egion fWestern urope. The heart

I This the late AchilleLuchaire,Social France at theTime ofPhilip Augustus(English trans.),404-6, clearly demonstrated. Cf. Powicke's review of the Frenchoriginal n EnglishHistoricalReview,XXV, 565. The conclusion mply confirmedthe previous esearches fLamprecht, tudes ur 'etat conomiquee a France Frenchtrans.by Marignan), 38-39, 222-23; Flach,Les origines e 'ancienne rance, I, livreiii, prem.partie. For Germany he ast half ofLamprecht,DeutscheGesch.,Vol. III,to mention o otherwork, hows he samething.2 See Imbart de la Tour, "Les Colonies gricoles t l'occupationdes terres esertesa l'epoque carolingienne,"n hisQuestions 'Histoire, I-68.3 See myarticle, GermanEast Colonization," roceediingsfAmericanHistoricalAssociation,9I6, and another, The GermanChurch nd the Conversion fthe BalticSlavs," AmericanJournalof Theology, X (I9I6), 203-30, 372-89.




4/29

DUTCH AND FLEMINGS IN MEDIAEVAL GERMANY i6ioftheFrankishmonarchyad beenhere, ndthe ntimatessocia-tionbetweenhe Merovingiannd Carolingianovereignsnd thechurch ad resulted n thefounding fmanymonasteriesn theland. Nowhere lse in Europeperhapswere theymorethicklyclustered,withtheirample lands and theirthousands f serfsexploiting he rich glebe farms. Here were the greathistoricabbeysof St. Vaast inArras, t. Bavon in Ghent, t. Martin nUtrecht,t. Gery nd St. SepulchrenCambrai, t. Laurence ndSt. Lambert n Liege, and of St. Omer,St. Quentin, t. Bertin,and St. Riquier,formed f clustered ommunitiesf artisans,craftsmen,nd petty radesmenwellingn separate quarters"around hemonastery alls,with he scattered illages fservilehusbandmenn the bbey ands tretchingoundabout,'nd n theeleventhnd twelfthenturiesrownntomore r ess ndependenttowns. Besides hese reat bbeys hereweremany thers, orbie,Lobbes, St. Trond, Nivelles,Andennes,Calmont,St. Hubert,Stavelot, osses,Alden-Eyck,rogne,tc.Whatthesegreatmonasteriesid on a largescale in clearingforests nd drainingmoorand swamp ands2 hose amongthepeasantry howerefree id n lessdegree. For,as layandeccle-siasticalfeudalismxpanded,hrowingts coils over thepersonsand lands of the freepeasantry, ather han submit o servileconditionsndbondage o theglebetheyfound efugenremoterparts f hewidewaste fmoor ndfen, xactlys thepopulationfthe uplandsfled o the forest,nd thereestablished heir inyvillages, nd by ditching nd diking nd draining edeemedfew cresofsoilfrom he reluctant raspofthesluggishwaters.Cubes of turf ervedforbuilding locksfortheir ottages, ndpeatwastheir uel.3But in the courseof time,as in the uplandsthe feudalityappropriatedhe forestsnd reduced he freeforest illages oserfdom,o intheLow Countrieshefeudal obles raduallyene-trated nto the remote enregionsnd extended heir eigneurial

I See Flach, op. cit., I, livre ii, C. 7; Blanchard,La Flandre, 53-69; and myarticle n Journal fPoliticalEconomyNovember,9I5), 872-73.2 Blanchard, 70-20I.

3Lamprecht,DeutscheGesch., II (4th ed.), 336.




5/29

i62 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGYswayover hefreemarsh illages.' With hespread fthe feudalandmanorial egime ame the evilsofprivatewar,whichneitherthetruce fGodnor hecivilpower for hecivilpowerwas thatofthe ords hemselves) as abletosuppress,naddition o which heburden fheavyand vexatiousmanorial xactionswas imposedupon the peasantry.Fromthis condition f things migrationwasthereadiest ormfrelief.Furthermorehe lot of the peasantwas madeworseby theviciouscommercialolicyof some of the nobles,whoseheavytaxationuponproduction, istribution,nd consumptionn theformfnumberlessonlieux, eages,andmaltotesmpoverishedhepeasants nd discouragedr evenruined nterprise.The bishopofMunster,or xample, losed o theFrisians heirmarket ftheEms,whitherheyhad beenaccustomed o bring heir attleforbarter. No othermarketwasopen othem ecause heDanes andthe merchants f Bremenand Hamburgdemandedmoney,commodityhichwasvery carcenFriesland. As a consequencethe Frisiancattle,practicallyhe sole resource f the country,becamediseased romnbreeding,nd starvationnsued.2Industrialoercion,gain,was a factornprovokingmigration,fornowheren Europe n the eleventh nd twelfthenturies asthedevelopmentf ndustryndtownpopulation reaterhan nBelgium. If theburghersecured reedom fwork ndmeasur-able political ightshey tayed; fcoercionucceededhey oughttomigrate.What development ad industry ttained and inhow far was it emancipated rom he influence f agricultureand a ruralenvironmentnd become urban? Levasseur hasshownthat a changehad supervenedn the relations etweenagriculturend industry ythebeginningfthetwelfthentury.3It goeswithoutaying hatthischangewasintimatelyonnectedwiththe emancipationf the servile classes and the birthof

I The history fthis wampreclamationnd forest learingnmediaevalBelgiumhas been the subjectofvarious studies: Blanchard,chaps. xi-xiii; Duvivier, "Hos-pites: defrichementsn Europe et sp6cialement ans nos contrees ux Xje, Xjje, etXjjje siMcles," evue 'histoire td'arch6ologie,ol. I; Van de Putte, "Esquisse surlamise en culturede la Flandre occidentale,"Ann. de la soc. d'6mulation e Bruges,Vol. III.2 Curschmann, ungersndtemMittelalterLeipzig, 900), 23.3 Histoiredes classes ouvrieresIst ed.), I, I73 f.; cf. 320-2I, and Lamprecht,L'dtateonomiquede France,24I-47.




6/29

DUTCH AND FLEMINGS IN MEDIAEVAL GERMANY I63the burgher lass in the towns. There s no need to enterhereinto considerationf thiscomplex nd thorny uestion. But thetendency o freedom f ndustrynd the formationf ndustrialcombinationsike the guilds, s everyone nows,werebitterlyresented y the nobility,who triedto maintain he serfdom findustry uite as much s the serfdomf agriculture.'An additional actorwhich nducedmigrationn theMiddleAges,perhaps hemostgeneral fall influences,as famine. Theoccurrenceffamine asnotalwaysduetoadverseweatherondi-tions. It is true hat hardwinter hich illed hepeasant's eedcorn n the cellars, r a drought,r a prolonged etseason wasoftenerriblyestructivef he rops.But asidefromhese hysicalphenomenaamine asoftenngendered,t least ocally, yothercauses, uch s feudalwar, xhaustive axation othofproductionand distribution,n addition o which herudimentaryystem fagriculturerevailing, ithcrudefarmingmplementsnd igno-rance f theuseoffertilizers,ustbe taken nto ccount.SinceLamprecht eploredhe absence fanymonographponthehistoryf mediaeval amine,hegap has beenfilled,t leastforGermanyndtheLow Countries, yCurschmann'sdmirablebook.2 He hasshown hat nBelgium amine ccurred our imesin theeleventh entury,ine imesn thetwelfth,nd twicenthethirteenth. here s mostcertainly connection etween hesehunger onditions-there as a threeyears'faminen I I44-47-and thehuge emigration hich ookplace fromBelgiumn thetwelfth entury.3Under tress f suchprivation o feudal ord

I Levasseur, I, i67; Guerard,Polyptique 'Irminon, , 47I f.,7I7 f., 729 f.2 See n. 2, p. i62, and compare hereviewsn RevueHistorique, nglishHistoricalReview,Historische eitschrift,nd VierteljahrschriftiirGeschichtswissenschaft,ll ofwhich ulogizethe book as a veryvaluable work.3Curschmann, 40 and 40-4I. He comparest, ,with hegreatdroughtn Europein i847 and itseffect ponemigration,articularlyromGermany nd Ireland. In thelatter country he potato crophad also failed theyear before. The effect f these"hard times" in provoking opulardiscontentnd so promoting he revolutionofi848 has not yetbeen studied. Over-populationnd under-productionre sometimesthe positiveand the negativeway of sayingthe same thing,and over-population

in theMiddleAges was a veryprevalent auseofmigration. See forBelgium,Blanch-ard,485-88; Curschmann,gg; Pirenne,Histoire eB6lgique, , I35-40; forGermany,Piischel,Anwaccsender deutschentadte n der Zeit der mittelalterlichenolonialBe-wegung,3-I5; Wendt,Die Germanisierunger Ldtnderstlich erElbe, II, 17-i8. Ihave given somedetails n the twoarticles f mine cited nn. 3, p. i6o.




7/29

i64 THE AMERICAN JOURNALOF SOCIOLOGYcould have been able to retainhis tenantry.Proptercaristiamcolonofugiente,plurimi vici desertiremansere, eads a chronicle.The cattlewere slaughtered or ack of fodder nd to furnishfood. When heywere onsumed othing ut flight emained s arecourse. It is impossible o avoidthisconclusion,ven fone snot lways ble toestablish direct exus etweennygiven amineandanygivenmigration.Thesimultaneousnessfthetwo ventswasnot accidental.Whenthe Friesland r Flemish easantbetookhimself o therefugef themarshesnorder oescapefrom eudal ppression efound nlya precarious reedomventhere. For he lived everinperil f the sea. The lowcoast, hemanydeeptidalestuaries,theflatplainsacrosswhich heRhine, heVaal, theMeuse,theScheldt,ndtheirffluentseandered,nd which ften verflowedtheirowbanks n time ffreshet,hesaltmarshes,he wamps-all theseconditionsxposed hepopulation o floodswhichweresometimeserriblentheir evastation.' Inundation as a power-

I In the middleof the first entury .D. Pliny, the Elder, who had seen servicein the Roman provinceof LowerGermany, escribed the condition of theFrisiansin termswhich are applicable to thema thousand years ater. He says: "In thisregion hewretched atives,occupying ither he tops of hills or artificialmoundsofturf aisedout of the reach of the highest ides,build theirsmall huts, which ooklike sailing vessels when the water covers the land, and likewreckswhen it hasretired. For fueltheyuse a kind ofturf i.e.,peat] dug by hand and driedrather nthewindthan in the sun,and with this earth theycook theirfood and warmtheirbodies. Their only drink is rain-water ollected in ditches under the eaves."There is an ancient tudyof nundationsn Flanders n theSeancesde1'Acad6mie . .de Belgique, (i777), 63 f. Blanchard, chaps. ix-xi, s very nteresting,s is alsoCurschmann,who gives extractsfrom the sources. Montagu Burrows,CinquePorts, chap. xi, deals with tidal and storm effects f the English Channel on thesouthcoastofEngland. The year 405-6 wrought errible avoc alongall theNorthSea coast. It was perhapsthegreatest torm nhistory, or tpractically aged,withbrief ntermissions,ver thewhole ofEurope fromNovember, 405, to April, 406.Bruges,thegreatest ommercial mporium fthenorth,was ruinedby it,for heseaoverwhelmedhegreattidegatesat themouthof theZwin, regarded veninDante'stime s an engineering onder,nd so filled heharbor fBrugeswith and thatnothingbut the ightest raftvesselscouldenter. At the same time thisgreatstorm leareda huge island of sand out of themouthof the Scheldt and opened Antwerp,whichhitherto ad been a merefishing illage,to trade, nd so it succeededBruges n com-mercial history. Popular opinion associated thismighty tormwith the death ofTamerlane,who died February 9, I405, but the news was not known n WesternEurope untilMarch, 1406. Wylie,History ftheReign of Henry V, II, 470-75,hasgathered mass of data regardingts effectsnEngland. The winter407-8 was the"Great Winter -one ofthemost famousknown.




8/29


9/29

t66 THE AMERICANJOURNALOF SOCIOLOGYNaerOostland illen yryden,NaerOostland illen ym6e,Al over iegroene eiden,Frisch ver ieheiden.Daer sser enbetere teeAlswybinnen ostland omenAl onder athooge uis,Daer worden ybinnenelaten,Frischver ieheiden;Zyheeten nswillekomyn.'

The Drang nach Ostenof the Germanpeoples had long sincebeen underway when the first rush" of settlers ut of Frieslandand Flanders into North Germanybegan -early in the twelfthcentury. From the time of Henry the Fowler, under the lee ofthe battle line, the frontier f colonial settlementhad advanced,conqueringthe stubbornsoil and the no less stubbornresistanceoftheWends,untilby the termof theFranconianepochMecklen-burg, Brandenburg,Pomerania, and the Thuringian Reichslandwere studded with German settlements; the initial stages of apermanent oliticaland ecclesiastical ystemwerefirmly rounded;Magdeburg,Bardwick, and Lubeck had become importanttradecenters; and coloniesofGerman ettlers rom artherwest,temptedby cheap land and the easy termsunder which titles mightbeacquired,were established.But theFlemish and the Frisianpioneerdid not come ntotheseregionsuntil the subjugationor expulsionof the formerWendishpeoples therehad been accomplishedby the swordof the Saxonsthrough wo centuries falmostunremitting arfare gainstthem,and thepreliminaryworkofsettlementmade by Germancolonists.They were notmen of the battle edge,but of the rear guard.2For theland into whichtheycame theFlemingand theFrisianwere singularly dapted. In the highfeudalage Lower Germanyalong the coast of the North Sea and theBaltic was an almostun-

I Quoted in Schulze,Die IColonisierungnd GermanisierungerGebietewischenSaale und Elbe, 79; Lamprecht,D.G., III, 342. Willems,Oude Vlaemsche iederen(Ghent, 848), 53,has claimedthat thisballad is notof the twelfthentury, ut later.He prints hecomplete extonp. 25.

2 See my articleon "GermanEast Colonization,"op. cit.,forfull xposition.




10/29

DUTCH AND FLEMINGS IN MEDIAEVAL GERMANY I67interruptederies fmarshesndfens,which, wing o the luggishflow f the rivers cross he flatplainand the deep ndentationfestuaries ikethe mouths f theWeser nd theElbe, sometimesextended considerable istancenland. Mecklenburgnd Pom-eraniaweredotted with akes. Even in the interiorherewasmuch og and andsome reaswhichwerehugemorasses.The firstGerman ncomersnto theseregionshad naturallyavoidedtheseplaces and appropriatedorthemselves he tilledsoil of the conqueredWends. When almost all of this hadbeen occupied, hiefly y the clergyand high feudality,hesettlers, here ossible,tillclung ohigh round nd cleared heforests.Before hecomingf theDutch andFlemingsntoGermanynthe twelfthenturyheswamps ndmarshes,fused at all,wereused onlyforpasturage,nd occasionally,fnottoowet,forhaymeadows. But the Germanpeasantry efore heir mmigrationknew ittle rnothingf theprocess fmakinguchbottomandsarable.2 The German eudalprinces nd prelateswhoimportedthese owlandersyhundreds new heir aluefor wamp eclama-tion. SinceRomantimes ike-buildingnd artificialrainage adbeenpracticedn Flanders ndHolland.3It was the slow ncrease fpopulationn Germany4nd espe-cially he enormousandhunger fthegreatproprietors,oth ayand clerical,which avea new valueto theseneglected pots ndwas theprimaryactorn nducinghebishops, bbots, ndprincesofGermanyo bring n colonies f Dutch and Flemings. Theywere sed odeepplowingsnheavy oils. Moreover,he aborwaswithout eril. It was a newcountry,ut it was notexactly hefrontier.Intelligentobles ike Adolf fHolstein,Henry heLion,andAlbrechthe Bear viedwithchurchmenikethe four reat rch-bishops fHamburg-Bremen,dalbert, dalbero, rederick,nd

IHeinemann, Albrecht erBar, 227; Meitzen,Siedelung tnd grarwesen,I, 45I.2 Vogel,LdndischeAnsiedelungenerNiederliinder,.3 Heinemann, 43.4 For information n this head see Kotzschke,DeutscheWirtschaftsgesch.,0-52wheremuch iteratures cited.




11/29

i68 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGYHardwich, ithBernhardfHildesheimndWichmann fMagde-burg, npromotinghe mmigrationf theseFrisian nd Flemishsettlers. The Cistercianmonasteries, owever,were the mostactive promoters f lowland colonization.Having been butrecentlystablished,hisorder oundittle lace for tself nolderGermany, here normousreasof and had been for enturiesnthehandsof the Benedictinesnd Cluniacs. In consequenceheCistercians ere ompelledo foundheir ousesn theNewEast ofGermanyustbeing pened,where andwas still heap, nd, nthecase ofmonks, ouldbe acquired ornothing.'Withinhe paceof hundred ears he owerWeser, hewholevalleyofthe Elbe fromMeissen oHamburg, hemarshes ftheHavel, the bottom andsoftheMulde,theBlack and the WhiteElster,the banksof the OderbelowBreslau, togetherwith tsaffluentsike the Netze, were peopledwith theseDutch andFlemish ettlers. Place-namesikeHollern,Hollen,Hollernweg,Hollernklink, ollernstiick, ollanderhof, ollerndick,Holler-wisch,Hollerwettern,ollerbrock,nd other ames f ocalities fFlemish riginikeFlemsdorf,lemingsthal,lammingen,ell thetale,whichslegible ventodayuponthemapofGermany.2Themethodsfcolonizationaried etweenhe xtremesftheindividualpioneer ettler nd the migrationnd settlementfgroups fcolonists, reat r small n number. In themain,how-ever, he atterwas thepractice. Thedayof thehomomigransoftheSalicCode, nd of hehospesof he nnals nd cartulairesftheninth, enth, nd even eleventh enturies,3had passed. Whiledoubtlessmuch orestandstill ontinuedobe cleared ythe onepioneer, rbog land drained, rwasteredeemed,hegroup deawas dominant. It was real colonization-the simultaneousco-operative igrationfblocks fpeople,who ook heirattle ndhouseholdffects ith hem romhe ancient omeland,nd their

I The subjectofthe nfluencef the Cistercians ponthe colonization f the trans-Elbean lands in Germanys too largeto be consideredn thisarticle.2 Meitzen, II, 352-54; Kretschmer, istorische eographie,ec. 227, wheremuch

local literatures referredo.3 See Du Cange,Glossarium,nd compareLamprecht, tateconomique e France,230-4I; Henri See, Les Classesrurales t e regime omanialenFranceau moyen-age,2I2-38.




12/29

DUTCH AND FLEMINGS IN MEDIAEVAL GERMANY I69settlementn a newcountry.Thiswas thefashionn which hefirstmportantettlementf owlanders asmade nGermany,hatof io6 in themarshes f theWesernearBremen.The organized ature f these displacementsfpopulationnthetwelfthnd thirteenthenturiess one of thefirst hings ostrike he student. In an articlepublished lsewhere' haveendeavoredoshow hisnthe aseof hehistoryf he olonizationofthetrans-Elbean interland y peoplesof,German tockwhomoved astward rom heolder ndmoredensely opulated artsofGermanyikeWestphaliandFranconia. In thehistoryftheinfluxfthe owlandFleming nd Frisian, lthoughhe ocalitieswhere hey ettledweredifferent,e see the samepurpose, hesamemotives, he same organization,nd similar onditionsfsettlement.Before ntering,owever, pontheparticular istory f themost mportantowlanderolonies stablishednGermany wordofcautions necessary.While omeofthemwerenitiallyormedoforiginalettlersrom landersndFrisia,whichn course f imegrew oth rom aturalncreasef hepopulationndfromgglom-eration wing o theoccasional rrival f new mmigrants,n theotherhand numbers f theseFlemishand Frisiancolonies nGermany videntlywerenot composed f original owlanders,butwere ffshootsfthemother-group. onfusionrises romhelooseterminologyfthesources,which o not alwaysdistinguishbetweenFlemish nd Dutch settlers, or between riginalow-lander ettlementsnd colonies erived romhese. The lowlandstrain nclined o thin witheach succeeding enerations thenewcomersntermarriedith heirGerman eighbors,rwith helocalWendish opulationwhich emainedn itsancestral abitat.Finally, o confuse he investigatortillmore, henatureandinstitutionsf theselowlander olonieswere sometimesopied

rMy articleon " GermanEast Colonization,"op. cit.2 For example,Liuntzel nmentioninghe settlement stablishedby Bishop UdoofHildesheim alls it a Flemish olony,whereas he names of the fourmenwithwhom

the bishopmade the contract reobviously risian, .e.,Dutch,as Vogel,op. cit., i, haspointedout. Again, he fact hatthe Flemishform f andholdings found o obtainaroundUebigau,Schweinitz,nd Domnitzsch n the ater MiddleAgesdoes notprovethattheseplaceswere ettledbyoriginal lemish olonists Schulze, 30, n. I).




13/29

I70 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGYby real German olonies, o that there re examples f the atterwhichbear the earmarks f Holland or Flanders, hough heyactually ontained oinhabitantfthat tock.'The chief ourceofinformationorthe history f these ow-lander colonies s of a documentary ature.2 Of the chroniclesHelmold'sChronica lavorums farthe mostvaluable. Philologyhas been an importantuxiliary cience n tracing he genesis fsurnames nd thenamesofplaces; and archaeology as thrownsome ight ponthesubject.3These Dutchand Flemish olonies n mediaevalGermany,smight e expected, eremorenumerous ear the country hencethe settlers ame. Themarsh andsofthe owerWeserwere heearliest laceof ettlement,hen he ower nd middle lbe and tstributaries,henthe Oder region. Traces of Netherlandersreto be found n Galicia, nAustria, nd in theCarpathians.Butlittlepositive nformations to be had concerninghem.4Thefartheraltic oast eems ohavebeen ettled hieflyy mmigrantsfromWestphalia,lthoughhe duneandmarsh opography ightbepresumedohaveattracted hepeoplefromheLow Countries.5The highuplands fGermany nd the mountainousegion ftheErzegebirgend theCarpathianswereusually voidedby them.They preferredutting eed grass and digging urf o clearingtimbernd mining.The Flemish ettlementsearWaldheim nd Altenburgwhereevennow heresa locality amed lemmingen)nd theDutchandFlemishqui etFlamingi) olony earKoesen,whichwere ertainlyestablishedhere eforeI40, that s,before hefoundationftheCistercianbbey fPforte,reexceptional,or hereason hat heyfoundodgmentn a mountainousndforestountrynstead fariverplain.6

I Schulze, 26.2 Kotzschke,Quellen urGesch.der ostdeutschenolonisations- I2. bis I4. Jahr-hundert, eipzig, 9I2.3 Meitzen, I, 358; Kretschmer, 74.4Kaindl, Gesch.derDeutschen n den Karpathenlindern2 vols.) (Gotha, I907),II, 208; Knull, 94-95.s Kretschmer, 67-68; Lamprecht, II, 305. 6 Schulze, 29, note.




14/29

DUTCH AND FLEMINGS IN MEDIAEVAL GERMANY I7IThe earliest ecord f Netherlandishettlementn Germanysfound n theBremisches Urkundenbuchor he year 062, when

smallgroup fthese mmigrantsas settled n themoors long heleft ankoftheWeser y thegreat rchbishop dalbert.' The fallof Adalbert nd the plunderingf the bishopric y the Billunger,coupledwith he narchyfGermany or o manyyears uring hereign f Henry V, probably eterred urthermmigrationoralong ime.2Things apidly hanged, owever,oon after he centurymarkwas turned. In iio6 Archbishop rederickfHamburg-Bremenenergeticallyevived is predecessor'solicy, nd granted certainlandswhich reuncultivated,wampy,nduseless" ohis wn eopletopersons who are calledHollanders,"ndwhowere pparentlyrefugees,or he charter ecites hat they ame to the archbishopand "earnestly egged"for eave to settleon themoors.3 Theprelate, consideringhat their ettlement ould be profitable,"granted heir equest. The lands were divided nto rectangularblocksmeasuring20 "royal" rods n ength nd30 inwidth. Thesettlers ereto pay onepenny denarius) nnually or ach hideorholding,o giveevery leventh heaf fgrain, very enth amb,every enth oat, very enth oose, nda tenth f thehoney ndflax or ithes, esides penny or ach colt nd a farthingobolus)for achcalfonSt. Martin'sDay. A tithe fthese itheswas setasidebythe rchbishopor he upportftheparish hurches,ndeach priestwas to have one hideof land. They agreedto payevery ear womarks or very ne hundred idesfor heprivilegeofretainingheir wn law and holding heir wncourts orthesettlementf all theirdifferencesn secularmatters. This theyasked "becausethey eared heywould ufferrom he njustice fforeignudges." But thebishop's ourtwas tobea court f ppeal.The successof the enterprise ust have been soon manifest.For almost mmediatelyfterward ishop Udo of Hildesheimestablished colonyof Flemings t Eschershausen, estof the

I Lamprecht, II, 372.2 See myarticle nAmericanJournal f Theology, X (I9I6), 227-28.3 K6tzschke, Quelleen,No. i. There is an English translation n Thatcher-MacNeal, Source Book forMediaevalHistory,No. 298. For commentary,Meitzen,III, 264-68. Map 86 is a luminous xposition fthe text.




15/29

I72 THE-AMERICANJOURNALOF SOCIOLOGYHarz,' and Dietrich fHalberstadt ndertookhe settlementfthe lowlandsbetween heBode and the Ocker rivers.2Withintwoyears fter io6 the promotion fDutch and Flemish mmi-gration orthe redemptionf swamp and became an organizedeffortftheclergynd lay noblesofLower Germany. In iio8thearchbishopfMagdeburg,hebishops fMerseburg, aum-burg,Meissen,Brandenburg, nd CountsOtto (of. . . .), Wicbert(of . . . . ), Ludwig (of . . . . ), "and all the greaterand lesserlords of easternSaxony" (universi rientalis axoniemajores tminores)nitedn a joint circular etition o thearchbishop fCologne, he bishopsofAachen and Liege, the duke ofLowerLorraine,Robert, ountofFlanders, nd others, rging hem oencourage heemigrationf their urplus nd hungry opulationintoLower Germany,whichwas represented,ot unlike and-promotionchemes oday, s a landflowing ithmilk nd honey.3Wedonotknowwhat he mmediateffectf his ndeavor as.But by themiddle fthecentury lemishnd FrisianmmigrationintoNorthGermany as infull wing. Of the German obles tthis ime


16/29

DUTCH AND FLEMINGS IN MEDIAEVAL GERMANY I73The furious acial and religious ar whichbroke ut in II47,known s theWendish rusade, evastated hewhole astern rontier

of SaxonGermanyromMagdeburg o Holstein. The newFlemishand Frisian ettlements ere mperiledt themoment henmanyofthemenhad returnedo their ld homes n theLow Countriesobring acktheresidue f heir ossessions hich hey ad eft here.When he nfuriated agri urst nto heregion ith irend swordtheyfound ess than a hundred ighting en n the blockhouseswhichhad been erected o protect he villages, nsteadof fourhundred. FortunatelyheWends,while heyhated heSaxons ortheir ppressionfthem, id not confoundheFlemish nd Dutchincomerswith theirGerman nemies. The frightenedillagers,whocould not have resistedf theyhad so dared,were spared,they ndtheir erds nd crops.' Alonethegarrisonntheblock-houseat Siissel, nder he eadership fa priestnamed Gerlach,braved the foe.2 What destruction id befallthe colony,notwithout eason,was attributedo the violence ftheirHolsteinerneighbors, ho were ealous of the industry f the settlers ndhated them s "foreigners."3The effect f the WendishCrusade n I I47 was to open argetracts fborder and to occupationwhichhitherto adbeen stillprecariouslyeld by theSlavs,and a wave of Dutch and Flemishsettlers ollowed ardupona great nflux fWestphalianolonistsintothe territoryast of the Elbe, alongboththe ower nd themiddle ourse f theriver.4The promotion f this movementwas participatedn by allclassesoflandedproprietors-dukes, argraves,ounts, i8hops,abbots. ThegreatestfthesewereAlbrechtheBearofBranden-burgand ArchbishopWichmann f Magdeburg. The amount

I Helmold,chap. 63, to the end. 2Ibid., chap. 64.The Holsteiners alled these owlander ncomers Rustri" (ibid., I58 and n. i).

4 This appears from surveymade byBishop Anselmof Havelberg n i i5o, afterthe WendishCrusade was over, and is contained n the new FundationsprivilegfConrad III: ". . . . et cum praenominataecivitates et villae saepe irruentibuspaganisvastatae sunt ac depopulatae adeo, utvel nullo vel rarohabitatorencolantur,volumusatque praecipimus, t idemepiscopus iberam bsque contradictione abeatfacultatembidemponendiet locandi colonosde quacunque gentevolueritvel haberepotuerit."-Riedel, CodexDiplont.Brand., I, 438.




17/29

I74 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGYof owlander lood nfused ithGermann themiddle f he welfthcentury n the basin of the Havel Rivermust have been con-siderable.' These tenacious lowlanderseagerly attacked thesodden oil. Thousands f acresof swamp and n course ftimewere edeemed ythem. For example, ocumentsftheyear I48describe heregionroundBrettenburgn theriver tor s a hugemorass. In the year 340 the Dutch communitiesf Cronenmoorand Liitteringe re described s prosperous armingocalities.2That themainbody f settlersn this artofHolsteinwas ofDutchoriginMeitzenhas shown rom he factthat Christian ofDen-markn 470 issued decreecanceling he urisdiction fDutchlaw in the Kremper nd Wilstermarshlandsnd substitutingDanish awinstead.3No lordofNorthGermany asmore ctive npromotinghecolonization nd settlementf theseDutch and Flemish mmi-grants hanAlbrechthe Bear of Brandenburg. n thispolicyhewas ablyassisted ythebishops, speciallyWichmannfMagde-burg. ExceptpossiblyRainaldofDassel,Frederick arbarossa'sheroic rchbishopfCologne, nd theversatile hristianfMainz,whowasfor o longhisviceroynItaly,twelfth-centuryermanyhadno ablerprelate hanWichmann.Onthepaternal idehewasdescended rom heBillunger ukesof Saxony,on hismother'sfrom he margravesfLausitzand Meissen.4After aving om-pletedhis theologicaltudies t Paris,Wichmann as successivelyprior f the chapter fHalberstadt, ishopofNaumburgII48),andinthefirst earofFrederick's reignwasmadearchbishopfMagdeburg yhim. He was a faithfuldherent ftheemperorthroughllthe ong onflict ithAlexanderII andoneof the hiefnegotiatorsf he eaceofConstancen I83. He wasan mplacableadversaryfHenrytheLion and a principaln thecatastrophewhich vercame hemighty axonduke n ii8i. In thatyear,with he idofthebishop fHalberstadt,e laidsiege oHaldens-leben. But the count f Lippe,who defendedheplace,diverted

I K6tzschke, taat undKultur nsZeitalter erostdeutschenolonisationLeipzig,IWIO), 30-34.2 Meitzen, II, 354. 3 Heinemann, 22.

4 Fechner,Leben des ErzbischofsWichmannvon Magdeburg,Forschungenurdeutschen esch.,V, 4I7-562.




18/29

DUTCH AND FLEMINGS IN MEDIAEVAL GERMANY I75the course of the Ohre River. Nothingdaunted,Wichmanrrthrew p dikes round he town o that the water verflowedhewallsand drovethe inhabitantso seekrefugen church owersandgranaries.Wichmannhen uilt fleet fboatsandwith hislittlenavytriumphantlyailedover hewallsofHaldenslebenndso capturedt.'AlthoughAlbrechthad received titular nvestiture f themargraviatefBrandenburgn II34(?), theSlav element n theMark was notwholly ubdued until II57,2 an achievementmateri-ally idedbyWichmann.Alreadynthe astyear fhis piscopacyat Naumburg,Wichmann ad imported colony fFlemingsndsettled hem t Schul-Pforta,here hey ongretained heir wnlaws and gave theirname-Flemmingen r Flaminghe-tothelocality.3Six yearsafterhis transferenceo Magdeburg,whenAlbrecht's omination ad been made completen Brandenburg,Wichmann eganthe active mportationf Flemish nd Dutchsettlersnto the unoccupiedmarsh ands of the Havel. Wich-mannwas not theoriginal ioneern thussettlinghesecoloniesalong heupper lbe,for lreadyn I54 BishopGerungfMeissenhad established groupof them t KiihrennearWurzen.4ButWichmannwas thegreatest romoterf theseenterprises, oreso even thanAlbrecht heBear himself.5The details fthehistoryf thesettlementftheseDutchandFlemish olonies yAlbrecht ndWichmannmaybe traced ntheUrkunden.But Helmold'sChronica lavorum as one chapter6

I Chron.MontisSereni,anno II82, in Mencken, SS. rerunmermanicarum,rae-cipue axonicarum, ol. II; Raumer,Reg.,No. I558.2 This informations contained n thefragmentsf theOldChronicle fBranden-burg, o be found nHeinemann, 22; cf.Lavisse, La MarchedeBrandenbourgous ladynastiescanienne,1-72.

3 K6tzschke,Quellen,No. 9; Wendt, I, 35. For a complete tudy ee Rudolph,Die niederldnderischenolonienderAltmark m I2. Jahrhundert,erlin, 88o.4 K6tzschke,Quellen,No. io; Vogel,vii; Schulze, 59.sK6tzschke, Nos. I4, I5, I6, i8; Wendt, II, 30 f.; Heinemann, Urkunden,Nos. 38-4I; Rudolph,op. cit. Hollanders were established t Krakau nearMagde-burg, nd at Kleutschnear Dessau; Flemings around Naundorf and Pechau nearMagdeburg; Westphaliansat Poppendorf, cross theElbe, oppositeMagdeburg, npratisetpaludibus.6 I, chap. lxxxviii.




19/29

I 76 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGYdescriptivefAlbrecht'solonizingolicywhichs soexcellenthatit is heretranslated:

In thattimeca. II57) themargraveAdelbert, urnamed heBear, hadpossession feastern lavia,whobyGod'scareoverhimverygreatly rosperedin his ot.' For heconqueredmisitubugum] ll theterritoryf theBrizani,2Stoderani,3ndmanyother ribes welling longthe Havel and theElbe, andovercamethose of them n rebellion.4Finally,as the Slavs graduallydis-appeared[deficientibusensim lavis],he sent to Utrecht nd the regions fthe [lower]Rhine,as well as to thosepeopleswho live near the ocean andsufferhe violenceof the sea [patiebanturimmaris],namely,Hollanders,Zealanders, Flemings, nd brought greatmultitude f them and causedthem o dwell nthetowns ndvillages f theSlavs.He greatly urtheredhe mmigrationfsettlersadvenae]nto thebishop-ricsof BrandenburgndHavelberg, ecausethechurchesmultiplied here ndthe valueofthe tithes reatlyncreased.5In this timeDutch settlers eganto occupythe east bank of theElbe.Fromthecityof Salzwedel heseHollanders ettled ll themarsh ndmeadowland [terram alustrem tquecampestrem]hich s called Balsemerlande ndMarscinerlandebeingverymanytowns nd villages s far as theBohemianfrontier.7 he Saxonsare said formerlyolim] o have inhabited hese ands

I Helmold's phrase s infuniculosortis. The figure s derivedfrom hemethodof surveyingand by measuringt offwitha rope. Helmold several timesmentionsthis form fmensuration,.g.,chaps. 69, 7I, 77,84. Cf.myarticleon "The GermanChurch nd theConversion f the Baltic Slavs," op. cit.,385-86.2 The Brizani were one of the small tribesbelonging o theBaltic branchof theSlavs; theydweltnearHavelberg Riedel,Der MarkBrandenburg,7I f.).3 A similar ribe n thesameregion Riedel, 306 f.).4Albrecht heBear recovered randenburg the city)in II57.5For the terrible urdenofthe tithe mposedupon theconqueredWends see myarticle, The GermanChurch nd theConversion fthe Baltic Slavs," op. cit., IO-I7.

224, 386.6 Balsemerlande,Pagus Belxa, was the territory round Stendal in the diocese.of Halberstadt. Marscinerlande s supposed to have been betweenArnesburg ndWerben,but Rudolph,op. cit., 37, has questioned t.7Helmold'swords re usquead saltumBoemicum. In chap. 8o, i50, he uses thesame phrase. WhetherHelmold,who ived inHolstein,knewthedifferenceetweenthe Boehmerwaldnd theErzgebirgemaybe doubted. Dehio,Brem.Jahrb., I, 85 f.,thinks hephraserefers o theErzgebirge;Rudolph,op. cit., 7, to theBoehmerwald.

Schmiedler, he last editorofHelmold, s surethat the latter s notmeant,and notcertain hat tappliesto theformer. I have translated he word altum s " frontier,"which,whilenot an exactrenderingf theword, s sufficientlyndefiniteoexpress hehazy stateofHelmold'smind.




20/29

DUTCH AND FLEMINGS IN MEDIAEVAL GERMANY I77in thetime fthe Ottos,' s can stillbe seen n theremains fold leveeswhich ad buttressedhe banksoftheElbe in the swampyandof theBalsami. Butafterward,henhe lavsprevailed2he axonswere illed ndthe erritoryasbeen ossessedy he lavsuntil ur ime. Butnow, ecauseGodhasgenerouslyiven ealthndvictoryoourduke nd he ther rinces,theSlavseverywhereave beenworn own protriti]nddriven ut,andpeoples strongndwithout umber"avebeenbroughtnfromhebordersof the ea,3 nd havetaken ossessionfthefieldsterminos],ndhavebuilttowns ndchurchesnd ncreasedn wealth eyondllexpectation.

Albrecht he Bear seemsto have preferred he agencyof othersin promoting owlander colonization of his territories o directenterprise y himself. His favorite gencies were the Cisterciansand thePraemonstratensians.n II59 AbbotArnold fBallen-stadtpurchasedwo ocalities formerlyossessed y theSlavs"fromhemargrave,nd soldholdingsnthem o " certain lemingswhohad petitioned ermissiono occupythemand to preservetheir wn aw."4 In II70 OttoofBrandenburgave twoDorfer,Dalchau andDrusedow, o theJohannite rder,whichhad beensettled yHollanders uring isfather'sifetime.5In theWeser egionhe nitiativeegun yFrederickfBremenwascontinuedy ater rchbishops. n II58 ArchbishopartwigestablishedcolonyfHollanders n theOchtum, small ffluentftheWeser.6 In II70 Friedrich onMachenstedt,ounder fthemonasteryf Heiligenrode,outhwest f Bremen, eceived er-missionfromhis successor,Archbishop aldwin,to settletheswamp ands betweenBrinkum nd Machenstedt,' est of theOchtum,with Hollanders.7This example s interestingecauseBaldwinhimself as a Hollander ybirth, nd in II78 returnedto hisnative and as bishop fUtrecht,verwhich e ruleduntilhisdeath n II96.In Saxonytheprecedentf Dutch and Flemish olonization,whichAdolphofHolsteinwas the earliest f the lay noblesofI Helmold, , chaps. I2 and i8.2 This refers o the greatSlav rebellion n io66. See, fordetails,my articleox"The GermanChurch nd the Conversion f the Baltic Slavs," Op. Cit., 228-30.3The words re quoted fromJoel :6.4 Kotzschke,Quellen,No. I3A. 6Vogel, v.5Ibid.,No. ig. 7 Ibid.




21/29

178 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGYGermanyo introduce, as followed y HenrytheLion,whoseintelligentule owesmoreto Adolph'sexamplethan his biog-raphershave admitted.After ll but the last remnantsf thewretched bodrite opulationweredrivenout of Mecklenburgin ii6o, by a jointexpeditionf Henry nd KingWaldemar fDenmark, undredsf lowlanders ere mportednto thebottomlandsaroundMecklenburgndRatzeburg.'Asthe ndof he welfthenturypproachesheres a noticeablefallingffn Dutchand FlemishmmigrationntoLowerGermany.Howfar hisdeclinewas due tothegreat evolution ade n NorthGermanyythefallof Henry heLionin i i8i, or to the growingprosperityftheLow Countries, hich, s every cholar nows,reached high egree f conomicevelopmentt this ime, t doesnot seempossible o determine.One factor n "slowingdown"this mmigrationerhapsmaybe foundnthis, hatas theWeserand Elbe marshes ncreasinglyecame ettled, henextavailabletracts,n the basinof theOder,were o far wayfromhe sourceof mmigrantupply hat trequirednusual ctivityndunusuallyfavorableermso inducenew ettlers ogoso far. Probably lsothefact hatthebestmarsh andsby 1200 hadbeentakenuphadits influence.What remained noccupiedwas so huge and sohopelesslymiry hatsimple easantshad neitherhecapitalnortheengineeringeansto undertakets reclamation.Such enor-mous tractsof swampas the GoldeneAue could be success-fullydrainedonly by corporate nterpriseike that of theCistercians.

Whateverhereasons,t s certainhat here reproportionallyfewerxamplesf he stablishmentf oloniesfDutchorFlemishinLowerGermanyfter i8o thanbeforehatdate. HartwigIofBremenn 20I established colony fHollanders earBremen,but t snoteworthyhat xceedinglyttractiveermswere equiredtoprevail ponthem o come.2IHeinemann, 227; Henry the Lion foundeda colony of Hollanders in II64around ErteneburgMeitzen, II, 358).2 Meitzen, II, 350-5I; Kretschmer, 68; Kntill, 7-8, Lamprecht, II, 326;K6tzschke, Das Unternehmertumn der ostdeutschenolonisationdes Mittelalters(Bautzen, I894), 5-8. It is unfortunatehatKotzschkehas notincludedthisrecordinhis Quellen.




22/29

DUTCH AND FLEMINGS IN MEDIAEVAL GERMANY I79By the beginningf the thirteenthenturyhe Hinterland fmediaevalGermany asnotthevalley f heElbe,but hevalley fthe Oder. The "Far" East of earlierGermany ad now becomethe"Middle" East,' andBreslauhad takenthe place of Magde-burg nd Brandenburgs a frontierity. In thethirteenthen-tury ilesia nd the erritoryfLebus nfartherrandenburg,heretheMarch ouched heOder, ot hebottomands ftheWeser ndtheElbe, notlowerSaxony nd Mecklenburg, erethepartsofGermany hitherhetideof overflowopulation rom heLowCountriesirectedtself. In Lebus,where hepopulationtillwas

heavily lavonic it was theancient and of the Leubuzzi), thelocal housewas very ctive n attractingolonists rom landersand Eastphalia,fromHesse and Thuringia. In the thirty-fiveyearsbetween204-39 it is said thatover 6o,oooacresofwasteor bottomand was redeemed y them.2In lower ilesia,wherethepeoplewere olish nblood, herewasa greatnflux f Germancolonistsnthetime fBoleslavtheTall andhis sonConrad,whoseem hieflyohave come romWestphalia,nd tmaybe surmisedthatmost of the Flemish mmigrantsho entered ilesia cameintothecountryn the wakeof these. Zedlitz,westofthe Odernear Steinau, eemsto have beenone of thesesettlements,ndPogelnearWohlau ertainly asa Flemish olony.3In general,tmaybe said thateastoftheElbe River heCis-tercianmonksand the Praemonstratensiananonswere moreactive nfurtheringowlandermmigrationhan ither hebishopsor thefeudal obles,while s toPrussia, hewhole xploitationf

I Professor . J. Turner has made this distinction lassic for thehistory f theAmerican rontieretween he " OldWest,"the " NewWest,"and the " FarWest,"andI have applied it here.2 Fisher, Mediaeval Empire, II, I6. I do not know upon what authorityhedependsforthisstatement.3In the middle of the twelfth enturythe Augustinsof Breslau brought acolonyof Walloons into the Altmark Grtinhagen, es colonieswallonesde Silesie,Brussels, 867), and later some serfs romNamurare found n Silesia. The Walloonimmigrationnto Silesia precededthat of the Flemings,but theywerenevernumer-ous. Theircomingwas rather n infiltrationhan a migration. SinceGriinhagen's

study,Levison (Zur Gesch. des BischofsWalter von Breslau, I49-II69, Zeilschriftdes Vereinsfiir esch.undAllerlum chlesiens,XXV [I90I], 353-57) has thrown ewlight upon this obscure Walloon population. Cf. Pirenne,Hisloire de Belgique,IX 38, n. 3.




23/29


24/29

DUTCH AND FLEMINGS IN MEDIAEVAL GERMANY i8iintended orcolonization,nd then, armedwith the termsofsettlement,etook imselfnto heLow Countriesndthere rgan-ized a company f "homeseekers"whomhe conductednto thenewterritory.His fee was commonly preferredhare n theenterprisen the form f an allotment f land. Naturallyheoften lso became n importantfficialn thenewcommunityndmedium etween he settlers nd the reigning oble. The firstmention f a locatoroccurs n the year I49.' But it is evidentfrom heallusion hat theoffice as already n established ne.In fact, his ort frealestate gency ecame profession.2 vencitieswere stablishedn the samemanner.3There s muchvariationn detail n these ettlements,ut astriking eneral niformityoth nmethod fdistributionftheallotmentsnd in institutions.The modelfor lmost ll agree-ments eems o havebeen the charterfArchbishop rederickfBremen o the men of Utrechtwhomhe settled n the Wesermarshesn iio8. Insteadof the nucleatedmanorial illage,withitspeasant trips rplowlandsn the pringndautumn plantingsseparated ydividing balks" ofturf,ts demesneand, tsgroupofhuddled ottagesnonecornerfthemanor,tsarray f rksomefarm asks and "boons," thesecolonialvillageswere aid out inrectangularlocks-an American ouldcall them sections" and"quarter-sections-of 40,6o,8o,ormore cres, o that achhome-steader ad a farmomposedfcontiguousand, ndnot, s underthemanorialegime,nassemblyfwidelycatteredoldings.Wefindthese "manors of Dutch measurement"mongboth theDutch and theFlemingsnd amongnew settlementsfGermancolonists, horecognizedhe enormousdvantage fthepracticeovertheoldsystem.4

I Meitzen, I, 348.2 On the institution fthe locator ee my article n Proceedings f AmericanHis-toricalAssociation I9I6), n. 8i, and references here given. K6tzschke's Unter-nehmertum,tc., is the mostrecent tudy of t.3 Poeschl, loc. cit., is full of evidence on this point. More briefly escribed nHeil, Deutsche tddte ndBurger m MittelalterTeubner's Sammlung,Band 43).4 These "mansus Hollanriensis dimensionis" are frequentlymentioned n thecharters, e.g., K6tzschke, Quellen,No. io; Riedel, Der Mark Brandenburg, I;CodexDiplorn. , 338. Elsewheretheyare called "Flemish"-inansos ad mensuram




25/29

182 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGYThe village, nstead fbeing huddled roup fcottages, as along street, veryhouse situated t the near end of the holdingfacing heroad. Behind t lay the farm cres, he meadow, hewoodlot, in this order f the "lay" of the land so permitted.Somewhere,suallynearthecenter f thevillage,were he hurchand thepriest's ouse, hepriest, esides he ocal tithe, avingholding fhisown called"Goddespeece" inEngland)whichwasworkeditheryparish erfs rbythepeasantryf thevillage. Iftherewere everal illages losetogether,numberf them ollec-tivelywere ormedntoa parish.' Thepriest's ouse and thatof

the locatorweregenerallyhemostsubstantialnd commodiousstructuresn thecommunity.2These Flemish nd Dutch settlers rought heirown housearchitecture ith themin many cases. While doubtless heoriginal"shack" mighthave been rudelybuilt of logs, thepermanent dificewas oftenof homemade rickmade out ofthe local clay, withtimber ravessesand, of course, imberedsuperstructure.The floors oo were brick; peat, with whichthe lowlanderwas familiar,ut which he German easanthadno knowledge f,wasburned n the fireplace. Sometimes hefrontfthehousewas decorated ith ude nd curious arvings,rpaintedpictures f horseheads, wans,windmills,tc. Ofcoursethese uxuriousppointmentsbtained nly mong hemorewell-to-do settlerswho possessedconsiderableand whichwas welldiked and drained. Poorer ettlers n smallholdings requentlyexposed ofloodndfreshetadnomeans o ndulgen theblandish-ments fart.3FlandrensiumK6tzschke, Quellen,No. i3C and 50C). They were also known as"mansus regales" or "Konigshufen" (Sommerfeld, esch. der Germanisierung esHerzogtumsPommern n Schmoller'sForschungen, III, Heft V, 140, 149). Cf.myarticle n " GermanEast Colonization," p.cit.,n. 76. Meitzenhas an exhaustivemonograph,VolkshufendKinigshufe Festgabe f. G. Hanssen, i889), i-6o, repub-lished nConrad'sHandwdrterbuch,V, 496.

I On theseFlemish street" villages ee Blanchard, p. cit., 23-27, whogives omeinterestingmaps. Cf. Meitzen, II, 47-53, 343-44; Inama-Sternegg, eutscheWirt-schaftsgesch.,, 439-43. Cf.my article, ited ust above, n. 77.2Lamprecht, III, 364-65.

3 Ibid.; Meitzen, I, 359-60, has a detailed account.




26/29

DUTCH AND FLEMINGS IN MEDIAEVAL GERMANY I83Oneoftheprimarynducementslways fferedo these ettlerswas exemptionrom heexasperatingndmultiplemanorial b-

ligationswhich urdened hemn thehomeland o sucha degreethat hese rievances ere realcauseofemigration.The sourcesaboundwith evidence n thispoint. Usually t was put nega-tively, hat s to say,the charter learly efinedwhat shouldbetherights,uties,ndobligationsfbothparties o the ransaction,which,o to speak,becamea writtenonstitutionor hegovern-ment f he ommunity. ometimes,owever,norder omake hecolonists oubly ssured, fter ecitingheduties nd obligationsthecharterwenton specificallyo narrate romwhatthesettlersshould e exempt,o thattheir reedom asdoublydefined.'But in commonwithmuch that was newthese ettlers om-mingledome hingshatwere ld. Theytenaciouslylung o thepreservationftheir wn native egal customsn the new land.The persistencefthischaracteristicrait ffeudal articularism,which tselfs traceable o the old Germanicegal theory f thepersonalityf aw,2 nspiteofthefluxingftheoldorder fthingsand thedevelopmentf so manynewinstitutions,s a strikingexample f the conservatismfthings f the aw.3The chartersboundwithrecord f thisprivilege. It appearsin thecharter fArchbishoprederickfBremen iio6), in theearliest nstanceof Dutch colonization, heretheir traditionaljudicia etplacita areguaranteed;4n thatofBishopWichmannfNaumburgII52) to the Hollander olony n Schul-Pforta;5nthatofBishopGerung fMeissen II54), where heprovisions

I Itemvoluit demarchiepiscopus,uod omnesvillici t cultores grorum jusdemecclesiae iberi sse deberent b omnicensu civitatisvel villae et quod essent iberi bomtii dvocatia," etc.-Henric. Wolteri,Chront. rem. (ca. II42), cited by Inama-Sternegg,I, 29, note. For other xamples ee Schulze, 57, n. i.2 Meitzen, I, 349.3 Even the Stadtrechtf Goslar, 256, although t was a mining-town here fewlowlandersettled, hows racesof Flemish aw, e.g.,the" institutioue vulgar.Kura"points o the KeurenofFlanders. The towncoinageofJiiterbocknd Bitterfeld ormanyyears showedthe Flemishoriginof the places (Schulze, 26-27, n. 2). TheBelgian scholarVan Houttehas made a special studyof the survivalof Flemish awamong hese Flemishcolonies n mediaeval Germany Le Droitfiamand t hollandaisdans les chartese colonisationnAllemagneu XIIe et au XIIIe siecle,Bruges,899).4 K6tzschke,Quellen,No. i. s Ibid., No. 9.




27/29

i84 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGYcuriously orded: nplacitis que cum psis etapud ipsos;' in II59in thatofAbbotArnold fBallenstedtjuresuo); in that fWich-mannofMagdeburgn ii66 (jure Hollandensium);n the swampco,lonystablishedyArchbishopaldwinn I 70between rinkumand Mackenstedt;2ntheKremperndWilstermarsh ettlements.3In thenature fthings hese mportedudicial nstitutions ereassimilatedncourse ftimewith hose ftheGerman opulationamongwhom heseDutchand Flemish ncomersettled. But insome cases these pecial aws endured longtime. The Dutchcoloniesof Zarnekau and Gumale in Holsteinpreserved heir"HollenschRecht" and did not go over to "Holsten Recht"until 438;4 Christian of Denmarkn I470 canceled he Dutchlaw oftheHollander ettlementround reitenburgnthemarshesofthe St6r;5thestatutes ftheFlemmingerocietdtnBitterfeldwere n vogueas late as theeighteenthentury,nd remains fthem re still traceable n this ocality.6It is a noteworthyact that theseDutch and Flemishmmi-grants, speciallyhe atter,were lmostwholly rural easantryand not a townspeople,lthoughhe Flemish owns ythetwelfthcenturywerealreadywell developed. The attractionsf com-merce nd industry issuaded his atterclass from migrating.In consequencehehistoryfGermanown ife n theMiddleAgesshows ittleevidenceof Flemish nfluence.7Nor do Dutch orFlemings ppear n therecords s servileministerialesnd house-hold servants. In thewar of i i66 wagedby HenrytheLion'srebelliousassals CountChristianfAmerlandeizedBremenwitha body f Frisian"troops,8utthis stheonlynstancef hekindwhich have met.On the other and, heir ffectponthematerial evelopmentof the open country, speciallybottom ands,was very great.While the Wendsweretraditionally marshfolk,theircrude

I Kotzschke,Quellen,No. io. 4Wendt, I, i6.2 Ibid., Nos. I3A, I4; Vogel, v. 5 Meitzen, I, 354.3 Kotzschke,Quellen,No. 6. 6 Schulze, 30.7 Ibid., I30, n. 3. Guilds of Flemish weavers are traceable in Nordhausen,Langensalza, and Gorlitz.8 Helmold, , chap. I03: Fresonummanu.




28/29

DUTCH AND FLEMINGS IN MEDIAEVAL GERMANY I85agricultureas incapable ftheengineeringecessaryo drain heswamps. As for he German, e was a woodlandery ancestralassociationnd by preference;ventheLow German ftheNorthGermanlainusually voided heriver ottoms,ntil heprocess ffeudal nclosuref theAlmend nd theforests rovehim o them.'But the incoming lemish nd Dutch settlers ad a naturalaptitude or hiskind f abor. Theywere sedtobogandfen, opeat marshes nd swamps, nd by inclinationreferredowlandsto uplands. The great anded proprietorsfGermanywho pro-moted heir ettlementad a clear perceptionftheir conomicworth;hence the largeprivilegesccorded hem. The charterofBishopGerung auds the "strongmenofFlanders" (strenuosviros x Flandrensi) howill redeem hewaste ofswamps roundMeissen. Besidesditching, iking, nd draininghese owlanderimmigrantsmaterially elpedthe country y buildingroads.2Anotherervice o whichwefindeveral llusionss the xtermina-tionof snakesby them.3Onemighthink hatthesehumble aborerswho settledwhereotherswouldnot go and hardly ompetedt all with heGermanwouldhavebeenwelcomed y him. But this was not the case.Helmoldrelatesthat theHolsteiners, ot without eason,weresuspectedffiringhevillages fFlemishnd DutchsettlersuringtheWendish rusade on account fhatred fthese mmigrants"(advenae),4whowere alled"Rustri" in Holstein.5

I On thisprocessof "inclosures" seeLamprecht, .G., III, 53-58; vonderGoltz,Landwirtschaft,3-98; Roscher,Ackerbau,tc. (iith ed., i885), secs. 79-80.2 K6tzschke,Quellen, I, note.3 Ibid., Nos. 2 (p. 7), 4 (p. II). 4Helmold, I, chaps. 63-64.5The termfirst ppears in Schol. 3 in Adam of Bremen'sGestaHammaburgensisecclesiae ontificumn,romwhomHelmold,chap. i, 83, borrowst. See Pertz's editionofAdamofBremen, he note to the schol. Helmold, , chap. 64, quotes at length, heharangueof a Germanpriestnamed Gerlach againsttheFlemings,n whichhe said:"Nulla gens detestabilior resis. Sane fetet is odor noster." Every anthropologistand ethnologist nowsthe importance f thisphenomenon mong primitive eoples.So the children f srael in Egypt complained o Moses and Aaron: "Ye have madeour savorto be abhorredntheeyesofPharaoh."-Exodus 5:2I. Even to thisday inGermany,rom heWeser o theOder, hetermsVldmsch, ldmischererl, VlUmischesGesicht, tc., signify uncouth," "heavy," "rough," "having bad taste."-Schulze,130, n. 3, at end.




29/29

i86 THE AMERICANJOURNALOF SOCIOLOGYThe resentmentf heWends owardhemwasmore easonable,forthe Wendswerea fenpeoplewho oftenwereactuallydis-possessedby thesesettlers rom he Low Countries.This wasparticularlyhecaseinBrandenburgroundDessau,Worlitz,ndPratau,where ruthlessxpulsionf theWends ookplaceunderAlbrechthe Bear and WichmannfMagdeburg.' In thereallyeloquent omplaint f Pribislav, he Obodrite hieftain,elatingthe sufferingsf hispeople,whichs given t length yHelmold,2Flemings nd Hollanders re mentionedlongwith SaxonsandWestphalianss thoseby whomhis peoplehave been expelledfrom heirhomelands. "Worndownby the comingof thesesettlers,"s honestHelmold ays, the Slavsforsookhecountry."It wasthefate ftheRed Man inAmerica.Lamprechtassaidthat hegreatest eedof heGermaneopleintheMiddleAgeswastheir astwardxpansionver, ndcoloniza-tion f, heSlavonicandsbetweenheElbeand theOder. Mostofthis ongand importantaborwas doneby theGermans hem-selves. But a not nconsiderableortion f this chievement asdueto thesenameless ioneers welling ytheoceanandsufferingtheviolence f thesea,whocameto redeem he marshes f theWeser, heElbe, theHavel,theOder, nd even theVistula.3ModernGermany as ill requited he service. The haplesschildrenfBelgium o longer,n their treet ames, countout"as formerlyhey idbysingingheold ballad:

Naer Oostlandwillenwy ryden,Naer Oostlandwillenwym6e,Al overdiegroeneheiden,Daer isser en betere tee.

I Schulze,130. 2 Helmold, , 98.3 "Dieser Pionierdienstn der Kolonisation des deutschenOstens ist unter denvielenGrosstatenunsererwestlichen rtider ine der grossten; er soll ihnenunver-gessenbleiben n ederdeutschenGeschichte."-Lamprecht,DeutscheGesch.,II, 342.

colonisation in medieval germany

Documents