A.D. 1127. succeeded in once more reaching Stettin. He could ascribe CHAP. XIV. his deliverance to nothing less than miraculous interposition, and therefore hung up the boat at the gates. of the town, and recounted to the people the story of his dream and his escape, dwelling much on the manifest power of the Christian's God. His tale coming so soon after the late mysterious failure in the attack upon the church, made a deep impression on the susceptible minds of the people of Stettin, and predisposed many in favour of the bishop, who had now entered the town. upon him by party. But the heathen party determined to make one last Violent attack effort to rouse the popular feeling against the authors of the heathen their own disgrace, and surrounding the church, whither the bishop and his clergy had repaired, threatened them with instant death. Had the bishop's courage now failed him, he would, in all probability, have fallen a victim to their fury. But he, undeterred, ordered the Cross to be uplifted, and at the head of his clergy chanting Psalms, went forth to meet his enemies. Half in awe and half in admiration of his courage, the mob desisted from the attack, and agreed that the bishop's life should be spared. Witstack, the chief who had escaped from captivity in Courage of the Rügen, now redoubled his efforts to procure a favourable hearing for the missionaries, and persuaded the bishop to repair on the following Sunday to the market-place, and there boldly address the people from the steps where the magistrates were accustomed to make their proclamations. Otho complied with his suggestion, and had just concluded his sermon, when a heathen priest, blowing a trumpet, called on the people to make an end of the enemy of their gods. This was the most critical moment in Otho's life. The lances were already poised to pierce him through, when, again, the undaunted composure with which he confronted. his adversaries, struck the bystanders with mysterious awe, bishop. A.D. 1127. ance of Christi unity. CHAP. XIV. and induced them to stay their hands. Otho seized the favourable moment, and advancing with his clergy to the church, flung down the altar which the heathen party had erected, and commenced the immediate repair of the edifice. A change now came over the feelings of the people. An Formal accept assembly was summoned, and the acceptance or rejection of the faith was formally proposed. After a long discussion, which lasted from morning until midnight, it was resolved to offer no further opposition to the establishment of Christianity. Witstack informed the bishop of this resolution, and he, overjoyed at the favourable turn affairs had taken, received back all who had apostatized from the faith, and baptized all who were willing to receive that rite. His uniformly kind and conciliating disposition, joined to the readiness with which he redeemed numerous captives from the horrors of slavery, won for him the popular respect, which was not lessened when he once more interceded for the people with Boleslav, and succeeded in averting another threatened invasion. News of what occurred at Stettin soon reached Julin, and, on his second visit, Otho found himself able to consolidate his previous success, and secure the adherence of the wavering. From Julin he set out on a final visit to the Churches he had founded in Pomerania, and in the following year returned to Germany to attend the imperial diet, and thence repaired to his diocese of Bamberg. Though unable to revisit the scene of his labours, he did not forget the Churches he had founded. One of the last acts of his life evinced the interest he took in the welfare of his converts. Hearing that a number of Pomeranian Christians had been carried into captivity by a horde of heathen invaders, he bought up a quantity of valuable cloth at Halle, and sent it into Pomerania, with orders that part should be distributed among the chiefs to conciliate their goodwill in behalf of the native Christians, and part sold and applied to the A.D. 1128. A.D. 1128. ransom of the captives. Thus, as well as in other ways, CHAP. XIV. he continued, so far as he was able, to superintend the Pomeranian Church until the year 1139, when he departed this life amidst the universal regret of all ranks in his diocese, to whom he had endeared himself by his uniform. kindness and conciliatory habits1. 1 Herbordi Vita, III. 33 and 35, where we have the sermon preached at his funeral. Neander, VII. 41. The Wends. " CHAPTER XV. CONVERSION OF WENDLAND, PRUSSIA, AND LITHUANIA. A. D. 1050-1410. 'Neque enim minus sacrorum attinet cultui publicæ religionis hostes expellere, quam cæremoniarum tutelæ vacare."-SAXO GRAMMATICUS. CHAP. XV. PREVIOUS to the efforts in Pomerania, which have formed the subject of the last Chapter, attempts had been made to win over other tribes belonging to the great Slavonic family to the Christian fold. In the countries bordering on the Elbe, the Oder, and the Saale, dwelt the Wends. Hemmed in, on the one side, by the German Empire, on the other, by the Scandinavian Vikings, insatiably addicted to plunder, restless and impatient of control, they resented all efforts to curb their independent spirit. The clergy who came amongst them, being little acquainted with the Slavonic language, were regarded as the political agents of the German Emperors, and their work was too often identified with a design to perpetuate their national bondage'. Under these circumstances, it is not surprising that such scanty seeds of knowledge as were sown amongst them fell on the stoniest ground, and having no depth of earth in which to strike root, speedily withered away. Once and again, perhaps, a few monks, or an individual bishop, might acquire a knowledge of the Slavonic tongue, but their efforts, though CHAP. XV. blessed with comparative success, were inappreciable amidst the general ignorance. A.D. 936-968. established by Otho I. With the year 936, however, there dawned a somewhat brighter epoch. The Emperor Otho I., anxious for the conversion of his Wendish subjects, founded bishoprics Bishoprics amongst them, which he made subordinate to the metropolitan see of Magdeburg. For these posts he endeavoured to select men who had been tried in other fields of missionary labour, and Boso, bishop of Merseburg, one of his chaplains, learnt the Slavonic tongue, and even preached in it, finding his reward in the conversion of not a few of his hearers. He also translated some of the liturgical forms into the Slavonian dialect, but failed to make even the "Kyrie Eleison" intelligible to the people, who, caught by a somewhat similar jingle of sounds, changed it into Ukrivolsa, or "the alder stands in the hedge2." The partial success, however, of such prelates was soon Partial success. rendered abortive by the cruel oppressions to which the Wends were subjected, and the persistency of the German clergy in levying ecclesiastical dues. A fresh rebellion, therefore, alternated with every fresh conquest achieved by the German empire, and ceaseless efforts were made to throw off a foreign yoke. Thus in 983 a Slavonic chief, Mistewoi, though he had embraced Christianity, and was attached to the Emperor's court, was so exasperated by personal injuries, that, summoning his countrymen to Rethre, the centre and home of the Slavonic idolatry, he unfurled the banner of rebellion, and wasted Northern Germany with fire and sword, razing to the ground every church and monastery that came in his way. His grand- Gottschalk. son Gottschalk, though he, in like manner, had received a 1 At Havelburg in 946, Aldenburg in 948, Brandenburg in 949, Misnia in 965, at Cizi, Meissen, and Merseburg in 968. Helmold. Chron. 1. 12. Dollinger, I. 28. Hardwick, 127. |