In the Battle of Bornhöved (German: Schlacht bei Bornhöved) on the field of Sventanafeld (Sventanapolje or "Schwentine field") near the village of Bornhöved near Neumünster in 798 the Obodrites, led by Drożko, allied with the Franks, defeated the Nordalbingian Saxons.
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Situation before the battle was result of the migrations that occurred during 6th and 7th centuries on the territory of Holstein. In the process Danes settled the northern part, Slavic Obodrites the eastern part (Wagria) and Saxons from the south migrated into western Holstein. The battle was part of the effort by the Frankish emperor, Charlemagne, to conquer and convert Old Saxony.
| „Nordliudi contra Thrasuconem, ducem Abodritorum, et Eburisum legatum nostrum conmisso proelio, acie victi sunt. Caesa sunt ex eis in loco proelii quattuor milia, ceteri qui fugerunt et evaserunt, quanquam multi et ex illis cecidissent, de pacis condicione tractaverunt.” |
| Annales Laurissenses 798.[1] |
The allied forces of Obodrites lead by Drożko and Franks lead by legatus Eburisum defeated Nordliudi. According to the chronicle, Saxons lost 4 thousands warriors and were forced to escape from the battlefield.
The victory of Charlemagne in the battle broke finally the resistance of the Nordalbingian Saxons to Christianisation. Charlemagne decided to massacre Nordalbingian Saxons and deport them; their areas in Holstein become sparsely populated and were given to Obodrites. The limit of influence between Denmark and the Frankish Empire was successfully established on the Eider River in 811. This boundary was to remain in place almost without a break for the next thousand years. In 818 the Limes Saxoniae - fortified line to protect Frankish-Saxon territories from further attacks of Obodrites from Ostholstein - was mentioned for the first time.