Origins Hedeby is first mentioned in the Frankish chronicles of
Einhard (804), who was in the service of
Charlemagne, as a place Charlemagne stayed in the summer of 804, at the end of the
Saxon Wars. In 808 the Danish king
Godfred (Lat. Godofredus) destroyed a competing
Slav trade centre named
Reric, and it is recorded in the Frankish chronicles that he resettled the merchants from there to Hedeby. This may have provided the initial impetus for the town to further develop. The same sources record that Godfred strengthened the
Danevirke, an earthen wall that stretched across the south of the Jutland peninsula. The Danevirke joined the defensive walls of Hedeby to form an east–west barrier across the peninsula, from the marshes in the west to the Schlei inlet leading into the Baltic in the east. The town itself was surrounded on its three landward sides (north, west, and south) by earthworks. At the end of the 9th century the northern and southern parts of the town were abandoned for the central section. Later a 9-metre (29-ft) high semi-circular wall was erected to guard the western approaches to the town. On the eastern side, the town was bordered by the innermost part of the Schlei inlet and the bay of
Haddebyer Noor.
Timeline Rise Hedeby became a principal marketplace because of its geographical location on the major trade routes between the
Frankish Empire and
Scandinavia (north-south), and between the
Baltic and the
North Sea (east-west). Between 800 and 1000 the growing economic power of the
Vikings led to its dramatic expansion as a major trading centre. Along with
Birka and
Schleswig, Hedeby's prominence as a major international trading hub served as a foundation of the
Hanseatic League that would emerge by the 12th century. Hedeby played an important role in the international Viking slave trade between Europe and the
Byzantines as well as the Islamic world. People taken captive during the Viking raids across Eastern Europe could be sold to
Moorish Spain via the
Dublin slave trade or transported to Hedeby or
Brännö in Scandinavia and from there via the
Volga trade route to Russia, where Slavic slaves and furs were sold to Muslim merchants in exchange for Arab silver
dirham and silk, which have been found in
Birka,
Wollin and
Dublin; initially this trade route between Europe and the Abbasid Caliphate passed
via the Khazar Kaghanate, but from the early 10th-century onward it went
via Volga Bulgaria and from there by caravan to
Khwarazm, to the
Samanid slave market in Central Asia and finally via Iran to
the Abbasid Caliphate. The following indicates the importance achieved by the town: • The town was described by visitors from England (
Wulfstan – 9th century) and the Mediterranean (
Al-Tartushi – 10th century). • Hedeby became the seat of a bishop (948) and belonged to the Archbishopric of
Hamburg and
Bremen. • The town minted its own coins (from 825). •
Adam of Bremen (11th century) reports that ships were sent from this
portus maritimus to Slavic lands, to
Sweden,
Samland (
Semlant) and even
Greece. A Swedish dynasty founded by
Olof the Brash is said to have ruled Hedeby during the last decades of the 9th century and the first part of the 10th century. This was told to
Adam of Bremen by the Danish king
Sweyn Estridsson, and it is supported by three
runestones found in Denmark. Two of them were raised by the mother of Olof's grandson
Sigtrygg Gnupasson. The third runestone, discovered in 1796, is from Hedeby, the
Stone of Eric (). It is inscribed with
Norwegian-Swedish runes. It is, however, possible that Danes also occasionally wrote with this version of the
younger futhark.
Lifestyle Life was short and crowded in Hedeby. The small houses were clustered tightly together in a grid, with the east–west streets leading down to jetties in the harbour. More than 340,000 pieces related to comb making, tools for working leather, remains of ironworking and goldsmithing, and mercury from fire gilding were also found. There was also evidence found for the presence of a glass furnace active in the site from the period of 850 to 900. A total of 7,700 decorative beads have been unearthed in Hedeby, although it is likely that a small percentage of those were produced in situ. The presence of these artifacts at the site indicate that Hedeby had a robust local economy that produced a wide variety of goods, likely for domestic use and for trade at the sites markets. Analysis of some of Hedeby’s burial sites provide evidence for the existence of an aristocracy. Graves that are lavishly furnished with jewelry, commodities, weapons and armor set apart from more humble inhumation sites indicate an established degree of stratification among Hedeby’s society. The trade and production of beads was tied to a robust fashion within Hedeby. Beads made of varying materials such as carnelian, rock crystal, amber, jet, silver, brass, bronze, and mosaic glass have been found in the harbor excavation sites, burials, and throughout the settlement. Dating of these finds reveals that there was a change in style roughly every 10–35 years within the settlement.
Al-Tartushi, a late 10th-century traveller from
al-Andalus, provides one of the most colourful and often quoted descriptions of life in Hedeby. Al-Tartushi was from
Cordoba in
Spain, which had a significantly more wealthy and comfortable lifestyle than Hedeby. While Hedeby may have been significant by Scandinavian standards, Al-Tartushi was unimpressed: :
"Slesvig (Hedeby) is a very large town at the extreme end of the world ocean... The inhabitants worship Sirius, except for a minority of Christians who have a church of their own there.... He who slaughters a sacrificial animal puts up poles at the door to his courtyard and impales the animal on them, be it a piece of cattle, a ram, billy goat or a pig so that his neighbours will be aware that he is making a sacrifice in honour of his god. The town is poor in goods and riches. People eat mainly fish which exist in abundance. Babies are thrown into the sea for reasons of economy. The right to divorce belongs to the women.... Artificial eye make-up is another peculiarity; when they wear it their beauty never disappears, indeed it is enhanced in both men and women. Further: Never did I hear singing fouler than that of these people, it is a rumbling emanating from their throats, similar to that of a dog but even more bestial." Destruction The town was sacked in 1050 by King
Harald Hardrada of Norway during a conflict with King
Sweyn II of Denmark. He set the town on fire by sending several burning ships into the harbour, the charred remains of which were found at the bottom of the Schlei during recent excavations. An unnamed Norwegian
skald in Harald's army, quoted by
Snorri Sturluson, describes the sack as follows: :
All Hedeby was burned from end to end out of anger, and that one can call a valiant deed, I believe. :
There is hope that we will do harm to Sveinn; I was on the rampart of the stronghold last night before dawn; high flame burst from the houses. In 1066 the town was
sacked and burned by
West Slavs. Following the destruction, Hedeby was slowly abandoned. People moved across the
Schlei inlet, which separates the two peninsulas of
Angeln and
Schwansen, to the growing town of
Schleswig. Hedeby’s royal tolls and levies were transferred to the town by the monarchy. ==Archaeology==