Stoigniew
Stoigniew (died October 16, 955) was an Obotrite leader, who reigned during the middle of the tenth century. He is mentioned as a member of the princely Nakonid dynasty in the medieval chronicles of Thietmar of Merseburg and Widukind of Corvey.
He was the co-ruler of the Obotrites, and, according to Thietmar's Chronicle written in 1012/1018, the brother of Prince
Nakon. Widukind, in his Res gestae Saxonicae about 70 years earlier, mentioned a princeps barbarorum as Nakon's brother, though without giving his name. Both ruled over large territories of the Polabian Slavs, roughly corresponding to present-day Mecklenburg and the adjacent parts of Holstein up to the Elbe river. Another interpretation denotes Stoigniew as an autonomous ruler in the Circipania
territory.
An entry in the had failed. The Obotrites were defeated and Stoigniew was beheaded by one of Otto's knights.
Annotations
- Name: also spelled Stojgniew, Stojgnev, Stoinef, Stoiniew, Stoinneg, Ztoignav.