Which Slavic allies received Saxon land from Charlemagne in 804?

The Obotrites received former Saxon land from Charlemagne in 804. They were West Slavic allies whose support helped the Franks defeat and contain the Saxons along the northern frontier.

Charlemagne’s long Saxon Wars had brought Frankish control eastward toward the Elbe. The Obotrites, also called Abodrites or Obodrites, were a confederation of Polabian Slavic tribes based mainly in what is now northern Germany. They fought alongside the Franks against both the Saxons and rival Slavic groups such as the Veleti.

After an Obotrite victory over the Saxons at Bornhöved in 798, Charlemagne rewarded the alliance. In 804, he dispersed much of the remaining pagan Saxon population in the region and granted the Obotrites part of the former Saxon territory north of the Elbe, including areas in Holstein.

This arrangement did not remain stable. Danish intervention soon reversed some of the transfer, and the Obotrites continued to navigate between Frankish, Saxon, and Danish power. The group should not be confused with the Moravians, Sorbs, or Veleti, who were separate Slavic peoples with different political relationships to Charlemagne.