Imperial Narratives, Complex Geographies: The Saxon Marches between Textuality and Materiality, 929–983

Historians have conventionally represented Ottonian expansion across the Elbe-Saale as a totalizing conquest of the area up to the Oder River and the Baltic shore, lasting until a Slavic revolt in 983. This essay investigates narrative sources, material culture, and charter evidence to suggest a new geography of Ottonian expansion. It argues that, while much of the traditional model holds true for the southern inland portion of the area between the Elbe and the Oder, in the northern area defined by the reach of the Baltic watershed, local Slavic structures of rule remained, and the Ottonian presence was only felt through tributary arrangements if at a ll. The p aper suggests a reevaluation of the beginnings of German incursion into Slavic territory.