GOTTSCHALK, ST.

Martyr; d. Lenzen on the Elbe, June 7, 1066. He was an Abodrite prince and was educated at St. Michael's monastery in Lüneburg, but left c. 1030 to avenge the murder of his father, Uto, killed by the Saxons. After this uprising had been put down, Gottschalk was forced into exile and went to England in the service of King Canute, whose daughter he married. In 1043 he was able to return and rule his people. He administered an extensive area that he attempted to Christianize, with the help of adalbert of bremen; the Dioceses of Mecklenburg and Ratzeburg were founded during his reign. Upon the collapse of Adalbert's political fortunes in 1066, Gottschalk fell victim to the pagan reaction and was martyred.

Feast: June 7.

Bibliography: Acta Santorum June 2 (1867) 40–42. adam of bremen, Monumenta Scriptores rerum Germanicarum (Berlin 1826–) v. 7. helmold of bosau, ibid. steindorff, Allgemeine deutsche Biographie (Leipzig 1875–1910) 9:489–493. k. jordan, Neue deutsche Biographie (Berlin 1953–) 6:684. b. stasiesski, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 4:1144. w. brÜske, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte des Lutizenbundes (Münster 1955). w. h. fritze, in Siedlung und Verfassung der Slawen zwischen Elbe, Saale und Oder, ed. h. ludat (Giessen 1960). f. dvornik, The Slavs: Their Early History and Civilization (Boston 1956) 297–300.

[l. kurras]