Gottschalk
prince of the Obotrite confederacy
Feast: 7 June (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Gottschalk, a prince of the Wends, was educated at a monastery, but when his father was killed he abandoned his faith for revenge and led an army against the Saxons. Captured and later released, he served the King of Denmark and returned to the practice of his faith.
Regaining his princely position, he worked to unite the Slavs and make them Christian, going with the missionaries to explain their words, founding monasteries and building churches. When pagan tribes rebelled he was killed for the Faith with many clergy and laity at Lenzen on 7 June 1066.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
A prince who turned from revenge to become an apostle and martyr of his people.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Gottschalk
- Wikidata Q535823 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Gottschalk (Obotrite prince) (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.