Gottschalk was an 11th-century prince of the Obotrite confederacy who ruled in the region of present-day northeastern Germany. Born in Pomerania, he sought to unify various Slavic tribes into a single Christian kingdom along the Elbe. After an early period of life marked by vengeance and imprisonment, he returned to the faith and worked closely with the Archbishop of Hamburg to spread Christianity. He established several monasteries and dioceses to support missionary efforts among the Polabian Slavs.