Wends or Sorbs, Slavic people (numbering about 60,000) of
Brandenburg and Saxony, E Germany, in Lusatia. They speak
Lusatian (also known as Sorbic or Wendish), a West Slavic
language with two main dialects: Upper Lusatian, nearer to
Czech, and Lower Lusatian, nearer to Polish. The towns of
Bautzen (Upper Lusatia) and Cottbus (Lower Lusatia in modern
Silesia) are their chief cultural centers. In the Middle Ages
the term Wends was applied by the Germans to all the Slavs
inhabiting the area between the Oder River in the east and the
Elbe River and the Saale River in the west. German conquest of
their land began in the 6th cent. and was completed under
Charlemagne (8th cent.). A coalition of Wendish tribes in the
10th cent. and again in the early 12th cent. temporarily halted
German expansion. A crusade against the pagan Wends was launched
in 1147 under the leadership of Henry the Lion of Saxony and
Albert the Bear of Brandenburg. The crusade itself was, on the
whole, a failure, but in subsequent years Henry the