Albert the Bear, ruler of the Nordmark…

Albert the Bear, ruler of the Nordmark and some valuable lands in northern Saxony, had on his mother's death in 1142 succeeded to one-half of the lands of the House of Billung, which had been the primary ruling dynasty in Saxony in the tenth and eleventh centuries, and for which reason Albert has become embroiled in a low-intensity feud with the Welf dukes of Saxony.

Now firmly established in the Nordmark, Albert casts his covetous eye on the lands to the north and east that are thinly populated the Slavic Wends, who as pagans are considered fair game, and whose subjugation to Christianity is the aim of the German "Wendish crusade" of 1147 authorized by the Roman Catholic church and led by Henry the Lion, and in which Albert takes part.