Sorbian

The Sorbs, or Lusatian Serbs, are the West Slavs of Lusatia, split into Upper Sorbs of Milceni descent and Lower Sorbs of the Lusici, each with its own language. Their tribes settled the Saale–Elbe valley in the sixth and seventh centuries and joined Samo's union after 631 before returning to Frankish overlordship.

In 932 Henry I of Germany conquered Lusatia; margrave Gero murdered thirty Sorbian princes at a feast in 939, provoking revolts. From 1327 Sorbian was banned in some courts. From 1376 to 1635 most of Lusatia belonged to Bohemia, passing to Saxony in 1635.

A 1574 hymnal began Sorbian book production, but in 1667 Elector Frederick William burned Sorbian books and banned Sorbian masses. In 1815 the Congress of Vienna split Lusatia between Prussia and Saxony; renewed bans until 1835 drove the first emigrants abroad, though villages kept the language alive.