▁region , ▁took ▁o ath s ▁from ▁its ▁local ▁l ords , ▁and ▁Christian ized ▁its ▁people , ▁in ▁a ▁prec ursor ▁to ▁the ▁Northern ▁Cr us ades . ▁ ▁From ▁ 1 2 th ▁to ▁ 1 4 th ▁century , ▁large ▁numbers ▁of ▁Germ ans ▁and ▁F lem ings ▁settled ▁the ▁area ▁( O st s ied lung ), ▁importing ▁German ▁law ▁and ▁improved ▁agricult ural ▁techniques . ▁The ▁W ends ▁who ▁surv ived ▁all ▁war fare ▁and ▁dev ast ation ▁of ▁the ▁centuries ▁before , ▁including ▁invas ions ▁of ▁and ▁exped itions ▁into ▁Sax ony , ▁Den mark ▁and ▁Li ut iz ic ▁areas ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁internal ▁conflicts , ▁were ▁assim il ated ▁in ▁the ▁centuries ▁there after . ▁ ▁However , ▁elements ▁of ▁certain ▁names ▁and ▁words ▁used ▁in ▁Me ck len burg ▁speak ▁to ▁the ▁ling ering ▁S lav ic ▁influence . ▁ ▁An ▁example ▁would ▁be ▁the ▁city ▁of ▁Sch wer in , ▁which ▁was ▁originally ▁called ▁Zu arin ▁in ▁S lav ic . ▁ ▁Another ▁example ▁is ▁the ▁town ▁of ▁Bres eg ard , ▁the ▁' g ard ' ▁portion ▁of ▁the ▁town ▁name ▁der iving ▁from ▁the ▁S lav ic ▁word ▁' grad ', ▁meaning ▁city ▁or ▁town . ▁ ▁Since ▁the ▁ 1 2 th ▁century , ▁the ▁territory ▁remained ▁stable ▁and ▁relatively ▁independent ▁of ▁its ▁neighb ours ; ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁few ▁German ▁territ ories ▁for ▁which ▁this ▁is ▁true . ▁During ▁the ▁re formation ▁the ▁Duke ▁in ▁Sch wer in ▁would