The Kessinians, also known as Kessini, Chizzini, Kcynianie[1] and Chyżanie,[1] were a medieval West Slavic tribe in what is now northeastern Germany.
They inhabited the territory between the Warnow and Recknitz rivers, today split between the districts of Rostock and Vorpommern-Rügen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
In the course of a successful uprising in 983, the Veleti made a transition to the Lutician federation, an alliance of several tribes based in Radgosc (Rethra).
[3] The Kessinians emerged as the northernmost of four tribes constituting the core of the federation, with the other three being Circipanes, Redarians, and Tollensians.
[5] The Circipanes, former Lutician allies of the Kessinians, are reported to have actively participated in the 1114 expedition with 300 light cavalry.