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Pomerania during the Late Middle Ages covers thehistory of Pomerania in the 14th and 15th centuries.
TheDuchy of Pomerania gained thePrincipality of Rugia after two wars withMecklenburg,[1] theLands of Schlawe and Stolp (Sławno and Słupsk)[2] and theLauenburg and Bütow Land (Lębork and Bytów).[3]Pomerelia was integrated into theMonastic state of the Teutonic Knights after theTeutonic takeover of Danzig in 1308, and became thePomeranian Voivodeship of theKingdom of Poland in 1454/1466.
The Duchy of Pomerania was internally fragmented into Pomerania-Wolgast, -Stettin, -Barth, and -Stolp.[4][5] The dukes were in continuous warfare with theMargraviate of Brandenburg due toUckermark andNeumark border disputes and disputes over formal overlordship of Pomerania.[6] In 1478, the duchy was reunited under the rule ofBogislaw X, when most of the other dukes had died of theplague.[7][8]
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The towns of Pomerania that had joined theHanseatic League acted independently from the duchy, and sometimes opposed the dukes' interest.[12] The most powerful towns wereStralsund,Greifswald, andSzczecin, but alsoDemmin,Anklam andKołobrzeg. Before theTreaty of Stralsund (1370), and during the reign ofEric of Pomerania, the Hanseatic towns were in a state of war with Denmark for hegemony in the Baltic Sea.[13]
Parts of the Pomeranian nobility were engaged inpiracy against Hanseatic vessels.Barnim VI of Pomerania-Wolgast did not only engage in piracy himself, he is also known for providing refuge and hideouts for theLikedeeler pirate organisation.[14]
The relation between the towns and the nobility throughout the Middle Ages ranged from alliances and support (German:Landfrieden) to cabalism, banditry and outright warfare.[12][15]
Thelast duke of Demmin had died in 1264, and the 1236 territorial losses left Demmin at the westernmost edge of the Duchy of Pomerania.
WhenBarmin I, for a short period sole ruler of the duchy, died in 1278, his oldest sonBogislaw IV took his father's seat. When his half-brothersOtto I andBarnim II reached adulthood in 1294, the brothers ruled in common until Barnim's death in 1295. Bogislaw and Otto now agreed on a partition of the duchy, that would last until 1464: Bogislaw's share was the area where the towns were underLübeck law, that wasHither Pomerania north of thePeene river (though includingAnklam andDemmin on its southern bank) andFarther Pomerania north of theIna andStepenitz rivers, both areas were connected by the islands ofUsedom (Uznam) andWolin. Bogislaw madeWolgast his residence, thus the partition became known as Pomerania-Wolgast. Otto's share was the remainder between Peene and Ina centered around Stettin (Szczecin), where the towns were underMagdeburg law. This partition became known as Pomerania-Stettin.[16]
A series of wars was triggered by Denmark in the early 14th century, whenEric VI Menved attempted to reestablish Danish rule in Northern Germany. Pomeranian and Rugian towns and dukes were involved in these wars in various and often opposing coalitions. Since 1314, a coalition consisting mainly ofWaldemar of Brandenburg,Stralsund, and the Pomeranian dukes opposed a Danish-led coalition joined by Rugian dukeWizlaw III. This war was ended by theTreaty of Templin in 1317. During this conflict, in 1315,Wartislaw IV of Pomerania-Wolgast, grandson of Rugian Wizlaw II, made an agreement with Eric VI Menved's brotherChristopher II of Denmark for inheritance of thePrincipality of Rügen.[17]
Waldemar of Brandenburg died in 1319. Heinrich, his heir, was still a minor, and died in 1320. The Pomeranian dukes and Cammin bishops tried to take advance of Brandenburg's weakness. They did not only envision territorial gains, but also aimed at changing the status of the duchy from a fief of Brandenburg to a fief directly from the emperor. To achieve these goals, the dukes allied with various neighboring states, mounted military campaigns of which the firstBattle of Kremmer Damm in 1332 was the most important, and gave their lands to the Cammin bishops (in 1320)[18] and even topope John XXII (in 1330).[18] In 1337, the Brandenburg margrave had to take the terraeLipiany,Świdwin andFalkenberg (all inNeumark) as a fief from the Cammin bishops. In 1338,Barnim III of Pomerania-Stettin was granted his part-duchy as a fief directly from the emperor, while Pomerania-Wolgast remained under formal Brandenburgian overlordship.[19]
The townsStettin (Szczecin),Greifenhagen (Gryfino), andGollnow (Goleniów) in Pomerania-Stettin, concerned about a permanent division of the duchy in case Barnim III would not have children, rebelled in 1339 and sided with Pomerania-Wolgast in 1341.[20] Barnim had to move his court toGartz (Oder). On 12 June 1348 German king and later emperorCharles IV granted the Duchy of Pomerania as a whole and the Rugian principality as a fief to the dukes of both Pomerania-Stettin and Pomerania-Wolgast, erasing Brandenburg's claims. The Pomeranian dukes and towns reconciled in 1344/54.[21]
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Barnim III, against the will of the burghers, erected acastle within Stettin's walls in 1346 (the old burgh had been leveled in 1249),[22] and gained from Brandenburg the eastern parts of theUckermark, that was in 1354Pasewalk, in 1355Schwedt,Angermünde, andBrüssow, and in 1359 (Torgelow).[21]
The Rugian prince Wizlaw III died in 1325. Because of the earlier death of his son, he had no male heir, andWartislaw IV of Pomerania-Wolgast took over the principality according to the 1315 agreement withChristopher II of Denmark. Yet, in the meantime Christopher's throne had been challenged byValdemar III of Denmark, and Christopher had granted Rugia to Mecklenburg for her aid against his opponent. After Wartislaw died in 1326, Mecklenburg invaded the principality. Wartislaw's minor sons were aided by primarily byGreifswald andDemmin, but also byStralsund,Anklam, and Valdemar III, who decisively defeated the Mecklenburgian army in 1228 nearVölschow. In the subsequentTreaty of Brudersdorf, Mecklenburg withdrew her claims for 31,000mark in silver. In exchange, the terraeTribsees,Grimmen andBarth were pawned to her. When the Pomeranian dukes in 1340 were not able to bail out these lands, but refused to formally hand them over, a second war started. This time, the dukes of Pomerania-Wolgast were aided by those of Pomerania-Stettin and theCounts of Gützkow. After the Pomeranian forces defeated the Mecklenburgians in theBattle of Schopendamm nearLoitz in 1351, they were able to take Grimmen and Barth in 1354 and Tribsees in 1356. Mecklenburg dropped her claims thereafter. Another party in these wars for Rugian succession was the bishop of Schwerin, who sought to enforce his claims by legal means, but was not successful in his appeals to various ecclesial courts.[1]
After the death ofBarnim IV of Pomerania-Wolgast in 1366, an armed conflict arose when Barnim's brotherBogislaw V refused to share his power with Barnim's sons,Wartislaw VI andBogislaw VI, and his other brother,Wartislaw V, who in turn allied with Mecklenburg to enforce their claims. On 25 May 1368 a compromise was negotiated inAnklam,[23] which was made a formal treaty on 8 June 1372 inStargard,[24] and resulted in a partition of Pomerania-Wolgast.[5][25]
Bogislaw V received most of theFarther Pomeranian parts. Excepted was the land ofNeustettin (Szczecinek), which was to be ruled by his brother Wartislaw V, and was integrated into Bogislaw's part-duchy only after his death in 1390. This eastern part duchy became known as Pomerania-Stolp or Duchy of Słupsk. The western remainder of Pomerania-Wolgast was further partitioned between Bogislaw IV and Wartislaw VI on 6 December 1376. Wartislaw VI received Pomerania-(Wolgast)-Barth, the former principality of Rügen, and Bogislaw IV's Pomerania-Wolgast was reduced to an area betweenGreifswald and theŚwina river. When Bogislaw VI died in 1393 and Wartislaw VI in 1394, the latter's sonsBarnim VI andWartislaw VIII ruled in common.[5][23][24]
On 6 December 1425 the western part of Pomerania-Wolgast (without Pomerania-Stolp/Słupsk) was partitioned again at a congress inEldena Abbey, this time among theWartislaw IX and his brotherBarnim VII, who received the eastern part withWolgast, and their cousinsSwantibor II and his brotherBarnim VIII, who received the Rugian part withBarth.[26]
In 1456, theUniversity of Greifswald was founded on behalf ofHeinrich Rubenow, becoming the first university of Pomerania and one of the oldest in northern Europe.[27]
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The situation of the descendants of Bogislaw V, who ruled Pomerania-Stolp/Słupsk, differed somewhat from the situation of their western counterparts. The area was more sparsely settled and dominated by powerful noble families, so not much income could be derived by the dukes. On the other hand, the Słupsk branch of the House of Pomerania had relatives among the royal houses of Denmark and Poland.Casimir IV and Elisabeth, the children of Bogislaw V and his first wife Elisabeth, the daughter ofCasimir III of Poland, where both raised at the Polish court inKraków.Elisabeth would become Holy Roman Empress after her marriage withCharles IV, and Casimir was adopted by and designated heir of his grandfather. Yet, his ambitions were thwarted whenLouis I of Hungary overruled the testament of Casimir of Poland in 1370, Casimir of Pomerania-Stolp/Słupsk only for a short time took the land ofDobrzyń as a fief. In 1390, it became a vassal duchy of the Kingdom of Poland.Eric II of Pomerania-Stolp/Słupsk, great-grandson of Danish kingValdemar IV in contrast became king of theKalmar Union in 1397.[28]
Eric however failed in his most ambitious plan, to make his first cousinBogusław IX of Pomerania-Stolp, king of both the Kalmar Union and thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Eric had to leave Denmark in 1449 and ruled Pomerania-Rügenwalde, a small partition of Pomerania-Stolp, until his death in 1459.[29]
Pomerania-Stolp was a crucial point in the knights' land supply route.Bogislaw VIII of Pomerania-Stolp allied with both the Teutonic Knights and Poland, but supported the latter after the war had started in 1409 by blocking his lands for the knights' troops and allowing his nobles to kidnap those who were traveling his lands. For his aid, he was granted the Lauenburg (Lębork) and Bütow (Bytów) areas (Lauenburg and Bütow Land) and others, but those were lost in theFirst Peace of Thorn in 1411.[30]
Casimir V of Pomerania-Stettin at the same time allied with the Teutonic Knights and took part in theBattle of Grunwald, where he was caught by the Poles and bailed out by the knights after the First Peace of Thorn.[31]
The main concern of the Stettin dukes however was theconflict with Brandenburg, primarily in the Neumark and Uckermark regions.Casimir III died in 1372 during a siege ofKönigsberg (Neumark) (Chojna), after he had managed to receive an imperial approval of his Uckermark possessions in 1370. On 17 May 1373 all dukes of Pomerania concluded an alliance inKarsibór, but situation eased whenOtto III, Margrave of Brandenburg abdicated on 15 August 1373, and theHouse of Luxembourg took over the march on 2 October that year. In 1374, the Luxembourgians allied with all branches of theHouse of Pomerania. Pomeranian dukes even held positions in the march's administration.[32]
When Brandenburg changed hands from the House of Luxembourg to theHouse of Hohenzollern on 11 January 1411, the dukes of Pomerania-Stettin understood their position endangered and reacted with warfare. The first major battle was the secondBattle of Kremmer Damm on 24 October 1412. While the dukes of Pomerania-Wolgast had sided with the emperor, disappointment over the emperors disapproval of ridding them of formal Brandenburgian overlordship in 1417 drove them to ally with their Stettin relatives and Mecklenburg. This coalition was backed by Denmark and Poland. A series of battles culminated in a decisive defeat on 26 March 1420 in the streets ofAngermünde, and the Uckermark possessions were lost once again.[33]
On 15 September 1423 all Pomeranian dukes (includingEric) allied with the Teutonic Knights against Brandenburg and against the Hanseatic towns. In early 1425, this coalition was joined by Mecklenburg and Poland and successfully invaded Brandenburg. Apeace treaty, concluded on 22 May 1427 inEberswalde, left Pomerania with the Uckermark north ofAngermünde. On 16 June 1427 this was confirmed by the Treaty of Templin, which also included a coalition of Pomerania, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg. Yet, in 1440 Pomerania and Brandenburg invaded Mecklenburg, and in 1444 Brandenburg demanded from Pomerania to again hand over the Uckermark to her. When the Pomeranians refused, war broke out again. The firstTreaty of Prenzlau in 1448 set the border south ofPasewalk.[34]
In 1320 and 1325,Wartislaw IV of Pomerania-Wolgast allied with theLandmeister of theMonastic state of the Teutonic Knights inPrussia against kingCasimir III of Poland.[35] When theTreaty of Kalisz had ended the subsequentPolish–Teutonic War (1326–32) in 1343, Wartislaw's sonsBogislaw V,Barnim IV andWartislaw V changed sides, and Bogislaw V married Casimir III's daughter,Elisabeth.[35]Barnim III of Pomerania-Stettin joined this alliance in 1348.[35] After Poland andLithuania had formed theUnion of Krewo in 1385, and Poland had rejected the claims of Casimir III's grandsonCasimir IV of Pomerania-Stolp,Bogislav VIII andWartislaw VII ofPomerania-Stolp in 1386 concluded an anti-Polish alliance with theTeutonic Knights, after they had settled their common border.[35] In 1388, this alliance was joined bySwantibor I andBogislaw VII of Pomerania-Stettin as well asBarnim VI andWartislaw VI of Pomerania-Wolgast.[35]
Later in 1388 however, the dukes ofPomerania-Stolp (Słupsk) left this alliance and sided with Poland, who had promised to partially respect their claims as Casimir III's heirs.[36] Thence, the nobles of Pomerania-Stolprobbed the Teutonic Knights and their supply routes, provoking a counter-attack that destroyed manynoble strongholds and the fortifications ofKöslin (Koszalin).[36] Bogislav VIII,Barnim V and Wartislaw VII reacted by siding with Polish kingWładysław II Jagiełło and concluding mutual trade alleviations.[36]
When Wartislaw VII died, Bogislav VIII and Barnim V concluded a treaty with the Teutonic Knights to safeguard their supply routes in turn for a financial credit.[36] Swantibor I and Bogislav VII of Pomerania-Stettin changed sides in 1395 and allied with the knights in turn for financial aid.[36] Barnim V in 1397 concluded an alliance with Poland, marriedVytautas' niece Hedwig and was in Jagiełło's service in 1401 until he died in 1402 or 1404.[36] Bogislav VIII also entered into Jagiełło's service, but changed sides in 1407/08, when he allied with the Teutonic Knights and settled their common border.[36]
Nikolaus Bock,bishop of Cammin (Kamień) from 1398–1410, had also sided with the knights before and placed his bishopric under their suzerainty.[36] Wartislaw VIII of Pomerania-Wolgast allied with the knights in return for an assumption of a debt and additional payments.[36] Swantibor I and Bogislav VII of Pomerania-Stettin joined this alliance in 1409, after they had concluded a ten-year truce with the knights in return fordebt cancellation before.[36] When the knights lost theBattle of Grunwald in 1410, Bogislav VIII ofPomerania-Stolp (Słupsk) changed sides again and allied with Poland[36] in return for theBytów,Człuchów,Debrzno,Biały Bór,Czarne andŚwidwin areas, which Poland had regained from theMonastic state of the Teutonic Knights before.[37] This was however cancelled by theFirst Peace of Thorn in 1411.[37]
While Bogislav VIII nevertheless upheld his alliance with Władysław II Jagiełło,Konrad Bonow of thediocese of Cammin (Kamień) in 1414 concluded an alliance with the Teutonic Knights against both Bogislav VIII and Władysław II Jagiełło, which was turned into a truce soon after.[37] In 1417, Bogislav VIII and the Teutonic Knights settled their common border in theHammerstein area, ending their conflicts.[37] Bogislav VIII's sonBogislav IX together with all otherPomeranian dukes in 1423 allied with the Teutonic Knights.[37]
Eric II of Pomerania-Wolgast and successor ofBogislav IX inPomerania-Stolp (Słupsk) again allied withWładysław II Jagiełło[37] and his son and successorCasimir IV[3] in hisThirteen Years' War against theTeutonic Knights.[3] On 3 January 1455 he in turn was granted theLauenburg and Bütow Land at the Pomerelian frontier.[3] WhenLębork was retaken by the knights in 1459, the Polish king was upset and ravaged theSłupsk area.[3] Eric reconciled with the king on 21 August 1466, and bought the town from the knights on 11 October, six days before theSecond Peace of Thorn, that was signed by Eric in 1467.[3][37]
Pomerania-Wolgast was reunited following the death of both Barnim VII and Barnim VIII in 1451. Both dukes died of theplague.[38] The same disease caused the death ofJoachim of Pomerania-Stettin (also in 1451),[38] Ertmar and Swantibor, children ofWartislaw X,[39] andOtto III of Pomerania-Stettin (all in 1464).[39] Thus, the line of Pomerania-Stettin had died out.[39]
The extinction of the House of Pomerania-Stettin triggered a conflict about inheritance with theMargraviate of Brandenburg.[7] In theTreaty of Soldin of 1466, a compromise was negotiated: Wartislaw X andEric II, the dukes of Pomerania, took over Pomerania-Stettin as a Brandenburgian fief. This was disputed already during the same year by the emperor, who intervened against the Brandenburgian overlordship of Pomerania. This led to a series of further warfare and truces, that were ended by theTreaty of Prenzlau of 1472, basically confirming the ruling of the Soldin treaty, but settling on a border north ofGartz (Oder) resembling Brandenburg's recent gains. This treaty was accepted by the emperor.[40]
In 1474, Eric II died of theplague, and his sonBogislav X inherited Pomerania-Stolp. Bogislav's brothers had died the same year. After the death of his uncle Wartislaw X in 1478, he became the first sole ruler in the Duchy of Pomerania since almost 200 years.[7][8]
Eric II had left Pomerania in tense conflicts with Brandenburg andMecklenburg. Bogislav managed to resolve these conflicts by both diplomatic and military means. He married his sister, Sophia, toMagnus II, Duke of Mecklenburg, and his other sister, Magarete, was married to Magnus's brother Balthasar. Bogislav himself married Magarete, daughter of Brandenburg'sPrince-electorFrederick II. Also, in 1478, Bogislav regained areas lost to Brandenburg by his father, most notably the town ofGartz and other small towns and castles north of the BrandenburgianUckermark. During the confirmation of thePeace of Prenzlau in 1479, the border was finally settled north ofStrasburg and Bogislav had to take his possessions as a fief from Brandenburg.[7][41]
AfterMestwin II, the last member of theSamborides that ruled theDuchy of Pomerelia died in 1294, disputes over succession arose. Involved in internal dynastic conflicts, Mestwin had promised his duchy toConrad, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal, for aiding him in his struggles with his brother, Wratislaw.[citation needed] Yet, in the 1282Treaty of Kępno he named his allyPrzemysł II, duke and later king of Poland, as his co-ruler and successor in Pomerelia. TheTeutonic Order, who also held claims regarding Pomerelia, had inheritedGniew fromSambor II, thus gaining a foothold on the left bank of the Vistula.[42]
At the beginning of the 14th century, the region was plunged into war involving local Pomeranian nobility and the principality ofMargraviate of Brandenburg to the west, which had acquired some rights to a few localities in theTreaty of Arnswalde of 1269. Brandenburg's claim to the harbour city and Pomerania was partially based on a treaty of 8 August 1305 between theRulers of Brandenburg andWenceslaus III, promising theMeissen territory to theBohemian crown in exchange forPomerelia, although that treaty was never finalized.
On becoming king of Poland, in summer 1300,Wenceslaus II of Bohemia asked theTeutonic Knights to protect Pomerania from the claims of Brandenburg. In 1306Władysław Łokietek's forces garrisonedGdańsk. Also in 1306–07, Brandenburg took theSławno, and in 1308 the land ofSłupsk.[43] When Gdańsk was subsequently attacked by the Margrave of Brandenburg in 1308, Łokietek was unable to help and called in the Teutonic Knights for support. The Brandenburgers were repelled. The Teutonic Knights however,took over the city and ousted the remaining Polish garrison from the castle. The Poles claimed that the Knights committed a massacre of 10,000 civilians; modern historians and archaeologists believe that while the number 10,000 is an exaggeration, an actual massacre of the populace did take place.
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Teutonic GrandmasterSiegfried von Feuchtwangen joined Pomerelia to theMonastic state of the Teutonic Knights. The Margraves sold the area to the Teutonic Order in the 1309Treaty of Soldin.Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor ratified the Soldin Treaty in 1313. In theTreaty of Kalisz (1343), the Teutonic Order had to acknowledge that it would hold Pomerelia as afief from the Kingdom of Poland. In 1410, during thePolish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War the city council of Gdańsk recognized the Polish king, Władysław II Jagiełło as its sovereign. After the end of the war in 1411, Jagiełło relieved the city of its oath of fealty and it reverted to Teutonic rule. Subsequently, the city's populace was repressed by the German knights as punishment for its support of the Polish king.
In regards to church administration, the region remained part of the PolishDiocese of Włocławek, a suffragan of theArchdiocese of Gniezno, only the Archdeaconry ofSłupsk was dissolved in 1317 and Słupsk passed from the Archdiocese of Gniezno to theDiocese of Kamień.[44][45]
In 1380, the first Scots settled in Gdańsk, founding what would eventually become a significantScottish diaspora in Poland.[46] First mention ofArmenians, another historically important diaspora in Poland, in Gdańsk dates to 1427.[47]
In 1440, many cities of the region joined the newly formed anti-TeutonicPrussian Confederation.[48] In 1454, the organization asked Polish KingCasimir IV Jagiellon to reincorporate the region into theKingdom of Poland, to which the King agreed and signed an act of re-incorporation inKraków.[49] After the subsequentThirteen Years' War (1454–1466), the longest of all Polish–Teutonic wars, the Teutonic Knights renounced any claims to the region and recognized it as part of Poland.[50]
Since 1454, Gdańsk was authorized by King Casimir IV to mint Polish coins.[51] In 1458, a truce between Poland and Denmark was signed in Gdańsk, after Denmark initially sided with the Teutonic Knights in the Thirteen Years' War.[52]
The districts ofSławno (Schlawe),Darłowo (Rügenwalde) andSłupsk (Stolp), however, remained with Brandenburg. Previously, they were part ofPomerelia.
In 1316–17, theGriffin duke of Pomerania-Wolgast took over these areas as a fief fromWaldemar of Brandenburg. In 1347, the area became fully attached to Pomerania-Wolgast.[53] The lands of Stolp were pawned to the Teutonic Order from 1329 to 1341, theBytów area was bought by the knights in 1329 and thus remained outside Pomerania-Wolgast.[2] TheSwienca family wasde facto ruling the area regardless of the respective overlord, their power was broken only by the dukes of Pomerania-Wolgast.
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