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TheSchlawe and Stolp Land[a] (also known as Słupsk and Sławno Land)[b] is ahistorical region inPomerania, centered on the towns ofSławno (Schlawe) andSłupsk (Stolp) inFarther Pomerania (Eastern Pomerania), present-dayPoland.
The area holds historical significance as it was initially ruled by a cadet branch of theHouse of Griffin and did not belong to theDuchy of Pomerania (Slavinia) under DukeWartislaw I and his descendants when they became vassals of theHoly Roman Emperor in 1181. It was ruled by theSamboride dukes ofPomerelia from 1227 and conquered by MargraveWaldemar of Brandenburg-Stendal in 1309. The region was not incorporated into the Duchy of Pomerania until 1317.
The small region comprises the easternmost lands of historicFarther Pomerania, where theWieprza andSłupia Rivers empty into theBaltic Sea. The area lay beyond the territory of thePrince-Bishops of Cammin, with the border running along theUnieść creek, LakeJamno, and the Góra Chełmska hill (about 2 km (1.2 mi) east ofKoszalin) in the west. In the east, theŁeba River marked the historic border withLauenburg and Bütow Land inPomerelia (Gdańsk Pomerania).
SinceWorld War II and the implementation of theOder-Neisse line in 1945, the Farther Pomeranian region belonged to Poland. Initially part of the largerSzczecin Voivodeship from 1945, thepowiats (counties) ofSławno andSłupsk were incorporated intoKoszalin Voivodeship in 1950 and belonged to the smallerSłupsk Voivodeship from 1975. Since the 1998 administrative reform, the Lands of Schlawe-Stolp are divided betweenWest Pomeranian Voivodeship (Sławno) andPomeranian Voivodeship (Słupsk).
In the early 12th century, the Pomeranian lands were once again subdued by thePolish princeBolesław III Wrymouth. His vassal, theGriffin duke Wartislaw, ruled over the lands around the mouth of theOder River andSzczecin, while the eastern lands of Schlawe and Stolp were ruled by his brother, DukeRatibor I, since the 1120s.
When Wartislaw was murdered around 1135, Ratibor assumed the rule over his late brother's duchy asregent for his minor nephews. However, upon Ratibor's death in 1156, the domains were again separated: Schlawe-Stolp was inherited by Ratibor's sons, Swietopelk and Bogislaw, the so-called "Ratiborides" cadet branch of the GriffinHouse of Pomerania. Meanwhile, their cousin, DukeBogislaw I of Pomerania, pledged allegiance to EmperorFrederick Barbarossa in 1181. Nevertheless, all of Pomerania was underDanish occupation from the 1180s to 1227.
The last member of the Ratiborides branch of the Griffins,Ratibor II, died in 1223. This led to an inheritance dispute between the Pomeranian Griffins and theSamborides dukes of neighbouringPomerelia, vassals of thePiast Kingdom of Poland. As Ratibor II had died during the Danish period, Denmark administered the area until it had to withdraw after the lostBattle of Bornhöved in 1227. DukeBarnim I of Pomerania immediately took control of the lands after the Danish withdrawal but had to yield rights to the Pomerelian dukeSwietopelk II, who claimed a closer relationship to the extinct Ratiborides and took over Schlawe-Stolp in 1235/36.
In the 1250s, the Pomeranian dukes mounted an unsuccessful campaign to regain the area. After the death of Duke Swietopelk II in 1266, Duke Barnim I of Pomerania again assumed rule over the Land of Schlawe, which he ceded to PrinceVitslav II of Rügen, the founder ofRügenwalde, in 1269. However, the Griffins had to cope with the risingMargraves of Brandenburg, who had secured their enfeoffment with Pomerania by EmperorFrederick II in 1231. On 1 April 1269, theAscanian margravesJohn II,Otto IV, andConrad of Brandenburg-Stendal signed theTreaty of Arnswalde with the late Swantopelks's son, DukeMestwin II of Pomerelia, and acquired the seignory over Schlawe-Stolp.
Finally, on 3 September 1273, the Lands of Schlawe and Stolp became a fief under the ImperialMargraviate of Brandenburg.[1] Contested by Duke Mestwin II of Pomerelia, Prince Vitslav II of Rügen finally withdrew in 1275 and two years later sold his rights to the area for 3.500 Brandenburgian Marks in silver to the Margraves of Brandenburg. In 1283, Mestwin II of Pomerelia finally took over. With his death in 1294 the Samborides dynasty became extinct. Competition arose anew, as in his testimony, the late Duke Mestwin II had ignored his earlier contracts and by the secretTreaty of Kępno had inserted the former Polish High Duke,Przemysł II of Greater Poland, as his successor.[2]
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Przemysł II was crownedKing of Poland in 1295 and assumed rule over the Pomerelian lands, including Schlawe-Stolp. However, after his murder the following year, the lands of Schlawe, Stolp, and Rügenwalde fell to the Brandenburgian House of Ascania.[3] A final attempt by Przemysł II to occupy the region ended in 1296 when Polish invasion troops were defeated by a Pomeranian contingent in a decisive battle nearBukowo, a village near Rügenwalde.[4]
Following the death of King Przemysł II of Poland in 1296, a conflict over his succession broke out between his Piast cousinWładysław I the Elbow-high and the Bohemian kingWenceslaus II. According to a chronicle byMatthäus Merian the Elder published in 1652, the Schlawe-Stolp lands were again taken over by Vitslav of Rügen and Count Adolph from Holstein.[5] In 1301, Vitslav's son Prince Sambor of Rügen, enfeoffed his castellan Matthew in Schlawe with domains in the surroundings of Schlawe, Rügenwalde, and Stolp.[6] The Pomeranian dukes, acting under the sovereignty of Brandenburg, were expelled around 1301, following the ascension of Wenceslaus II as king of both Poland andBohemia. In their place, Wenceslaus II appointedFrederick de Schassow[7] (alternative spelling:de Scassowe,von Schachowitz,de Schachoviz, in Czech:z Chachowicz/Čachovice),[8][9] aSilesian noble fromBohemia,chamberlain of the Kingdom of Poland, and gubernator (starosta) of theDuchy of Kuyavia andDuchy of Pomerania, who appeared in Schlawe in December 1302.[7][9][10][11][12]
After the deaths of both King Wenceslaus II and his young successor,Wenceslaus III, Duke Władysław I was able to reconquer large parts of the Polish territories. In 1305, the Brandenburg margraves returned to the lands of Schlawe, Rügenwalde, and Stolp.[13] In 1307, they launched a campaign from the region against the fortified castle ofGdańsk in Pomerelia. The attack failed, however, as the local warlord, Wŀadisŀaw Ŀokietek, had recruited soldiers of theTeutonic Knights to help defending it.
Following theTeutonic takeover of Danzig in November 1308, during which the Knights seized the city and allegedly slaughtered many of the inhabitants, the Ascanian MargraveWaldemar of Brandenburg-Stendal sold his claims to Pomerelia east of the Łeba River to the Teutonic Order for 10,000 silver marks by theTreaty of Soldin, but retained Schlawe-Stolp. Grand MasterSiegfried von Feuchtwangen and Master Heinrich vonDirschau undSchwetz integrated the remaining Gdańsk Pomerania into theirMonastic State. EmperorHenry VII ratified the Soldin Treaty in 1313, and, although he could not assert any feudal claims to the territory of the extinct Samboride dukes, the now Brandenburgian lands of Schlawe and Stolp finally were incorporated into theHoly Roman Empire.
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The districts of Schlawe (now Sławno), Rügenwalde (Darłowo), and Stolp (Słupsk), remained with the Margraviate of Brandenburg and were ruled by the margraves' vassals, theSwienca family, who had administered the area previously under other dynasties. Following the 1317Treaty of Templin, the Griffin dukeWartislaw IV of Pomerania-Wolgast took over these areas as a fief from Margrave Waldemar of Brandenburg. In 1347, the area became fully attached to the Duchy of Pomerania-Wolgast.[14] The lands of Stolp were pawned to the Teutonic Order from 1329 to 1341, while theBütow area was bought by the Order in 1329 and thus remained outside Pomerania-Wolgast.[15]
The lands of Schlawe and Stolp became part of the Duchy ofPomerania-Stolp after the partition of the Pomeranian duchy in 1368. While the Pomerelian lands were incorporated into the Polish province ofRoyal Prussia in 1466, the eastern border of the lands of Schlawe and Stolp with Pomerelia shifted several times before they, together with adjacentLauenburg and Bütow Land, were integrated into the PrussianProvince of Pomerania in 1653.[16]