Lauenburg and Bütow Land[1][2][3] (German:Länder orLande Lauenburg und Bütow,Kashubian:Lãbòrskò-bëtowskô Zemia,Polish:Ziemia lęborsko-bytowska) formed ahistorical region in the western part ofPomerelia (Polish and papal historiography) or in the eastern part ofFarther Pomerania (German historiography). It was composed of two districts centered on the towns ofLauenburg (Lębork) andBütow (Bytów). The land is today part of the PolishPomeranian Voivodeship.
In the 12th and 13th centuries the area east of theŁeba river was on the western periphery of thePomerelian duchies, ruled by theSamborides dynasty as vassals of thePolish Crown as distinct to the neighbouringDuchy of Pomerania, which in 1181 had become anImperial State. After theDanish defeat at the 1227Battle of Bornhöved, the Pomerelian dukeSwietopelk II atGdańsk acquired the adjacentLands of Schlawe and Stolp, formerly a possession of the Pomeranian dukes, and declared himself an independentdux Pomeranorum in his enlarged territory (Pomorze Gdańskie). However, the line of the Samborides became extinct upon the death of Swietopelk's sonMestwin II in 1294, and after theTreaty of Kępno, the territory became part of Poland, under KingPrzemysław II. TheMargraviate of Brandenburg also sought to control the area and in the following armed conflict, the Polish dukeWładysław I the Elbow-high called for the support of theTeutonic Knights.
After expelling the Brandenburgians from Gdańsk, the Knights massacred the local population andtook over Gdańsk and adjacent areas in 1308. Disregarding the Polish claims and subsequent papal rulings, theOrder's State concluded theTreaty of Soldin with Brandenburg in the following year, where the Knights claimed all Pomerelian lands - including Lauenburg and Bütow - while the adjacent Lands of Schlawe and Stolp fell to theAscanian margraves and were again acquired by the Duchy of Pomerania in 1316 (laterPomerania-Stolp). TheGriffin dukes in 1317 also acquired the Bütow area, which was yet again sold to the Knights in 1329.
After paying off the Brandenburg margraves, the Teutonic knights integrated the Pomerelian lands into their monastic state, with the Lauenburg and Bütow Landmarking its western border with the Pomeranian duchy. The knights invited German settlers (seeOstsiedlung) and granted the towns of Lauenburg and BütowKulm law in 1341 and 1346 respectively. Lauenburg as well asLeba joined the 1454 uprising of thePrussian Confederation, which sparked theThirteen Years' War between theKingdom of Poland and the Order's State.
In 1455 Poland promised the Lauenburg and Bütow Land to DukeEric II of Pomerania in return for his support, yet the towns were still held by the Knights' troops. When the Order's defeat and 1466Second Peace of Thorn ended the war, those troops were paid off and KingCasimir IV Jagiellon of Poland again granted the towns to theGriffins, though it was disputed whether as his trustees or in pawn, while the rest of Pomerelia became part ofRoyal Prussia. The dispute was ended in 1526 when KingSigismund I the Old entrusted the area as afief ("libere a servitio et a iuramento") to DukeGeorg I of Pomerania.[4]
After the childless death of the last Griffin duke,Bogislaw XIV in 1637, the land again became aterra (land,ziemia) of thePolish Crown and in 1641 became part of thePomeranian Voivodeship of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Whereas theReformation had been enforced by the Pomeranian dukes, the Poles took action to regain the area for theCatholic Church.[citation needed]
After the 1657Treaty of Bydgoszcz (Bromberg) that amended the previousTreaty of Wehlau it was granted as a fief to theHohenzollern dynasty ofBrandenburg-Prussia in return for her help againstSweden in theSwedish-Polish War under the same favourable conditions the Griffins had enjoyed before. The Hohenzollern had also acquired the adjacent lands ofFarther Pomerania upon the extinction of the line and since 1618 held theDuchy of Prussia inpersonal union.
Lauenburg-Bütow was officially a Polish fiefdom until theFirst Partition of Poland in 1772. KingFrederick II of Prussia had incorporated the territory the year before and the subsequent Treaty of Warsaw in 1773[5] made the former conditions obsolete. From 1772 on the area was still attached to the Pomerelian lands of part ofWest Prussia, but in 1777 Lauenburg and Bütow were finally integrated into the Prussian province ofFarther Pomerania constituting alongDraheim their only parts outside ofHoly Roman Empire (thus Germany). After theNapoleonic Wars, Farther Pomerania was succeeded from 1815 onwards by the largerProvince of Pomerania which became as a whole a part of theGerman Confederation. In 1846, the territory was partitioned into the twoLandkreise Lauenburg and Bütow, both parts of theRegierungsbezirk ofKöslin.
While much of the Pomerelian lands annexed by Prussia returned to theSecond Polish Republic afterWorld War I according to the 1919Treaty of Versailles, Lauenburg and Bütow remained with the Prussian province of Pomerania until 1945.
Since thePotsdam Agreement afterWorld War II, the region has beena part of Poland.
