TheDuchy of Pomerania was partitioned several times to satisfy the claims of the male members of the rulingHouse of Pomerania.[1] The partitions were named after the ducal residences:Pomerania-Barth, -Demmin, -Rügenwalde, -Stettin, -Stolp, and -Wolgast. None of the partitions had a hereditary character,[2][3] the members of the House of Pomerania inherited the duchy in common.[2] The duchy thus continued to exist as a whole despite its division.[2] The only exception was made during a war with theMargraviate of Brandenburg, when in 1338Barnim III of Pomerania-Stettin was granted his partition as a fief directly from theHoly Roman Emperor, while Pomerania-Wolgast remained under formal Brandenburgian overlordship.[4][5] However, already in 1348, German king and later emperorCharles IV again granted the Duchy of Pomerania as a whole and thePrincipality of Rügen as a fief to the dukes of both Pomerania-Stettin and Pomerania-Wolgast, nullifying Brandenburg's claims by grantingImperial immediacy.[5][6]
In 1155, the duchy was partitioned inPomerania-Demmin andPomerania-Stettin.[7] With short interruptions, this division lasted until 1264.[8]
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In 1295, the duchy was partitioned inPomerania-Wolgast and Pomerania-Stettin.[1][2] In 1368/72,Pomerania-Stolp was split from Pomerania-Wolgast.[9] In 1376,Pomerania-Barth was split from truncated Pomerania-Wolgast.[9] In 1402, Pomerania-Rügenwalde was briefly split from Pomerania-Stolp[9] for three years.[10] In 1451, Pomerania-Barth was for six years merged back into Pomerania-Wolgast.[9][11] In 1459, Pomerania-Stolp was merged back into Pomerania-Wolgast.[9] In 1464,Pomerania-Stettin was claimed by both Pomerania-Wolgast andBrandenburg, and merged with Pomerania-Wolgast following thePeace of Prenzlau (1472/79).[9][12] In 1478, Pomerania-Barth was merged back in, temporarily ending the internal division.[9][12]
In 1532, the duchy was partitioned in a Pomerania-Stettin and aPomerania-Wolgast of significantly different shape as the earlier divisions of the same names.[13][14] In 1569, Pomerania-Barth was split from Pomerania-Wolgast andPomerania-Rügenwalde was split from Pomerania-Stettin, these partitions also differed in shape from earlier partitions with the same name.[15] In 1625, the duchy came under the sole rule ofthe last duke of the Griffin dynasty, who died during theThirty Years' War in 1637, whenthe duchy was under Swedish occupation.
After the war, theSwedish Empire andBrandenburg-Prussia succeeded theGriffin dukes in thePeace of Westphalia (1648) and divided it in theTreaty of Stettin (1653) into aSwedish Pomerania and aBrandenburg-Prussian Pomerania. Both the Swedish and Brandenburgian rulers, in contrast to the Griffin dukes, became hereditary dukes in their respective share. In 1679 and 1720, the Brandenburg-Prussian part was enlarged at the expense of the Swedish share. In 1815, all the former duchy was reorganized in thePrussian province of Pomerania.