Duchy of Pomerania-Stolp (Słupsk) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1368–1478 | |||||||||||
 Coat of arms | |||||||||||
_and_the_Crown_of_the_Kingdom_of_Poland_(red)_in_1386_-_1434.png) Map of Kingdom of Poland (1333–1370). Duchy of Słupsk (Księstwo Słupskie) visible north of the Kingdom of Poland – north of the Kingdom and west of the green Teutonic Order territories. | |||||||||||
| Status | Duchy of thePolish Crown | ||||||||||
| Capital | Słupsk | ||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic | ||||||||||
| Government | Feudal duchy | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||||
• Partition | 1368 | ||||||||||
• Reunited underBogislaw X | 1478 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Today part of | Poland | ||||||||||
TheDuchy of Pomerania-Stolp,[a] also known as theDuchy of Stolp, and theDuchy of Słupsk,[b] was afeudalduchy inFarther Pomerania. Its capital wasSłupsk. It was ruled by theGriffin dynasty. It existed in theHigh Middle Ages era from 1368 to 1478.
TheDuchy of Pomerania was partitioned several times to satisfy the claims of the male members of the rulingHouse of Pomerania dynasty.[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 theHouse of Pomerania inherited the duchy in common.[2] The duchy thus continued to exist as a whole despite its division.[2][4]
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 May 25, 1368, a compromise was negotiated inAnklam,[5] which was made a formal treaty on June 8, 1372 inStargard,[6] and resulted in a partition of Pomerania-Wolgast.[7]
Bogislaw V received most of theFarther Pomeranian parts. Excepted was the land of Neustettin (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 partition became known as Pomerania-Stolp.[5][6][7]
The situation of the descendants of Bogislaw V, who ruled Pomerania-Stolp, 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 Stolpian 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, were 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 only for a short time took the land ofDobrzyń as a fief.
During thePolish–Teutonic wars, the Pomeranian dukes changed sides between Poland and the knights very frequently.[8]Wartislaw VII andBarnim V allied with the Teutonic Order.[9] In 1390 however, after Polish KingWładysław II Jagiełło had promised to hand part of the heritage of Casimir IV, Wartislaw VII's stepbrother, over to Wartislaw, the latter concluded an alliance with Poland and received the Polish castellany ofNakło and probably some adjacent areas as a fief in return, declaring himself a vassal of Jagiełło III inPyzdry.[10][11][12][13][14]
Scholars offer somewhat different interpretations of thetreaty of Pyzdry. According to scholars such asJuliusz Bardach,Władysław Czapliński, Fenrych (1961),[15]Marceli Kosman,Tadeusz Ładogórski,Andrzej Nowakowski,Michał Sczaniecki andKazimierz Ślaski, Wartislaw's oath was for all territory held by him and meant that Pomerania-Stolp itself become a Polish fief.[12][14][16][17] Other descriptions of the treaty included an oath of vassalage of Wartislaw VII to Jagiełło without specifying a territory: Gòrski (1947), Labuda (1948),;[15] Mitkowski (1946) and Zientara (1969) wrote the oath was for the territory Waritislaw received as fiefs from Jagiełło (especially Nakło); Mielcarz (1976) said the oath was binding only Wartislaw himself, as a person, to Jagiełło; and Gumowski (1951) said the document shows Wartislaw giving a general solemn promise of service.[15] Czacharowski (2001) says it was an alliance and refers to Nakło being held as a Polish fief.[18]
With respect to the discourse in Polish historiography, Branig andBuchholz (1997) say that however the treaty is interpreted, it did not have any significance for the future.[14][19] The vassalage was short-lived; Wartislaw's brothers Barnim V andBogislaw VIII however took on a friendly attitude towards the Teutonic Order, and Naklo returned to the Polish Crown after Wartislaw's death.[8]
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Eric of Pomerania, grand-grandchild of Danish kingValdemar IV in contrast became king of theKalmar Union in 1397.[20] Eric however failed in his most ambitious plan, to makeBogislaw IX king of both the Kalmar Union and thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Eric had to leave Denmark in 1449 and ruled Pomerania-Rügenwalde (Darłowo), a small partition of Pomerania-Stolp, until his death in 1459.[21]
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 thewar had started in 1409 by blocking his lands for the knights' troops and allowing his nobles to kidnap those who were travelling 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.[22]
Eric II of Pomerania-(Wolgast)-Stolp allied with the Polish kingCasimir IV in hisThirteen Years' War against theTeutonic Knights. On January 3, 1455, he in turn was granted theLauenburg and Bütow Land at the Pomerelian frontier. When Lębork was retaken by the knights in 1459, the Polish king was upset and ravaged the Stolp area. Eric reconciled with the king on August 21, 1466, and bought the town from the knights on October 11, six days before theSecond Peace of Thorn, which was signed by Eric in 1467.[23]
Pomerania-Wolgast was reunited following the death of both Barnim VII and Barnim VIII in 1451. Both dukes died of theBlack Death.[24] The same disease caused the death ofJoachim of Pomerania-Stettin (also in 1451),[24] Ertmar and Swantibor, children ofWartislaw X,[25] andOtto III of Pomerania-Stettin (all in 1464).[25] Thus, the line of Pomerania-Stettin had died out.[25]
The extinction of the House of Pomerania-Stettin triggered a conflict about inheritance with theMargraviate of Brandenburg.[26] 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.[27]
In 1474, Eric II died of theBlack Death, and his sonBogislaw X inherited Pomerania-Stolp. Bogislaw'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.[26][28]
Eric II had left Pomerania in tense conflicts with Brandenburg andMecklenburg. Bogislaw 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. Bogislaw himself married Magarete, daughter of Brandenburg'sPrince-electorFrederick II. Also, in 1478, Bogislaw 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 Bogislaw had to take his possessions as a fief from Brandenburg.[26][29]
54°27′00″N17°02′00″E / 54.450000°N 17.033333°E /54.450000; 17.033333
