Pomerelia, also known as Eastern Pomerania, Vistula Pomerania, and also before World War II as Polish Pomerania, is a historical sub-region of Pomerania on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland.
Gdańsk Pomerania is largely coextensive with Pomerelia, but slightly narrower, as it does not include Chełmno Land and Michałów Land.
Its largest and most important city is Gdańsk. Since 1999 the region has formed the core of Pomeranian Voivodeship.
Overview Pomerelia is located in northern Poland west of the Vistula river and east of the Łeba river, mostly within the Pomeranian Voivodeship, with southern part located in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship and small parts in West Pomeranian Voivodeship. It has traditionally been divided into Kashubia, Kociewie, Tuchola Forest, Vistula Fens and Chełmno Land (including the Michałów Land, sometimes with the addition of Lubawa Land). The Lębork and Bytów Land is considered by Polish historiography a part of Gdańsk Pomerania, while German historiography tends to treat it as a part of Farther Pomerania. Pomerelia has been inhabited by ethnic Kashubians, Kociewians, Borowians and Chełminians, respectively. A small portion of Gdańsk Pomerania in the eastern part of the Vistula Spit around the abandoned village of Polski is now part of the Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia.
Name
The term Pomerelia originally meant small-Pomerania and has been in use since the Late Middle Ages. The name served as a distinction from the regions Hither and Farther Pomerania to the west.
In the Polish language, the area has been called ('Pomerania') since the Early Middle Ages. In the early 14th century, the Teutonic Knights invaded and annexed the region from Polan into their monastic state, which already included historical Prussia, located east of the region. As a result of Teutonic rule, the name of Prussia was extended to the lands west of the Vistula river, even though it hadn't been inhabited by Baltic Prussians (the majority of Pomerelia's inhabitants were Poles and Kashubians). The earliest reference of the term Pomerelia can be found in the "Pomerellische Handveste" from 1441 by the Teutonic Grandmaster Konrad von Ehrlichshausen.Reinhold Cramer: Ueber den Ursprung des Wortes Pomerellen und die pomerellische Handveste. In: Anzeiger für Kunde der deutschen Vorzeit, Neue Folge. Organ des Germanischen Museums. Achter Band, Jahrgang 1861, Sp. 6–9 (Google Books).
The area was incorporated into the Crown of Poland following the Polish–Teutonic War (1454–1466). Subsequently, two names were employed: Pomerelia was used when referring to the Pomeranian Voivodeship (Gdańsk Pomerania) and the Chełmno Voivodeship, while Royal Prussia was used as the name of the wider province, which, however, also included the Malbork Voivodeship and the Prince-Bishopric of Warmia, covering the Prussian historical areas of Pomesania, Pogesania and Warmia.
After the Partitions of Poland, the area was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia and formed part of the newly established province of West Prussia. The term Pomerelia remained as a historical name for the region, but without any official meaning.
Outside of Prussia and later Germany, the area was termed Pomerelia (such as in the Belgian Theatrum Orbis Terrarum from 1570), Polish Pomerania ()James Boswell, The Scots Magazine, t. 35, Edinburgh 1773, p 687 Google Books, The Magazine of Magazines t. 13, Limerick 1757 p. 158 Google Books, John Mottley, The history of the life of Peter I., emperor of Russia, London 1739, p. 89 Google Books, The Universal Magazine, t. 20, London 1757, p. 50 Google Books or West Prussia.
The term Pomerelia fell out of use when the region became part of Poland in the 20th century, being replaced by terms like Gdansk Pomerania or Eastern Pomerania.
History Outline Early history
In its early history, the territory which later became known as Pomerelia was the site of the Pomeranian culture (also called the Pomerelian face urn culture, 650-150 BC),Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeit, 1999, p.23, the Oksywie culture (150 BC-AD 1, associated with parts of the Rugii and Lemovii),J. B. Rives on Tacitus, Germania, Oxford University Press, 1999, p.311, and the Wielbark Culture (AD 1–450, associated with Veneti, Goths, Rugii, Gepids).Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeit, 1999, p.25, In the mid-6th century Jordanes mentioned the Vistula estuary as the home of the Vidivarii.Andrew H. Merrills, History and Geography in Late Antiquity, Cambridge University Press, 2005, p.325, Pomerelia was settled by West Slavic and Lechitic tribesGerhard Köbler, Historisches Lexikon der Deutschen Länder: die deutschen Territorien vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, 7th edition, C.H.Beck, 2007, p.532, in the 7th and 8th centuries.Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeit, 1999, p.29,
Early medieval Poland
In the tenth century, Pomerelia was already settled by West-Slavic Pomeranians. The area was conquered and incorporated into early medieval Poland either by Duke Mieszko I – the first historical Polish ruler - in the second half of the tenth centuryJerzy Strzelczyk [in:] The New Cambridge Medieval History, Cambridge University Press, 1999, p. 523 Google Books or even earlier, by his father, in the 940s or 950sJ. Spors (in:) J. Borzyszkowski (red.) Pomorze w dziejach Polski, Nr 19 - Pomorze Gdańskie, Gdańsk 1991, p. 68 – the date of incorporation is unknown.Loew, Peter Oliver: Danzig. Biographie einer Stadt, Munich 2011, p. 32. Mieszko founded Gdańsk to control the mouth of the Vistula between 970 and 980.J. Spors (in:) J. Borzyszkowski (red.) Pomorze w dziejach Polski, Nr 19 - Pomorze Gdańskie, Gdańsk 1991, p. 69–70 According to Józef Spors, despite some cultural differences, the inhabitants of the whole of Pomerania had very close ties with residents of other Piast provinces,J. Spors (in:) J. Borzyszkowski (red.) Pomorze w dziejach Polski, Nr 19 - Pomorze Gdańskie, Gdańsk 1991, p. 67 from which Pomerelia was separated by large stretches of woodlands and swamps.
The Piasts introduced Christianity to pagan Pomerelia, though it is disputed to what extent the conversion materialized.Machilek, Franz: Strukturen und Repräsentanten der Kirche Polens im Mittelalter, in Dietmar Popp, Robert Suckale (eds.): Die Jagiellonen. Kunst und Kultur einer europäischen Dynastie an der Wende zur Neuzeit (Wissenschaftliche Beibände zum Anzeiger des Germanischen Nationalmuseums, Bd. 21), Nürnberg 2002, pp. 109–122; 109. In the eleventh century the region had loosened its close connections with the kingdom of Poland and subsequently for some years formed an independent duchy.James Minahan, One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000, p. 375, Most scholars suggest that Pomerelia was still part of Poland during the reign of king Bolesław I of Poland and his son Mieszko II Lambert. However, there are also different opinions e.g. Peter Oliver Loew suggests the Slavs in Pomerelia severed their ties with the Piasts and reverted the Piasts' introduction of Christianity already in the first years of the 11th century.Loew, Peter Oliver: Danzig. Biographie einer Stadt, Munich 2011, p. 32; while James Minahan, One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000, p. 375 generally speaks of the 11th century. The exact date of separation is unknown, however. It was suggested that the inhabitants of Pomerelia participated in the Pagan reaction in Poland, actively supported Miecław who intended to detach Masovia from the power of the rulers of Poland, but after the defeat of Miecław in 1047 accepted the rule of duke Casimir I the Restorer and that the province remained a part of Poland till the 1060s, when Pomerelian troops took part in the expedition of the Polish king Bolesław II the Generous against Bohemia in 1061 or 1068. Duke Bolesław suffered a defeat during the siege of Hradec and had to retreat to Poland. Soon after Pomerelia separated from his realm.J. Spors (in:) J. Borzyszkowski (red.) Pomorze w dziejach Polski, Nr 19 - Pomorze Gdańskie, Gdańsk 1991, p. 73, B. Śliwiński (red.) Wielka Historia Polski, t. I do 1320, Kraków 1997, p. 89-90. Both these authors connect the unsuccessful campaign against he Czechs with the loss of Pomerelia. A campaign by Piast duke Władysław I Herman to conquer Pomerelia in 1090–91 was unsuccessful, but resulted in the burning of many Pomerelian forts during the retreat.
In 1116, direct control over Pomerelia was reestablished by Bolesław III Wrymouth of Poland, who by 1122 had also conquered the central and western parts of Pomerania. While the latter regions (forming the Duchy of Pomerania) regained independence quickly, Pomerelia remained within the Polish realm. It was administered by governors of a local dynasty, the Samborides, and subordinated to the bishopric of Włocławek. In 1138, following the death of Bolesław III, Poland was fragmented into several provincial principalities. The principes in Pomerelia gradually gained more local power, evolving into semi-independent entities, much like other fragmented Polish territories, with the difference that the other parts of the realm were governed by Piast descendants of Bolesław III. The Christian centre became Oliwa Abbey near Gdańsk.
Two Samborides administering Pomerelia in the 12th century are known by name: Sobieslaw I and his son, Sambor I.
Pomerelia was under the direct ecclesiastical administration of the Polish Archdiocese of Gniezno until the 12th century, when it was integrated into the newly formed Polish Diocese of Włocławek, based in Kuyavia, a region neighbouring Pomerelia to the south, itself a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Gniezno.
Danish conquest and independence In 1210, king Valdemar II of Denmark invaded Pomerelia, whose princeps Mestwin I became his vassal. The Danish suzerainty did not last long, however. Mestwin had already gained more independence from Poland and expanded southward, and his son Swietopelk II, who succeeded him in 1217,Loew, Peter Oliver: Danzig. Biographie einer Stadt, Munich 2011, p. 33. gained full independence in 1227.
Duchy of Pomerelia After Mestwin I's death, Pomerelia was internally divided among his sons Swietopelk II, Wartislaw, Sambor II and Ratibor.Lingenberg, Heinz: Die Anfänge des Klosters Oliva und die Entstehung der deutschen Stadt Danzig. Die frühe Geschichte der beiden Gemeinwesen bis 1308/10 (Kieler historische Studien, Bd. 30), Stuttgart 1982, p. 191. Swietopelk II, who took his seat in Gdańsk, assumed a leading position over his brothers: Sambor II, who received the castellany of Lubieszewo (the center later moved to Tczew), and Ratibor, who received the Białogard area, were initially under his tutelage. The fourth brother, Wartislaw, took his seat in Świecie, thus controlling the second important area besides Gdańsk. Wartislaw died before 27 December 1229, his share was to be given to Oliwa Abbey by his brothers.Hirsch, Theodor et al. (eds.): Scriptores rerum Prussicarum, vol. 1, Leipzig 1861, pp. 67, 686-687. The remaining brothers engaged in a civil war: Sambor II and Ratibor allied with the Teutonic OrderWichert, Sven: Das Zisterzienskloster Doberan im Mittelalter (Studien zur Geschichte, Kunst und Kultur der Zisterzienser, vol. 9), Berlin 2000, p. 208 and the Duke of Kuyavia against Swietopelk, who in turn allied with the Old Prussians, took Ratibor prisoner and temporarily assumed control over the latter's share. The revolt of the Old Prussians against the Teutonic Order in 1242 took place in the context of these alliances. Peace was restored only in the Treaty of Christburg (Dzierzgoń) in 1249, mediated by the later pope Urban IV, then papal legate and archidiacone of Lüttich (Liege).