Pomerania during the Late Middle Ages covers the history of Pomerania in the 14th and 15th centuries.
The Duchy of Pomerania gained the Principality of Rugia after two wars with Mecklenburg,Buchholz (1999), pp.115,116 the Lands of Schlawe and Stolp (Sławno and Słupsk)Buchholz (1999), pp.106 and the Lauenburg and Bütow Land (Lębork and Bytów).Buchholz (1999), p.186 Pomerelia was integrated into the Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights after the Teutonic takeover of Danzig in 1308, and became the Pomeranian Voivodeship of the Kingdom of Poland in 1454/1466.
The Duchy of Pomerania was internally fragmented into Pomerania-Wolgast, -Stettin, -Barth, and -Stolp.Boockmann (1992), pp.131,132Buchholz (1999), pp.143,146,147 The dukes were in continuous warfare with the Margraviate of Brandenburg due to Uckermark and Neumark border disputes and disputes over formal overlordship of Pomerania.Buchholz (1999), pp.160–166,180ff In 1478, the duchy was reunited under the rule of Bogislaw X, when most of the other dukes had died of the plague.Bogislaw X in Allgemeine Deutsche BiographieBuchholz (1999), p.189
Hanseatic towns
The towns of Pomerania that had joined the Hanseatic League acted independently from the duchy, and sometimes opposed the dukes' interest.Calhoun (2002), pp.157,158 The most powerful towns were Stralsund, Greifswald, and Szczecin, but also Demmin, Anklam and Kołobrzeg. Before the Treaty of Stralsund (1370), and during the reign of Eric of Pomerania, the Hanseatic towns were in a state of war with Denmark for hegemony in the Baltic Sea.Buchholz (1999), pp.130,166ff
Parts of the Pomeranian nobility were engaged in piracy against Hanseatic vessels. Barnim VI of Pomerania-Wolgast did not only engage in piracy himself, he is also known for providing refuge and hideouts for the Likedeeler pirate organisation.Buchholz (1999), pp.146,147
The relation between the towns and the nobility throughout the Middle Ages ranged from alliances and support () to cabalism, banditry and outright warfare.Buchholz (1999), pp.128–154,178–180
Duchy of Pomerania
Pomerania-Wolgast and -Stettin after the partition of 1295
The last duke of Demmin had died in 1264, and the 1236 territorial losses left Demmin at the westernmost edge of the Duchy of Pomerania.
When Barmin I, for a short period sole ruler of the duchy, died in 1278, his oldest son Bogislaw IV took his father's seat. When his half-brothers Otto I and Barnim II reached adulthood in 1294, the brothers ruled in common until Barnim's death in 1295. Bogislaw and Otto now agreed on a partition of the duchy, that would last until 1464: Bogislaw's share was the area where the towns were under Lübeck law, that was Hither Pomerania north of the Peene river (though including Anklam and Demmin on its southern bank) and Farther Pomerania north of the Ina and Stepenitz rivers, both areas were connected by the islands of Usedom (Uznam) and Wolin. Bogislaw made Wolgast his residence, thus the partition became known as Pomerania-Wolgast. Otto's share was the remainder between Peene and Ina centered around Stettin (Szczecin), where the towns were under Magdeburg law. This partition became known as Pomerania-Stettin.Buchholz (1999), pp.104–105
A series of wars was triggered by Denmark in the early 14th century, when Eric VI Menved attempted to reestablish Danish rule in Northern Germany. Pomeranian and Rugian towns and dukes were involved in these wars in various and often opposing coalitions. Since 1314, a coalition consisting mainly of Waldemar of Brandenburg, Stralsund, and the Pomeranian dukes opposed a Danish-led coalition joined by Rugian duke Wizlaw III. This war was ended by the Treaty of Templin in 1317. During this conflict, in 1315, Wartislaw IV of Pomerania-Wolgast, grandson of Rugian Wizlaw II, made an agreement with Eric VI Menved's brother Christopher II of Denmark for inheritance of the Principality of Rügen.Buchholz (1999), p.107
Waldemar of Brandenburg died in 1319. Heinrich, his heir, was still a minor, and died in 1320. The Pomeranian dukes and Cammin bishops tried to take advance of Brandenburg's weakness. They did not only envision territorial gains, but also aimed at changing the status of the duchy from a fief of Brandenburg to a fief directly from the emperor. To achieve these goals, the dukes allied with various neighboring states, mounted military campaigns of which the first Battle of Kremmer Damm in 1332 was the most important, and gave their lands to the Cammin bishops (in 1320) and even to pope John XXII (in 1330).Willoweit (2006), p.257 In 1337, the Brandenburg margrave had to take the terrae Lipiany, Świdwin and Falkenberg (all in Neumark) as a fief from the Cammin bishops. In 1338, Barnim III of Pomerania-Stettin was granted his part-duchy as a fief directly from the emperor, while Pomerania-Wolgast remained under formal Brandenburgian overlordship.Buchholz (1999), pp.107–109
The towns Stettin (Szczecin), Greifenhagen (Gryfino), and Gollnow (Goleniów) in Pomerania-Stettin, concerned about a permanent division of the duchy in case Barnim III would not have children, rebelled in 1339 and sided with Pomerania-Wolgast in 1341.Boockmann (1992), p. 126 Barnim had to move his court to Gartz (Oder). On 12 June 1348 German king and later emperor Charles IV granted the Duchy of Pomerania as a whole and the Rugian principality as a fief to the dukes of both Pomerania-Stettin and Pomerania-Wolgast, erasing Brandenburg's claims. The Pomeranian dukes and towns reconciled in 1344/54.Buchholz (1999), pp.110–111
Barnim III, against the will of the burghers, erected a castle within Stettin's walls in 1346 (the old burgh had been leveled in 1249),Buchholz (1999), p.121 and gained from Brandenburg the eastern parts of the Uckermark, that was in 1354 Pasewalk, in 1355 Schwedt, Angermünde, and Brüssow, and in 1359 (Torgelow).
First and Second War for Rugian Succession The Rugian prince Wizlaw III died in 1325. Because of the earlier death of his son, he had no male heir, and Wartislaw IV of Pomerania-Wolgast took over the principality according to the 1315 agreement with Christopher II of Denmark. Yet, in the meantime Christopher's throne had been challenged by Valdemar III of Denmark, and Christopher had granted Rugia to Mecklenburg for her aid against his opponent. After Wartislaw died in 1326, Mecklenburg invaded the principality. Wartislaw's minor sons were aided by primarily by Greifswald and Demmin, but also by Stralsund, Anklam, and Valdemar III, who decisively defeated the Mecklenburgian army in 1228 near Völschow. In the subsequent Treaty of Brudersdorf, Mecklenburg withdrew her claims for 31,000 mark in silver. In exchange, the terrae Tribsees, Grimmen and Barth were pawned to her. When the Pomeranian dukes in 1340 were not able to bail out these lands, but refused to formally hand them over, a second war started. This time, the dukes of Pomerania-Wolgast were aided by those of Pomerania-Stettin and the Counts of Gützkow. After the Pomeranian forces defeated the Mecklenburgians in the Battle of Schopendamm near Loitz in 1351, they were able to take Grimmen and Barth in 1354 and Tribsees in 1356. Mecklenburg dropped her claims thereafter. Another party in these wars for Rugian succession was the bishop of Schwerin, who sought to enforce his claims by legal means, but was not successful in his appeals to various ecclesial courts.
After the partition of Pomerania-Wolgast (1368–72) After the death of Barnim IV of Pomerania-Wolgast in 1366, an armed conflict arose when Barnim's brother Bogislaw V refused to share his power with Barnim's sons, Wartislaw VI and Bogislaw VI, and his other brother, Wartislaw V, who in turn allied with Mecklenburg to enforce their claims. On 25 May 1368 a compromise was negotiated in Anklam,Boockmann (1992), p.131 which was made a formal treaty on 8 June 1372 in Stargard,Boockmann (1992), p.132 partial citation of the original document (Low German) and resulted in a partition of Pomerania-Wolgast.Piskorski (1999), p.97
Bogislaw V received most of the Farther 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 part duchy became known as Pomerania-Stolp or Duchy of Słupsk. The western remainder of Pomerania-Wolgast was further partitioned between Bogislaw IV and Wartislaw VI on 6 December 1376. Wartislaw VI received Pomerania-(Wolgast)-Barth, the former principality of Rügen, and Bogislaw IV's Pomerania-Wolgast was reduced to an area between Greifswald and the Świna river. When Bogislaw VI died in 1393 and Wartislaw VI in 1394, the latter's sons Barnim VI and Wartislaw VIII ruled in common.
On 6 December 1425 the western part of Pomerania-Wolgast (without Pomerania-Stolp/Słupsk) was partitioned again at a congress in Eldena Abbey, this time among the Wartislaw IX and his brother Barnim VII, who received the eastern part with Wolgast, and their cousins Swantibor II and his brother Barnim VIII, who received the Rugian part with Barth.Buchholz (1999), p.154
In 1456, the University of Greifswald was founded on behalf of Heinrich Rubenow, becoming the first university of Pomerania and one of the oldest in northern Europe.Du Moulin Eckart (1976), p.109
The situation of the descendants of Bogislaw V, who ruled Pomerania-Stolp/Słupsk, 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 Słupsk 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 of Casimir III of Poland, where both raised at the Polish court in Kraków. Elisabeth would become Holy Roman Empress after her marriage with Charles IV, and Casimir was adopted by and designated heir of his grandfather. Yet, his ambitions were thwarted when Louis I of Hungary overruled the testament of Casimir of Poland in 1370, Casimir of Pomerania-Stolp/Słupsk only for a short time took the land of Dobrzyń as a fief. In 1390, it became a vassal duchy of the Kingdom of Poland. Eric II of Pomerania-Stolp/Słupsk, great-grandson of Danish king Valdemar IV in contrast became king of the Kalmar Union in 1397.Buchholz (1999), p.154–158
Eric however failed in his most ambitious plan, to make his first cousin Bogusław IX of Pomerania-Stolp, king of both the Kalmar Union and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Eric had to leave Denmark in 1449 and ruled Pomerania-Rügenwalde, a small partition of Pomerania-Stolp, until his death in 1459.Buchholz (1999), pp.168,170,173
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 the war had started in 1409 by blocking his lands for the knights' troops and allowing his nobles to kidnap those who were traveling 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 the First Peace of Thorn in 1411.Buchholz (1999), p.158
Casimir V of Pomerania-Stettin at the same time allied with the Teutonic Knights and took part in the Battle of Grunwald, where he was caught by the Poles and bailed out by the knights after the First Peace of Thorn.Buchholz (1999), p.163