Joachim, also known as Joachim I, Joachim the Younger, and Joachim of Pomerania (c. 1424 – 22 September 1451), was a member of the

House of Griffin The House of Griffin or Griffin dynasty, (; , ; Latin: ''Gryphes''), or House of Pomerania (see ), was a dynasty ruling the Duchy of Pomerania from the 12th century until 1637. The name "Griffins" was used by the dynasty after the 15th century ...

, and the duke of

Pomerania-Stettin The Duchy of Pomerania-Stettin, also known as the Duchy of Stettin, and the Duchy of Szczecin, was a feudal duchy in Farther Pomerania within the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Stettin (Szczecin). It was ruled by the Griffin dynasty.B. Dopier ...

, that ruled from 1434 to 1451.

History

Early life and family

Joachim was born around 1424. He was the second son of duke

Casimir V Duke Casimir V of Pomerania (or, counting differently, Casimir VI; after 1380 – 13 April 1435) was a member of the House of Griffins and a Duke of Pomerania. He ruled in Pomerania-Stettin together with his brother Otto II, Duke of Pomerani ...

from the

, who ruled the Duchy of Pomerania-Stettin, and his wife,

Catherine of Brunswick-Lüneburg Catherine of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1395 – 28 December 1442, Grimma) was a member of the House of Welf, a princess of Brunswick-Lüneburg and by marriage, the Electress of Saxony. Life Catherine was the only daughter and second child of ...

, a daughter of Bernard I, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. His parents probably had a first son named Joachim and gave their second son, born after his premature death, the same name. Due to that, he is nicknamed Joachim the Younger, while his older brother, Joachim the Elder. He also had two sisters, Anna, who was a wife of John V of Mecklenburg, and Margaretha, was a wife of graf Albrecht III of Lindow-Ruppin.Martin Wehrmann: ''Genealogie des pommerschen Herzogshauses''. In: Leon Saunier: ''Veröffentlichungen der landesgeschichtlichen Forschungsstelle für Pommern'', series 1, vol. 5).

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

, 1937, p. 72–73. As a young child, Joachim was engaged to Barbara of Brandenburg, a daughter of Margrave John of Brandenburg, in 1427. The marriage did not materialize as Barbara married Margrave

Ludovico III Gonzaga Ludovico III Gonzaga of Mantua, known as the Turk (), also spelled Lodovico (also Ludovico II; 5 June 1412 – 12 June 1478) was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua from 1444 to his death in 1478. Biography Ludovico was the son of Gianfran ...

in 1433 instead. Joachim married Barbara's younger sister Elisabeth of Brandenburg in 1437. They had a son

Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was the Holy Roman emperor and King of Italy from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was c ...

, who was born in 1444.

Rule in Pomerania-Stettin

In 1434, around the age of eight, following the death of his father, Casimir V, duke Joachim succeeded him as a ruler of the Duchy of Pomerania-Stettin. Until 1440, the state remained under the

regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

Frederick II of Brandenburg Frederick II of Brandenburg () (19 November 1413 – 10 February 1471), nicknamed "the Iron" (''der Eiserne'') and sometimes "Irontooth" (''Eisenzahn''), was a Prince-elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg from 1440 until his abdication in 14 ...

. In 1440, Joachim, allied with

Pomerania-Wolgast The Duchy of Pomerania-Wolgast, also known as the Duchy of Wolgast, and the Duchy of Wołogoszcz, was a feudal duchy in Western Pomerania within the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Wolgast. It was ruled by the Griffin dynasty.Edward Rymar, ''Ro ...

, fought the war against

Mecklenburg-Stargard The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Stargard, also simply known as Mecklenburg-Stargard, and also as the Duchy of Stargard was a feudal district duchy in Mecklenburg within the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Burg Stargard. It was ruled by the House of M ...

, and

Mecklenburg-Schwerin The Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin () was a duchy in northern Germany created in 1701, when Frederick William, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Frederick William and Adolphus Frederick II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Adolphus Frederick II divided ...

. The conflict ended in 1442, after the long peace negotiations. Frederick II,

Prince-elector The prince-electors ( pl. , , ) were the members of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire, which elected the Holy Roman Emperor. Usually, half of the electors were archbishops. From the 13th century onwards, a small group of prince- ...

of the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg () was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that, having electoral status although being quite poor, grew rapidly in importance after inheriting the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 and then came ...

, intervened in the negotiations, demanding Pomerania-Stettin to cede the conquered territory of

Uckermark The Uckermark () is a historical region in northeastern Germany, which straddles the Uckermark (district), Uckermark District of Brandenburg and the Vorpommern-Greifswald District of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its traditional capital is Prenzlau. ...

to him, including

Pasewalk Pasewalk () is a town in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany. Located on the Uecker river, it is the capital of the former Uecker-Randow district, and the seat of the Uecker-Randow-T ...

, and

Torgelow Torgelow () is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in north-eastern Germany. It is situated on the river Uecker, 12 km south of Ueckermünde, and 41 km northwest of Szczecin, Poland. ...

.''Pommern / Pomerania: Stettin'', In: Peter Truhart: ''Regents of Nations'', K. G Saur Münich, 1984-1988 (ISBN 359810491X), p. 2.441.H. F. Wijnman: ''Généalogie des ducs de Poméranie'' in: Anthony Stokvis: ''Manuel d'histoire, de généalogie et de chronologie de tous les États du globe, depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours''. 1966. In 1442, Joachim granted the privileges to the town of Neuwarp. In 1443, he introduced new trade laws in the city of Stettin, which stated, that the trade in the duchy had to be controlled by

traders, and take place in the city. It caused numerous protests of the law by trading guilds, including the city of

Stargard Stargard (; 1945: ''Starogród'', 1950–2016: ''Stargard Szczeciński''; or ''Stargard an der Ihna''; ) is a city in northwestern Poland, located in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. In 2021 it was inhabited by 67,293 people. It is situated on ...

. Between 1445 and 1446, during the war fought between Brandenburg and Pomerania-Wolgast, Brandenburg attacked neutral Pomerania-Stettin, taking two of its bordering towns. This led to the war in 1448 between two states.K. Kozłowski, J. Podralski: ''Gryfici. Książęta Pomorza Zachodniego'', p. 99.J.W. Szymański: ''Książęcy ród Gryfitów'', p. 246. The war ended on 3 May 1448, following the fighting in Pasewalk. The conflict ended with

status quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, economic, legal, environmental, political, religious, scientific or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the curren ...

, with conquered towns remaining under Brandenburg control. Frederick II finally renounced his claims towards Pomerania, following the promise of obtaining the towns after the extinction of the entire male line of the House of Griffin.

Death

Joachim died on 22 September 1451, in the

second plague pandemic The second plague pandemic was a major series of epidemics of Plague (disease), plague that started with the Black Death, which reached medieval Europe in 1346 and killed up to half of the population of Eurasia in the next four years. It followed ...

Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

. He was buried in Ottenkirche church in Stettin. His wife, Elisabeth of Brandenburg, remarried to duke

Wartislaw X Duke Wartislaw X of Pomerania (1435 – 17 December 1478) was the second son of Duke Wartislaw IX of Pomerania and his wife, Sophia of Saxe-Lauenburg. Wartislaw married twice. On 5 March 1454, he married Elizabeth of Brandenburg, the wi ...

. He was succeeded on the throne of Pomerania-Stettin, by his son, Otto III. Due to him being underage, the state probably was under the regency of duke

Wartislaw IX Duke Wartislaw IX of Pomerania-Wolgast ( – 17 April 1457, Wolgast) was the eldest son of the Duke Barnim VI, Duke of Pomerania ( dynasty of Griffins) and Veronica of Hohenzollern, daughter of Frederick V, Burgrave of Nuremberg. He reigned f ...

, and Otto's mother, Elisabeth, who remained under the influence of Frederick II.E. Rymar: ''Rodowód książąt pomorskich'', p. 424.

Citations

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Martin Wehrmann: ''Genealogie des pommerschen Herzogshauses''. In: Leon Saunier: ''Veröffentlichungen der landesgeschichtlichen Forschungsstelle für Pommern'', series 1, vol. 5).

, 1937. * ''Pommern / Pomerania: Stettin'', In: Peter Truhart: ''Regents of Nations'', K. G Saur Münich, 1984-1988 (ISBN 359810491X). * H. F. Wijnman: ''Généalogie des ducs de Poméranie'', in: Anthony Stokvis: ''Manuel d'histoire, de généalogie et de chronologie de tous les États du globe, depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu'à nos jours''. 1966. * K. Kozłowski, J. Podralski: ''Gryfici. Książęta Pomorza Zachodniego''. * J. W. Szymański: ''Książęcy ród Gryfitów''. * E. Rymar: ''Rodowód książąt pomorskich.'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Joachim of Pomerania House of Griffins Dukes of Pomerania 1420s births Year of birth uncertain 1451 deaths 15th-century German nobility 15th-century deaths from plague (disease) People from Szczecin