Wartislaw IV

Wartislaw IV or Vartislav IV (before 1290 – 1 August 1326) was

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

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, ''R ...

from 1309 until his death. He was the only son of Duke Bogislaw IV of Pomerania and his wife Margareta, a daughter of

Vitslav II, Prince of Rügen Vitslav II (c. 1240 – 1302), variously called Vislav, Vizlav, Wislaw, Wizlaw and Witslaw in English sources (german: Wizlaw II) was a prince of Rügen.Vitslav is the most common variant and also the closest in sound to the German ''Wizlaw''. ...

. Vartislaw IV had four sisters: Jutta, Elisabeth, Margareta and Eufemia. Vartislaw IV married Elisabeth, a daughter of Count Ulrich I of Lindow-

Ruppin Neuruppin (; North Brandenburgisch: ''Reppin'') is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, the administrative seat of Ostprignitz-Ruppin district. It is the birthplace of the novelist Theodor Fontane (1819–1898) and therefore also referred to as ''Fonta ...

; they had three sons: Bogislav V, Barnim IV and Vartislaw V. In 1309 Vartislav IV succeeded his father as duke of Pomerania-Wolgast and in 1317 received the

Lands of Schlawe and Stolp The Schlawe and Stolp Land, also known as Słupsk and Sławno Land, is a historical region in Pomerania, centered on the towns of Sławno (''Schlawe'') and Słupsk (''Stolp'') in Farther Pomerania, in present-day Poland. The area is of some his ...

as a fief from Margrave Waldemar of Brandenburg-Stendal. Upon Valdemar's death in 1319, his minor cousin and heir Henry II was under Vartislav's tutelage, his plans to achieve the rule over

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

however were shattered by King Louis IV of Germany, who finally granted the margraviate to his son Louis V of Wittelsbach in 1323. In 1321 Vartislav signed an inheritance treaty with his maternal uncle Prince Wizlaw III of Rugia, and upon his death in 1325 oversaw the unification with the

Principality of Rügen The Principality of Rügen; da, Fyrstendømmet Rygien; pl, Księstwo rugijskie; la, Rugia was a Danish principality, formerly a duchy, consisting of the island of Rügen and the adjacent mainland from 1168 until 1325. It was governed by a loc ...

, then a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

fief. King

Christopher II of Denmark Christopher II (; 29 September 1276 – 2 August 1332) was King of Denmark from 1320 to 1326 and again from 1329 until his death. He was a younger son of Eric V. His name is connected with national disaster, as his rule ended in an almost tota ...

however, despite his former assertions, enfeoffed the

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...

and

Werle {{Infobox country , native_name = ''Herrschaft Werle'' ( de) , conventional_long_name = Lordship of Werle , common_name = Werle , era = Middle Ages , status = Vassal , empire = ...

princes, thereby sparking a

war of succession A war of succession is a war prompted by a succession crisis in which two or more individuals claim the right of successor to a deceased or deposed monarch. The rivals are typically supported by factions within the royal court. Foreign pow ...

, in which late Vartislav's minor sons, backed by King Christopher's opponent Count Gerhard III of Holstein and Duke Barnim III of Pomerania-Stettin had to struggle for their heritage, until Mecklenburg renounced Rugia in 1328. {{Authority control Dukes of Pomerania 13th-century births 1326 deaths 14th-century monarchs in Europe 13th-century German nobility 14th-century German nobility