Wartislaw VII ( pl, Warcisław VII) (1363/1365 – 1394/1395) was one of the

Dukes of Pomerania This is a list of the duchies and dukes of Pomerania. Dukes of the Slavic Pomeranian tribes (All Pomerania) The lands of Pomerania were firstly ruled by local tribes, who settled in Pomerania around the 10th and 11th centuries. Non-dynastic ...

. His full name was Henry Wartislaw.
The King Who Became a Pirate
Story by Anja Klemp Vilgaard · Illustrations by Darya Malikova · Edited by Shawna Kenney · April 20, 2020, narratively.com.

Life

He was the son of Bogislaw V, brother of Casimir IV and

Bogislaw VIII Bogisław VIII ( – 11 February 1418),Werner Buchholz, Pommern, Siedler, 1999, p.149, a member of the House of Griffins, was Duke of Pomerania ruling in Pomerania-Stolp from 1395 until his death. He also served as administrator of the Prin ...

. He married

Maria of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Marie of Mecklenburg, born sometime between 1363 and 1367, but probably by 1365, dead after 13 May 1402, was a duchess of Pomerania. She was the daughter of Henry III, Duke of Mecklenburg, Duke Henry III of Mecklenburg (death 1383) and Ingeborg o ...

(daughter of

Henry III, Duke of Mecklenburg Henry III, Duke of Mecklenburg ( 1337 – 24 April 1383) was Duke of Mecklenburg from 1379 until his death. Life Henry was the first son of Duke Albert II of Mecklenburg and his wife Euphemia of Sweden, the sister of King Magnus IV of Sweden. ...

) and was the father of

Eric of Pomerania Eric of Pomerania (1381 or 1382 – 24 September 1459) was the ruler of the Kalmar Union from 1396 until 1439, succeeding his grandaunt, Queen Margaret I. He is known as Eric III as King of Norway (1389–1442), Eric VII as King of Denmark (1 ...

and

Catherine of Pomerania Catherine of Pomerania (German: ''Katharina von Pommern''; c. 1390 - 4 March 1426), was a Pomeranian princess, and a Countess Palatine of Neumarkt as the wife of John, Count Palatine of Neumarkt, and the mother of Christopher of Bavaria, king o ...

. In 1377 he became Duke of Pomerania in

Pomerania-Stolp The Duchy of Pomerania-Stolp, also known as the Duchy of Stolp, and the Duchy of Słupsk, was a feudal duchy in Farther Pomerania within the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Słupsk. It was ruled by the Griffin dynasty. It existed in the Hig ...

; at times he was its coruler with his brother, Bogislaw VIII. He maneuvered between two local powers, the

Teutonic Knights The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

and the

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland ( pl, Królestwo Polskie; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a state in Central Europe. It may refer to: Historical political entities *Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom existing from 1025 to 1031 *Kingdom of Poland, a kingdom exist ...

. In 1386 he allied himself with the Knights; but in 1390, by the Treaty of Pyzdry, he allied himself with Poland, and pledged

vassalage A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...

to the king of Poland,

Władysław Jagiełło Władysław is a Polish given male name, cognate with Vladislav. The feminine form is Władysława, archaic forms are Włodzisław (male) and Włodzisława (female), and Wladislaw is a variation. These names may refer to: Famous people Mononym * ...

. In return, he received the territory of Nakło from the Polish king. In 1392–1393 he went on a pilgrimage to the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

. According to some sources, the pilgrimage started already in 1391, yet he is also reported to have stayed in

Vordingborg Vordingborg () is an old ferry town in Vordingborg Municipality in Denmark with around 18,000 inhabitants. Because of three large estates surrounding the town, a coherent urban development has not been possible, which is the reason why three sat ...

in July 1392. On 1 August 1392, Wartislaw, his brother Bogislaw VIII and some clergy of the

Bishopric of Cammin The Bishopric of Cammin (also Kammin, Kamień Pomorski) was both a former Roman Catholic diocese in the Duchy of Pomerania from 1140 to 1544, and a secular territory of the Holy Roman Empire ( Prince-Bishopric) in the Kolberg (Kołobrzeg) area f ...

met with Johann, the

bishop of Lebus The Diocese of Lebus (; ; ) is a former diocese of the Catholic Church. It was erected in 1125 and suppressed in 1598. The Bishop of Lebus was also, '' ex officio'', the ruler of a lordship that was coextensive with the territory of the diocese. T ...

, and Johann of Görlitz, a prince of the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg (german: link=no, Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe. Brandenburg developed out o ...

, in Brandenburgian

Landsberg an der Warthe Landsberg may refer to: * Landsberg (surname) * Margraviate of Landsberg, a march of the Holy Roman Empire * Palatinate-Landsberg, a state of the Holy Roman Empire Places * Landsberg (district), Bavaria, Germany * Landsberg, Saxony-Anhalt, German ...

(now Gorzów). Bogislaw returned to Pomerania, and Wartislaw travelled southwards to meet with

Wartislaw VIII, Duke of Pomerania Wartislaw VIII (1373 – 20 or 23 August 1415) was a duke of Pomerania from the House of Griffins house. He ruled in Pomerania-Wolgast from 1394 together with his brother Barnim VI. After Barnim died in 1405, he ruled alone. Life Wartisl ...

. Both Wartislaws then travelled through Hungary. In

Smederevo Smederevo ( sr-Cyrl, Смедерево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Podunavlje District in eastern Serbia. It is situated on the right bank of the Danube, about downstream of the Serbian capital, Belgrade. According to ...

, also Semengrin or Senderow, in primary sources also spelled ''Zeuderin, Zenderin, Zuderin, Zanderini, Senendria, Senderin''. Zdrenka (1995), p.12. a town southeast of

Belgrad Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 million ...

(then part of Hungary, now part of

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

) Wartislaw VII fell ill, and in 1393 returned to Pomerania while Wartislaw VIII continued the pilgrimage alone. During Wartislaw VII's absence, the Pomeranian noble Matzke von Borcke auf Stramehl had led a holdup in Pomerania-Stolp, where Bohemian

komtur Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The title of Commander occurred in the medieval mili ...

Johann von Mühlheim was robbed on his way to the

Teutonic Order state The State of the Teutonic Order (german: Staat des Deutschen Ordens, ; la, Civitas Ordinis Theutonici; lt, Vokiečių ordino valstybė; pl, Państwo zakonu krzyżackiego), also called () or (), was a medieval Crusader state, located in Centr ...

in late 1392. Konrad von Wallenrode,

Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights The Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (german: Hochmeister des Deutschen Ordens; la, Magister generalis Ordo Teutonicus) is the supreme head of the Teutonic Order. It is equivalent to the grand master of other military orders and the super ...

, protested at Wartislaw VII's and Bogislaw VIII's court and demanded satisfaction. Wartislaw and Bogislaw then granted him permission to destroy Matzke's residence Stramehl, which eventually was razed. Wartislaw died between November 1394 and 23 February 1395.

Ancestors

Notes

References

* *Juliusz Bardach, ''Historia państwa i prawa Polski, Volume 1'', Państwowe Wydawn. Naukowe, 1964, p. 589 *Władysław Czapliński, Tadeusz Ładogórski, ''Atlas historyczny polski'', Państwowe Przedsiębiorstwo Wydawnictw Kartograficznych, 1970, p. 12 *William Urban, Terry Jones, ''Medieval mercenaries: the business of war'', MBI Publishing Company, 2006,
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Wartislaw 07, Duke of Pomerania Dukes of Pomerania 1363 births 1395 deaths Medieval nobility of the Holy Roman Empire 14th-century Polish people

Life

Ancestors

See also

Notes

References