Barnim VIII, Duke of Pomerania (between 1405 and 1407 – between 15 and 19 December 1451)
at www.ruegenwalde.com' was Duke of

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

–

Wolgast Wolgast (; csb, Wòłogòszcz) is a town in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the bank of the river (or strait) Peenestrom, vis-a-vis the island of Usedom on the Baltic coast that can b ...

– Barth. Barnim VIII was the son of Duke Wartislaw VIII of Pomerania-Wolgast. After his father's death in 1415 his widow, Agnes of Saxe-Lauenburg, initially held the guardianship of her sons Barnim VIII and Swantibor IV, and as well as the sons of her brothers-in-law Barnim VI,

Wartislaw IX Duke Wartislaw IX of Pomerania-Wolgast (c. 1400 – 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 re ...

, and Barnim VII. Agnes was assisted by a regency council led by Kord Bonow. When the various sons came of age, Pomerania was split in 1425. Barnim VIII and Swantibor IV received

Pomerania-Barth Duchy of Pomerania-Barth was a Feudalism, feudal duchy of the Holy Roman Empire located in Western Pomerania that existed in the Middle Ages between 1376 and 1478, and between 1569 and 1625. The state consisted of its capital, Barth, Germany, Bar ...

. During the Danish-Hanseatic war Barnim VIII took part in the privateering by Denmark against the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label= Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...

. In 1427 he and his relative, the Danish king Eric of Pomerania, led a combined Danish-Swedish Fleet defeating the Hanseatic fleet in a battle in the

Øresund Øresund or Öresund (, ; da, Øresund ; sv, Öresund ), commonly known in English as the Sound, is a strait which forms the Danish–Swedish border, separating Zealand (Denmark) from Scania (Sweden). The strait has a length of ; its width ...

. They captured a

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

or Hanseatic trading ships en route into the Baltic Sea.Konrad Fritze: ''Pommern und die Hanse'', in ''Beiträge zur Geschichte Vorpommerns: Die Demminer Kolloquien 1985–1994'',

Thomas Helms Verlag The Thomas Helms Verlag is a specialist publisher for North German culture, monument preservation, local and regional history, history, church and art history and is based in Schwerin in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. History In 1994, the publi ...

, Schwerin, 1997, , Barnim VIII also participated in

tournament A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

s. During a tournament in 1434, he was thrown from his horse by the alderman and later mayor of Stralsund, Arnd Voth. Swantibor and Barnim divided their part of the duchy among themselves in 1435, with Swantibor receiving the island of

Rügen Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, where ...

and city of

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, N ...

and the Barnim receiving mainland part except Stralsund. When Swantibor died in 1440, Rügen and Stralsund fell back to Barnim. In 1441, Barnim conquered the

Zingst Zingst ( Polabian ''Sgoni'') is the easternmost portion of the three-part Fischland-Darß-Zingst Peninsula, located in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, between the cities of Rostock and Stralsund on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea. T ...

peninsula from the

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint B ...

St. Nicholas Abbey at

Hiddensee Hiddensee () is a car-free island in the Baltic Sea, located west of Germany's largest island, Rügen, on the German coast. The island has about 1,000 inhabitants. It was a holiday destination for East German tourists during German Democratic ...

. With the consent of his cousins, he later pledged the dominions of Barth, Zingst and

Damgarten Ribnitz-Damgarten () is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany, situated on Lake Ribnitz (''Ribnitzer See''). Ribnitz-Damgarten is in the west of the district Vorpommern-Rügen. The border between the historical regions of Mecklenburg and P ...

to his niece Catherine of Werle for . In 1445, Barnim VII and Barnim VIII defended the city of

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

against Elector Frederick II of Brandenburg.Pasewalk in history
(PDF 345 kB) Barnim VIII died in 1451 from the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

and was buried in the

Neuenkamp Abbey Franzburg () is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated 20 km southwest of Stralsund. Before the Protestant Reformation, later Franzburg was the site of Neuenkamp Abbey. Neuenkamp ...

Marriage and issue

He was married to Anna of Wunstorf. They had a daughter Agnes (1434–1512); she married firstly, in 1449, Margrave Frederick III "the Fat" of Brandenburg (-1463), and secondly, in 1478 Prince George II of Anhalt-Dessau.

References

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnim 08 Pomerania Barth Dukes of Pomerania House of Griffins 15th-century German people 1400s births 1451 deaths Year of birth uncertain