Pomerania during the Late Middle Ages

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 StolpBuchholz (1999), pp.106 and the Lauenburg and Bütow Land.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 a part of province of Royal Prussia within the Kingdom of Poland in 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 Biographie
/ref>Buchholz (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 Stettin, but also Demmin, Anklam and Kolberg. 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 (german: Landfrieden) 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 Vorpommern north of the Peene river (though including Anklam and Demmin on its southern bank) and Farther Pomerania north of the Ihna and Stepenitz rivers, both areas were connected by the islands of Usedom and Wollin. Bogislaw made Wolgast his residence, thus the partition became known as Pomerania-Wolgast. Otto's share was the remainder between Peene and Ihna centered around Stettin, 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 Lippehne, Schivelbein 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, Greifenhagen

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