Duke Casimir V of Pomerania (or, counting differently, Casimir VI; after 1380 – 13 April 1435) was a member of the

House of Griffins 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 a Duke of

Pomerania Pomerania ( ; ; ; ) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The central and eastern part belongs to the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, West Pomeranian, Pomeranian Voivod ...

. He ruled in

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 ...

together with his brother

Otto II Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy. Otto II was ...

from 1413 to 1428. After 1428, he ruled Pomerania-Stettin alone.

Life

Casimir V was the youngest son of Duke Swantibor III of (1351–1413), who ruled Pomerania-Stettin alone. His older brothers were

(born: c. 1380 – died 1428) and Albert (died before 1412). His father made him leader of the Pomeranian contingent who took part in the

Battle of Tannenberg (1410) The Battle of Tannenberg, also known as the Second Battle of Tannenberg, was fought between Russian Empire, Russia and German Empire, Germany between 23 and 30 August 1914, the first month of World War I. The battle resulted in the almost co ...

on the side of the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

. The battle was won by the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

, who took Casimir prisoner. He was released soon afterwards. In the Battle of Kremmer Damm (1412), Casimir and his older brother Otto II fought against

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

. After Duke Swantibors's death in 1413, Casimir and his older brother Otto II jointly ruled Pomerania-Stettin. The war with Brandenburg continued. In 1415, Elector

Frederick I Frederick I or Friedrich I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I ...

of Brandenburg convinced King

Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it ''Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...

to outlaw Otto II and Casimir V. He also called the

imperial immediacy In the Holy Roman Empire, imperial immediacy ( or ) was the status of an individual or a territory which was defined as 'immediate' () to Emperor and Empire () and not to any other intermediate authorities, while one that did not possess that stat ...

of Pomerania in question. In 1417, Sigismund

enfeoffed In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of t ...

Otto and Casimir, but this was conditional on any rights Brandenburg might have on Pomerania. In 1424, Casimir visited Sigismund in

Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

in Hungary. Otto and Casimir were then enfeoffed unconditionally. After Otto II died childless in 1428, Casimir ruled Pomerania-Stettin alone. He suppressed a revolt in the city of

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

. He ordered the execution of the ringleaders, the city had to pay a steep fine and resign from the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

. Casimir V died in 1435 and was buried in the Otten Church in Stettin. His son Joachim the Younger succeeded him as ruler of Pomerania-Stettin.

Marriage and issue

Duke Casimir V. was married twice. His first wife was Catherine, the daughter of Duke Bernard I of Brunswick-Lüneburg. From this marriage, he had three children: * Joachim the Elder (died before 1424) * Joachim the Younger (born after 1424 – died in 1451); married Elisabeth of Brandenburg, Duchess of Pomerania, and had a son, Otto III, Duke of Pomerania * Anna (died after 1447), married John V of Mecklenburg-Schwerin After Catherine's death he married Elisabeth, a daughter of Duke Eric I of Brunswick-Grubenhagen. From this marriage, he had a daughter: * Margaret (born: c. 1439), married count Albert III of Lindow-Ruppin After Duke Casimir's death, his widow Elisabeth became Abbess of Gandersheim.

Numeral

The counting of the rulers of the

has always been complicated. From time immemorial there exists an imbalance, which causes some confusion.Martin Wehrmann: ''Genealogie des pommerschen Herzogshauses.'' Verlag Leon Sauniers Buchhandlung, Stettin 1937, p. 15. The modern numbering counts only the members of the main line of the House of Griffins. Under that system, the subject of this article is ''Casimir V''. If one also takes into account cadet branch of the Swantiborides, which was common in the older literature, he would be ''Casimir VI''.

Ancestors

References and sources

* * Martin Wehrmann: ''Genealogie des pommerschen Herzogshauses.'' Verlag Leon Sauniers Buchhandlung, Stettin 1937, pp. 70–71. * Martin Wehrmann: ''Geschichte von Pommern.'' vol 2, second edition, Verlag Friedrich Andreas Perthes, Gotha 1921. (reprinted: Augsburg, 1992, )

Footnotes