Catherine of Pomerania (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Katharina von Pommern''; c. 1390 – 4 March 1426), was a

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 ...

n princess, and a Countess Palatine of Neumarkt as the wife of John, Count Palatine of Neumarkt, and the mother of

Christopher of Bavaria Christopher of Bavaria (Danish language, Danish and Norwegian language, Norwegian: ''Christoffer''; Swedish language, Swedish: ''Kristofer''; 26 February 1416 – 5/6 January 1448) was King of Denmark (1440–48, as Christopher III), King of Sw ...

, king of the

Kalmar Union The Kalmar Union was a personal union in Scandinavia, agreed at Kalmar in Sweden as designed by Queen Margaret I of Denmark, Margaret of Denmark. From 1397 to 1523, it joined under a single monarch the three kingdoms of Denmark, Sweden (then in ...

Life

Catherine was the daughter of Wartislaw VII,

Duke 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 ...

Pomerania-Stolp The Duchy of Pomerania-Stolp, also known as the Duchy of Stolp, and the Duchy of Słupsk, was a Feudalism, feudal Teilherzogtum, duchy in Farther Pomerania. Its capital was Słupsk. It was ruled by the House of Griffin, Griffin dynasty. It existe ...

and Maria of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Maria was the daughter of Henry III, Duke of Mecklenburg and Ingeborg of Denmark, eldest daughter of sonless King

Valdemar IV of Denmark Valdemar IV Atterdag, Valdemar Christoffersen or Waldemar (24 October 1375) was King of Denmark from 1340 to 1375. He is mostly known for his reunion of Denmark after the bankruptcy and mortgaging of the country to finance wars under previous rul ...

and older sister of

Margaret I of Denmark Margaret I (; March 1353 – 28 October 1412) was Queen regnant of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden (which included Finland) from the late 1380s until her death, and the founder of the Kalmar Union that joined the Scandinavian kingdoms together for ...

. Henry III's mother was

Euphemia of Sweden Euphemia of Sweden ( Swedish: ''Eufemia Eriksdotter''; 1317 – 16 June 1370) was a Swedish princess. She was Duchess consort of Mecklenburg, heiress of Sweden and of Norway, and mother of King Albert of Sweden. (c. 1338-1412) . Biography E ...

, the daughter of Duke Erik Magnusson and the sister of King

Magnus Eriksson Magnus Eriksson (April or May 1316 – 1 December 1374) was King of Sweden from 1319 to 1364, King of Norway as Magnus VII from 1319 to 1355, and ruler of Scania from 1332 to 1360. By adversaries he has been called ''Magnus Smek'' (). Medi ...

of Sweden and Norway. Catherine's brother was

Erik of Pomerania Erik of Pomerania ( 1381/1382 – 24 September 1459) ruled over the Kalmar Union from 1396 until 1439. He was initially co-ruler with his great-aunt Margaret I until her death in 1412. Erik is known as Erik III as King of Norway (1389–1442), ...

, future king of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. The two siblings were adopted by their grandaunt Queen

in 1388 and likely brought to Margaret at the same occasion. Initially, Margaret's plan was for Catherine to enter the

Vadstena Abbey 250px, Aerial view The Abbey Pax Mariae (), more commonly referred to as Vadstena Abbey, is situated on Lake Vättern in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockholm and is a monastery of nuns within the Bridgettine Order. It was active from 134 ...

Catherine was a candidate for a time for marriage to Henry, Prince of Wales. This marriage was suggested in 1400–1401, and it was the idea that a double wedding was to be arranged between Catherine and Henry in parallel to the wedding between her brother Erik and Henry's sister

Philippa Philippa is a feminine given name meaning "lover of horses" or "horses' friend", from the Greek Philippos, which is derived from ''philein'', meaning to love and ''hippos'', meaning ''horse''. The English masculine form is Philip, which was form ...

. The marriage between Catherine and Henry never occurred and was broken off in 1404. The English had wished for Catherine's children with Henry to inherit the Nordic thrones in the case of Erik dying without an heir (which was impossible since the Kalmar Union was elective), as well as an alliance against France, which Margaret could not agree to. In 1406, another indirect link to the English royal house was created when the brother-in-law of Philippa (

Louis III, Elector Palatine Louis III () (23 January 1378 – 30 December 1436), was an Elector Palatine of the Rhine from the house of Wittelsbach in 1410–1436. Biography Louis III was the third son of King Rupert of Germany and his wife Elisabeth of Nuremberg. Dur ...

) suggested a marriage with John, Count Palatine of Neumarkt. John was the son of

Rupert, King of Germany Rupert of the Palatinate (; 5 May 1352 – 18 May 1410), sometimes known as Robert of the Palatinate, a member of the House of Wittelsbach, was Elector Palatine from 1398 (as Rupert III) and King of Germany from 1400 until his death. Early l ...

. An alliance with the German king was more valuable for the Nordic Union considering their problem with 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 ...

.Flemberg, Marie-Louise, Filippa: engelsk prinsessa och nordisk unionsdrottning, Santérus, Stockholm, 2014 The negotiations were completed in one year, and Margaret gave Catherine a dowry of 4,000 gulden, much less than was expected by her future father-in-law. On 15 August 1407, Catherine married John in

Ribe Ribe () is a town in south-west Jutland, Denmark, with a population of 8,367 (2025). It is the seat of the Diocese of Ribe. Until 1 January 2007, Ribe was the seat of both a surrounding municipality and county. It is now part of the enlarged E ...

, Denmark. They would have seven children, but only their youngest,

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

, lived past infancy. Christopher succeeded his uncle Erik as king of the three Scandinavian kingdoms. Catherine died on 4 March 1426.

References

www.warholm.nu/Kingdan.html
*Edward Rymar. ''Rodowód książąt pomorskich''. Szczecin 1995. {{DEFAULTSORT:Catherine of Pomerania 1390s births 1426 deaths House of Griffins House of Wittelsbach 15th-century Polish nobility 15th-century Polish women House of Palatinate-Neumarkt Mothers of Danish monarchs Mothers of Swedish monarchs Mothers of Norwegian monarchs