Vitslav I (c. 1180 – 7 June 1250), variously called Vislav, Vizlav, Wislaw, Wizlaw and Witslaw in English sources, was a prince of

Rügen Rügen (; Rani: ''Rȯjana'', ''Rāna''; , ) 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 ci ...

Life

The first surviving mention of Vitslav I dates to 1193. His parents were

Jaromar I Jaromar is a masculine given name. It is the Polabian form of the West Slavic name, Jaromir. It may refer to: People: Jaromar, also Jaromar of Rügen, is the name of several members of Rügen's princely house: * Jaromar I (1141–1218), Prince o ...

and Hildegard of Denmark (ca. 1135), the daughter of

Canute V of Denmark Canute V Magnussen () ( – 9 August 1157) was a King of Denmark from 1146 to 1157, as co-regent in shifting alliances with Sweyn III and Valdemar I. Canute was killed at the so-called ''Bloodfeast of Roskilde'' in 1157. Nothing certain is know ...

(ca. 1128–1157) and (Sophie?) Sverkersdotter of Sweden. In 1219, Vitslav took part in a campaign by his feudal lord, the King of Denmark

Valdemar II Valdemar II Valdemarsen (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious () and Valdemar the Conqueror, was King of Denmark from 1202 until his death in 1241. In 1207, Valdemar invaded and conquered Lybeck and Hol ...

, to

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. Following the resignation of his brother, Barnuta, Vitslav I was mentioned in documents in 1221 as the Prince of Rügen. This year is also first time that there is a record of German settlers in the mainland territories of Rügen. In subsequent years, he again took part in wars on the side of Valdemar II, for example, in 1225 at the

Battle of Mölln A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

and in 1227 at the Battle of Bornhöved. Despite the defeat of the Danes, he held firmly to his feudal relation with Denmark. In 1231 he founded the

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, 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 Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monastery of Neuenkamp (now

Franzburg 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 ...

). In 1234, he gave

Stralsund Stralsund (; Swedish language, Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German language, German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklen ...

its

town rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

and granted the town privileges such as fishing rights and exemption from duty. During his reign, the Principality of Rügen reached its greatest extent.

Descendants

With his wife Margarete (before 1200 - 5 March 1232), probably a niece of bishop

Absalon Absalon (21 March 1201) was a Danish statesman and prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the bishop of Roskilde from 1158 to 1192 and archbishop of Lund from 1178 until his death. He was the foremost politician and church father of De ...

and possibly a daughter of

Sverker II of Sweden Sverker the Younger (before 1167 – 17 July 1210), also known as Sverker II or Sverker Karlsson, was King of Sweden from 1195 or 1196 to 1208 when he was defeated in the Battle of Lena by Erik Knutsson. Sverker died in the 1210 Battle of Gest ...

and

Benedicta Ebbesdotter of Hvide Benedicta Hvide also called ''Benedicta Ebbesdotter'' (c. 1165 or 1170 – c. 1199 or 1200) was Queen of Sweden as the first wife of king Sverker II. She belonged to the House of Hvide of Denmark and in Sweden was often called ''Queen Bengta''. ...

, he had six sons whose names are known: * Jaroslav (* after 1215 – † 1242/1243), from 1232 to 1242 Propst of Rügen and

Tribsees Tribsees () is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in north-eastern Germany. It is situated southwest of Stralsund, and east of Rostock. Etymology The name may come from the Slavic word "treb" or "treb ...

* Petrus (* after 1215 – † 1237) * Vitslav (* ca. 1220 – † 1243/44) * Burislav (* before 1231 – † 1237) * Nikolaus (* before 1231 – † 1237) *

Jaromar II Jaromar is a masculine given name. It is the Polabian form of the West Slavic name, Jaromir. It may refer to: People: Jaromar, also Jaromar of Rügen, is the name of several members of Rügen's princely house: *Jaromar I (1141–1218), Prince of ...

(* 1218 – † 1260), his successor (from 1245 co-ruler)

Bibliography

* Gunnar Möller: ''Geschichte und Besiedlung der Terra Gristow vom 7. bis 14. Jahrhundert''. 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, . * Joachim Wächter: ''Das Fürstentum Rügen - Ein Überblick''. In: ''Beiträge zur Geschichte Vorpommerns: die Demminer Kolloquien 1985–1994''. Thomas Helms Verlag, Schwerin 1997, .

External links

The children of Jaromar I
on the private homepage of Jens Rug

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitslav 01 1180s births 1250 deaths People from Vorpommern-Rügen 13th-century Danish nobility Princes of Rügen