Pomerania during the High Middle Ages

St. Nicholas, Wollin (Wolin)

Cathedral, Kamień Pomorski

On Otto of Bamberg's behalf, a diocese was founded with the see in Wollin (Julin, Jumne, Vineta),[25] a major Slavic and Viking town in the Oder estituary. On October 14, 1140, Adalbert of Pomerania was made the first Bishop by Pope Innocent II.[25] Otto however had died the year before.[25] There was a rivalry between Otto's Diocese of Bamberg, the Diocese of Magdeburg and the Diocese of Gniezno for the incorporation of Pomerania. Pope Innocence II solved the dispute by repelling their claims and placed the new diocese directly under his Holy See. The see of the diocese was the church of St Adalbert in Wollin.[34] The diocese had no clear-cut borders in the beginning, but roughly reached from the Tribsees burgh in the West to the Łeba River in the East. In the South, it comprised the northern parts of Uckermark and Neumark. As such, it was shaped after the territory held by Ratibor I, Duke of Pomerania.[34]

After ongoing Danish raids, Wollin was destroyed, and the see of the diocese was shifted across the Dziwna to Kamień Pomorski's St John's church in 1176. This was confirmed by the pope in 1186. In the early 13th century, the Cammin diocese along with the Pomeranian dukes gained control over Circipania. Also, the bishops managed to gain direct control over a territory around Kolobrzeg and Koszalin.

The Pomerelian areas were integrated into the Kuyavian Diocese of Włocławek.

After the successful conversion of the nobility, monasteries were set up on vast areas granted by local dukes both to further implement Christian faith and to develop the land. The monasteries actively took part in the Ostsiedlung.[28][36] Most of the clergy originated in Germany, some in Poland, and since the mid-12th century also from Denmark.[37]

In 1147, the Wendish Crusade, a campaign of the Northern Crusades, was mounted by bishops and nobles of the Holy Roman Empire and Poland.[38] The crusaders ravaged the land and laid siege to Demmin and Stettin despite them (officially) being already Christian. Wollin's bishop Adalbert took part in the negotiations that finally led to the lifting of the Stettin siege by the crusaders. Ratibor I, Duke of Pomerania, went to the Imperial Diet in Havelberg the following year, where he swore to be a Christian.[25][39][40]

Bishop Absalon topples the god Svantevit at Arkona, by Laurits Tuxen

Principality of Rugia, 13th century

The island of Rügen and the surrounding areas between the Recknitz, Peene and Ryck rivers were the settlement area of the West Slavic Rani (or Rujani) tribe. After Otto von Bamberg's mission, only the Rani principality of Rugia (Rügen) remained pagan. This was changed by a Danish expedition of 1168, launched by Valdemar I of Denmark and Absalon, archbishop of Roskilde.[25] The Danish success in this expedition ended a series of conflicts between Denmark and Rügen. The Rügen princes, starting with Jaromar I, became vassals of Denmark,[38][56] and the principality would be Denmark's bridgehead on the southern shore of the Baltic for the next centuries. The 1168 expedition was decided when after a Danish siege of the burgh of Arkona, a fire broke out leaving the defendants unable to further withstand the siege. Since Arkona was the major temple of the superior god Swantewit and therefore crucial for the powerful clerics, the Rani surrendered their other strongholds and temples without further fighting. Absalon had the Rani hand out and burn the wooden statues of their gods and integrated Rügen in the Diocese of Roskilde. The mainland of the Rügen principality was integrated into the Diocese of Schwerin.

Pomerania as a part of Denmark under Valdemar II (nicknamed "Sejr", "the Victorious")

When the Rugian princes became vassals of Valdemar I of Denmark in 1168, the Saxon-Danish alliance broke apart.[38]

In the fall of 1170, the Danes raided the Oder estituary. In 1171, the Danes raided Circipania and took Cotimar's burgh in Behren-Lübchin. In 1173, the Danes turned to the Oder Lagoon again, taking the burgh of Stettin. Wartislaw II Swantiboriz, castellan of Stettin, became a Danish vassal. In 1177, the Danes again raided the Oder Lagoon area, also the burgh of Wolgast in 1178.[58]

In 1184, Bogislaw I led the Pomeranian navy towards Rügen. On emperor Barbarossa's initiative, Bogislaw was to take the Principality of Rügen from the Danes, whose king Canut VI had refused him the oath of fealty. Though superior in numbers, the Pomeranian navy was utterly defeated by the Danish navy led by Absalon near Koos island in the Bay of Greifswald.[54]

In 1184 and 1185, three campaigns of the Danes resulted in making Bogislaw I, Duke of Pomerania a Danish vassal. These campaigns were mounted by Valdemar's son and successor for the Danish throne, Canute VI of Denmark. In the Duchy of Pomerania the Danish period lasted until Valdemar II of Denmark lost the Battle of Børnehoved on 22 July 1227. Danish supremacy prevailed until 1325[57] in the Rugian principality.[54][58] During this time, the emperor formally renounced his claims on the southern Baltic Sea in favour of Denmark.[54]

Before the Ostsiedlung, Pomerania was rather sparsely settled. Around 1200, a relatively dense population could be found on the islands of Rügen, Usedom and Wollin/Wolin, around the gards of Stettin/Szczecin, Köslin/Koszalin, Pyritz/Pyrzyce (Pyritzer Weizacker) and Stargard, around the Persante/Parsęta river (Kolberg/Kołobrzeg area), the lower Peene river, and between Schlawe and the Łeba valley. Largely unsettled were the hilly regions and the woods in the South. The 12th century warfare, especially the Danish raids, depopulated many areas of Pomerania and caused severe population drops in others (e.g. Usedom). At the turn to the 13th century, only isolated German settlements existed, e.g. Hohenkrug and other German villages, and the merchant's settlement near the Stettin castle. In contrast, the monasteries were almost exclusively run by Germans and Danes.[62]

The first German and Danish settlers arrived since the 1170s and settled in the Peene area, the Uckermark, the Stettin area and southern Pomerania.[63]

Significant German settlement started in the first half of the 13th century. Ostsiedlung was a common process at this time in all Central Europe and was largely run by the nobles and monasteries to increase their income. Also, the settlers were expected to finish and secure the conversion of the non-nobles to Christianity. In addition, the Danes withdrew from most of Pomerania in 1227, leaving the duchy vulnerable to their expansive neighbors, especially Mecklenburg, Brandenburg, and Henry I of Silesia.[64]

Besides the Slovincian area, the last records of Slavic language in the Duchy of Pomerania are from the 16th century: In the Oder area, a few Slavic fishing villages are recorded, and east of Kolberg and Köslin, a more numerous Slavic-speaking population must have existed, as can be concluded from a 1516 decree forbidding the use of the Slavic language at the Köslin market.[65]

Before the Ostsiedlung, urban settlements of the emporia and gard[nb 1] types existed, for example the city of Szczecin (Stettin) which counted between 5,000 and 9,000 inhabitants,[66][67] and other locations like Demmin, Wolgast, Usedom, Wollin/Wolin, Kolberg/Kołobrzeg, Pyritz/Pyrzyce and Stargard, though many of the coastal ones declined during the 12th century warfare.[68] Previous theories that urban development was "in its entirety" brought to areas such as Pomerania, Mecklenburg or Poland by Germans are now discarded, and studies show that these areas had already growing urban centres in process similar to Western Europe[69] These population centres were usually centered on a gard, which was a fortified castle which housed the castellan as well as his staff and the ducal craftsmen. The surrounding town consisted of suburbs, inhabited by merchants, clergy and the higher nobles. According to Piskorski this portion usually included "markets, taverns, butcher shops, mints, which also exchanged coins, toll stations, abbeys, churches and the houses of nobles".[70]

Important changes connected to Ostsiedlung included

• location:[71][72] All Ostsiedlung towns in Pomerania except for Stettin, Wollin and probably Kammin were founded on empty space, even if they were located near Slavic settlements.[73] Piskorski (1997) says that for the towns with a Slavic predecessor, "usually, the settlement from the west did not only mean granting German law and a new administration, but also the shift of the old settlement location, because the new German-law town emerged not at the place, but in the vicinity of the old center, whereby sometimes the distance between them was several kilometers as e.g. in the case of Pomeranian Kolberg." By leaving the Slavic settlement untouched, the landlord not only avoided dealing with complicated property rights inside, but also kept the services and income generated by its dependent population. Piskorski also says there were isolated exceptions as in the case of Stettin and Wollin, where pre-existing settlements were integrated into the new town: "In such cases, the old settlements were surveyed anew and built anew."[71] Benl (1999) likewise says that Wollin/Wolin and probably Kammin/Kamień Pomorski were exceptional in that they were built on the spot of former, yet decayed settlements, and that Stettin was exceptional in that two German settlements, set up close to the Slavic castle and settlement, were included in the later town.[74] Likewise, Mangelsdorf (1990) says that the cities in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern "have their roots in the slavonic period, and usually came up near a slavonic castle or settlement with a commercial background." Mangelsdorf further says that "new in-town excavations illustrate the connection between slavonic and german settlements and the influence of material culture. [...] Slavic material culture, especially pottery, died [...] in Mecklenburg-Antepomerania at the end of the 13th century."[75]
• population:[72] Germans formed a majority in the towns from the beginning.[76] They moved in either directly from the West or from the surrounding areas.[76] People of Slavic descent also lived in the towns, but primarily in suburbs (Wieken) outside the walls, which were either continuations of pre-existing Slavic settlements (many of those were soon abandoned) or new foundations owned by the landlord.[76] Since around 1300, the towns acquired these Wieken.[76] A small number of Jews also settled in medieval Pomeranian towns.[77]
• legal status:[71][72] Prior to the Ostsiedlung, all inhabitants of the duchy were subject to ducal law, meaning that distinct sets of laws were applied to individuums according to their descent, regardless whether they lived in large or small settlements.[71] In contrast, German town law was granted to the inhabitants of Ostsiedlung towns, making their inhabitants personally free and subject to the town's jurisdiction.[71] This however did not apply to resident clergymen and vassals of the duke.[78] Many towns were able to expand the privileges and freedoms gained by their foundation in the following years.[78]
• social differentiation:[71] The upper class in the Ostsiedlung towns were the patricians, who were primarily occupied with long-distance trade and dominated the town's council.[77]
• layout:[71][79] The towns were set up with regular streets resembling a checkerboard-like pattern.[79] The shape of the town was either oval (e.g. Bahn), rectangular with rounded corners (e.g. Greifenhagen) or rectangular (e.g. Treptow); Altdamm was built in a circular and Pyritz in a triangular shape.[79] In the center was the market place with the townhall.[79]

Medieval Greifswald with the checkerboard-type layout typical for Ostsiedlung towns.[80] Locators set up rectangular blocs in an area resembling an oval with a central market, and organized the settlement.

"Foundation" of towns in the area of the later Pomeranian province, superimposed on OSM. Most towns with Lübeck law appealed to Greifswald, most towns with Magdeburg law to Stettin.[81]

Between 1234 and 1299, 34 towns[80] were founded[82] in the Pomeranian duchy, this number increased to 58 in the late Middle Ages.[80] The towns were built on behalf of the Pomeranian dukes or ecclesiastic bodies like monasteries and orders.[28] Most prominent on this issue was Barnim I of Pomerania-Stettin, who since was entitled "the towns' founder". The towns build on his behalf were granted Magdeburg Law and settled predominantly by people from the western Margraviate of Brandenburg, while the towns founded in the North (most on behalf of the Rugian princes and Wartislaw III of Pomerania-Demmin were granted Lübeck Law and were settled predominantly by people from Lower Saxony. The first towns were Stralsund (Principality of Rügen, 1234), Prenzlau (Uckermark, then Pomerania-Stettin, 1234), Bahn (Knights Templar, about 1234), and Stettin (1237/43), Gartz (Oder) (Pomerania-Stettin, 1240), and Loitz (by Detlev of Gadebusch, 1242). Other towns built in the 1240s were Demmin, Greifswald (by Eldena Abbey), Altentreptow.[83]

According to Rădvan (2010), "a relevant example for how towns were founded (civitas libera) is Prenzlau today within German boundaries, close to Poland. It was here that, a short distance from an older Slavic settlement, duke Barnim I of Pomerania entrusted in 1234-35 the creation of a new settlement to eight contractors (referred to as fondatores) originating from Stendal, Saxony. The eight, who were probably relatives to some degree, were granted 300 Hufen (around 4800 ha) that were to be distributed to settlers, each one of the fondatores being entitled to 160 ha for himself and the right to build mills; one of them became the duke's representative. The settlers' land grant was tax exempt for three years, and it was to be kept in eternal and hereditary possession. A 1.5 km (1 mi) perimeter around the settlement was provided for unrestricted use by the community of pastures, forests, or fishing. Those trading were dispensed of paying taxes for land under ducal authority. Without being mentioned in the founding act, the old Slavic community persisted as nothing more that a suburb to the new town. Aside from several topical variations, many settlements in medieval Poland and other areas followed a similar pattern."[84]

Many towns with a gard in close proximity had the duke level the castle when they grew in power. Stettin, where the castle was inside the town, had the duke level it already in 1249,[85] other towns were to follow. The fortified new towns had succeeded the gards as strongholds for the country's defense. In many cases, the former Slavic settlement would become a suburb of the German town ("Wiek", "Wieck"). In Stettin, two "Wiek" suburbs were set up anew outside the walls, to which most Slavs from within the walls were resettled. Such Wiek settlements did initially not belong to the town, but to the duke, although they were likely to come into possession of the town in the course of the 14th century. Also in the 14th century, Slavic Wiek suburbs lost their Slavic character.[86]

In western Pomerania, including Rugia, the process of Ostsiedlung differed from how it took place in other parts of Eastern Europe in that a high proportion of the settlers was composed of Scandinavians, especially Danes, and migrants from Scania. The highest Danish influence was on the Ostsiedlung of the then Danish Rugian principality. In the possessions of the Rugian Eldena Abbey, a Danish establishment, settlers who opened a tavern would respectively be treated according to Danish, German and Wendish law.[87]

Wampen, Ladebow, and other villages near Greifswald are of Danish origin.[88] Yet, many Scandinavian settlers in the Pomeranian towns were of German origin, moving from older German merchants' settlements in Sweden to the newly founded towns at the Southern Baltic shore.[89]

During the reign of Otto I, Margrave of Brandenburg and son of Albert I of Brandenburg (1100–1170), Brandenburg claimed sovereignty over Pomerania. Yet, in 1181, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I invested Duke Bogislaw I of the Griffin House of Pomerania with the Duchy of Slavia (Pomerania). This was not accepted by the Margraviate of Brandenburg and triggered several military conflicts.

Between 1185 and 1227, Pomerania along with most of the southern Baltic coast remained under sovereignty of Denmark. However, Brandenburg again tried to gain sovereignty over Pomerania, and in 1214 for a short time conquered Stettin.[90] After Denmark lost the Battle of Bornhoeved in 1227, Denmark lost all her territories on the southern Baltic shore, including Pomerania.[91]

At this time, the Duchy of Pomerania was co-ruled by duke Wartislaw III of Demmin and duke Barnim I of Stettin. After the Danes retreated, Brandenburg took her chance and invaded Pomerania-Demmin. In 1231, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II gave the duchy, which then was again a part of the empire, as a fief to the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg.[92][93]

Denmark also attempted to restore her rule and took Wolgast and Demmin in 1235, but was driven out the same year.[94] Wartislaw had to accept Brandenburg's overlordship in the 1236 Treaty of Kremmen, furthermore he had to hand over most of his duchy to Brandenburg immediately, that was the Burg Stargard Land and adjacted areas (all soon to become a part of Mecklenburg, forming the bulk of the later Mecklenburg-Strelitz area). Circipania was already lost to Mecklenburg in the years before.

In the 1250 Treaty of Landin between Pomeranian dukes and margraves of Brandenburg, Barnim I managed to reassert the rule of his Griffin house over Pomerania, but lost the Uckermark to Brandenburg.

Brandenburg since 1250 expanded eastward. In 1250/52, the margraves gained half of Lubusz Land, including the terra Küstrin between Warthe and Mietzel (Myśla), and the terra Chinz north of the Mietzel river, both previously held by Barnim. In the course of the 1250s, the margraves further gained the castellanies Zantoch and Driesen except for the burghs itself, of both castellanies actually belonging to Greater Poland, Barnim had held the northern parts. In 1261, Barnim lost the Soldin area, and in the following years the terra Zehden to Brandenburg.[95]

In 1264, Duke Wartislaw III of Demmin died, his cousin Barnim I (the Good) became the sole ruler of the duchy. In 1266, Barnim I married Mechthild, the daughter of Otto III, Margrave of Brandenburg.

In 1269, Barnim lost the terra Arnswalde to the margraves. Before his death, he bought the western part back in 1278.[96]

Bogislaw IV lost the Bernstein area and Zinnenburg Land (terra Arnhausen and terra Schivelbein), in 1280. All former Pomeranian territories east of the Oder lost to Brandenburg in the 13th century became parts of the Brandenburgian Neumark ("new march").[96]

In 1234 and 1241, Silesian dukes Henry I and Henry II expanded their realm to the North, and even took control of areas north of the Warthe (Warta) river previously held by the Dukes of Pomerania.[97] The Griffin dukes, Silesian Piasts, Dukes of Greater Poland, the bishops of Lebus and the bishops of Kammin all competed for the Warthe/Netze (Notec) area, centered on the burgh of Zantoch. Until 1250, Barnim I, Duke of Pomerania had recovered most of the previous Pomeranian territory[97] and sought to secure them with the settlement of Germans, while Zantoch burgh was held by Przemysł II of Greater Poland.[95]

The last member of the Ratiborides branch of the Griffins, Ratibor II, died in 1223.[5] This led to a competition between the Griffins and the Pomerelian Samborides for inheritance of Schlawe-Stolp.[5] Because Ratibor died during the Danish period, Denmark administered the area until she had to withdraw after the lost Battle of Bornhöved in 1227.[5] Barnim I, Duke of Pomerania, took control of the lands immediately after the Danish withdrawal, but had to yield Pomerelian duke Swantopolk's rights, whose relationship to the Ratiborides was closer.[5] Swantopolk took over Schlawe-Stolp in 1235/36.[5] The Griffins mounted an unsuccessful campaigns to gain the area in 1236/38,[98] 1253,[5][98] 1259,[5][98] and 1266.[98] After the death of Swantopolk II in 1266, Barnim I took over the area and kept it until 1269, when Rugian prince Wizlaw II took over.[5] He withdrew in 1277 and left the area to Brandenburg.[5] In 1283, Mestwin II of Pomerelia took over.[5] Competition arose anew after his death in 1294.[5] In 1296, Wizlaw's son Sambor launched another campaign.[98]

When the area became incorporated into the Pomerelian duchy, the Swenzones dynasty gained control and gradually evolved to autonomously acting counts.