Studia Maritima (Jan 2019)
POMMERN UND POMMERELLEN IN DER ZEIT SWANTOPOLKS VON DANZIG (BIS 1266)
Abstract
In the 13th century, Pomerania was divided between two princely houses. The western part of the region was ruled by princes from the Griffin dynasty. In the most recent source litera- ture, a claim has been made that members of this house also ruled the Land of Sławno from the second half of the thirties or until the early forties of the thirteenth century. It is there- fore difficult to prove that their power also stretched as far as the Land of Słupsk. The Land of Sławno was also under ecclesial, and later feudal jurisdiction of the bishops of Kamień. In Eastern Pomerania, the Samborides (Polish: Sobiesławice), as they are called in source lit- erature, were the ruling house. For a long time they held the office of Pomeranian governors on behalf of the Piast dynasty. This situation was changed by Swietopelk II – the Duke of Gdansk, who in 1227 secured the region’s independence from Poland. Initially, the duke and the rulers of West Pomerania had good relations. Mutual good will was guaranteed by the marriage of Swietopelk’s sister Miroslawa and Prince Bogislaw II of West Pomerania. Out of this matrimony, Barnim I was born, who in the described period, together with his cousin Wartislaw III, shaped the policy of the West Pomeranian principalities. Both Griffins had to hold ground against Swietopelk’s aggressive eastbound expansion and respond to his occupation of the Land of Słupsk (taken from the Danes between 1225 and 1227), and then to the occupation of the Land of Sławno (before 1240). The House of Griffin was supported by the bishops of Kamień, of whom Herman von Gleichen was the most prominent. Howev- er, after many lost battles against Swietopelk, in the sixties of the 13th century, the Bishop of Kamień had to reach an agreement with the Gdańsk ruler. Little is known whether he made peace with Barnim I (ruling all Western Pomerania after the death of Wartislaw III) while Swietopelk was still alive. It is significant in this regard that Barnim I held talks with Swie- topelk’s son Mestwin II in 1264, during the rebellion of the eldest sons of the Gdańsk ruler.
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