Studia Maritima (Jan 2019)
DER KONFLIKT ZWISCHEN DEN HERZÖGEN VON POMMERN-STETTIN UND DEM DEUTSCHEN ORDEN IN PREUßEN UM DIE BESETZUNG DES ERZBISTUMS RIGA IN DEN JAHREN 1394–1403 IM LICHTE NEUESTER STUDIEN
Abstract
On April 30, 1388, an agreement on mercenary service was concluded in Świecie on the Riv- er Vistula between Pomeranian Dukes Swantibor I and Bogislaw VII, Grand Master Konrad Zöllner von Rotenstein, and the Order. The document obliged the Pomeranian rulers to provide the Teutonic Knights with military assistance when need be, for a decade. It also forbade allying with the enemies of the Order for the same period of time. The agreement was strengthened by a non-returnable subsidy of 6,000 guilders and a loan of 2,000 three scores of Czech grosches intended for the House of Griffins. In this period, Swantibor I was closely associated with the court of the Roman King Wence- slaus IV where he served as court judge. In 1391, the then Archbishop of Riga, Johannes von Sinten, as a result of a conflict with the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order, left Livonia for, first, Lübeck and, then, Prague. Submitting the candidacy of his son Otto II for the function of the metropolitan bishop of Riga, the Duke of Szczecin at first received the sup- port for his intentions of Roman King Wenceslaus IV, Polish king Władysław II Jagiełło and Vytautas the Great. Archbishop Johannes von Sinten was removed from office in Septem- ber 1393, and Pope Boniface IX appointed Johannes von Wallenrode, nephew of the former Grand Master Konrad von Wallenrode, as the new ordinary. In November 1394, the faithful canons of Archbishop Johannes von Sinten, elected Otto II Archbishopric of Riga. The duke managed to reach Livonia, where on March 5, 1396, as a coadjutor of Riga, he managed to make an arrangement with Vytautas the Great. Due to divergent political goals, the ad hoc coalition formed for Otto II eventually fell apart, whereas the young representative of the House of Griffin was compelled to leave the archdio- cese. These events led Duke Swantibor I to terminate, by the end of 1396, his agreement with the Teutonic Knights. The duke blamed Grand Master Konrad von Jungingen and the Order for the failure of Otto II. The conflict between Szczecin and the Teutonic Order ended with the conclusion, on April 2, 1403, of an agreement with Grand Master Konrad von Jungingen in Hammerstein.
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