Pomerania during the High Middle Ages

The examples and perspective in this article may not include all significant viewpoints. Please improve the article or discuss the issue. (April 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Part of a series on the
History of Pomerania
Early history Early Middle Ages High Middle Ages Late Middle Ages Early Modern Age 1806–1933 1933–1945 1945–present
Poland portal  Germany portal
v t e

Pomerania during the High Middle Ages covers the history of Pomerania in the 12th and 13th centuries.

The early 12th century

In several expeditions mounted between 1102^[11] and 1121,^[12] most of Pomerania had been acquired by the Polish duke Bolesław III Wrymouth.^[13]

From 1102 to 1109, Boleslaw campaigned in the Noteć (Netze) and Parsęta (Persante) area.^[14] The Pomeranian residence in Białogard (Belgard) was taken already in 1102.^[13] From 1112 to 1116, Boleslaw took all of Pomerelia.^[14] From 1119 to 1122, the area towards the Oder was acquired.^[14] Szczecin (Stettin) was taken in the winter of 1121/1122.^[14]

The conquest resulted in a high death toll and devastation of vast areas of Pomerania, and the Pomeranian dukes became vassals of Boleslaw III of Poland.^[2][3][4] Deportations of Pomeranians to Poland took place.^{[12][15][clarification needed]} The terms of surrender after the Polish conquest were that Wartislaw had to accept Polish sovereignty, convert his people to Christianity, and pay an annual tribute to the Polish duke.^[3]

The Annals of Traska report that "Boleslaw III crossed the sea and captured castles."^[16] The currently prevailing view is that this mention refers to a campaign in Pomerania, but proposed targets also include the Levant, Denmark^[17] and Öland.^[18] In Pomerania, Boleslaw's targets may have been Rügen/Rugia, Wolin/Wollin or Stettin/Szczecin.^[17][19]

Emergence of Pomeranian dynasties - Samborides and Griffins

Pomerelia, initially under Polish control, was ruled by the Samborides dynasty from 1227 until 1294.^[1] The duchy was split temporarily^[when?] into districts of Gdańsk (Danzig), Białogard, Świecie (Schwetz) and Lubieszewo–Tczew .

In

The areas stretching from

After Bernard's misfortune, Boleslaw III asked Otto of Bamberg^[24] to convert Pomerania to Christianity, which he accomplished in his first visit in 1124/25.^[25] Otto's strategy severely differed from the one Bernard used: While Bernard travelled alone and as a poor and unknown priest, Otto, a wealthy and famous man, was accompanied by 20 clergy of his own diocese, numerous servants, 60 warriors supplied to him by Boleslaw, and carried with him numerous supplies and gifts. After arriving in Pyritz (Pyrzyce), the Pomeranians were assured that Otto's aim was not the gain of wealth at the expense of the Pomeranian people, as he was wealthy already, but only to convert them to Christianity, which would protect the Pomeranians from further punishment by God, as which the devastating Polish conquest was depicted. This approach turned out to be successful, and was backed by parts of the Pomeranian nobility that in part was Christian raised already, like duke Wartislaw, who encouraged and promoted Otto's mission. Many Pomeranians were baptized already in Pyritz and also in the other burghs visited.^{[3][26][27][28][29]}

At this first mission, Otto founded at least eleven churches, two of those each in Szczecin and Wolin.^[30]

Otto of Bamberg returned in 1128,

Adalbert of Pomerania, the later Pomeranian bishop, participated in Otto's mission as an interpreter and assistant.^[34][35]

Fate of the pagan priesthood

The priests of the numerous gods worshipped before the conversion were one of the most powerful class in the early medieval society. Their reaction to the

On Otto of Bamberg's behalf, a

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

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]

Wendish Crusade (1147)

In 1147, the

The major stage of the westward expansion into Lutici territory occurred between Otto of Bamberg's two missions, 1124 and 1128. In 1128, Demmin, the County of Gützkow and Wolgast were already incorporated into Wartislaw I's realm, yet warfare was still going on.[43] Captured Lutici and other war loot, including livestock, money, and clothes were apportioned among the victorious.^[44] After Wartislaw's Lutician conquests, his duchy lay between the Bay of Greifswald to the north, Circipania, including Güstrow, to the west, Kolberg/Kołobrzeg in the east, and possibly as far as the Havel and Spree rivers in the south.^[45]

After the conquests, Wartislaw's realm stretched from the Bay of Greifswald in the North and Circipania with Güstrow in the West to the Havel and possibly also the Spree rivers in the South and the Kolobrzeg area in the east.^[45]

These gains were not subject to Polish over lordship,

During Wartislaw I's rule society was composed of the Pomeranian freeman and the slaves, who consisted mostly of Wendish, German or Danish war captives. The freemen generally made their living from agriculture, fishing and husbandry, as well as hunting and trade.[44]^[51] Their social status depended both on accumulated wealth as well as noble status. The proportion of slaves in the total population of the area was relatively small and in fact the Pomeranians exported slaves to Poland.^[44][51]

The largest settlements were Wollin (Wolin) and Stettin (Szczecin), each of which had a few thousand inhabitants, and a biweekly market day.^[52] While some historians address these settlements as towns, this is rejected by others due to the differences to later towns. They are usually referred to as early towns, proto-towns, castle towns or emporia; their Slavic designation was *grod (gard in Pomeranian and Polabian language).^{[nb 1]} The population of Pomerania was relatively wealthy in comparison to her neighbors, owing to abundant land, inter-regional trade and piracy.^[52]

Wartislaw's power and standing differed depending on the area. In the east of his duchy (

In 1134, Pomeranian troops invaded Denmark and even looted Roskilde, then the Danish capital.^[54] In 1135, Norwegian Konghelle was attacked and sacked.^[54]

Saxon conquest (1164)

In the West, bishops and dukes of the Holy Roman Empire mounted expeditions to Pomerania. Most notable for the further fate of Pomerania are the 1147 Wendish Crusade and the 1164 Battle of Verchen, the Pomeranian dukes became vassals of Henry the Lion, of Saxony.^[38] Circipania came under control of the Pomeranian dukes at about this time. Despite this vassalage, Henry again sieged Demmin in 1177 when he allied with the Danes, but reconciled with the Pomeranian dukes thereafter.^[55]

Holy Roman Empire (1181)

After the 1147

At that time, the duchy was also referred to as Slavinia (German: Slawien) (yet this was a term applied to several Wendish areas such as Mecklenburg and the Principality of Rügen). The duchy remained in the Empire, although Denmark managed to take control of the southern Baltic including the Duchy of Pomerania from the 1180s until the 1227 Battle of Bornhöved.

Danish conquests (1168–1185)

From the North, Denmark attacked Pomerania. Several campaigns throughout the 12th century (in 1136, 1150, 1159 and throughout the 1160s) culminated in the defeat of the

The island of

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

While in the early 12th century most of the Pomeranians were free, by the late 12th century only the nobility and knights remained free. They were free in their decisions concerning their property and actions, though formally they had to apply for the duke's support.[59]

The class of the unfree still consisted of prisoners of war, but additionally one became unfree after conviction of a major criminal offense or if one was unable to pay one's debts. The unfree made up for an estimated 15% of the population and primarily had to work on the lands of the free.^[59]

Most of the population of this time was largely dependent on the duke. This dependency could also result in becoming dependent on a person other than the duke, if the duke granted parts of his lands including the population thereon to a noble, a church, or a monastery. This class shared certain obligations and restrictions with the unfree, for example a

Their major obligations were participation in the duke's military campaigns, defense of the duchy, erection and maintenance of the ducal buildings (burghs, courts, bridges), to hand over horses, oxen, and carriages to the duke or his officials on demand, to host and to cater the duke or his officials on demand, to supply rations for the duke's journeys, a periodic tribute in form of a fixed amount of meat and wheat, and also a church tax ("biskopownica", since 1170 "Garbenzehnt").[36]

German settlement

Beginning in the 12th century, on the initiative of monasteries,^[60] as well as the local nobility, German settlers began migrating to Pomerania in a process later termed the Ostsiedlung. The local nobles and rulers encouraged the settlement in order to strengthen and consolidate their position and to develop and intensify land use, while the settlers were attracted by the privileges that were granted to them.^[61]

Through a process that spanned three hundred years, in western Pomerania the local Slavic population was mostly assimilated, while in the eastern part, Slavic Kashubians and Slovincians held on to their ethnic culture and identity.

Rural settlement

Before the Ostsiedlung, Pomerania was rather sparsely settled. Around 1200, a relatively dense population could be found on the islands of