Lands of Schlawe and Stolp
The Lands of Schlawe and Stolp (German: Schlawe-Stolp, Länder Schlawe und Stolp are a historical region of Pomerania, centered around Stolp (Słupsk) and Schlawe (Sławno) in Farther Pomerania. It is the region between river Nestbach at hill Gollenberg (2 km East of Köslin) in the West and the Leba River in the East, the border to Pomeralia. In the North the region is bounded by the Baltic Sea. Before World War II, the region had boundaries in the South to both the province of Brandenburg and to Poland.
In the High Middle Ages, it was ruled by Ratibor I (since the 1120s) and his descendants (Ratiboriden branch of the Griffin House of Pomerania). It was under Danish occupation from the 1180s to 1227.
The last member of the Ratiborides branch of the Griffins, Ratibor II, died in 1223. This led to a competition between the Griffins and the Pomerelian Samborides for inheritance of Schlawe-Stolp. Because Ratibor died during the Danish period, Denmark administered the area until she had to withdraw after the lost Battle of Bornhöved in 1227. 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. Swantopolk took over Schlawe-Stolp in 1235/36. In the 1250s, the Griffins mounted an unsuccessful campaign to gain the area. 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. He withdrew in 1277 and left the area to Brandenburg. In 1283, Mestwin II of Pomerelia took over. Competition arose anew after his death in 1294.[1]
After the Teutonic takeover of Danzig (1308), Grandmaster Siegfried von Feuchtwangen and Master Heinrich von Dirschau und Schwetz integrated Pomerelia in the Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights. The Margraves sold the Pomerelia except for the Lands of Schlawe and Stolp to the Teutonic Order in the 1309 Treaty of Soldin. Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor ratified the Soldin Treaty in 1313.
The districts of Schlawe (now Sławno), Rügenwalde (now Darłowo) and Stolp (now Słupsk), remained with Brandenburg and were ruled by the margraves' vassals, the Swenzones, who had been in charge of the area already before.
In 1316/17, the Griffin duke of Pomerania-Wolgast took over these areas as a fief from Waldemar of Brandenburg. In 1347, the area became fully attached to Pomerania-Wolgast.[2] The lands of Stolp were pawned to the Teutonic Order from 1329 to 1341, the Bütow area was bought by the knights in 1329 and thus remained outside Pomerania-Wolgast.[3]
The lands of Schlawe and Stolp became part of Pomerania-Stolp after the partition of the Duchy of Pomerania in 1368.