Rügischer War of Succession

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The War of the Rügen Succession was a dispute between the Duchy of Pomerania and the Duchy of Mecklenburg over the succession in the Principality of Rügen after the death of Wizlaw III. , the last Prince of Rügen. The First War of the Rügen Succession broke out in 1326 when the Danish king, who had fled after an uprising, enfeoffed the princes of Pomerania as well as the Mecklenburg and Werles with the Rügen principality. It ended in 1328 with the Peace of Brudersdorf. The Pomeranian dukes wanted to get back the mainland shares of the Principality of Rügen pledged to Mecklenburg after 1340 without paying the pledge. The result was the Second War of the Rügen Succession , which ended in 1354 with the Peace of Stralsund and the unification of the former Principality of Rügen with the Duchy of Pommern-Wolgast.

prehistory

After the conquest of the temple castle near Arkona, later called Jaromarsburg , in 1168 by the Danes under King Waldemar I and Bishop Absalon von Roeskilde , the princes of Rügen had to recognize the Danish sovereignty . The Rügen princes had to have the Danish king confirm their enfeoffment when they took office and were obliged to provide military support to the Danes.

In 1304 Wizlaw III took over . von Rügen assumed sole rule after the death of his brother Sambor. Since he had no offspring at that time, there was already the possibility that the Rügische Princely House could become extinct. Therefore, he signed an inheritance contract in Ribnitz in 1310 with the Danish King Erik VI. Menved , his liege lord. It was agreed that in the event of Wizlaw's death without an heir, the Rügische fief would revert to the Danish crown. Erik VI. Menved tried to expand his power in the southern Baltic Sea area and thereby push back the influence of Hanseatic cities such as Stralsund . In addition to the Prince of Rügen, he mainly used Prince Heinrich II of Mecklenburg. After the death of Erik VI. Menveds 1319 the contract of 1310 was invalid and Wizlaw III. sought allies in the Pomeranian dukes. On May 5, 1321, the dukes Wartislaw IV of Pomerania-Wolgast and Otto I and Barnim III. from Pomerania-Stettin with Wizlaw III. von Rügen signed a hereditary brotherhood agreement. Wartislaw IV, the son of Wizlaw's sister Margarete, had already received the promise of the transfer of the Rügischen fief on October 25, 1315 in an alliance contract with Erik's brother Christoph von Halland, who later became King Christoph II of Denmark .

First War of the Rügen Succession

With the death of Wizlaw on November 8, 1325, the Rügen dynasty ended in the male line. Wartislaw IV took over the Principality of Rügen and expected King Christopher II to give it to him. However, a rebellion in Denmark forced Christopher II to leave Denmark and seek refuge with his Mecklenburg vassals. On May 4, 1326 Christoph promised the princes of Mecklenburg and Werle that the Rügischen possessions would be enfeoffed. However, Christoph met Wartislaw in Barth at the beginning of June and presented him with the seven fief flags. To secure himself, on July 14, 1326, Wartislaw concluded an alliance with the new Danish ruler, Count Gerhard III. von Holstein , guardian of the minor King Waldemar III. from Denmark.

When Wartislaw IV died on August 1, 1326 after a short illness, he left behind three underage sons. Gerhard von Holstein recognized this as his successor. Christoph II, who lived in Mecklenburg, gave the Rügische fiefdom on August 6th to Heinrich II of Mecklenburg and the Princes of Werle , who were supposed to provide him with military support to regain the Danish throne. Heinrich took advantage of the location and from late summer 1326 occupied the western mainland areas belonging to the Principality of Rügen. The cities of Barth and Grimmen capitulated after a short siege. The town of Loitz surrendered without a fight, but the castle was held by the occupation.

The Hanseatic cities of Stralsund, Greifswald , Anklam and Demmin allied themselves with the Holstein count. Wartislaw's widow found refuge with her children in Greifswald. Gerhard von Holstein came to Stralsund in September 1326 with 600 mounted men and recaptured Loitz. After negotiating an armistice with Mecklenburg, he left for Denmark in October 1326. Soon afterwards the dukes of Pomerania-Stettin received guardianship over their Wolgast relatives. The Dowager Duchess returned to Wolgast Castle with her children . After the announcement of a planned kidnapping by the Knights of Schwerin, who lived on Spantekow and Altwigshagen, the eldest son Bogislaw was brought back to Greifswald to safety.

In July 1327 there was another fighting. After the unsuccessful bombardment of Demmin, Heinrich II of Mecklenburg moved to the gates of Greifswald on August 16, 1327. Since they could not do anything against the defense of the Greifswalds, the Mecklenburgers moved on to the area of Wusterhusen and devastated the surrounding settlements as far as Wolgast. The following day, the Mecklenburg army marched to Loitz and built a fortified position on the Schopendamm, the Schopenburg. Since the Danes under Gerhard von Holstein did not provide any help, the West Pomeranian cities turned to the Dukes of Szczecin for support. At the beginning of October, the people of Mecklenburg moved from Grimmen and Ekberg to the vicinity of Greifswald and stole 40 cows there. They were followed by 600 citizens of Greifswald and heavily armed horsemen. The Mecklenburgers were completely defeated at Griebenow . Further military actions by the Pomerania were less successful or, like the siege of Schopenburg near Loitz in March 1328, were unsuccessful.

In April 1328 Heinrich turned against the Duchy of Pomerania-Stettin and moved in the direction of Treptow an der Tollense . The Pomeranian troops were bound by the fighting against the Brandenburgers. Therefore, the Counts of Gützkow had to fight Heinrich II with the support of troops from Demmin and Treptow and defeated him decisively at Völschow .

Peace of Brudersdorf

On June 27, 1328 a peace treaty between Duke Barnim III was in Brudersdorf near Dargun . von Stettin, as guardian of the sons of Wartislaw IV, as well as Heinrich II. von Mecklenburg and Johann von Werle closed. In exchange for a severance payment of 31,000 marks of silver according to Cologne weight, to be paid over the next 12 years, the Mecklenburgers declared their renunciation of the Principality of Rügen. As a pledge, they received the western part of the Rügen mainland possessions, the Barth, Grimmen and Tribsees landscapes .

Second War of Succession

In December 1340 the payment of the deposit was due. Since this did not take place, the pledged lands fell to the Mecklenburgers. However, the princes of Mecklenburg were not enfeoffed by the Danish King Waldemar IV. Atterdag . In autumn 1342 the Pomeranian Marshal Wedego Bugenhagen gained control of Grimmen. In September 1343 the Mecklenburgers managed to storm the city under Albrecht II . Through the mediation of the cities of Stralsund and Greifswald, an armistice was agreed in October 1343. An agreed arbitration court did not come about. Waldemar IV. Atterdag, as the previous liege lord, avoided a decision because he feared that the losing party would fall away from him.

Since the sons of Wartislaw IV. Von Pommern-Wolgast could not redeem the pledged areas, but still demanded them back, there was renewed fighting with the Mecklenburgers in 1351. With the support of Barnim III. From Pomerania-Stettin the Mecklenburg army led by the knight Klaus Hahn was defeated on October 25, 1351 on the Schopendamm near Loitz. Count Johann V the Younger von Gützkow fell on the Pomeranian side. Since the Gützkower counts were without male descendants, the county of Gützkow was after the death of Count Johann III. drawn in by the dukes after 1359.

Peace of Stralsund

In 1354 Mecklenburg gave up its claims on Grimmen and Barth in the Peace of Stralsund. Tribsees came only in 1355 in Pomerania, as it for jointure to the widow Wizlaws III., Anna von Lindow-Ruppin belonged to Henry II had married.. The entire former Principality of Rügen was thus united with the Duchy of Pommern-Wolgast.

literature

  • Horst-Diether Schroeder: The First War of the Rügen Succession - Causes, Course and Results . In: Contributions to the history of Western Pomerania. The Demminer Colloquia 1985–1994 . Thomas Helms Verlag, Schwerin 1997, ISBN 3-931185-11-7 , pp. 129-139.
  • Werner Strecker: The foreign policy of Albrecht II of Mecklenburg . In: Yearbooks of the Association for Mecklenburg History and Archeology , Volume 78, Association for Mecklenburg History and Archeology, Schwerin 1913, pp. 1-300.
  • Ingeborg Lohfink : Western Pomerania - encounter with the land by the sea . Hinstorff Verlag, Rostock 1991, ISBN 3-356-00418-2 .

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