Swenzonen

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The Swenzonen is a family of ministerial officials who lived in the Duchies of Pomerania and Pomerania in the 13th and 14th centuries . The Swenzonen played an important role in the Pomeranian succession dispute from 1295 to 1309. In the first half of the 14th century, the Swenzonen ruled like sovereigns in the lands of Schlawe and Stolp .

history

The first known members of this family are Swenzo, mentioned in documents around the middle of the 13th century, and his younger brother Lorenz. Both were originally just high administrative officials. According to Swenzo, the noble family comprising his family, the family of his brother Lorenz and their descendants are referred to in historiography as 'Swenzonen'. The family from which Swenzo and Lorenz descended were at home in the country of Schlawe-Stolp.

At the beginning of the 13th century , the rear Pomeranian region , lying between the Nestbach east of the Gollenberg near Köslin and the Leba River , the border to the Polish Principality of Pomerania, was ruled by the Ratiboriden dynasty . This ruling house, presumably closely related to the Griffins, died out in the first third of the 13th century. The Danes exerted influence on the area until their position of power in the Baltic Sea region collapsed in 1227 after the battle of Bornhöved . Subsequently, this not yet very developed region fell to the Polish principality of Pomerania for three generations (1236–1308) against the protest of the Pomeranian dukes, who had inheritance claims there. From 1266 to 1295 Pomerania was ruled by Duke Mestwin II . The Pomeranian rule in the countries of Schlawe-Stolp was interrupted in 1266–1268 and 1270–1277 by the incursions of Barnim I of Stettin and Wizlaw IV of Rügen. At that time Poland was divided into many principalities, but the administrative order in Pomerania was the same as in the rest of Poland. After the Schlawe-Stolp lands had become Pomeranian, the same administrative regulations were introduced there that had previously applied in the Polish principality of Pomerellen, east of Leba. On the main strongholds Schlawe, Dirlow at the Wipper mouth and Stolp now senior officials exercised on behalf Danziger princes whose rights to defense, government, the law, taxes and regalia from. The highest official was the Palatine ( comes palatinus , Polish voivode ), who was responsible for entire districts such as Danzig or Schlawe-Stolp. In the individual castle districts, castellans (burgraves, bailiffs) were subordinate to him . B. the lower chamberlain ( subcamerarius , Polish podkomorzy ) were subordinate.

Lorenz was from 1288 until at least 1307 castellan of Stolp. Swenzo began his career as an administrative officer in Schlawe (1257) and in Stolp (1274) and was promoted to Palatine of Danzig in 1286 and by Stolp in 1287. Under Duke Mestwin II of Pomerellen he was now able to call himself “ palatinus totius Pomeraniae ” (Palatine of all Pomerania) and was thus promoted to a leading nobleman in Pomerania. After the Pomeranian ducal house of the Samborids died out with the death of Mestwin II at Christmas 1294 , protracted quarrels began about the succession in Pomerania and in the country of Schlawe-Stolp. On the one hand, in the Treaty of Arnswalde on April 1, 1269, Mestwin had transferred all of his property to the Brandenburg margraves Johann, Otto and Konrad, who had acted as representatives of the German king, and took them as fiefs. At the same time, the margraves had signed a succession agreement with Mestwin, who had no male heirs. Then there was a falling out between Mestwin and the Margrave Konrad. Apparently, this rift had the consequence that Mestwin no longer recognized the sovereignty over all of Pomerellen, which had previously been granted to the Ascanians in the Treaty of Arnswalde, and granted them only sovereignty over the lands of Schlawe and Stolp under the areas he ruled. On September 3, 1273, Mestwin took the states of Schlawe and Stolp as fiefs from the Brandenburgers in the contract at the Dragebrücke . On January 18, 1277, the margraves had also bought Witzlaw II of Rügen for 3,500 marks of silver, his liens on the lands of Schlawe and Rügenwalde , which he could claim as the marriage property of his grandmother, a daughter of Swantopolk von Pommerellen. Later Mestwin II had, contrary to his previously announced intentions, installed as his successor King Przemysław II of Poland. When he was murdered in 1296, the Swenzones played a key political role in the long Pomeranian succession dispute that followed.

In addition, not only the Polish dukes from the Piast line , but now also the Bohemian Przemyslids, tried to obtain the succession . Under Wenceslaus II (1299–1305) and Wenceslaus III. (1305–1306), who were not present in the country themselves, was appointed governor for all of Pomerania, including the Schlawe-Stolp region, with royal powers. His son Peter, who had gained wealth and influence during his reign in Neuchâtel since 1301, is appointed starost (Latin capitaneus ) and enjoys the special favor of the two Wenceslas. When Władysław I. Ellenlang after the death of Wenceslas II in 1305 and the murder of Wenceslaus III. , 1306, initially in Pomerania, Swenzo supported him first, but the Swenzonen soon fell out of favor with the new ruler, so that they threatened financial ruin. In order to counter the experienced disgrace, Peter von Neuenburg sought support from the Brandenburgers, Władysław's opponents. He was heard from Margrave Waldemar von Brandenburg. In a contract signed in Lindow near Stolp on January 17, 1307, it was agreed with Peter von Neuenburg that the Swenzonen may keep their offices and that their entire family will receive the castles near Schlawe, Rügenwalde and Pollnow as a fief. The castles in Neuchâtel and Tuchel should be allowed to keep them. The Swenzonen, who had risen to become small sovereigns ( domini terrae ), and their followers now turned against Władysław as a whole. This U-turn of the Swenzonen later entered Polish historiography as the 'betrayal of the Swenzonen'. Swenzo was still involved in the sale of the village of Glovebanz to the city of Köslin on February 21, 1308. He had still held the office of Palatine of Danzig in 1308.

In order to enforce their claims to Pomeranian, the Brandenburgers actually moved into Danzig in 1308, where the predominantly German population had opened the gates for them. However, they could not take the castle because Władysław I had recruited mercenaries of the Teutonic Order to defend it. After the Brandenburgers withdrew to the Schlawe-Stolp region, Władysław was unable to raise the remuneration promised to the Teutonic Order for military aid. The Teutonic Order therefore occupied all of Pomerellen in 1309, with the exception of the Schlawe-Stolp lands, which were occupied by the Brandenburgers (1308-1317). After Pommerellen as far as the Schlawe-Stolp country came to the Teutonic Order as a result of the succession dispute , the Swenzonen lost their position in Pommerellen. However, Swenzo's sons were able to hold on to the outlying area of ​​Schlawe-Stolp, which was held by the Brandenburgers. This area remained under the rule of Margrave Waldemar von Brandenburg in 1309. In 1317, in the Treaty of Templin , Waldemar ceded the Schlawe-Stolp lands to Duke Wartislaw IV of Pommern-Wolgast, in gratitude for the neutrality that the Pomeranian dukes had maintained during the (failed) advance of the Brandenburgers against Danzig.

The Swenzonen had divided up the castles assigned to them in the Lindow Treaty in such a way that Swenzo's eldest son, Peter von Neuenburg , became lord of Pollnow. The claims to his previous property in Neuchâtel, which were larger than those in Pollnow, could not be realized by Peter von Neuchâtel; In 1313 he gave Neuchâtel to the Teutonic Order. He died in 1326/27. Peter von Neuenburg's son, Peter von Pollnow , gave the remainder of the property that was left in Tuchel to the Teutonic Order in 1353. Peter von Pollnow also lost Pollnow; He had to cede this property to the Bishop of Cammin in the same year.

Swenzo's second son, Jesko (Johann), had received the Schlawe Castle and accordingly called himself Jesko von Schlawe . In old documents it can be traced back to 1347. He was around 70 years old and had two sons: Peter von Schlawe (the older of the two sons) and Lorenz von Schlawe . As can be seen from a document, Jesko von Schlawe and his son Peter were accused of an alleged legal offense by the sons of Duke Wartislaw IV of Pommern-Wolgast in 1447, without the precise facts being apparent from the relevant document. Jesko von Schlawe and Peter von Schlawe had incurred debts with the town of Schlawe and pledged their property and their rights as lords of the castle. Since they were unable to repay their debts, they lost all their property and the associated rights to the town of Schlawe.

Jesko's youngest son, Lorenz , had received Dirlow Castle at the mouth of the Wipper. He died shortly after 1317, at a young age. He was still involved in the re-establishment of the city of Rügenwalde, a few kilometers away, and in the establishment of the city of Schlawe. The role of sovereign now fell to his son, Jesko von Rügenwalde . Since this was still underage, his uncles Peter von Neuenburg and Jesko von Schlawe exercised the guardianship over him and thus also the rule over Rügenwalde. Jesko von Rügenwalde only appeared independently at the beginning of the 1330s; he is now referred to as dominus Rugenwaldensis (Lord of Rügenwalde), but is only considered a “squire”, not a knight. In 1333 he grants the city of Rügenwalde a generous privilege: He not only assures it that all previously granted freedoms will continue to exist, but also promises that neither he nor his successors will rebuild the destroyed castle in the city, and neither will Dirlow Castle at the mouth. Contrary to unbelievable reports, Jesko von Rügenwalde is said to have had no son.

The castellan Lorenz, Swenzo's younger brother, was able to expand his property in the Land of Stolp. In a document from 1315 this property is confirmed to his son Casimir. These include some villages in the Bütow region, the entirety of which developed into the Land of Tuchem for a few decades , which has a status comparable to the Lands of Schlawe, Rügenwalde and Pollnow.

After the Swenzones got into economic hardship in the 1330s and were increasingly forced to sell their lands, their political power also waned more and more. For example, Jesko von Schlawe sold the village of Krampe to the Teutonic Knights Order in 1329 , and Jesko von Schlawe and Jesko von Rügenwalde sold the port of Stolpmünde and the village of Arnshagen to the magistrate of the city of Stolp in 1337 . In 1337 Jesko von Rügenwalde sold the watermill, the so-called Samelower Mühle , located on the Feldmark of the village of Klein Strellin , to the magistrate of the city of Stolp . Under Waldemar as well as under Wartislaw IV. And his sons, the Swenzonen had previously ruled like sovereigns in the state of Schlawe, and they played a major role in the founding of the cities of Rügenwalde (1312), Schlawe (1317), Pollnow (year of foundation unknown) and Zanow (1343 ) were involved according to Lübischem law . Her role as domini terrae ended around the middle of the 14th century, and her status had sunk to the common country noble. The last time a Swenzone named Peter von Pollnow was in 1357, according to uncertain sources it was still in 1367. Whether the family died out or survived under a different name is unknown and debatable. The coat of arms of the Swenzonen was a griffin with a sturgeon tail, a so - called fish griffin . The still existing Puttkamer family, who come from Western Pomerania, has a fish griffin in the family coat of arms.

Tribe list of the Swenzonen

  1. Swenzo († not before February 1308)
    1. Peter of Neuchâtel († approx. 1326/1327)
      1. Peter von Pollnow
    2. Jesko von Schlawe (* approx. 1280, † after 1347)
      1. Peter von Schlawe
      2. Lorenz von Schlawe
    3. Lorenz (Laurentius) von Rügenwalde († shortly after 1317, at a young age)
      1. Jesko from Rügenwalde
  2. Lorenz (Laurentius), castellan of Stolp († after 1307)
    1. Swenzka
    2. Casimir of Tuchem

literature

  • Fritz Morré: The Swenzonen in East Pomerania. Rise and Reign 1269-1357 , In: Baltic Studies Ser. NF, 41: 35-98 (1939). ( Digitized version )
  • Ellinor von Puttkamer : The Swenzonen and the country Schlawe . In: Manfred Vollack (Ed.): The Schlawe district - A Pomeranian home book. Volume 2, The Cities and Rural Communities. Husum 1989, ISBN 3-88042-337-7 , pp. 545-550.
  • Scriptores rerum Prussicarum - The historical sources of the Prussian prehistoric times up to the fall of the monarchy ( T. Hirsch , M. Töppen and E. Strehlke, eds.),!. Volume, Leipzig 1861, footnotes on pp. 700–708
  • Johannes Voigt : History of Prussia, from the earliest times to the fall of the rule of the Teutonic Order . Bornträger, Königsberg 1880. Volume four: The time from the subjugation of the Prussians in 1283 to Dieterich von Altenburg's death in 1341 . In particular pages 79-82, 193-201, 290-291 and 607-612.
  • Friedrich Karl von Zitzewitz-Muttrin: Building Blocks from the East. Pomeranian personalities in the service of their country and the history of their time. Verlag Gerhard Rautenberg, Leer 1967, especially pp. 11–16 and 50–56.

Footnotes

  1. ^ Rudolf Usinger: German-Danish History 1189-1227 , Berlin 1863, 448 pages, online .
  2. ^ Richard Roepell : History of Poland , Hamburg 1840, p. 552
  3. ^ Karl-Heinz Pagel : The district of Stolp in Pomerania . Lübeck 1989, p. 652 ( Download location description Krampe ) (PDF; 1.0 MB)
  4. ↑ Ludwig Wilhelm Brüggemann : Detailed description of the current state of the Königl. Prussian Duchy of Western and Western Pomerania . Part II, Volume 2, Stettin 1784, p. 927, No. 1.
  5. ^ Karl-Heinz Pagel : The district of Stolp in Pomerania . Lübeck 1989, pp. 630–634 ( Download location description Klein Strellin ; PDF; 1.0 MB).
  6. ^ Rudolf Benl: Pomerania up to the division of 1368/72. In: Werner Buchholz (ed.): German history in Eastern Europe. Pomerania. Siedler Verlag, 1999, p. 105.