Pomesania lies across the Vistula from Pomerelia: west the Vistula and the Nogat, south the Osa against the Chełmno land, east the lakes round Iława, north the Dzierzgoń country and Lake Drużno.
With the Pogesanians, the Pomesanians are the Prussians who raid Masovia and the Chełmno land most often (en.wikipedia). Their first named leader, Pepin, appears only in 1231-1233, when he besieges the Teutonic Order's new Toruń, is taken and dies under torture. In 1200 Pomesania is a free pagan land of farms and hillforts; its nobles are not named.
Who holds it
- Name
- None named for 1200
- Title
- the nobles and elders of the land, with the assembly of its free men
- Since
- not applicable
- Born
- not applicable
- Family
- Kin-groups of nobles; no ruling family is known.
- Confidence
- low
en.wikipedia (Old Prussians and the land's article); Peter of Dusburg as reported there.
Overlord
None. Polish dukes claim tribute from the nearer lands when they can enforce it (Casimir II, 1191-1194); no tribute is being paid that winter.
What it holds
- Farms and hillforts along the Vistula bluffs and the lakes round Susz, Prabuty, Kwidzyn, Sztum and Dzierzgoń (sites known from the conquest of the 1230s)
How things stand that morning
Free and pagan. Across the Vistula, Grzymisław's Świecie and Nowe and Sambor's delta (Pomerelia); across the Osa, the Masovian Chełmno land (maz).
Wealth
Farming, cattle and horses; fish from the Vistula and the lakes; plunder from raids.
Military
Free levies under their nobles; hillforts. No numbers.
Threats
- Polish expeditions from the Chełmno land
- Later, the Teutonic Order (from 1231)
Law and courts
No written law. Each land's free men meet in assembly under their nobles, who lead in war and judge disputes by custom; blood feud and compensation settle killings. The Treaty of Christburg (1249) shows nobles, free men and unfree servants, bride purchase, polygamy, funeral priests and the burning of the dead with horses, servants and arms.
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
In 1200
- During 1200 (nothing dated)No event in this land is recorded for 1200.
Later, on the likely course
- 1231-1236 (after this year)The Order crosses the Vistula, builds Toruń (1231) and Marienwerder at Kwidzyn (1233), defeats the Prussian host on the Sirgune (Dzierzgoń) that winter, and conquers Pomesania in the next three years.Depends on: the Order's coming Stopped by: Prussian unity
Places of note
- Kwidzyn: Vistula bluff where the Order builds Marienwerder in 1233.
- The Sirgune (Dzierzgoń): River where the Prussians are defeated in the winter of 1233-1234; later the Order's Christburg.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: No written source of 1200 describes this land; its bounds and strongholds come from the 13th-century conquest (Peter of Dusburg) and archaeology.
On the map: The bounds are a reconstruction from 13th-century evidence and modern maps; in 1200 lands were separated by forest, not lines.
Primary sources for The Prussians
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Chronicle of the Poles, by Master Vincent (Wincenty Kadłubek), Wincenty Kadłubek (about 1190 to 1208). Book 4 is a contemporary's account of the fight for the senior throne of Kraków. Read online
- The annals of the Kraków chapter and the other Polish annals (kept from the 11th century; the Kraków chapter annals continued to 1266). Short dated entries that fix the chronology Kadłubek blurs: the deaths of dukes and bishops, Mieszko the Old's captures of Kraków, Prussian raids on Masovia, church consecrations. Read online
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia: Pomesania
- Wikipedia: Old Prussians
- Peter of Dusburg, Chronicon terrae Prussiae (1326), as summarised in Wikipedia: Peter of Dusburg
- Wikipedia: Chełmno Land
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.