Bogislaw II

Who he is

Name

Bogislaw II

Title

duke of Pomerania

Since

1187 (of age by about 1192)

Born

about 1177

Family

see Pomerania

Confidence

medium

de.wikipedia and en.wikipedia Bogislaw II; fmg.ac

Overlord

Canute VI of Denmark

What it holds

• Stettin castle and its district on both banks of the Oder (Gartz, Pölitz, Gollnow)
• Pyritz castle district, the first ground of Otto of Bamberg's mission (1124)
• Stargard castle district on the Ihna
• Kammin castle and district (the bishop's see)
• Wollin, the old emporium at the Dievenow
• Kolberg castle district with the salt springs, Treptow on the Rega and Köslin
• Belgard castle district on the Persante, with Schivelbein

How it was acquired

Inherited from Bogislaw I (1187).

Allies and rivals

His brother Casimir; his grandfather Mieszko III. Rivals: Brandenburg; Rügen.

How things stand that morning

Rules for himself at about 22. The lower Oder and the eastern castle districts are not known to have been touched by the Brandenburg war of 1198-99, which fell on the Demmin lands.

Wealth

Stettin's river trade, the Kolberg salt, the Wollin and Kammin harbours, castle dues.

Military

Castles of Stettin, Gartz, Pyritz, Stargard, Kammin, Wollin, Kolberg, Belgard; the castellans' levies.

Threats

• Brandenburg up the Oder
• Greater Polish and Pomerelian pressure on the eastern districts

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.

1. 1200No known event; the Danish-Brandenburg war continues in the west.

Places of note

• Gartz castle: Pomeranian castle on the Oder, visited by Otto of Bamberg
• Pyritz: castle where Otto of Bamberg baptised the first Pomeranians in 1124

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The share is inferred from later tradition and modern summaries; the extent of each castle district in 1200 is not pinned.

On the map: Castle districts drawn as blocks of places; the lines between districts and the southern frontier forests are not pinned.

Primary sources for Pomerania

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 Slavs, by Arnold of Lübeck, Arnold of Lübeck (about 1209 to 1210). Arnold continues Helmold and writes from Lübeck, close to Danish, Welf and Baltic affairs. Read online
• Chronicle of the Slavs, by Helmold of Bosau, Helmold of Bosau (about 1167 to 1172). Background only. Read online
• The Danish annals of Lund, Ryd and other houses (12th and 13th centuries; Lund continued to 1307, Ryd to 1288). Short dated entries from Lund, the archbishop's seat, and from Ryd in Schleswig. Read online
• Deeds of the Danes, Saxo Grammaticus (about 1185 to 1208). Saxo was writing at Lund in 1200 under Absalon, who died in March 1201, and his last books are an insider's history of Valdemar I and Knud VI to 1185: the Wendish wars, the taking of Rügen, the submission of Pomerania in 1185, the Danish fleet, Absalon's power and the Danish quarrel with the Empire. Read online
• Short history of the kings of Denmark; The Law of the Retainers, Sven Aggesen (about 1185 to 1188). A short Latin history of the Danish kings to Knud VI's Pomeranian victory of 1185, with the Lex castrensis, Sven's version of the law of the royal household. Read online
• The saga of the descendants of Knut (the kings of Denmark) (about 1250 to 1260). An Icelandic kings' saga of Denmark that draws on Saxo and Danish tradition and ends in 1187 with Knud VI and Absalon's Wendish wars. Read online
• Pomeranian charter book, volume 1, 786 to 1253 (documents of 786 to 1253, edited 1868). All known charters for Pomerania and Rügen to 1253. Read online
• The Danish diplomatarium: charters and letters concerning Denmark, with Danish translation (documents of 789 to 1448; the online edition is continuing). Twenty-seven documents are dated to 1200: Innocent III's letters of February and March 1200 to Philip Augustus and Queen Ingeborg and his order for the interdict on France, Otto IV's letter to the pope expecting King Knud VI to move into Saxony, the reports of the legate Octavian and the French bishops on the lifting of the interdict in September, the pope's letters to Knud VI asking him to send advocates for his sister, Knud VI's ordinance on manslaughter for Skåne of 28 December 1200, and private gifts to Roskilde and Næstved. Read online