Casimir II, duke of Pomerania

The younger brother received Demmin on his father's death (de.wikipedia Kasimir II.), the seat of his uncle Casimir I until 1180.

His share is the western half of the duchy: the Peene lands round Demmin, the Peene mouth with Wolgast and Lassan, the island of Usedom, and inland the Tollense lands and Circipania (separate records Tollense lands and Circipania), with Loitz and Gützkow (Loitz, Gützkow). It took the brunt of the war of 1198-99: Margrave Otto II overran it, and in the same war the dukes won back from Rügen the land south of the Ryck.

Who he is

Name: Casimir II
Title: duke of Pomerania
Since: 1187 (under his mother's guardianship until 1194)
Born: about 1180
Family: see Pomerania
Confidence: medium

de.wikipedia Kasimir II.; en.wikipedia Casimir II

Overlord

Canute VI of Denmark

What it holds

Demmin castle (Haus Demmin) and its district
Wolgast castle and the Peene mouth, with Lassan and the land of Wusterhusen (Wostrose)
Usedom castle and the island, with the Premonstratensian abbey of Grobe (Church map record)
the Peene crossing at Anklam and Ziethen

How it was acquired

Inherited from Bogislaw I (1187).

Allies and rivals

His brother; his mother Anastasia. Rivals: Jaromar of Rügen; Otto II of Brandenburg.

How things stand that morning

About 20, ruling for himself since about 1194. His lands were overrun by Brandenburg in 1198-99; whether the margrave still holds any castle here on 1 January 1200 is not pinned.

Wealth

The Peene and the coastal trade, Usedom and Wolgast harbours, castle dues.

Military

Castles of Demmin, Wolgast, Usedom; the castellans' levies.

Threats

Brandenburg
Rügen's claims south of the Ryck

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.

1200-1202The Brandenburg hold on the Demmin lands ends by 1202, when Valdemar II restores Danish overlordship (en.wikipedia).Depends on: Danish success against Brandenburg and Holstein Stopped by: a Brandenburg victory

Places of note

Haus Demmin: castle at the meeting of the Peene, Tollense and Trebel
Wolgast: castle and temple town at the Peene mouth

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The share follows de.wikipedia and en.wikipedia; the 1198-99 occupation is known only in outline.

On the map: Which brother held Wolgast and Usedom in 1200 is not pinned; drawn with Casimir as part of the west share.

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

Sources and studies

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.