The land of the Circipanians lay south of the Recknitz and the Trebel and west of the Malchin and Kummerow lakes, with castle districts at Demmin, Dargun, Krakow, Sukow and Kalen and its old chief stronghold at Teterow.
After Henry the Lion's victory at Verchen (1164) the eastern part went with Demmin to Pomerania; in 1172 Bishop Berno of Schwerin founded the Cistercian abbey of Dargun on the site of the destroyed Slav castle, with Danish monks from Esrum and the gifts of Duke Casimir I. Danish campaigns devastated the land again after 1170. In 1198 Dargun was destroyed in the fighting between Denmark and Brandenburg, and its monks went to Jaromar of Rügen, who settled them at Eldena in 1199.
On 1 January 1200 the land is Pomeranian by title but waste round Dargun; a resettlement failed as late as 1209 and succeeded only in 1216. The Mecklenburg lords take Circipania by 1236.
Who he is
- Name
- Casimir II (as lord of Demmin); castellans not pinned
- Title
- duke of Pomerania
- Since
- 1187
- Born
- about 1180
- Family
- see Pomerania
- Confidence
- low
de.wikipedia Zirzipanien, Kloster Dargun, Kloster Eldena, Demmin
Overlord
Canute VI of Denmark
What it holds
- the castles of Kalen and Teterow (not pinned in use)
- the abbey lands of Dargun, deserted since 1198
- Gnoien and Malchin (Slav places, not towns)
How it was acquired
With Demmin after 1164 (Casimir I).
Allies and rivals
Rivals: the Mecklenburg princes (Nicholas I of Rostock to the west, Borwin I); Brandenburg (the 1198 raid); the bishop of Schwerin, who claims the diocese against Kammin.
How things stand that morning
Pomeranian ground, waste round Dargun after the raid of 1198. Who commands its castles that winter is not pinned. West of it, Güstrow and the Laage land are under the Mecklenburg princes or not pinned (Rhineland map).
Wealth
Little this winter: the abbey's lands lie empty.
Military
Castles of Kalen and Teterow; no garrison pinned.
Threats
- renewed Brandenburg raids
- the Mecklenburg princes moving east under Danish favour
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.
- 1209 and 1216 (after this year)A resettlement of Dargun fails in 1209 and succeeds in 1216 under Bishop Sigwin of Kammin with monks from Doberan.Depends on: peace in the land Stopped by: renewed war
- by 1236 (after this year)Wartislaw III loses Circipania to the Mecklenburg lords.
Places of note
- Dargun abbey (deserted): Cistercian abbey founded 1172, destroyed 1198 (Church map record)
Where the sources disagree
- The Rhineland map anchors Teterow to mecklenburg; see Pomerania. We anchor Teterow, Malchin, Dargun and Gnoien to pomerania.
Evidence: Dargun's destruction in 1198 and the move to Eldena in 1199 are attested (de.wikipedia Kloster Eldena); the political holder of the castles in 1200 is inferred from the 1170s and 1236.
On the map: The western part of old Circipania (Güstrow, Krakow, Laage) is left to the Rhineland map's Mecklenburg records; the line between them is 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
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia (de): Zirzipanien
- Wikipedia (de): Kloster Dargun
- Wikipedia (de): Kloster Eldena (Vorpommern)
- Wikipedia (de): Demmin
- Wikipedia: Duchy of Pomerania
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.