The chief Pomeranian town: a Slav town under the ducal castle on the hill above the west bank of the Oder, where the river widens into the lagoon.
Otto of Bamberg preached here in 1124 and 1128, and St Peter and Paul stands where he said Mass. A colony of German merchants has its own church of St James, founded, as usually told, by Beringer, a merchant of Bamberg, and consecrated in 1187. German town law comes only in 1237-43 under Barnim I, when the Slav town and two German settlements are joined.
Who holds it
- Name
- Bogislaw II (castellan not pinned)
- Title
- duke; the castellan of Stettin governs castle and town
- Since
- 1187
- Born
- about 1177
- Family
- see Pomerania
- Confidence
- medium
de.wikipedia Szczecin; de.wikipedia Wartislaw Swantiboriz
Lord in 1200
Duke Bogislaw II; his castellan of Stettin (not named for 1200: Wartislaw Swantiboriz held the office until 1189 and died in 1196; his grandson Wartislaw of Gützkow holds it later).
How things stand that morning
Ducal town under its castellan; no siege or attack known that winter.
Charter
None in 1200. Barnim I grants German town law in 1237 or 1243 (de.wikipedia Szczecin).
Council
None; the elders of the Slav town under the duke's castellan.
Communities
Slav townsmen and fishermen; the German merchant colony round St James (1187, not checked against the charter); clergy of St Peter and Paul.
Militia
The castle levy and the townsmen in defence of the walls.
Walls and castle
Ducal castle on the hill; earth and timber ramparts of the Slav town.
Trade and crafts
The Oder trade between the Baltic, Greater Poland and Silesia: grain, fish, salt, furs, wax, cloth; shipbuilding and fishing.
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.
- 1237-1243 (after this year)German town law under Barnim I.
Where the sources disagree
- de.wikipedia Szczecin dates the present St James church to the 14th century and does not mention the 1187 foundation; the 1187 foundation by Beringer of Bamberg is the usual account in general histories and is not checked here.
Evidence: The town's 12th-century shape is known in outline; officers of 1200 are not.
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.