Slav castle settlement on the Schlossberg since the 10th century; the 'urbs Osna' was destroyed by King Niels of Denmark about 1115-19, and Otto of Bamberg's biographers call it 'Uznoimia civitas' in 1124-25.
In 1128 the western Pomeranian nobles under Wartislaw I accepted Christianity here, often called the first Pomeranian diet. The castle is named in 1140; the Premonstratensian abbey of Grobe was founded beside it in 1155; about 1159 the castle was rebuilt and a planned settlement with a market laid out. The Danes under Valdemar I took and destroyed Usedom in 1173, 1177 and 1178, and burnt the land in 1184.
In 1200 a ducal castle and market place, not a chartered town (a village in 1240, oppidum 1267, Lübeck law 23 December 1298).
Who holds it
- Name
- Bogislaw II and Casimir II
- Title
- dukes of Pomerania
- Since
- 1187
- Born
- about 1177 and about 1180
- Family
- see Pomerania
- Confidence
- medium
see sources
Lord in 1200
The dukes and their castellan.
How things stand that morning
Ducal.
Charter
None in 1200; Lübeck law from Bogislaw IV on 23 December 1298.
Council
None: no town commune in 1200.
Communities
Slav; the canons of Grobe.
Fairs and markets
A market laid out about 1159.
Militia
Part of the castle levy.
Walls and castle
Ducal castle.
Trade and crafts
Lagoon fishing.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: de.wikipedia Usedom (Stadt); de.wikipedia Fürstentum Rügen for 1184.
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.