Principality · Eastern Germany, Bohemia and Austria · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Principality of Rügen

The Rani of the island of Rügen were the last pagan Slavs of the coast until the Danes destroyed the temple of Svantevit at Arkona in 1168.

Their princes kept their rule as Danish vassals. Jaromar I, prince since 1170, has lived since about 1180 at the Rugard castle by Bergen, where his brick Marienkirche became in 1193 the church of a Cistercian nunnery. He is a Danish loyalist married into the royal house: his men fought in the Danish fleet that destroyed the Pomeranian ships in the Greifswald Bay in 1184.

In 1189 King Canute made him guardian of the young Pomeranian dukes, and he pushed his mainland lands from Barth and the Strelasund shore to the middle Peene (Wusterhusen, Gützkow, Loitz, Ziethen); a Danish royal ruling then divided the disputed castles. In the war of 1198 between Denmark and Brandenburg he lost the land south of the Ryck to the dukes again, but in 1199 he settled the Danish Cistercians driven from Dargun at the mouth of the Ryck (Eldena, then called Hilda), with land on both banks and the salt pans nearby. On 1 January 1200 he holds the island, the mainland from Barth to the Ryck mouth, and the Tribsees land as a Danish fief that Brandenburg also claims.

Who rules

Name
Jaromar I
Title
prince of Rügen (princeps Rugianorum), vassal of the Danish king
Since
1170, first beside his brother Tetzlaw (last named 1170); sole prince at the latest from 1181
Born
before 1141, so about 60 or older
Family
Wife Hildegard, daughter of King Canute V Magnusson of Denmark (killed 1157), so a kinswoman of the Danish royal house. Sons Barnuta and Wizlaw I, both born before 1193 and grown men; Zwentopolk (named 1207) and Pribygnew (named 1232); daughter Lucia (named 1208), wife of Duke Władysław Spindleshanks of Greater Poland (marriage date not pinned). Barnuta's marriage to Slavomira of Gützkow rests on the 16th-century chronicler Kantzow and is not reliable. Kinsmen of the princely house are the ancestors of the later lords of Putbus and Gristow (not pinned for 1200).
Confidence
medium

de.wikipedia Jaromar I. and Fürstentum Rügen

Overlord

King Canute VI of Denmark. Since Valdemar I and Bishop Absalon took Arkona on 15 June 1168, the princes owe the Danish king military service, yearly dues and hostages; they accepted Christianity and gave the temple lands and treasure to the Church.

What the realm holds

  • the island of Rügen with the Rugard by Bergen, Charenza (Garz) and the ruins of Arkona
  • the mainland land of Barth
  • the Strelasund shore and the land of Gristow north of the Ryck
  • the Ryck mouth with Eldena's lands (founded 1199)
  • the Tribsees land as a Danish fief (contested by Brandenburg)
  • claims to Gützkow and Wusterhusen south of the Ryck (lost to the dukes in 1198)

How it was acquired

Hereditary princes of the Rani; Danish vassals since 1168; the mainland lands from the Pomeranian wars of the 1170s-1190s and the Danish ruling.

Allies and rivals

Allies: Canute VI and Duke Valdemar; Bishop Peder Sunesen of Roskilde; the Mecklenburg princes (fellow Danish vassals). Rivals: the Pomeranian dukes; Margrave Otto II of Brandenburg.

The realm that morning

On 1 January 1200 Jaromar holds the island and the mainland from Barth along the Strelasund to the Ryck mouth; the Tribsees land is his by Danish grant but claimed by Brandenburg since about 1198; the land south of the Ryck (Gützkow, Wusterhusen) is back in Pomeranian hands since 1198-99, though he still claims it. Across the Ryck and the Trebel lies Pomerania; to the west, beyond the Recknitz, the Mecklenburg lords (Nicholas I of Rostock).

Wealth

Herring fishing round the island, the Strelasund crossing, the salt pans by the Ryck, dues from the Slav villages.

Military

The Rugard; Charenza (Garz); the mainland castles of Barth and Tribsees. Record: the 1184 sea battle in the Greifswald Bay; raids on the Peene lands in 1177-78 and 1184-85 with the Danes. No figures.

Threats

  • the Pomeranian dukes, now of age
  • Brandenburg's claim to Tribsees

Consort

Hildegard of Denmark (alive in 1200: not pinned).

Heirs

Barnuta (succeeds 1218, resigns 1221), then Wizlaw I.

Regency

None; Jaromar rules in person.

Officers

Not pinned. The princes' kin and Slav nobles hold the castles; the island's churches are served from Roskilde.

Church

The island has been under the bishop of Roskilde since 1169 (Peder Sunesen in 1200, campaign notes); the mainland up to the Ryck under the bishop of Schwerin since 1178; the Pomeranian side beyond the Ryck under Kammin. Bergen nunnery (Cistercian nuns, 1193) and Eldena abbey (Cistercian monks from Dargun, a daughter of Esrum in Denmark, 1199) are Church map records.

Court in 1200

The Rugard by Bergen.

Treaties

Danish vassalage since 1168. The Danish royal ruling on the Pomeranian border (after 1189; versions differ, see Pomerania). Guardianship of the Pomeranian dukes from 1189 (its end not pinned; the dukes were of age by 1194).

Feuds

With the Pomeranian dukes over the land between the Ryck and the Peene. With Brandenburg, which claims the Tribsees land (about 1198).

Throne war

Through his Danish overlord on Otto IV's side; no act of his own known.

Relations with rome

Nothing known beyond his foundations; Innocent III confirms Eldena in 1204.

The host

The prince's men and ships, serving in the Danish fleet. No figures.

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.

In 1200

  1. 25 May 1200 (some sources 1201)Probably marches with Duke Valdemar and the Mecklenburg vassals against Adolf of Dassel at Waschow (de.wikipedia says 'probably').Depends on: the Danish king's summons Stopped by: trouble with Pomerania or Brandenburg at home

Later, on the likely course

  1. 1204-1209 (after this year)Innocent III confirms Eldena (1204); Jaromar gives Eldena half the forest between Eldena and Gützkow (1207); he beats off the Pomeranian dukes (1209).Depends on: the Ryck border staying open Stopped by: a settlement in 1200
  2. before August 1218 (after this year)Jaromar dies and is buried at Bergen; Barnuta succeeds.Depends on: natural death

Places of note

  • Rugard: the prince's castle and residence since about 1180
  • Arkona: temple fortress of Svantevit, destroyed by the Danes in 1168
  • Eldena (Hilda): Cistercian abbey at the Ryck mouth, founded 1199

Where the sources disagree

  • Garz (Charenza) is often given as the princes' seat; de.wikipedia Jaromar I. says the Pomeranian dukes destroyed Charenza in 1169 and Jaromar resided at the Rugard by Bergen from about 1180, so we put the seat at Bergen.
  • Eldena lies on the south bank of the Ryck (en.wikipedia Casimir II), yet de.wikipedia Jaromar I. has Rügen losing the land south of the Ryck in 1198: we keep a strip along the Ryck mouth with Rügen and the rest with Pomerania.

Evidence: Jaromar's family, foundations and Danish ties are well attested (de.wikipedia). The mainland frontier in 1200 is not pinned, and the sources disagree on the 1190s border ruling.

On the map: Drawn in Jaromar I (held and claimed lands) and Tribsees land (contested).

Primary sources for this realm

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.

Sources and studies

  1. Wikipedia (de): Jaromar I.
  2. Wikipedia (de): Fürstentum Rügen
  3. Wikipedia (de): Kloster Eldena (Vorpommern)
  4. Wikipedia (de): Kasimir II. (Pommern)
  5. Wikipedia: Casimir II, Duke of Pomerania
  6. Wikipedia (de): Otto II. (Brandenburg)
  7. Wikipedia (de): Schlacht bei Waschow

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