Wartislaw VIII, Duke of Pomerania
Encyclopedia
Wartislaw VIII was a duke of Pomerania
from the House of Griffins house. He ruled in Pomerania-Wolgast from 1394 together with his brother Barnim VI
. After Barnim died in 1405, he ruled alone.
of Pomerania-Wolgast and his wife, Anne of Mecklenburg-Stargard.
His father initially intended that Wartislaw would join the clergy. At the age of 14, he was appointed the Archdeacon
at Tribsees
. But in 1393 he left the clergy to marry. According to later tradition, he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
to obtain the required dispensation
. He possibly started this pilgrimage together with his cousin Wartislaw VII
of Pomerania-Stolp, who had to break off the journey due to illness.
After the death of his father, Wartislaw VI, in 1394, Wartislaw VIII ruled Pomerania-Wolgast jointly with his elder brother Barnim VI
. During their joint reign, they sometimes joined the Hanseatic League
in the fight against the piracy
. Sometimes, however, Duke Barnim VI himself operated as a pirate, leading to a tense relationship with the Hanseatic League and the Teutonic Knights
. Barnim VI died in 1405.
After his brother's death, Wartislaw VIII ruled Pomerania-Wolgast alone, and acted as guardian for his brother's two sons Wartislaw IX (born: 1400) and Barnim VII
(born: ). He settled his dispute with the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights in March 1406 and undertook a pilgrimage to Rome
, where Pope Gregory XII
gave him a Golden Rose
. After his return, Wartislaw gave the Golden Rose to the Pudagla Monastery, where it was soon revered as miraculous. It was later destroyed by abbott Henry, who ruled 1479-1493, because it had become an idol
.
During his reign, there was an incident in Stralsund, known as the . Ans angry crowd burned three priests at the stake. Wartislaw mediated an atonement in 1409, but could not settle the issue permanently.
In the struggle between the Dukes of Pomerania-Stettin, i.e. Swantibor III
and later his sons Otto II and Casimir V
against Elector Frederick I
of the Mark Brandenburg, Wartislaw sided with the latter. In 1413, he concluded an alliance with Frederick and Wartislaw's oldest son, also named Wartislaw, was engaged to Frederick's daughter Margaret. However, Wartislaw junior died one or two years later, before he could marry Margaret. Wartislaw VIII and Frederick travelled together to the Council of Constance
, where Emperor Sigismund
invested Wartislaw as Duke of Pomerania. However, Wartislaw then had to travel back to Pomerania to deal with riots and could not participate with the Council, such as the burning of the heretic John Huss.
Duke Wartislaw VIII died on 20 August 1415. He was buried in the St. Peter's Church in Wolgast. After his death, his widow Agnes and regency council acted as regent for his own sons Barnim VIII
and Swantibor IV as well as his brother's sons Wartislaw IX
and Barnim VII
, until Wartislaw IX, the eldest of the four, took over in 1417.
of Saxe-Lauenburg. They had four children:
His widow Agnes died in 1435 and was buried in Pudagla Monastery.
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
from the House of Griffins house. He ruled in Pomerania-Wolgast from 1394 together with his brother Barnim VI
Barnim VI, Duke of Pomerania
Barnim VI was duke of Pomerania-Wolgast from 1394 to 1405. He was the son of Wartislaw VI of Pomerania-Wolgast.Barnim is known for his engagement in piracy. He erected a fort and a port for this purpose in Ahrenshoop, which was destroyed by Rostock in 1395...
. After Barnim died in 1405, he ruled alone.
Life
Wartislaw VIII was the second son of Duke Wartislaw VIWartislaw VI, Duke of Pomerania
Wartislaw VI of Pomarania was the eldest son of the Duke Barnim IV of Pomerania-Wolgast-Rügen....
of Pomerania-Wolgast and his wife, Anne of Mecklenburg-Stargard.
His father initially intended that Wartislaw would join the clergy. At the age of 14, he was appointed the Archdeacon
Archdeacon
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in Anglicanism, Syrian Malabar Nasrani, Chaldean Catholic, and some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop. In the High Middle Ages it was the most senior diocesan position below a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church...
at Tribsees
Tribsees
Tribsees is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated 33 km southwest of Stralsund, and 40 km east of Rostock....
. But in 1393 he left the clergy to marry. According to later tradition, he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
to obtain the required dispensation
Dispensation
Dispensation may refer to:* Dispensation , the suspension, by competent authority, of general rules of law in particular cases in the Catholic Church* Dispensation , a period in history according to various religions...
. He possibly started this pilgrimage together with his cousin Wartislaw VII
Wartislaw VII, Duke of Pomerania
Wartislaw VII was one of the Dukes of Pomerania. He was the son of Bogislaw V, brother of Casimir IV and Bogislaw VIII. He married Maria of Mecklenburg and was the father of Eric of Pomerania and Catherine of Pomerania....
of Pomerania-Stolp, who had to break off the journey due to illness.
After the death of his father, Wartislaw VI, in 1394, Wartislaw VIII ruled Pomerania-Wolgast jointly with his elder brother Barnim VI
Barnim VI, Duke of Pomerania
Barnim VI was duke of Pomerania-Wolgast from 1394 to 1405. He was the son of Wartislaw VI of Pomerania-Wolgast.Barnim is known for his engagement in piracy. He erected a fort and a port for this purpose in Ahrenshoop, which was destroyed by Rostock in 1395...
. During their joint reign, they sometimes joined the Hanseatic League
Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...
in the fight against the piracy
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
. Sometimes, however, Duke Barnim VI himself operated as a pirate, leading to a tense relationship with the Hanseatic League and the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
. Barnim VI died in 1405.
After his brother's death, Wartislaw VIII ruled Pomerania-Wolgast alone, and acted as guardian for his brother's two sons Wartislaw IX (born: 1400) and Barnim VII
Barnim VII, Duke of Pomerania
Barnim VII was the son of Duke Barnim VI, Duke of Pomerania. He was from 1425 Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast-Demmin and later also Duke of Pomerania-Barth. He supported his brother Wartislaw IX, Duke of Pomerania against Brandenburg.- References :...
(born: ). He settled his dispute with the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights in March 1406 and undertook a pilgrimage to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, where Pope Gregory XII
Pope Gregory XII
Pope Gregory XII , born Angelo Correr or Corraro, Pope from 1406 to 1415, succeeded Pope Innocent VII on 30 November 1406....
gave him a Golden Rose
Golden Rose
The Golden Rose is a gold ornament, which popes of the Catholic Church have traditionally blessed annually. It is occasionally conferred as a token of reverence or affection...
. After his return, Wartislaw gave the Golden Rose to the Pudagla Monastery, where it was soon revered as miraculous. It was later destroyed by abbott Henry, who ruled 1479-1493, because it had become an idol
Idolatry
Idolatry is a pejorative term for the worship of an idol, a physical object such as a cult image, as a god, or practices believed to verge on worship, such as giving undue honour and regard to created forms other than God. In all the Abrahamic religions idolatry is strongly forbidden, although...
.
During his reign, there was an incident in Stralsund, known as the . Ans angry crowd burned three priests at the stake. Wartislaw mediated an atonement in 1409, but could not settle the issue permanently.
In the struggle between the Dukes of Pomerania-Stettin, i.e. Swantibor III
Swantibor III, Duke of Pomerania
Swantibor III, Duke of Pomerania, or, accoding to a different way of counting, SwantiborI. was a member of the House of Griffins, a Duke of Pomerania-Stettin] and for a while governor of the Mittelmark.- Life :...
and later his sons Otto II and Casimir V
Casimir V, Duke of Pomerania
Duke Casimir V of Pomerania was a member of the House of Griffins and a Duke of Pomerania. He ruled in Pomerania-Stettin together with his brother Otto II from 1413 to 1428...
against Elector Frederick I
Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick was Burgrave of Nuremberg as Frederick VI and Elector of Brandenburg as Frederick I. He was a son of Burgrave Frederick V of Nuremberg and Elisabeth of Meissen, and was the first member of the House of Hohenzollern to rule the Margraviate of Brandenburg.- Biography :Frederick entered...
of the Mark Brandenburg, Wartislaw sided with the latter. In 1413, he concluded an alliance with Frederick and Wartislaw's oldest son, also named Wartislaw, was engaged to Frederick's daughter Margaret. However, Wartislaw junior died one or two years later, before he could marry Margaret. Wartislaw VIII and Frederick travelled together to the Council of Constance
Council of Constance
The Council of Constance is the 15th ecumenical council recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, held from 1414 to 1418. The council ended the Three-Popes Controversy, by deposing or accepting the resignation of the remaining Papal claimants and electing Pope Martin V.The Council also condemned and...
, where Emperor Sigismund
Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor
Sigismund of Luxemburg KG was King of Hungary, of Croatia from 1387 to 1437, of Bohemia from 1419, and Holy Roman Emperor for four years from 1433 until 1437, the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg. He was also King of Italy from 1431, and of Germany from 1411...
invested Wartislaw as Duke of Pomerania. However, Wartislaw then had to travel back to Pomerania to deal with riots and could not participate with the Council, such as the burning of the heretic John Huss.
Duke Wartislaw VIII died on 20 August 1415. He was buried in the St. Peter's Church in Wolgast. After his death, his widow Agnes and regency council acted as regent for his own sons Barnim VIII
Barnim VIII, Duke of Pomerania
Barnim VIII, Duke of Pomerania was Duke of Pomerania -Wolgast-Barth.Barnim VIII was the son of Duke Wartislaw VIII of Pomerania-Wolgast...
and Swantibor IV as well as his brother's sons Wartislaw IX
Wartislaw IX, Duke of Pomerania
Duke Wartislaw IX of Pomerania-Wolgast was the eldest son of the Duke Barnim VI, Duke of Pomerania and Veronica of Hohenzollern. He reigned from 1417 until his death in 1457 and he married to Sophia of Saxe-Lauenburg-Ratzeburg in 1420...
and Barnim VII
Barnim VII, Duke of Pomerania
Barnim VII was the son of Duke Barnim VI, Duke of Pomerania. He was from 1425 Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast-Demmin and later also Duke of Pomerania-Barth. He supported his brother Wartislaw IX, Duke of Pomerania against Brandenburg.- References :...
, until Wartislaw IX, the eldest of the four, took over in 1417.
Marriage and issue
Duke Wartislaw VIII married Agnes, a daughter of Duke Eric IVEric IV, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg
Eric IV of Saxe-Lauenburg was a son of Duke Eric II of Saxe-Lauenburg and Agnes of Schauenburg and Holstein-Plön, daughter of Count John III of Schauenburg and Holstein-Plön.-Life:...
of Saxe-Lauenburg. They had four children:
- Wartislaw (born: ; died: 1414 or 1415)
- Barnim VIIIBarnim VIII, Duke of PomeraniaBarnim VIII, Duke of Pomerania was Duke of Pomerania -Wolgast-Barth.Barnim VIII was the son of Duke Wartislaw VIII of Pomerania-Wolgast...
(born: , died: 1451) married Anna of Wunstorf - Swantibor (born: ; died: between 1432 and 1436)
- Sophia (died: after 1453), married WilliamWilliam of WerleWilliam of Werle , was co-regent of Werle from 1418 to 1425, then the sole ruler from 1425 until his death. After 1426, he called himself "Prince of the Wends"...
, Lord of Werle (d. 1436)
His widow Agnes died in 1435 and was buried in Pudagla Monastery.