Pomerelia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Gdańsk Pomerania. (Discuss)

Pomerelia (German: Pommerellen) is a historical region in northern Poland. Pomerelia was situated in eastern Pomerania on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea, centered on the city of Gdańsk at the mouth of the Vistula. It is now located in the Polish geographic region of Gdańsk Pomerania.

1 Early history
2 Duchy of Pomerelia
3 End of independence
4 Population
5 External Link
6 See also

[edit] Early history

The territory is situated entirely in the eastern part of what Greek and Roman historians called "Magna Germania", a cultural rather than ethnographic concept. When the territory began to be called Pomerania in the 11th century, Pomerelia, along with the rest of Pomerania was inhabited by West Slavic tribes and was under the rule of Duchy of Polans.

[edit] Duchy of Pomerelia

In 1136, following the death of Duke Bolesław III, Poland was fragmented into several semi-independent principalities. Governors in Pomerelia gradually gained more power, evolving into semi-independent dukes, in contrast with other Polish territories that were governed by Piast descendants of Bolesław III. Gdańsk (Danzig) was the capital of an entire dynasty of the Dukes of Pomerania, the most famous being Mściwój I (1207–1220), Świętopełk II (1215–1266), and Mściwój II (1271–1294).

Polish dukes regained suzerainty later in the 12th century and under emperor Lothar and Otto von Bamberg Christianity was introduced. In 1181 Pomerania came under the Holy Roman Empire directly. Pomerelia was under Danish suzerainty from 1210-1227, after which it became independent again.

[edit] End of independence

In 1294 Pomerelia was joined to the Kingdom of Poland, also king of imperial Bohemia at the same time. During the inheritance struggle by Brandenburg, which had received the territory previously, but was contested by Poland, Pomerelia was conquered by the Teutonic Knights' monastic state and connected to Prussia in 1309. After the Second Peace of Toruń in 1466, parts of the region came to the crown of the Polish province of Royal Prussia.

Pomerellia-Westprussia Pomerelia- Royal Prussia were politically re-united with the Kingdom of Prussia during the 18th century Partitions of Poland, becoming part of the Province of West Prussia. After World War I the Treaty of Versailles transferred part of the region from Germany to Poland (the Polish Corridor), the inhabitants were forced to leave.

[edit] Population

Some of the minority indigenous population of Pomerelia were the Slavic Kashubians, who spoke the Kashubian dialect of the Pomeranian language, other indigenous people were the Kociewiacy and the Borowiacy.