Otto of Bamberg's Second Mission (1128)
Otto of Bamberg returned in 1128, this time invited by duke Wartislaw himself, aided by the emperor Holy Roman Emperor Lothair III, to convert the Slavs of Western Pomerania just incorporated into the Pomeranian duchy, and to strengthen the Christian faith of the inhabitants of Szczecin and Wolin, who fell back into heathen practices and idolatry. Otto this time visited primarily Western Pomeranian burghs, had the temples of Gützkow and Wolgast torn down and on their sites erected the predecessors of today's St Nikolai and St Petri churches, respectively, before turning to Kamień Pomorski, Wolin and Szczecin. The nobility assembled to a congress in Usedom, where they accepted Christianity on June 10, 1128. Otto then was titled apostolus gentis Pomeranorum, made a saint by pope Clement III in 1189, and was worshiped in Pomerania even after the Protestant Reformation.
Holy Roman Emperor Lothair claimed the areas west of the Oder for his empire. Thus the terms of Otto's second mission were not negotiated with Boleslaw III of Poland, but with Lothar and Wartislaw. However Lothair terminated the mission in the fall of 1128, probably because he distrusted Otto's contacts with Boleslaw. Otto visited Gniezno on his way back to Bamberg.
Adalbert of Pomerania, the later Pomeranian bishop, participated in Otto's mission as an interpreter and assistant.
Read more about this topic: Pomerania During The High Middle Ages
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