Duchy of Pomerania - Further Partitions in 1569

Further Partitions in 1569

In 1569, Pomerania-Barth (consisting of the area around Barth, Damgarten and Richtenberg) was split off Pomerania-Wolgast to satisfy Bogislaw XIII. In the same year, Pomerania-Rügenwalde (consisting of the areas around Rügenwalde and Bütow) was split off Pomerania-Stettin to satisfy Barnim XII. Though the partitions were named similar to the earlier ones, their territory differed significantly.

In contrast to the partition of 1532, it was agreed that two governments were maintained in Wolgast and Stettin. Decisions of war and peace were to be made only by a common Landtag.

During the 1560s, Pomerania was caught between the Northern Seven Years' War for hegemony in the Baltic Sea and the struggle for hegemony in the Upper Saxon Circle of the Electorate of Saxony and Brandenburg. In 1570, the war in the Baltic ended with the Treaty of Stettin. In 1571–74, the duchy's status regarding Brandenburg was finally settled: While an agreement of 1529 ruled Brandenburg to succeed in Pomerania once the House of Pomerania died out in turn for the final rejection of Brandenburgian claims to hold Pomerania as a fief, it was now agreed that both ruling houses had a mutual right of succession in case of the extinction of the other one.

Also in 1571, a trade war between the towns Frankfurt (Oder) (Brandenburg) and Stettin (Pomerania), ongoing since 1560, was settled in favour of Brandenburg. The struggle within the Upper Saxon Circle however went on. The Pomeranian dukes Johann Friedrich and Ernst Ludwig refused to pay their taxes to the circle's treasury (Kreiskasten in Leipzig) properly, and in the rare cases they did, they marked it as a voluntary act. Furthermore, the dukes ratified the circle's decrees only with caveats that made it possible for them to withdraw at any time. The Pomeranian dukes justified their actions with events of 1563, when an army led by Eric of Brunswick crossed and devastated their duchy, and the circle did not give them support. On the other hand, the Pomeranian refusal to properly integrate in the circle's structure likewise reduced the circle's ability to act as a unified military power.

The partitioned duchy underwent an economical recession in the late 16th century. The dukes' ability to control the inner affairs of the duchy severely declined in the cource of the 16th century. As the central power was weakened by the partitions and increasingly indebted, the independence of nobles and towns rose. Attempts of duke Johann Friedrich to strengthen the ducal position, e.g. by introducing a general tax, failed due to the resistance of the nobility, who had gained the right to veto ducal tax decrees at the circle's convent. In 1594–1597, the duchy participated in the Ottoman Wars. Yet, due to the rejection of financial support by the nobility, the Pomeranian dukes' funds for the campaign were low, resulting in their humiliation during the war for fighting with bad horses and weapons.