Otto II, Duke of Pomerania

Otto II, Duke of Pomerania
Spouse(s)	Agnes of Mecklenburg
Noble family	House of Griffins
Father	Swantibor III, Duke of Pomerania
Mother	Anna of Hohenzollern
Born	c. 1380
Died	27 March 1428(1428-03-27)

Otto II (c. 1380 – 27 March 1428) was a Duke of Pomerania-Stettin from the House of Griffins.

Life

Otto II was the eldest son of Duke Swantibor III, of Pomerania-Stettin and his wife Anna of Hohenzollern.

When Otto was about 20 years old, his father tried to make him the Archbishop of Riga, which, against the will of the Teutonic Knights, who preferred John of Wallenrode as Archbishop. Otto was confirmed as Archbishop in 1394 by King Wenceslaus and in 1396, he went to Dorpat, where he created an alliance with Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania. In the following years, however, the Teutonic Order prevailed and Otto returned to Pomerania and this episode was without lasting results.

Otto's father, Duke Swantibor III, had been governor of the Mittelmark, a part of Brandenburg since 1409. When Burgrave Frederick VI of Nuremberg, the later Elector Frederick I of Brandenburg, was appointed Margrave of Brandenburg by Emperor Sigismund and Duke Swantibor hun on to his post as governor of the Mittelmark, armed clashes between the two resulted. Swantibor III retired in 1412 and left government to his two sons Otto II and Casimir V. They fought the inconclusive Battle of Kremmer Damm against Brandenburg on 12 October 1412.

When Duke Swantibor III died on 21 June 1413, Otto II and Casimir V decided to rule Pomerania-Stettin jointly. The war with Brandenburg continued. In 1415, Emperor Sigismund outlawed Otto II and Casimir V, at the request of Frederick I. On 16 December 1415, the brothers signed a peace treaty with Frederick in Eberswalde. Pomerania gave up the Uckermark, Boitzenburg and Zehdenick in exchange for monetary compensation. Nevertheless, the fighting continued, with varying results. In 1419, Otto II took the city of Prenzlau. However, in 1420, he suffered a crushing defeat at Angermünde and he lost Prenzlau again. In 1425, Otto II and Casimir V managed to capture Prenzlau by surprise. However, they lost it again in 1426.

Brandenburg raised the question of Pomerania's imperial immediacy. Brandenburg claimed that Pomerania was a fief of Brandenburg; the Duke of Pomerania claimed they were immediately subordinate to the Empire. In 1417, Emperor Sigismund invested Otto II with Pomerania-Stettin, subject to the rights of Brandenburg; in 1424, Casimir V was invested by the Emperor without such a restriction.

In 1426, Frederick abdicated in favor of his eldest son John. Later that year, Otto II and Casimir V made peace with John and on 16 June 1427, a peace treaty was signed in Templin between John and all the Dukes of Pomerania.

Otto II died on 27 March 1428. From that date, his brother Casimir V ruled Pomerania-Stettin alone.

Marriage

Otto II was married to Agnes of Mecklenburg, a daughter of Duke John II of Mecklenburg-Stargard. They had no children.

Sometimes it is alleged that Otto head earlier married a daughter of Grand Duke Vytautas of Lithuania. According to the historian Martin Wehrmann, there is no evidence for such a marriage and the rumour is probably based on the alliance between Otto and Vytautas.

Ancestors

Family of Otto II, Duke of Pomerania

16. Barnim I, Duke of Pomerania               8. Otto I, Duke of Pomerania                       17. Matilda of Brandenburg-Salzwedel               4. Barnim III, Duke of Pomerania                             18. Gerhard II, Count of Holstein-Plön               9. Elisabeth of Holstein                       19. Ingeborg of Sweden               2. Swantibor III, Duke of Pomerania                                   20. Henry I, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen               10. Henry II, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg                       21. Agnes of Meissen               5. Agnes of Brunswick-Grubenhagen                             22. Henry I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal               11. Judith of Brandenburg-Stendal                       23. Agnes of Bavaria               1. Otto II, Duke of Pomerania                                         24. Frederick III of Nuremberg               12. Frederick IV, Burgrave of Nuremberg                       25. Helene of Saxony               6. Albert of Zollern                             26. Albert of Carinthia               13. Margaret of Gorizia                       27. Agnes of Hohenberg               3. Anna of Nuremberg                                   28. Berthold IV, Count of Henneberg-Schleusingen               14. Henry IV, Count of Henneberg-Schleusingen                       29. Adelaide of Hesse               7. Sophie of Henneberg-Schleusingen                             30. Herman, Margrave of Brandenburg-Salzwedel               15. Judith of Brandenburg-Salzwedel                       31. Anne of Austria

See also

• List of Pomeranian duchies and dukes

References

• Klaus Conrad: Herzogliche Schwäche und städtische Macht in der zweiten Hälfte des 14. und im 15. Jahrhundert, in: Werner Buchholz (ed.): Deutsche Geschichte im Osten Europas. Pommern, Siedler Verlag, Berlin, 1999, ISBN 3-88680-272-8, p. 127–202