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Nowe formy prawne zmieni\u0142y tak\u017ce ustr\u00f3j polityczny ksi\u0119stwa. Z monarchii patrymonialnej przekszta\u0142ci\u0142o si\u0119 ono w feudalne pa\u0144stwo z prawem lennym, b\u0119d\u0105cym g\u0142\u00f3wnym wyznacznikiem wi\u0119zi mi\u0119dzy ksi\u0105\u017c\u0119tami a rycerstwem-szlacht\u0105, a tak\u017ce mieszcza\u0144stwem i ch\u0142opami. W tym nowym ustroju rycerstwo (szlachta), a tak\u017ce miasta sta\u0142y si\u0119 stanami dominuj\u0105cymi, z kt\u00f3rymi musia\u0142 si\u0119 liczy\u0107 ka\u017cdy panuj\u0105cy. Ponadto duchowie\u0144stwo sta\u0142o si\u0119 w pe\u0142ni wyodr\u0119bnionym stanem, posiadaj\u0105cym liczne przywileje i maj\u0105tek. Ukoronowaniem tych proces\u00f3w by\u0142o wyodr\u0119bnienie si\u0119 osobnego w\u0142adztwa \u015bwieckiego biskup\u00f3w kamie\u0144skich w II po\u0142owie XIII wieku (ziemia ko\u0142obrzeska).<\/p>\n\n
The political transformations brought about changes in the organization of the ducal court, leading to the emergence of the office of marshal, as well as the ducal chancery with scribes and notaries. The office of chancellor in Pomerania is attested only from the mid-fourteenth century.<\/p>\n
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W XIII wieku nast\u0105pi\u0142 zanik organizacji grodowej i kasztelani. W ich miejsce pojawi\u0142 si\u0119 podzia\u0142 ksi\u0119stwa na landw\u00f3jtostwa, a funkcje militarne od XIII wieku spe\u0142nia\u0142y obwarowania miast lokowanych na Pomorzu oraz budowane zamki. W tych ostatnich cz\u0119sto rezydowa\u0142 nowy urz\u0119dnik, ksi\u0105\u017c\u0119cy – landw\u00f3jt. Odpowiedzialny by\u0142 on za bezpiecze\u0144stwo wewn\u0119trzne i zewn\u0119trzne, zarz\u0105d nad maj\u0105tkiem ksi\u0105\u017c\u0119cym, pob\u00f3r podatk\u00f3w i danin ksi\u0105\u017c\u0119cych, a tak\u017ce sprawowanie w imieniu monarchy s\u0105downictwa w powierzonym okr\u0119gu. W przypadku zagro\u017cenia militarnego na wezwanie ksi\u0119cia landw\u00f3jt zwo\u0142ywa\u0142 miejscowe rycerstwo, a tak\u017ce wolnych so\u0142tys\u00f3w i innych.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n
These transformations also influenced the political status of the duchy. In the second half of the twelfth century, the political ties with the Polish dukes weakened. As a result, in 1181, Bogislaus I took a feudal oath to Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Pomerania became part of the Empire as an immediate fief. However, the Pomeranian dukes lost this status between 1225 and 1250, becoming vassals of the margraves of Brandenburg within the Empire.<\/p>\n\n
The division of the Duchy of Pomerania in 1295 between the sons of Barnim I\u2014Bogislaus IV and Otto I\u2014initiated a regional fragmentation of the country that lasted for nearly two hundred years. The unification of the country occurred in the second half of the fifteenth century. In 1478, following the death of Wartislaw X, Duke of Wolgast, Bogislaus X assumed power over the entirety of Pomerania, stretching from L\u0119bork and Byt\u00f3w to the island of R\u00fcgen and the Reknitz River.<\/p>\n
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This latter ruler carried out a series of reforms in the state and established a central administration for the entire duchy, with its seat at the castle in Szczecin. It was headed by the chancellor, who was responsible for domestic and foreign policy, as well as the chancery. He also acted as the monarch’s deputy during his absence. Important roles were played by the marshal and the national rentmaster. The latter was responsible for revenue from taxes as well as from the ducal domains. The Court of Appeal (S\u0105d Nadworny) in Szczecin was also established. The territorial administration underwent restructuring. Due to its distortion at the end of the fifteenth century, the office of the landvogt was restricted to the judiciary. The management of the ducal estates was entrusted to domain administrators, who were supported by rentmasters. The latter were obliged to manage taxes and dues. Furthermore, the competencies of the administrators also included the governance of a strictly defined area of the country, where they represented the person of the duke. Moreover, during the reign of Bogislaus X, estate representation finally took shape. The assembly of the nobility and towns evolved into the Pomeranian parliament (sejm), alongside an estate advisory council to the duke, composed of land councillors. Throughout the sixteenth century, both institutions grew in importance, especially in the face of the financial crises of the Pomeranian rulers. The Pomeranian estates then assumed control over the system of tax collection in the duchies, as well as over excessive state expenditures that the rulers could not cover with revenue from the ducal domains. For the purpose of tax collection and distribution, estate treasuries were established in Anklam (for the Duchy of Wolgast) and in Stargard (for the Duchy of Szczecin).<\/p>\n
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In external relations, the duchy was part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. In 1521, Duke Bogislaus was recognized by Emperor Charles V as a first-class vassal with the right to sit in the Imperial Diet in the College of Princes. On this account, the Duchy of Pomerania was obliged to bear financial burdens for the benefit of the Empire, including paying taxes for the emperors’ wars with Turkey, and in 1570, Dukes John Frederick and Barnim IX represented the emperor during the Congress of Szczecin, which aimed to end the Livonian War.<\/p>\n\n
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the duchy constituted a feudal estate monarchy. The primary role was played by the nobility, who gained a dominant role in the duchy due to the process of refeudalization of rural relations (the development of the manorial-serf economy). The position of towns, with few exceptions (Szczecin, Stralsund, Anklam, Greifswald, Ko\u0142obrzeg, Stargard, S\u0142upsk), was quite severely restricted. The peasant population was bound to the soil once again (personal, judicial, and economic serfdom) and obliged to perform corv\u00e9e labor and render dues to the noble manor. The dominance of the nobility’s power over the rural population was emphatically confirmed by the peasant ordinance of 1616.<\/p>\n\n
Following the death of Bogislaus X (d. 1523), power in the duchy was exercised on the principle of co-regency by his sons, George I and Barnim IX. In 1531, George I died, and in 1532, his son Philip I concluded an agreement with his uncle on the division of the state into two duchies: Szczecin and Wolgast. As a result of a drawing of lots, the former was assumed by Barnim IX, while the latter went to Philip I. Thenceforth, two separate courts and central administrations (chanceries, courts of appeal, chancellors, marshals, national rentmasters, etc.) operated in Pomerania. Concurrently, however, both rulers, as well as the Pomeranian estates, pledged to maintain a common foreign policy, uniform arrangements in internal administration, a joint estate parliament, and collective care over the university in Greifswald, the Pedagogium in Szczecin, and other foundations. The division of 1532 was dynastic in nature and was confirmed in 1541 and 1569.<\/p>\n\n
In December 1534, at the parliament (diet) in Trzebiat\u00f3w, Dukes Barnim IX and Philip I introduced the Reformation according to the Augsburg (Lutheran) Confession. The theological and organizational foundations of the Evangelical Church in Pomerania were drafted in 1535 by the theologian John Bugenhagen, one of the primary Lutheran reformers in Germany. The duke served as the head of the Pomeranian church, and the ecclesiastical administration consisted of three general superintendents and consistories based in Szczecin, Greifswald, and Ko\u0142obrzeg, alongside synods with provosts. At the lowest level, parishes were subordinate to the latter.<\/p>\n\n
The Reformation was associated with the secularization of monasteries and ecclesiastical foundations; their wealth and landed estates were largely seized by the Pomeranian rulers and incorporated into the ducal domain. A portion of them formed the basis for new ducal foundations; among others, the Ducal Pedagogium was established from the estates of the Collegiate Chapters of St. Mary and St. Otto in Szczecin.<\/p>\n\n
The Reformation altered the status of the bishopric of Kamie\u0144. Following the death of Bishop Martin Weiher in 1556, the cathedral chapter in Kamie\u0144 elected the son of Duke Philip I, John Frederick, as his successor in 1557. Thenceforth, the bishopric\u2014and primarily the secular episcopal dominion (the Ko\u0142obrzeg land), which maintained its separate legal status\u2014became a secundogeniture of the Griffin dynasty. Other ducal sons received only appanages in the form of specific domain administrations: Barth, Byt\u00f3w, and Dar\u0142owo.<\/p>\n
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The estate system of the duchy, formed during the reign of Bogislaus X and consolidated by Barnim IX and Philip I, served as the foundation of the state’s organization until the extinction of the Griffin dynasty, that is, until the death of the last Pomeranian duke, Bogislaus XIV, in 1637. This latter Pomeranian monarch, even during the course of the Thirty Years’ War, sought to reform and improve the functioning of the central authorities. Shortly after assuming governance over both duchies in 1625, he established the Privy Council in 1627, and the War Council, the Economic Council, and the office of governor (namiestnik) in 1628. In 1634, the parliament (diet) resolved to establish a Provisional Government in the event of Duke Bogislaus XIV’s death. The latter commenced its operations in March 1637 under the direction of the governor and constituted a collegial regency in the absence of a monarch. In March 1638, due to the lack of agreement between Brandenburg and Sweden regarding the inheritance of the Duchy of Pomerania after the death of Bogislaus XIV, the Provisional Government and other central offices (including the courts of appeal) dissolved, and power in the duchy was assumed by the Swedish occupying authorities.<\/p>\n