Wartislaw I, Duke of Pomerania

Who is Wartislaw I, Duke of Pomerania?

Wartislaw I was the first historical ruler of the Duchy of Pomerania and the founder of the Griffin dynasty.

Most of the information about him comes from the writings on the life of Otto of Bamberg. He was most likely born around the turn of the twelfth century. Early in life he was probably a "crypto-Christian", after being baptized while a prisoner of the Saxons, because he wanted to hide his new religion from his still pagan subjects. Around 1119 or 1121 Wartislaw was defeated in the Battle of Nakło by Bolesław III Wrymouth, the Duke of Poland, to whom he became a vassal sometime between 1120 and 1123. He agreed to pay tribute to Bolesław, as well as to Christianize Pomerania. To that effect, he, along with Bolesław, backed Otto of Bamberg in his successful Conversion of Pomerania. By 1124 his residence was in Kamień Pomorski.

The last time he is mentioned explicitly in chronicles is by Saxo Grammaticus who describes a joint Polish-Danish expedition against Wartislaw around 1129/1130, which was directed at the islands of Wolin and Uznam. The Danish King Niels is supposed to have taken him prisoner but released later after the intervention of "King of the Obotrites" Canute Lavard.