Capitulation of Franzburg

Last updated

The capitulation of Franzburg (German : Franzburger Kapitulation) was a treaty providing for the capitulation of the Duchy of Pomerania to the forces of the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War. [1] It was signed on 10 November (O.S.) or 20 November (N.S.) 1627 [nb 1] by Bogislaw XIV, Duke of Pomerania, and Hans Georg von Arnim, commander in chief of an occupation force belonging to the army of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, led by Albrecht von Wallenstein. [1] While the terms of the capitulation were unfavourable for the Duchy of Pomerania already, occupation became even more burdensome when the occupation force did not adhere to the restrictions outlined in Franzburg. [2] Stralsund resisted with Danish, Swedish and Scottish support, another Danish intervention failed. Imperial occupation lasted until Swedish forces invaded in 1630, and subsequently cleared all of the Duchy of Pomerania of imperial forces until 1631. [3]

Contents

Franzburg, Western Pomerania, in 1618 Lubinus Franzburg.png
Franzburg, Western Pomerania, in 1618

Background

Location of the Duchy of Pomerania ("Pommern") within the Upper Saxon Circle (rose) of the Holy Roman Empire (white) Upper Saxon Circle-2005-10-14-de.png
Location of the Duchy of Pomerania ("Pommern") within the Upper Saxon Circle (rose) of the Holy Roman Empire (white)

The Duchy of Pomerania adopted Protestantism in 1534. [4] With the Second Defenestration of Prague in 1618, the Thirty Years' War started as a primarily Catholic-Protestant conflict between Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, and the Catholic League on the one side and Protestant nobility and states on the other. Pomerania was a member of the internally divided Protestant Upper Saxon Circle, [5] that most prominently included the electorates of Saxony and Brandenburg, and had declared neutrality in 1620. [6] Facing a victorious Catholic League, the Saxon electorate switched to the emperor's side in 1624, while Brandenburg and Pomerania kept resisting imperial demands. [7] Aware of the League's military superiority however, they refused an alliance offered by Protestant Denmark. [8]

In 1625, imperial forces led by Albrecht von Wallenstein occupied the Lower Saxon prince-bishoprics of Magdeburg and Halberstadt, thereby also occupying and looting the Upper Saxon counties of Honstein and Wernigerode. [8] Wallenstein's army had been raised to support the League's forces commanded by Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly. [9]

As a countermeasure, Danish forces led by Ernst von Mansfeld occupied the Brandenburgian regions Altmark and Prignitz southwest of Pomerania also in 1625, but were defeated by the Imperial troops in the Battle of Dessau Bridge in 1626. [8] Except for The Electorate of Saxony, which was treated by Wallenstein as a de facto member of the Catholic League, the Upper Saxon states, bare of sufficient military means for self-defence, were subsequently occupied and devastated by the imperial forces after Denmark had been neutralized. [8] Formally, the circle maintained neutrality. [10]

In November 1626, the Swedish Empire recruited troops in Pomerania even though the duke had disapproved. [11] In February 1627, Swedish troops crossed the duchy for Poland, an imperial ally Sweden was at war with. [11] In July, imperial troops crossed into the duchy near Pyritz (now Pyrzyce). [12] To prevent the pending occupation, duke Bogislaw XIV offered 60,000 Talers in October, later raised to 200,000 Talers. [12] Unimpressed Albrecht von Wallenstein instead ordered Hans-Georg von Arnim to occupy all Pomeranian ports and to confiscate all vessels. [12]

The occupation of Pomerania was a strategical measure rather than punishment for prior disobedience. [1] It was implemented to secure the southern coastline of the Baltic Sea for the empire against Christian IV of Denmark, whose land forces were operating on imperial soil until the Treaty of Lübeck in 1629, and whose naval dominance in the Baltic Sea the empire was unable to challenge. [1]

Provisions

Hans Georg von Arnim, signed for the empire Hans Georg von Arnim.jpg
Hans Georg von Arnim, signed for the empire

The treaty ruled on the conditions of the billeting ("hospitatio") of the Imperial troops. [1] Sources vary on whether Bogislaw XIV obliged himself to the intake of eight [13] [14] [15] or ten [16] [17] regiments (approximately 24,000 soldiers). [15] According to Herbert Langer, twenty multi-ethnic regiments with a total of 31,000 infantry and 7,540 cavalry were actually counted. [1] To this number added military staff and civilian baggage of unknown number. [1]

In general, all towns and villages were required to quarter the troops, exempted were specified domains of the House of Pomerania, estates of knights, houses of clergy, councillors and academics, as well as the ducal residences Damm (now Szczecin-Dąbie), Köslin (now Koszalin), Stettin (now Szczecin) and Wolgast. [1]

The capitulation also included restrictions on the army, in particular it forbade among others the interference with trade, traffic and crafts; holdups and robberies which would harm towns, burghers, peasants or travellers; looting and extortion; rape of decent women; [nb 2] quartering of soldiers' families and servants; and frivolous use of arms. [18]

Contributions, which were to pay to the imperial forces by the duchy, were fixed at a weekly 407 Reichstalers per company and an additional 2,580 Reichstalers per respective staff. [13]

Implementation and consequences

Albrecht von Wallenstein Albrecht wenzel von wallenstein.jpg
Albrecht von Wallenstein

The towns of Anklam, Demmin, Greifswald and Kolberg (now Kolobrzeg) were made seats of a garrison each, while in other towns, smaller units took quarter. [19] Cavalry was stationed primarily in villages due to both the easier handling of the horses and the lower proportion of desertion compared to infantry. [19]

Although not ruled out verbatim in the capitulation's text, the conditions of quartering in Pomerania followed established practice: House and estate owners were to provide the soldier with bed, vinegar and salt, and also share kitchen and heatable living room at no cost. [19] In theory, food had to be paid for; the soldiers were to either compensate their hosts or buy their victuals in special depots set up by the military. [19]

Wallenstein had promised Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, to fund his army himself. [20] In practice, this meant that the army was fed and paid by contributions of the occupied territories and war loot. [20] Since the higher ranks often kept the already small fraction of war loot and contributions thought to pay the lower ranks for themselves, the soldiers satisfied their needs at the expense of the local population instead ( bellum se ipsum alet ). [19]

In addition to noncompliance with the capitulation's provisions by the military, hardship resulted from more frequent epidemics caused by the quartering, and by shrinking natural resources. [18] By 7 May 1628, Pomerania had already paid 466,981 Reichstaler as contributions – twice as much as the whole Upper Saxon Circle’s annual output. [13] Suffering in Pomerania was "undescribable and became proverbial". [21] John George I, Elector of Saxony, who still perceived the Upper Saxon Circle his sphere of influence and anticipated imperial occupation of his thitherto spared electorate, sharply criticized Wallenstein’s practices, yet without result. [21]

Alexander Leslie Alexleslie.jpg
Alexander Leslie

Stralsund was the only town in the Duchy of Pomerania to resist imperial occupation, resulting in the Battle of Stralsund. [22] Unwilling to surrender the considerable independence it had long enjoyed as a Hanseatic town, Stralsund ignored the duke's order to adhere to the capitulation, instead turned to Denmark and Sweden for support and was aided in her defense by both. [23] Christian IV of Denmark deployed a Scottish force raised by Donald Mackay, and the Scots Alexander Seaton and Alexander Leslie were in charge of the defense when the former colonel, Holke, retired to seek reinforcements. [24] [nb 3] Wallenstein laid siege to the town, and in July 1628 commanded several unsuccessful assaults in person. [25] When Stralsund turned out to become his first serious misfortune in the war, he lifted the siege to win a last battle against Christian IV near Wolgast. [25] Christian IV, who had already destroyed Wallenstein's naval facilities in Greifswald, [26] had intended to secure another Pomeranian port besides Stralsund there, but was utterly defeated and retreated to Denmark. [27] Stralsund however signed an alliance with Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, providing him with a bridgehead on imperial territory manned with a Swedish expeditionary force and thus ultimately marking the Swedish entrance into the Thirty Years' War. [25]

In February 1629, Bogislaw XIV pledged to ease the occupation, and though Ferdinand II re-assured the duke, he took no action. [28] Instead the imperial Edict of Restitution of March advertised the re-Catholization of the empire’s Protestant states. [21] The Treaty of Lübeck, which ended the hostilities between the Danish king and the emperor in May, likewise did not result in a relief or a lift of the occupation, [21] even though the capitulation of Franzburg had been justified with the emperor's right to recruit military support from his subjects to their own and the empire's protection. [1]

After France had mediated a truce between the Swedish Empire and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in September 1629, Sweden was ready for an invasion of the Holy Roman Empire. [25] The invasion was started when Gustavus Adolphus' troops landed on Usedom island in the spring of 1630, while simultaneous assaults on Rügen and the adjacent mainland by the Stralsund garrison cleared his flank. [29] As a consequence, the capitulation of Franzburg was replaced by a Pomeranian-Swedish alliance confirmed in the Treaty of Stettin. [30]

Legacy

Gustavus Adolphus, memorial plaque at the Greifswald cathedral (Swedish Pomerania until 1815) Bundesarchiv Bild 183-29935-0001, Greifswald, Gedenktafel fur Gustav Adolf.jpg
Gustavus Adolphus, memorial plaque at the Greifswald cathedral (Swedish Pomerania until 1815)

The capitulation of Franzburg marked the beginning of the Thirty Years' War in the Duchy of Pomerania. The severe plight the capitulation inflicted on the people [22] only foreshadowed the utter devastation of the duchy by the end of the war, when two thirds of the population were left dead. [31]

The successful resistance of Stralsund to the terms of the capitulation granted the Swedish Empire a foothold in the Holy Roman Empire – especially after Denmark withdrew her forces following the Treaty of Lübeck. The Swedish garrison in Stralsund was the first on German soil in history. [1] A Riksdag commission had approved of Gustavus Adolphus' plans to intervene on the empire's soil already in the winter of 1627/28, and in January 1629, the Riksråd approved of an offensive war, put into effect in the following year. [32] Swedish forces invaded Pomerania in 1630 and by 16 June 1631 had cleared the last imperial stronghold, Greifswald. [33] With short war-caused interruptions, Sweden kept her continental foothold in what became known as Swedish Pomerania until the Congress of Vienna of 1815.

Bogislaw XIV, Duke of Pomerania, who had just part by part inherited the previously internally partitioned duchy to become her sole ruler in 1625, [34] issued a paper called Dreijährige Drangsal ("three years of distress") after the Swedish take-over, which read that the capitulation in Franzburg had been forced upon him by the military. [1] At the same time, he wrote a letter to the Holy Roman Emperor apologizing for the Swedish alliance, saying he had no choice but to obey Swedish demands, and included a passage in the Treaty of Stettin stating the alliance be for the empire's best. [35] Bogislaw did not survive the war: He died without issue in 1637, terminating some 500 years of rulership of the House of Pomerania. [36]

The town of Franzburg, where the capitulation was signed, fell victim to the war, too: It was devastated completely. [37] In 1670, a mere 70 people lived in the town. [38] Only in 1728 was Franzburg resettled. [37]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ In the 17th century, the Julian calendar was used in the region, which then was ten days late compared to the Gregorian calendar; 10 November – Julian, 20 November – Gregorian.
  2. ↑ The German original reads "Verbot von Notzucht und Schändung 'redlicher Weibsbilder'". Langer (2003), p. 404
  3. ↑ Scotsman Seaton, in command of the Scottish-Danish forces, was relieved by Leslie, future Earl of Leven, a Scot in Swedish service. Salmon (2003), p. 32

Sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stralsund</span> City in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

Stralsund, officially the Hanseatic City of Stralsund, is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg and Greifswald, and the second-largest city in the Pomeranian part of the state. It is located on the southern coast of the Strelasund, a sound of the Baltic Sea separating the island of Rügen from the Pomeranian mainland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swedish Pomerania</span> Sweden-held lands on the southern Baltic coast (1630–1815)

Swedish Pomerania was a dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815 on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held extensive control over the lands on the southern Baltic coast, including Pomerania and parts of Livonia and Prussia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duchy of Pomerania</span> Vassal state in west-central Europe from 1121 to 1637

The Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania (Griffins). The country existed in the Middle Ages between years 1121–1160, 1264–1295, 1478–1531, and 1625–1637.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Pomerania</span>

The history of Pomerania starts shortly before 1000 AD, with ongoing conquests by newly arrived Polan rulers. Before that, the area was recorded nearly 2000 years ago as Germania, and in modern times Pomerania has been split between Germany and Poland. Its name comes from the Old Polish po more, which means "(land) at the sea".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barth, Germany</span> Town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

Barth is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany. It is situated at a lagoon (Bodden) of the Baltic Sea facing the Fischland-Darss-Zingst peninsula. Barth belongs to the district of Vorpommern-Rügen. It is close to the Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park. In 2011, it held a population of 8,706.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty of Lübeck</span> 1629 peace treaty during the Thirty Years War

The Treaty or Peace of Lübeck ended the Danish intervention in the Thirty Years' War. It was signed in Lübeck on 22 May 1629 by Albrecht von Wallenstein and Christian IV of Denmark, and on 7 June by Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor. The Catholic League was formally included as a party. It restored to Denmark–Norway its pre-war territory at the cost of final disengagement from imperial affairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Stralsund (1628)</span> 1628 siege during the Thirty Years War

The siege of Stralsund was a siege laid on Stralsund by Albrecht von Wallenstein's Imperial Army during the Thirty Years' War, from 13 May 1628 to 4 August 1628. Stralsund was aided by Denmark and Sweden, with considerable Scottish participation. The lifting of the siege ended Wallenstein's series of victories, and contributed to his downfall. The Swedish garrison in Stralsund was the first on German soil in history. The battle marked the de facto entrance of Sweden into the war.

The Battle of Wolgast was an engagement in the Thirty Years' War, fought on 22 August (O.S.) or 2 September (N.S.) 1628 near Wolgast, Duchy of Pomerania, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty of Stettin (1630)</span> 1630 treaty between Sweden and Pomerania

The Treaty of Stettin or Alliance of Stettin was the legal framework for the occupation of the Duchy of Pomerania by the Swedish Empire during the Thirty Years' War. Concluded on 25 August (O.S.) or 4 September 1630 (N.S.), it was predated to 10 July (O.S.) or 20 July 1630 (N.S.), the date of the Swedish Landing. Sweden assumed military control, and used the Pomeranian bridgehead for campaigns into Central and Southern Germany. After the death of the last Pomeranian duke in 1637, forces of the Holy Roman Empire invaded Pomerania to enforce Brandenburg's claims on succession, but they were defeated by Sweden in the ensuing battles. Some of the Pomeranian nobility had changed sides and supported Brandenburg. By the end of the war, the treaty was superseded by the Peace of Westphalia (1648) and the subsequent Treaty of Stettin (1653), when Pomerania was partitioned into a western, Swedish part, and an eastern, Brandenburgian part.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pomerania during the Late Middle Ages</span>

Pomerania during the Late Middle Ages covers the history of Pomerania in the 14th and 15th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pomerania during the Early Modern Age</span>

Pomerania during the Early Modern Age covers the history of Pomerania in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Partitions of the Duchy of Pomerania</span>

The Duchy of Pomerania was partitioned several times to satisfy the claims of the male members of the ruling House of Pomerania dynasty. The partitions were named after the ducal residences: Pomerania-Barth, -Demmin, -Rügenwalde, -Stettin, -Stolp, and -Wolgast. None of the partitions had a hereditary character, the members of the House of Pomerania inherited the duchy in common. The duchy thus continued to exist as a whole despite its division. The only exception was made during a war with the Margraviate of Brandenburg, when in 1338 Barnim III of Pomerania-Stettin was granted his partition as a fief directly from the Holy Roman Emperor, while Pomerania-Wolgast remained under formal Brandenburgian overlordship. However, already in 1348, German king and later emperor Charles IV again granted the Duchy of Pomerania as a whole and the Principality of Rügen as a fief to the dukes of both Pomerania-Stettin and Pomerania-Wolgast, nullifying Brandenburg's claims by granting Imperial immediacy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Frederick, Duke of Pomerania</span>

John Frederick was Duke of Pomerania from 1560 to 1600, and Bishop of Cammin (Kamień) from 1556 to 1574. Elected bishop in 1556 and heir of the duchy in 1560, he remained under the tutelage of his great-uncle Barnim XI until he took on his offices in 1567.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philipp Julius, Duke of Pomerania</span> Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast

Philipp Julius was duke of Pomerania in the Teilherzogtum Pomerania-Wolgast from 1592 to 1625.

Alexander Seaton or Seton was a Scottish soldier in Danish service during the Thirty Years' War. He briefly served as a governor in the Battle of Stralsund and as an admiral in the Torstenson War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Frankfurt an der Oder</span> 1631 battle of the Thirty Years War

The Battle of Frankfurt an der Oder on 13 April 1631 took place during the Thirty Years' War. It was fought between the Swedish Empire and the Holy Roman Empire for the strategically important, fortified Oder crossing Frankfurt an der Oder, Brandenburg, Germany.

Starting in the 12th century, the Margraviate, later Electorate, of Brandenburg was in conflict with the neighboring Duchy of Pomerania over frontier territories claimed by them both, and over the status of the Pomeranian duchy, which Brandenburg claimed as a fief, whereas Pomerania claimed Imperial immediacy. The conflict frequently turned into open war, and despite occasional success, none of the parties prevailed permanently until the House of Pomerania died out in 1637. Brandenburg would by then have naturally have prevailed, but this was hindered by the contemporary Swedish occupation of Pomerania, and the conflict continued between Sweden and Brandenburg-Prussia until 1815, when Prussia incorporated Swedish Pomerania into her Province of Pomerania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty of Pyritz</span> 1493 treaty between the Houses of Pomerania and Hohenzollern

The Treaty of Pyritz settled claims of the House of Pomerania and the House of Hohenzollern regarding the legal status and succession in the Duchy of Pomerania on 26 and 28 March 1493. John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg of the Hohenzollern renounced the Electorate of Brandenburg's claims to hold the Pomeranian duchy as a fief on 26 March in Pyritz. In turn, Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania acknowledged Brandenburgian succession in his duchy in case of the extinction of his dynasty on 28 March in Königsberg. The treaty was the most important achievement of Bogislaw X's foreign policy. It was confirmed and amended when a final settlement between the two houses was reached in the Treaty of Grimnitz in 1529.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treaty of Grimnitz</span> 1529 treaty between the House of Pomerania and the House of Hohenzollern

The Treaty of Grimnitz was the final settlement of a long-standing dispute between the House of Pomerania and the House of Hohenzollern regarding the legal status and succession in the Duchy of Pomerania. It renewed and amended the Treaty of Pyritz of 1493.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torquato Conti</span>

Torquato Conti (1591–1636) was an Italian military commander who served as a General-Field Marshal of the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War. His barbarous treatment of defenceless villagers earned him the nickname, The Devil. He later became a nobleman and was made Duke of Guadagnolo and Gonfalonier of the Church by Pope Urban VIII.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Langer (2003), p. 402
  2. ↑ Langer (2003), pp. 403–404
  3. ↑ Langer (2003), p. 406
  4. ↑ Theologische Realenzyklopädie II (1993), p. 44
  5. ↑ Nicklas (2002), p. 214
  6. ↑ Nicklas (2002), p. 205
  7. ↑ Nicklas (2002), p. 220
  8. 1 2 3 4 Nicklas (2002), p. 222
  9. ↑ Kohler (2002), p. 99
  10. ↑ Nicklas (2002), p. 226
  11. 1 2 Heitz (1995), p. 217
  12. 1 2 3 Heitz (1995), p. 218
  13. 1 2 3 Krüger (2006), p. 171
  14. ↑ Porada (1997), p. 23
  15. 1 2 Langer (1998), pp. 293–299
  16. ↑ "Kirchengeschichte Pommerns". Pomeranian Evangelical Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg. Kirche in MV. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  17. ↑ Hinz (1994), p. 15
  18. 1 2 Langer (2003), p. 404
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 Langer (2003), p. 403
  20. 1 2 Beier (1997), p. 151
  21. 1 2 3 4 Nicklas (2002), p. 229
  22. 1 2 Theologische Realenzyklopädie II (1993), p. 45
  23. ↑ Press (1991), pp. 212–213
  24. ↑ Mackillop (2003), p. 16
  25. 1 2 3 4 Heckel (1983), p. 143
  26. ↑ Lockhart (2007), p. 169
  27. ↑ Guthrie (2002), p. 143
  28. ↑ Heitz (1995), p. 219
  29. ↑ Langer (2003), p. 401
  30. ↑ Buchholz (1999), p. 233
  31. ↑ Buchholz (1999), pp. 263, 332
  32. ↑ Theologische Realenzyklopädie I (1993), p. 172
  33. ↑ Langer (2003), p. 406
  34. ↑ Hildisch (1980), p. 97
  35. ↑ Sturdy (2002), p. 59
  36. ↑ Dubilski (2003), p. 25
  37. 1 2 Timm, Andreas; Buck, Rüdiger (eds.). "Franzburg" (in German). State Chancellory of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Archived from the original on 2009-01-01. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  38. ↑ Klaus, Sandra (ed.). "Franzburg" (in German). Szczecin Castle Museum. Archived from the original on 2007-05-27. Retrieved 2009-08-01.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.