Politics 1400 – 1450

Knights built their fortified seats next to villages and took over increasingly more rights from the territorial lordship such as jurisprudence, patronage of the church, collection of taxes or the use of farmers‘ services. Waves of the plague and constant wars worsened the farmer’s legal and economic situation.

The Danish Queen Margarete brings Denmark, Norway and Sweden into the Kalmar Union. Her great nephew Eric II, Duke of Pomerania, succeeds her on the throne. He becomes king in 1412, but fails to assert his position and returns to Pomerania in 1449.

The population of Stralsund grows to 13,000 in the 15th century, and the city vies for power with Lübeck. Greifswald experiences a similar development. At times, Barth, Wolgast, Anklam and Demmin are also included in the Hanseatic League's export arrangements.

Knights built their fortified seats next to villages and took over increasingly more rights from the territorial lordship such as jurisprudence, patronage of the church, collection of taxes or the use of farmers‘ services. Waves of the plague and constant wars worsened the farmer’s legal and economic situation.