Casimir IV, Duke of Pomerania

For the duke of Pomerania-Stettin also occasionally counted as Casimir IV, see Casimir III, Duke of Pomerania.

Casimir IV, Duke of Pomerania
Seal of Casimir, reading "Kasimir, Dei Gra(tia) Dux Stetinensis, Dobrin, Pomoranie, Slavie, Casubie, Pr(inceps) in Rugie"
Born	1351
Died	(1377-01-02)2 January 1377
Noble family	House of Griffin
Spouse(s)	Kenna of Lithuania Margaret of Masovia
Father	Bogislaw V, Duke of Pomerania
Mother	Elizabeth of Poland

Casimir IV (Polish: Kazimierz IV or Kaźko Słupski, German: Kasimir IV or Kasimir V; 1351 – 2 January 1377) was a duke of Pomerania in Pomerania-Stolp since 1374.

Life

Casimir was the son of Bogislaw V, Duke of Pomerania and Elizabeth of Poland. His maternal grandfather Casimir III the Great, the last king of Poland from the Piast dynasty, had no sons and brought him up at his court. After his grandfather's death in 1370, young Casimir initially became his partial successor, as the last will gave him lands of Dobrzyń, Bydgoszcz, Kruszwica, Złotów and Wałcz as fiefs. Yet, his ambitions were soon thwarted by Louis I of Hungary, who became the next king of Poland on the grounds of earlier pacts, and nullified the Piast's last will. Duke Casimir only held the land of Dobrzyń as a temporary fief.

In 1360, Casimir married his first wife Kenna of Lithuania. She was the daughter of Algirdas and Uliana Alexandrovna of Tver, raised in the Eastern Orthodox faith. With her marriage, she joined the Roman Catholic Church and was baptised again under the name "Johanna". She died on 27 April 1368, leaving no children.

After a year, Casimir IV married his second wife Margaret of Masovia. She was the daughter of Siemowit III of Masovia and his first wife Euphemia of Opava. They had no children. After Casimir’s death of wounds (received in fighting Władysław the White on behalf of King Louis), she married Henry VII, Duke of Lubin and Brzeg.

Although after the death of his father Bogislaw V in 1374 Casimir IV stayed several times in Pomerania-Stolp, most of the time he spent in Bydgoszcz; with his death in 1377 his fiefs fell back to Poland.

Ancestors

Ancestors of Casimir IV, Duke of Pomerania
8. Bogislaw IV, Duke of Pomerania 4. Wartislaw IV, Duke of Pomerania 9. Margaret of Rugia 2. Bogislaw V, Duke of Pomerania 10. Ulrich I, Count of Lindow-Ruppin 5. Elisabeth of Lindow-Ruppin 11. Adelaide of Schaden 1. Casimir IV, Duke of Pomerania 12. Władysław I the Elbow-high 6. Casimir III the Great 13. Hedwig of Kalisz 3. Elizabeth of Poland 14. Gediminas 7. Aldona of Lithuania 15. Jewna

See also

• List of Pomeranian duchies and dukes
• Pomerania during the Late Middle Ages
• Duchy of Pomerania
  • Partitions of the Duchy of Pomerania
    • Pomerania-Stolp
• House of Pomerania

Sources

• Braning, Hans (1987). Geschichte Pommerns (in German). Vol. I. Böhlau.
• Buchholz, Werner (1999). Pommern (in German). Siedler.
• Boockmann, Hartmut (1992). Die Anfänge der ständischen Vertretungen in Preussen und seinen Nachbarländern (in German). Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag. ISBN 9783486558401.
• Lerski, George J. (1996). "Kazimierz IV". Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966-1945. ABC-CLIO.
• Rowell, Stephen Christopher (1994). Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-Central Europe, 1295-1345. Cambridge University Press.
• Wehrmann, Martin (1904). Geschichte von Pommern (in German). Verlag Friedrich Andreas Perthes.