Philip II, Duke of Pomerania
Encyclopedia
Philip II, Duke of Pomerania (born: 29 July 1573; died: 3 February 1618) was from 1606 to 1618 the reigning duke of Pomerania
-Stettin and is considered among the one of the most artistic of the Pomeranian dukes. He married Sophia of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg
in 1607. The marriage remained childless.
in Pomerania
, as the eldest son of Duke Bogislaw XIII
of Pomerania-Barth and his first wife, Clara of Brunswick. He grew up in his father's small residence in Barth. Although he was the second-born son of Duke Philip I
of Pomerania-Wolgast, when Philip I's inheritance was divided among the Pomeranian dukes on 1569, waived his rights to a share, in favour of his younger brother Ernest Louis. He had been compensation with an apanage consisting of the district of Barth and the secularized Cistercian monastery at Neuenkamp.
As a child and teenager, Philip received the usual education for a son of a German prince during the late Renaissance
era. Soon, however, his artistic and scientific interests grew soon beyond the usual level. Even at the age of twelve, he owned a collection of books and pictures. He wrote his first scientific papers at the age of 17. His art was not just an expression of his royal representation, but emerged from an inner need. At age 18, he wrote: It is may pleasure to collect good, selectd books, portraits from a master's hand, and ancient coins of all kinds. From these I learn how to improve myself and also how I can be beneficial to the general public.
According to the customs of his time he undertook numerous grand tours
, which led him to many European countries and the local courts. The two-year stay in Italy
at the end of his final grand tour, was cut short in 1598 when his mother fell seriously ill.
Five years later, government business caught up with him. In 1603, Duke Barnim X
had died and Philip's father, Bogislaw XIII, became the ruling duke in the Teilherzogtum
of Pomerania-Stettin. Apparently, Bogislaw XIII felt he was too old to actually govern, so he appointed his son Philip II as governor of Pomerania-Stettin. When Bogislaw XIII died in 1606, Philip became the ruling duke in Stettin in his own right. Characteristic elements of his reign were his patronage of the arts (described in more detail below), but also his rural regulations of 1616, in which a legal basis for serfdom
was created.
On 10 March 1607 he married Sophia (1579–1658, in Treptow an der Rega, her dower
), daughter of John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg and his first wife Elisabeth. The marriage was, however, childless, like all the marriages in the last generation of the Dukes of Pomerania, so after the death of Philip's brother Bogislaw XIV, the House of Griffins died out in the male line.
Philip's special penchant for melancholy became apparent early on and was certainly reinforced by his sickly constitution. From the first decade of the 17th Century, he suffered from gout
. This made life more difficult, and he withdrew more and more from public life. It prevented him from attending in person the wedding of his brother Francis
with Sophia of Saxony in Dresden
in 1610, and the investiture of Emperor Matthias
at the Diet of Regensburg in 1613. In 1612, he visited a recently discovered health spa in Lüneburg
, but it brought him no relief from his suffering. He died on , before the age of 50, like most male members of the last generation of the House of Griffins.
The art dealer Philip Hainhofer from Augsburg
was responsible for the procurement of many works of art. Philip corresponded extensively with him. During Hainhofer's visit to Pomerania in 1617, he kept a diary. This diary contains a detailed description of the art collection at the Ducal Castle in Szczecin
.
When Philip died in 1618, many of the works he had commissioned had not been completed. His brother and successor, Duke Francis
showed little inclination to continue his deceased brother's artistic ambitions. He paid for the completion of works commissioned by his brother, but after that the era of art at the court of the Pomeranian Dukes came to an end. Among the works completed under Francis, was a new wing of the Ducal Castle on the west side of Mint Square. Most works of art were housed in this new wing.
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
-Stettin and is considered among the one of the most artistic of the Pomeranian dukes. He married Sophia of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg
Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg
Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg was the name of a branch line of the House of Oldenburg as well as the name of their land. It existed from 1564 until 1668 and was a titular duchy under the King of Denmark, rather than a true territorial dukedom in its own right...
in 1607. The marriage remained childless.
Life
Philipp was born on 29 July 1573 in Neuenkamp, which later became FranzburgFranzburg
Franzburg is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated 20 km southwest of Stralsund...
in Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
, as the eldest son of Duke Bogislaw XIII
Bogislaw XIII, Duke of Pomerania
Bogislaw XIII of Pomerania , son of Philip I and Maria of Saxony, was a princes of Stettin and Wolgast, and a member of the Griffins ....
of Pomerania-Barth and his first wife, Clara of Brunswick. He grew up in his father's small residence in Barth. Although he was the second-born son of Duke Philip I
Philip I, Duke of Pomerania
Philip I of Pomerania was Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast.- Life :Philip was the only surviving son of Duke George, from his first marriage to Amalie of the Palatinate. After his mother died, on 6 January 1525, he received his education at the court of his maternal grandfather in Heidelberg...
of Pomerania-Wolgast, when Philip I's inheritance was divided among the Pomeranian dukes on 1569, waived his rights to a share, in favour of his younger brother Ernest Louis. He had been compensation with an apanage consisting of the district of Barth and the secularized Cistercian monastery at Neuenkamp.
As a child and teenager, Philip received the usual education for a son of a German prince during the late Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
era. Soon, however, his artistic and scientific interests grew soon beyond the usual level. Even at the age of twelve, he owned a collection of books and pictures. He wrote his first scientific papers at the age of 17. His art was not just an expression of his royal representation, but emerged from an inner need. At age 18, he wrote: It is may pleasure to collect good, selectd books, portraits from a master's hand, and ancient coins of all kinds. From these I learn how to improve myself and also how I can be beneficial to the general public.
According to the customs of his time he undertook numerous grand tours
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s, and was associated with a standard itinerary. It served as an educational rite of passage...
, which led him to many European countries and the local courts. The two-year stay in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
at the end of his final grand tour, was cut short in 1598 when his mother fell seriously ill.
Five years later, government business caught up with him. In 1603, Duke Barnim X
Barnim X, Duke of Pomerania
Barnim X, or according to another count Barnim XII was a duke of Pomerania and a member of the House of Griffins. He administered from 1569, the Rügenwalde district...
had died and Philip's father, Bogislaw XIII, became the ruling duke in the Teilherzogtum
Teilherzogtum
Teilherzogtum is a German term denoting a part of a duchy after the duchy had been internally partitioned among members of the respective ducal family. Teilherzogtum does not have an English cognate.-Bavaria:*Bavaria-Ingolstadt*Bavaria-Landshut...
of Pomerania-Stettin. Apparently, Bogislaw XIII felt he was too old to actually govern, so he appointed his son Philip II as governor of Pomerania-Stettin. When Bogislaw XIII died in 1606, Philip became the ruling duke in Stettin in his own right. Characteristic elements of his reign were his patronage of the arts (described in more detail below), but also his rural regulations of 1616, in which a legal basis for serfdom
Serfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
was created.
On 10 March 1607 he married Sophia (1579–1658, in Treptow an der Rega, her dower
Dower
Dower or morning gift was a provision accorded by law to a wife for her support in the event that she should survive her husband...
), daughter of John II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg and his first wife Elisabeth. The marriage was, however, childless, like all the marriages in the last generation of the Dukes of Pomerania, so after the death of Philip's brother Bogislaw XIV, the House of Griffins died out in the male line.
Philip's special penchant for melancholy became apparent early on and was certainly reinforced by his sickly constitution. From the first decade of the 17th Century, he suffered from gout
Gout
Gout is a medical condition usually characterized by recurrent attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis—a red, tender, hot, swollen joint. The metatarsal-phalangeal joint at the base of the big toe is the most commonly affected . However, it may also present as tophi, kidney stones, or urate...
. This made life more difficult, and he withdrew more and more from public life. It prevented him from attending in person the wedding of his brother Francis
Francis, Duke of Pomerania
Francis of Pomerania was Duke of Pomerania-Szczecin and Bishop of Cammin.- Life :...
with Sophia of Saxony in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
in 1610, and the investiture of Emperor Matthias
Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor
Matthias of Austria was Holy Roman Emperor from 1612, King of Hungary and Croatia from 1608 and King of Bohemia from 1611...
at the Diet of Regensburg in 1613. In 1612, he visited a recently discovered health spa in Lüneburg
Lüneburg
Lüneburg is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner suburbs...
, but it brought him no relief from his suffering. He died on , before the age of 50, like most male members of the last generation of the House of Griffins.
Funding the Arts
The most important works of art commissioned by Philip II date from the period 1606-1618. They include:- the epitaphEpitaphAn epitaph is a short text honoring a deceased person, strictly speaking that is inscribed on their tombstone or plaque, but also used figuratively. Some are specified by the dead person beforehand, others chosen by those responsible for the burial...
on the tombTombA tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
of his ancestor Duke Barnim VIBarnim VI, Duke of PomeraniaBarnim VI was duke of Pomerania-Wolgast from 1394 to 1405. He was the son of Wartislaw VI of Pomerania-Wolgast.Barnim is known for his engagement in piracy. He erected a fort and a port for this purpose in Ahrenshoop, which was destroyed by Rostock in 1395...
in the church of Kenz-KüstrowKenz-KüstrowKenz-Küstrow is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.During the Middle Ages, Kenz was an important destination of pilgrimages. Barnim VI is buried in Kenz....
in the district of Barth - the so-called signting book, with numerous portraits of members of the House of Griffins
- an art gallery
- the Map of Lubinus, the first accurate map of the Duchy of PomeraniaDuchy of PomeraniaThe Duchy of Pomerania was a duchy in Pomerania on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, ruled by dukes of the House of Pomerania ....
- the Meier Court
- thie highlight was the Pomeranian art cabinet, which was destroyed by fire during the Second World War
The art dealer Philip Hainhofer from Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
was responsible for the procurement of many works of art. Philip corresponded extensively with him. During Hainhofer's visit to Pomerania in 1617, he kept a diary. This diary contains a detailed description of the art collection at the Ducal Castle in Szczecin
Szczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
.
When Philip died in 1618, many of the works he had commissioned had not been completed. His brother and successor, Duke Francis
Francis, Duke of Pomerania
Francis of Pomerania was Duke of Pomerania-Szczecin and Bishop of Cammin.- Life :...
showed little inclination to continue his deceased brother's artistic ambitions. He paid for the completion of works commissioned by his brother, but after that the era of art at the court of the Pomeranian Dukes came to an end. Among the works completed under Francis, was a new wing of the Ducal Castle on the west side of Mint Square. Most works of art were housed in this new wing.