24 March 1577 Francis Duke of Pomerania A storry about the Duke and a witch

Francis of Pomerania (von Pommern) was born on 24 March 1577 in
Barth, northern Germany.

Duchy of Pomerania

The Duchy of Pomerania was located on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea.
It contained parts of northern Germany and Poland.



Family

Francis was the son of Duke Bogislaw XIII and his wife Clara of Brunswick-
Lüneburg.  In his youth he received the best eduction of that time.

He belonged to the noble House of Griffins also called the House of Pomerania.
This was founded in the 12th century and the disolution took place in 1660.

Youth

Francis indicated at an early age that he was interested in knighthood and
military affairs.

In 1594 he made a trip to Vienna and Hungary. There he took part in the
siege of Esztergom fortress under Archduke Matthias of Austria. Later,
in 1596 he traveled to Italy and afterwards he returned to Pomerania.

In 1602, Francis became bishop of Cammin. His residence was at Köslin.

In 1604, the King of Sweden offered him the command of 3.000 men infantry
and 1.000 cavalry during the Polish-Swedish war. He refused this in the view
of the neutrality of Pomerania.

In 1607, Francis made a new journey. This brought him to Prague, Switzerland,
France, the Spanish border, England, Scotland and the Netherlands.



Love and Marriage

In 1610, Duke Francies married to Sophie of Saxony, a daughter of
Elector Christian I of Saxony. The marriage remained childless.

Duty

In 1616, Francis' brother, Philip, died with no heirs. Francis succeeded him as
ruler of Pomerania-Stettin. The Bishopric of Cammin went to his brother
Ulrich.

During Duke Francis's time in office, a 80-year-old nun called
Sidonia von Borcke, was tried for witchcraft.
She was accused of having caused the early death of the Dukes Philip II
and George II, and of causing the other sons of Duke Bogislaw XIII to
remain childless. She was found guilty and executed.



Death

Francis, Duke of Pomerania fell ill, three months after Sidonia von Borcke
was executed. He was still healthy in the morning and after lunch he felt ill. A few
days later he died in Stettin.



Source pictures: wikipedia

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