Swedish Pomerania

Swedish Pomerania (Swedish: Svenska Pommern) was a Dominion under the Swedish Crown from the 17th to the 19th century, situated on the German Baltic Sea coast. 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 Silesia and Prussia. At the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 Sweden received Upper Pomerania, or Vorpommern, a strip of Lower Pomerania, or Hinterpommern, with the islands of Rügen, Usedom and Wollin.

Legal system

The legal system in Pomerania was in a state of great confusion, due to the lack of a consistent legislation or even the most basic collection of laws and instead consisting of a disparate collection of legal principles. The Swedish rule brought if nothing else at least the rule of law into the court system. Starting in 1655, cases could be appealed from the first instance courts to the appellate court in Greifswald (located in Wolgast 1665-1680), where sentences were issued under the appellate law of 1672, a work conducted by David Mevius. Cases under canon law were directed to a consistorium in Greifswald. From the appellate court cases could be appealed to the supreme court for the Swedish dominions in Germany, the High Tribunal in Wismar, which had opened in 1653.

Related Topics:
Greifswald - Wolgast - Canon law - High Tribunal - Wismar

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