Background
George was the eldest son of Duke Bogislaw X of Pomerania and his second wife Anna Jagiellon, a daughter of King Casimir IV of Poland. George essentially continued the policies of his father.
George was the eldest son of Duke Bogislaw X of Pomerania and his second wife Anna Jagiellon, a daughter of King Casimir IV of Poland. George essentially continued the policies of his father.
He worked energetically on limiting the power of the cities and the nobility. He pursued a policy of limiting the suzerainty of Brandenburg. George was introduced to government by his father at an early age.
In 1520 he was already active at the court of Emperor Charles V and participated in the Diet of Worms in 1521 and the Diet of Nuremberg in 1523.
Nevertheless, he failed to suppress the Reformation in his country. He could in the end only steer it onto moderate tracks.
After the Diet of Speyer in 1526 he tried to approach Brandenburg. Due to Brandenburg claims and the refusal of the Pomeranian estates to cooperate, the negotiations took until 1529.
In the meantime, Brandenburg once again threatened to resolve the conflict using its military.
But on 26 August 1529, a compromise was struck, the Treaty of Grimnitz, with Elector Joachim I of Brandenburg thanks to the mediation of the Dukes Eric I of Brunswick-Göttingen-Calenberg and Henry the Younger of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. George would marry Joachim"s daughter Margaret of Brandenburg and Brandenburg would recognize Pomerania"s imperial immediacy. A large part of the Estates backed Barnim because they feared that once George had resolved the dispute with Brandenburg, he would turn his efforts against the reformation, and also because they were hoping that Barnim might be easier to influence than George.
Nevertheless, the country was split into Pomerania-Wolgast (ruled by Philip I) and Pomerania-Szczecin (ruled by Barnim IX).