John Frederick, Duke of Pomerania
Protestant Bishop of Cammin and ruling Duke of Pomerania
John Frederick (German: Johann Friedrich; 27 August 1542 – 9 February 1600) was Duke of Pomerania from 1560 to 1600, and Bishop of Cammin (Kamień) from 1556 to 1574. Elected bishop in 1556 and heir of the duchy in 1560, he remained under the tutelage of his great-uncle Barnim XI until he took on his offices in 1567.
Biography
Johann Friedrich was the oldest of ten siblings, born to Philipp I of Pomerania-Wolgast and Maria of Saxony. At the age of 14, he was elected bishop of Cammin on 29 August 1556, after his predecessor Martin von Weiher had died on 8 June. Starting with John Frederick, the House of Griffin held this title until the last duke died in 1637, thus ending the considerable independence of the bishopric's territory from the rest of the Duchy of Pomerania. In 1560, the bishopric's administration was reformed accordingly.
When his father died on 14 February 1560, John Frederick nominally became duke of Pomerania but was still under the tutelage of his great-uncle, Barnim XI. While his mother appointed High Steward Ulrich von Schwerin as administrator of the duchy, he went to the court of Emperor Maximilian II at Vienna and participated in the war against the Ottoman Empire.
After his return from the war in 1567, John Frederick took on his position as the bishop of Cammin and also his position as the duke of Pomerania, which he provisionally shared with his brother, Bogislaw XIII.
Then 68-year-old Barnim XI decided in 1569 to withdraw from his position as a duke, and the duchy was internally partitioned among the male members of the House of Pomerania on 23 May 1569 in Jasenitz (now part of Police), which was approved by the Landtag in Wollin (now Wolin). Johann Friedrich, together with his brother, Barnim XII, received the Teilherzogtum Pomerania-Stettin, while his other brothers, Ernest Louis and Bogislaw XIII, received Pomerania-Wolgast and Casimir VI received the bishopric of Cammin, which he took over from John Frederick in 1574. Because Bogislaw and Barnim immediately renounced their positions and were compensated with the domains of Barth and Neuenkamp and the domain of Rügenwalde, respectively, John Frederick got to rule his share alone.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 25, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q603277. VIAF identifies the subject as 66854164. The Library of Congress control number is no2010035761. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1542, 1600, 1560 and 1556.
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