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167-568: Słupsk had its origins as a Pomeranian settlement in the early Middle Ages . In 1265, it was given town rights . By the 14th century, the town had become a centre of local administration and trade and a Hanseatic League associate. Between 1368 and 1478, it was a residence of the Dukes of Słupsk , until 1474 vassals of the Kingdom of Poland . In 1648, according to the peace treaty of Osnabrück , Słupsk became part of Brandenburg-Prussia . In 1815, it

334-448: A grod , a West Slavic or Lechitic fortified settlement, on an islet in the middle of the river. Surrounded by swamps and mires, the fortress had perfect defence conditions. Archaeological research has shown that the grod was situated on an artificial hill and had a natural moat formed by the branches of the Słupia, and was protected by a palisade . Records confirm that the area of Słupsk

501-587: A Polish vassal in 1374, after he failed to take the Polish throne. The succeeding dukes were also vassals of the Kings of Poland: Wartislaw VII paid homage in 1390 (to King Władysław II Jagiełło ), Bogislaw VIII paid homage in 1410 (also to King Władysław II). Słupsk remained within Polish sphere of political influence until 1474. It became part of the Duchy of Pomerania in 1478. The Protestant Reformation reached

668-469: A capellanus required a church, which he identifies as Saint Peter's. This church is mentioned by name for the first time in a 1281 document of Samboride Mestwin II , which also mentions Saint Nicolai church and a Saint Mary's chapel in the fortress. The oldest mention of Saint Nicolai church dates to 1276. Modern Słupsk possibly received its city rights in 1265. Historians argue that city rights were granted for

835-421: A few families and still others lived on isolated farms spread over the countryside. There were also areas where the pattern was a mix of two or more of those systems. Unlike in the late Roman period, there was no sharp break between the legal status of the free peasant and the aristocrat, and it was possible for a free peasant's family to rise into the aristocracy over several generations through military service to

1002-543: A junction for local trains from Kołobrzeg , Koszalin , Lębork , Miastko , Szczecinek and Ustka . Słupsk is the westernmost terminus of the Fast Urban Railway serving the Gdańsk conurbation. The first railway reached Słupsk (then Stolp) from the east in 1869. The first rail station was built north of its current location. The line was later extended to Köslin ( Koszalin ), and further lines were built connecting

1169-547: A king to rule over them all. By the late sixth century, this arrangement had been replaced by a permanent monarchy, the Kingdom of the Lombards . The invasions brought new ethnic groups to Europe, although some regions received a larger influx of new peoples than others. In Gaul for instance, the invaders settled much more extensively in the north-east than in the south-west. Slavs settled in Central and Eastern Europe and

1336-466: A late 13th-century or 14th-century duplicate. The Griffin dukes lost the area to the Samborides during the following years, and the next surviving documents mentioning the area concern donations made by Samboride Swietopelk II , dating to 1236 (two documents) and 1240. In the earlier of the two 1236 documents, a Johann "castellanus de Slupcz" is mentioned as a witness, Schmidt considers this to be

1503-629: A military school in the city, according to Stanisław Salmonowicz its purpose was the Germanization of local Polish nobility. During the Napoleonic Wars , the city was taken by 1,500 Polish soldiers under the leadership of general Michał Sokolnicki in 1807. In 1815 Słupsk became one of the cities of the Province of Pomerania (1815–1945) , in which it remained until 1945. In 1869 a railway from Danzig (Gdańsk) reached Stolp. During

1670-577: A monument honours the memory of those victims. Other victims of German atrocities included 23 Polish children murdered between December 1944 and February 1945, and 24 Polish forced labourers (23 men and one woman) murdered by the Schutzstaffel (SS) on 7 March 1945, just before the Red Army took over the city without any serious resistance on 8 March 1945. In fear of Soviet repression, up to 1,000 inhabitants committed suicide. Thousands remained in

1837-567: A powerful lord. Roman city life and culture changed greatly in the early Middle Ages. Although Italian cities remained inhabited, they contracted significantly in size. Rome, for instance, shrank from a population of hundreds of thousands to around 30,000 by the end of the 6th century. Roman temples were converted into Christian churches and city walls remained in use. In Northern Europe, cities also shrank, while civic monuments and other public buildings were raided for building materials. The establishment of new kingdoms often meant some growth for

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2004-466: A practical skill rather than a sign of elite status. In the 4th century, Jerome (d. 420) dreamed that God rebuked him for spending more time reading Cicero than the Bible . By the 6th century, Gregory of Tours (d. 594) had a similar dream, but instead of being chastised for reading Cicero, he was chastised for learning shorthand . By the late 6th century, the principal means of religious instruction in

2171-691: A regional railway started to operate, and the amateur Polish Theater was established. In September 1946, the first Warsaw Uprising Monument in Poland was unveiled. From April 1947, the local Polish newspaper Kurier Słupski was published. The city became a cultural centre. In the 1950s, the Puppet Theater Tęcza , the Teachers' College and the Baltic Dramatic Theater were established. The puppet theatre Tęcza used to collaborate with

2338-573: A result of the Order actions he was forced to give his castles and villages on the right bank of Vistula to them, and also the important left bank Pomerelian stronghold of Gniew (Mewe), willed to the Order by his uncle Sambor II, a claim Mestwin II recognized under duress and Papal mediation in 1282. These pressures forced Mestwin II to tighten his alliance with Greater Poland's Bolesław and his successor Przemysł II . Mestwin II and Przemysl II, new duke of Greater Poland and future king of Poland, concluded

2505-423: A separate Middle Pomeranian Voivodeship. In 1998 a major riot took place after a basketball game. In 2014, Słupsk elected Poland's first openly gay mayor, Robert Biedroń . Administratively, the city of Słupsk has the status of both an urban gmina and a city county ( powiat ). The city boundaries are generally artificial, with only short natural boundaries around the villages of Kobylnica and Włynkówko on

2672-474: A small foothold in southern Spain. Justinian's reconquests have been criticised by historians for overextending his realm and setting the stage for the early Muslim conquests , but many of the difficulties faced by Justinian's successors were due not just to over-taxation to pay for his wars but to the essentially civilian nature of the empire, which made raising troops difficult. In the Eastern Empire

2839-673: Is July, with an average temperature range of 11 to 21 °C (52 to 70 °F). The coolest month is February, averaging −5 to 0 °C (23 to 32 °F). The wettest month is August with average precipitation of 90 millimetres (3.5 in), while the driest is March, averaging only 20 millimetres (0.79 in). Snowfalls are always possible between December and April. The neighbourhoods ( osiedla , singular osiedle ) of Słupsk do not have any administrative powers. Their names are used for traffic signposting purposes and are shown on maps. The neighbourhoods are as follows: Słupsk has many green areas within its boundaries. The most important are

3006-654: Is itself subdivided into the Early , High , and Late Middle Ages . Population decline , counterurbanisation , the collapse of centralized authority, invasions, and mass migrations of tribes , which had begun in Late Antiquity , continued into the Early Middle Ages. The large-scale movements of the Migration Period , including various Germanic peoples , formed new kingdoms in what remained of

3173-672: Is no universally agreed upon end date. Depending on the context, events such as the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453, Christopher Columbus 's first voyage to the Americas in 1492, or the Protestant Reformation in 1517 are sometimes used. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period. For Spain, dates commonly used are the death of King Ferdinand II in 1516,

3340-546: Is not entirely contained within the city limits: a portion of it lies within Gmina Słupsk, while some smaller areas are at quite a distance from Słupsk ( Debrzno ), or even in another voivodeship ( Koszalin , Szczecinek , Wałcz ). The city has a fairly irregular shape, with its central point at Plac Zwycięstwa ("Victory Square") at 54°27′51″N 17°01′42″E  /  54.46417°N 17.02833°E  / 54.46417; 17.02833 . Słupsk lies in an pradolina of

3507-603: Is now defunct, however, it once worked as a regular passenger airport of local significance. Several plans to eventually reopen it failed because of lack of funds. The facility was earmarked for use within the US missile defense complex as a missile launch site, which became operational in December 2023. Nowadays, the nearest airports are in Gdańsk ( Gdańsk Lech Wałęsa Airport ) and Szczecin ( Solidarity Szczecin–Goleniów Airport ). Słupsk

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3674-407: Is rich in natural water bodies. There are more than twenty ponds , mostly former meanders of the Słupia, within the city limits. There are also several streams , irrigation canals (generally unused and abandoned) and a leat . Except in the city centre, all these watercourses are unregulated. There is generally little human influence on landform features visible within the city limits. However, in

3841-677: Is the regular venue for a number of festivals, most notably: For a long time here lived Anna Łajming (1904–2003), Kashubian and Polish author. The museum in Słupsk holds the world's biggest collection of Witkacy 's works. Słupsk currently has three theatres: In the 1970s the Tęcza Theatre collaborated with the Arcadia Theatre from Oradea , Romania . This partnership ended after 1989 for political reasons. At one time Słupsk had five functioning cinemas, but only one, which belongs to

4008-471: The fyrd , which were led by the local elites. In military technology, one of the main changes was the return of the crossbow , which had been known in Roman times and reappeared as a military weapon during the last part of the Early Middle Ages. Another change was the introduction of the stirrup, which increased the effectiveness of cavalry as shock troops. A technological advance that had implications beyond

4175-717: The Alans , Vandals , and Suevi crossed into Gaul ; over the next three years they spread across Gaul and in 409 crossed the Pyrenees Mountains into modern-day Spain. The Migration Period began, when various peoples, initially largely Germanic peoples , moved across Europe. The Franks , Alemanni , and the Burgundians all ended up in northern Gaul while the Angles , Saxons , and Jutes settled in Britain , and

4342-529: The Benedictine Rule for Western monasticism during the 6th century, detailing the administrative and spiritual responsibilities of a community of monks led by an abbot . Monks and monasteries had a deep effect on the religious and political life of the Early Middle Ages, in various cases acting as land trusts for powerful families, centres of propaganda and royal support in newly conquered regions, and bases for missions and proselytisation. They were

4509-591: The Carolingian Empire during the later 8th and early 9th centuries. It covered much of Western Europe but later succumbed to the pressures of internal civil wars combined with external invasions: Vikings from the north, Magyars from the east, and Saracens from the south. During the High Middle Ages, which began after 1000, the population of Europe increased greatly as technological and agricultural innovations allowed trade to flourish and

4676-531: The Desert Fathers of Egypt and Syria . Most European monasteries were of the type that focuses on community experience of the spiritual life, called cenobitism , which was pioneered by Pachomius (d. 348) in the 4th century. Monastic ideals spread from Egypt to Western Europe in the 5th and 6th centuries through hagiographical literature such as the Life of Anthony . Benedict of Nursia (d. 547) wrote

4843-584: The Gregorian chant in liturgical music for the churches. An important activity for scholars during this period was the copying, correcting, and dissemination of basic works on religious and secular topics, with the aim of encouraging learning. New works on religious topics and schoolbooks were also produced. Grammarians of the period modified the Latin language, changing it from the Classical Latin of

5010-714: The Macedonian dynasty . Commerce revived and the emperors oversaw the extension of a uniform administration to all the provinces. The military was reorganised, which allowed the emperors John I (r. 969–976) and Basil II (r. 976–1025) to expand the frontiers of the empire on all fronts. The imperial court was the centre of a revival of classical learning, a process known as the Macedonian Renaissance . Writers such as John Geometres ( fl. early 10th century) composed new hymns, poems, and other works. Missionary efforts by both Eastern and Western clergy resulted in

5177-486: The Medieval Warm Period climate change allowed crop yields to increase. Manorialism , the organisation of peasants into villages that owed rent and labour services to the nobles , and feudalism , the political structure whereby knights and lower-status nobles owed military service to their overlords in return for the right to rent from lands and manors , were two of the ways society was organized in

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5344-477: The National route 21 from Miastko , Voivodeship route 210 from Ustka to Unichowo and Voivodeship route 213 from Puck . Local roads of lesser importance connect Słupsk with surrounding villages and towns. The city's network of streets is well developed, but many of them require general refurbishment. The city is currently investing significant sums of money in road development. Słupsk-Redzikowo Airport

5511-671: The Peace of Westphalia (1648) and the Treaty of Stettin (1653) , Stolp came under Brandenburgian control. In 1660, the Kashubian dialect was allowed to be taught, but only in religious studies. The Polish language in general, however, was experiencing very unfavourable conditions due to depopulation of the area in numerous wars and implied Germanization . After the Thirty Years' War , Stolp lost much of its former importance—despite

5678-485: The Revolutions of 1989 . Also, a process of major renovations and refurbishments began, beginning in the principal neighbourhoods. According to the administrative reform of Poland in 1999, Słupsk Voivodeship was dissolved and divided between two larger regions: Pomeranian Voivodeship and West Pomeranian Voivodeship . Słupsk itself became part of the former. The reform was criticized by locals, who wanted to create

5845-466: The Słupia River . The boundaries have remained unchanged since 1949, when Ryczewo became a part of the city. Słupsk shares about three-quarters of its boundaries with the rural district called Gmina Słupsk , of which Słupsk is the administrative seat (although it is not part of the district). The city's other neighbouring district is Gmina Kobylnica , to the south-west. The Słupsk Special Economic Zone

6012-404: The Słupia River . The city centre is situated significantly lower than its western and easternmost portions. Divided into two almost equal parts by the river, Słupsk is hilly when compared to other cities in the region. About 5 square kilometres (1.9 sq mi) of the city's area is covered by forests, while 17 square kilometres (6.6 sq mi) is used for agricultural purposes. Słupsk

6179-479: The Treaty of Arnswalde on April 1, 1269, he took his area of power as a fief from the Brandenburg markgraves . The Brandenburg Ascanians were suzerains of the Duchy of Pomerania and in return for military and financial help he gave oath of fealty and paid homage over a couple Pomeralian to these dukes. Mestwin's brother Wratislaw II of Pomerania , principal Pomerelian duke and ruler of Gdańsk (Danzig),

6346-470: The Treaty of Kępno in 1282 that was at first kept secret. The treaty, confirmed by magnates and nobles of both duchies, made both Mestwin and Przemysł II either a successor per donatio inter vivos or successor in all his possessions. It is known that Mestwin II remained the Pomerelia ruler until his death in 1294. It seems that the treaty of Kępno in fact unified Pomerelia and Greater Poland, starting

6513-535: The Treaty of Kępno , which transferred the suzerainty over Gdańsk Pomerania including Słupsk to Przemysł II. After Mestwin II's death the city was reintegrated with Poland and remained Polish until 1307, when the Margraviate of Brandenburg took over, while leaving local rule in the hands of the Swenzones dynasty, whose members were castellans in Słupsk. In 1337, the governors of Słupsk ( Stolp ) had purchased

6680-499: The Treaty of Versailles negotiations. The city, having become the regional center of the eastern part of Eastern Pomerania, thrived, becoming known as Little Paris . A cultural highlight was an annual art exhibition. From 1926 the city became an active point of Nazi supporters, and the influence of NSDAP grew rapidly. The party with Hitler received 49.1% of the city's vote in the German federal election of March 1933 , when however,

6847-670: The former Polish eastern territories annexed by the Soviet Union (around 80% at the end of 1945) and the rest were mainly repatriates from the Soviet Union and Poles returning from Germany. Also Ukrainians and Lemkos settled into the town during Operation Vistula . The town's name was changed into the historic Polish version of Słupsk by the Commission for the Determination of Place Names on 23 April 1945. It

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7014-468: The 17th-century German historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods: ancient, medieval, and modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is around 500, with the date of 476 first used by Bruni. Later starting dates are sometimes used in the outer parts of Europe. For Europe as a whole, 1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there

7181-522: The 19th century, the city's boundaries were significantly extended towards the west and south. The new railway station was built about 1,000 metres from the old city. In 1901, the construction of a new city hall was completed, followed by a local administration building in 1903. In 1910 a tram line was opened. The football club Viktoria Stolp was formed in 1901. In 1914, before the First World War , Stolp had approximately 34,340 inhabitants. Stolp

7348-478: The 5th and the 7th centuries, going first to England and Scotland and then on to the continent. Under such monks as Columba (d. 597) and Columbanus (d. 615), they founded monasteries, taught in Latin and Greek, and authored secular and religious works. The Early Middle Ages witnessed the rise of monasticism in the West. The shape of European monasticism was determined by traditions and ideas that originated with

7515-731: The 5th century. The Eastern Empire was marked by closer relations between the political state and Christian Church, with doctrinal matters assuming an importance in Eastern politics that they did not have in Western Europe. Legal developments included the codification of Roman law ; the first effort—the Codex Theodosianus —was completed in 438. Under Emperor Justinian (r. 527–565), another compilation took place—the Corpus Juris Civilis . Justinian also oversaw

7682-641: The 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the Post-classical period of global history . It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and transitioned into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery . The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity , the medieval period, and the modern period . The medieval period

7849-685: The 6th and 7th centuries, all of them ruled by the Merovingian dynasty, who were descended from Clovis. The 7th century was a tumultuous period of wars between Austrasia and Neustria. Such warfare was exploited by Pippin (d. 640), the Mayor of the Palace for Austrasia who became the power behind the Austrasian throne. Later members of his family inherited the office, acting as advisers and regents. One of his descendants, Charles Martel (d. 741), won

8016-651: The Arabs. The migrations and invasions of the 4th and 5th centuries disrupted trade networks around the Mediterranean. African goods stopped being imported into Europe, first disappearing from the interior and by the 7th century found only in a few cities such as Rome or Naples . By the end of the 7th century, under the impact of the Muslim conquests , African products were no longer found in Western Europe. The replacement of goods from long-range trade with local products

8183-536: The Bald received the western Frankish lands, comprising most of modern-day France. Charlemagne's grandsons and great-grandsons divided their kingdoms between their descendants, eventually causing all internal cohesion to be lost. In 987 the Carolingian dynasty was replaced in the western lands, with the crowning of Hugh Capet (r. 987–996) as king. In the eastern lands the dynasty had died out earlier, in 911, with

8350-551: The Balkan Peninsula. The settlement of peoples was accompanied by changes in languages. Latin , the literary language of the Western Roman Empire, was gradually replaced by vernacular languages which evolved from Latin, but were distinct from it, collectively known as Romance languages . These changes from Latin to the new languages took many centuries. Greek remained the language of the Byzantine Empire, but

8517-643: The Battle of Poitiers in 732, halting the advance of Muslim armies across the Pyrenees. Great Britain was divided into small states dominated by the kingdoms of Northumbria , Mercia , Wessex , and East Anglia which descended from the Anglo-Saxon invaders. Smaller kingdoms in present-day Wales and Scotland were still under the control of the native Britons and Picts . Ireland was divided into even smaller political units, usually known as tribal kingdoms, under

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8684-577: The Byzantine Empire, as the assumption of the imperial title by the Carolingians asserted their equivalence to the Byzantine state. There were several differences between the newly established Carolingian Empire and both the older Western Roman Empire and the concurrent Byzantine Empire. The Frankish lands were rural in character, with only a few small cities. Most of the people were peasants settled on small farms. Little trade existed and much of that

8851-523: The Byzantine Empire, which he sealed with the marriage of his son Otto II (r. 967–983) to Theophanu (d. 991), daughter of an earlier Byzantine Emperor Romanos II (r. 959–963). By the late 10th century Italy had been drawn into the Ottonian sphere after a period of instability; Otto III (r. 996–1002) spent much of his later reign in the kingdom. The western Frankish kingdom was more fragmented, and although kings remained nominally in charge, much of

9018-462: The Christian period as nova (or "new"). Petrarch regarded the post-Roman centuries as " dark " compared to the "light" of classical antiquity . Leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People (1442), with a middle period "between the fall of the Roman Empire and the revival of city life sometime in late eleventh and twelfth centuries". Tripartite periodisation became standard after

9185-422: The Church had widened to the extent that the cultural and religious differences were greater than the similarities. The formal break, known as the East–West Schism , came in 1054, when the papacy and the patriarchy of Constantinople clashed over papal supremacy and excommunicated each other, which led to the division of Christianity into two Churches—the Western branch became the Roman Catholic Church and

9352-499: The Church had become music and art rather than the book. Most intellectual efforts went towards imitating classical scholarship, but some original works were created, along with now-lost oral compositions. The writings of Sidonius Apollinaris (d. 489), Cassiodorus (d. c.  585 ), and Boethius (d. c. 525) were typical of the age. Changes also took place among laymen, as aristocratic culture focused on great feasts held in halls rather than on literary pursuits. Clothing for

9519-448: The Dnieper River in modern Ukraine to the Adriatic Sea. By 1018, the last Bulgarian nobles had surrendered to the Byzantine Empire. Few large stone buildings were constructed between the Constantinian basilicas of the 4th century and the 8th century, although many smaller ones were built during the 6th and 7th centuries. By the beginning of the 8th century, the Carolingian Empire revived the basilica form of architecture. One feature of

9686-420: The Duke of Świecie (Schwetz) province circa 1250, and upon his father's death he began his challenge against his younger brother for Gdańsk (Danzig) in 1266, starting the so-called Pomerelian Civil War that lasted until 1273. He fought his younger brother and uncles until he emerged victorious and finally became the principal Pomerelia prince and sole ruler in 1273. He united all the lands of Pomerelia (after

9853-534: The Early Middle Ages are mostly illuminated manuscripts and carved ivories , originally made for metalwork that has since been melted down. Objects in precious metals were the most prestigious form of art, but almost all are lost except for a few crosses such as the Cross of Lothair , several reliquaries , and finds such as the Anglo-Saxon burial at Sutton Hoo and the hoards of Gourdon from Merovingian France, Guarrazar from Visigothic Spain and Nagyszentmiklós near Byzantine territory. There are survivals from

10020-411: The Eastern Mediterranean and remained a major power. The empire's law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or "Code of Justinian", was rediscovered in Northern Italy in the 11th century. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions. Monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks , under the Carolingian dynasty , briefly established

10187-455: The Eastern branch the Eastern Orthodox Church . The ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Empire survived the movements and invasions in the west mostly intact, but the papacy was little regarded, and few of the Western bishops looked to the bishop of Rome for religious or political leadership. Many of the popes prior to 750 were more concerned with Byzantine affairs and Eastern theological controversies. The register, or archived copies of

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10354-427: The Eastern emperors to pay tribute. They remained a strong power until 796. An additional problem to face the empire came as a result of the involvement of Emperor Maurice (r. 582–602) in Persian politics when he intervened in a succession dispute . This led to a period of peace, but when Maurice was overthrown, the Persians invaded and during the reign of Emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641) controlled large chunks of

10521-436: The European population remained rural peasants. Many were no longer settled in isolated farms but had gathered into small communities, usually known as manors or villages. These peasants were often subject to noble overlords and owed them rents and other services, in a system known as manorialism . There remained a few free peasants throughout this period and beyond, with more of them in the regions of Southern Europe than in

10688-441: The Frankish King Charles the Simple (r. 898–922) to settle in what became Normandy . The eastern parts of the Frankish kingdoms, especially Germany and Italy, were under continual Magyar assault until the invader's defeat at the Battle of Lechfeld in 955. The breakup of the Abbasid dynasty meant that the Islamic world fragmented into smaller political states, some of which began expanding into Italy and Sicily, as well as over

10855-466: The Franks and Celtic Britons set up small polities. Francia was centred in northern Gaul, and the first king of whom much is known is Childeric I (d. 481). His grave was discovered in 1653 and is remarkable for its grave goods , which included weapons and a large quantity of gold. Under Childeric's son Clovis I (r. 509–511), the founder of the Merovingian dynasty , the Frankish kingdom expanded and converted to Christianity. The Britons, related to

11022-425: The German tried to annex all of East Francia. Louis the Pious died in 840, with the empire still in chaos. A three-year civil war followed his death. By the Treaty of Verdun (843), a kingdom between the Rhine and Rhone rivers was created for Lothair to go with his lands in Italy, and his imperial title was recognised. Louis the German was in control of Bavaria and the eastern lands in modern-day Germany. Charles

11189-431: The Great (d. 526) and set up a kingdom marked by its co-operation between the Italians and the Ostrogoths, at least until the last years of Theodoric's reign. The Burgundians settled in Gaul, and after an earlier realm was destroyed by the Huns in 436, formed a new kingdom in the 440s. Between today's Geneva and Lyon , it grew to become the realm of Burgundy in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. Elsewhere in Gaul,

11356-438: The High Middle Ages. This period also saw the collapse of the unified Christian church, with the East-West Schism of 1054 . The Crusades , first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims . Kings became the heads of centralised nation-states , reducing crime and violence but making the ideal of a unified Christendom more distant. Intellectual life

11523-403: The Italian peninsula was conquered by the Ostrogoths . The Eastern Roman Empire, often referred to as the Byzantine Empire after the fall of its western counterpart, had little ability to assert control over the lost western territories. The Byzantine emperors maintained a claim over the territory, but while none of the new kings in the west dared to elevate himself to the position of emperor of

11690-619: The Late Middle Ages and beginning the early modern period . The Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history : classical civilisation or Antiquity , the Middle Ages and the Modern Period . The "Middle Ages" first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or "middle season". In early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum , or "middle age", first recorded in 1604, and media saecula , or "middle centuries", first recorded in 1625. The adjective "medieval" (or sometimes "mediaeval" or "mediæval"), meaning pertaining to

11857-439: The Lombards, which freed the papacy from the fear of Lombard conquest and marked the beginnings of the Papal States . The coronation of Charlemagne as emperor on Christmas Day 800 is regarded as a turning point in medieval history, marking a return of the Western Roman Empire, since the new emperor ruled over much of the area previously controlled by the Western emperors. It also marks a change in Charlemagne's relationship with

12024-405: The Mediterranean, pottery remained prevalent and appears to have been traded over medium-range networks, not just produced locally. The various Germanic states in the west all had coinages that imitated existing Roman and Byzantine forms. Gold continued to be minted until the end of the 7th century in 693-94 when it was replaced by silver in the Merovingian kingdom. The basic Frankish silver coin

12191-466: The Middle Ages, derives from medium aevum . Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the " Six Ages " or the " Four Empires ", and considered their time to be the last before the end of the world. When referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being "modern". In the 1330s, the Italian humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua (or "ancient") and to

12358-841: The Middle East than Europe, losing control of sections of the Muslim lands. Umayyad descendants took over the Iberian Peninsula, the Aghlabids controlled North Africa, and the Tulunids became rulers of Egypt. By the middle of the 8th century, new trading patterns were emerging in the Mediterranean; trade between the Franks and the Arabs replaced the old Roman economy . Franks traded timber, furs, swords and slaves in return for silks and other fabrics, spices, and precious metals from

12525-543: The Order and various Piast princes, lost their possession within the Pomerelia due to Mestwin II actions against them, and also sought refuge with the Order and their daughters in Kujawy (Sambor) and Śląsk (Racibor). Both uncles died in the 1270s leaving Mestwin II the sole ruler of all unified Duchy of Pomerelia. Now he was faced with challenges from Brandenburg, the Teutonic Order , Pomeranian and Piast princes. As

12692-893: The Park of Culture and Leisure ( Park Kultury i Wypoczynku ), the Northern Wood ( Lasek Północny ) and the Southern Wood ( Lasek Południowy ). There are also many small parks, squares and boulevards. Słupsk is a railway junction, with four lines running north, west, east and south from the city. Currently, one station, opened January 10, 1991 serves the whole city. This is a class B station according to PKP (Polish Railways) criteria. The city has rail connections with most major cities in Poland: Białystok , Gdańsk , Gdynia , Katowice , Kraków , Lublin , Łódź , Olsztyn , Poznań , Szczecin , Warsaw and Wrocław , and also serves as

12859-570: The Prussian state after a conflict with Sweden ) Stolp was only an administrative centre of the Kreis (district) within the Regierungsbezirk of Köslin (Koszalin). However, its geographical location led to rapid development, and in the 19th century, it was the second city of the province in terms of both population and industrialization. In 1769, Frederick II of Prussia established

13026-774: The Pyrenees into the southern parts of the Frankish kingdoms. Efforts by local kings to fight the invaders led to the formation of new political entities. In Anglo-Saxon England , King Alfred the Great (r. 871–899) came to an agreement with the Viking invaders in the late 9th century, resulting in Danish settlements in Northumbria, Mercia, and parts of East Anglia. By the middle of the 10th century, Alfred's successors had conquered Northumbria, and restored English control over most of

13193-628: The Rhine and eastwards, leaving Charles West Francia with the empire to the west of the Rhineland and the Alps. Louis the German (d. 876), the middle child, who had been rebellious to the last, was allowed to keep Bavaria under the suzerainty of his elder brother. The division was disputed. Pepin II of Aquitaine (d. after 864), the emperor's grandson, rebelled in a contest for Aquitaine , while Louis

13360-681: The Roman Empire into a more flexible form to fit the needs of the Church and government. By the reign of Charlemagne, the language had so diverged from the classical Latin that it was later called Medieval Latin . Charlemagne planned to continue the Frankish tradition of dividing his kingdom between all his heirs, but was unable to do so as only one son, Louis the Pious (r. 814–840), was still alive by 813. Just before Charlemagne died in 814, he crowned Louis as his successor. Louis's reign of 26 years

13527-496: The Romans and the invaders are often similar, and tribal items were often modelled on Roman objects. Much of the scholarly and written culture of the new kingdoms was also based on Roman intellectual traditions. An important difference was the gradual loss of tax revenue by the new polities. Many of the new political entities no longer supported their armies through taxes, instead relying on granting them land or rents. This meant there

13694-636: The Vandals went on to cross the strait of Gibraltar after which they conquered the province of Africa . In the 430s the Huns began invading the empire; their king Attila (r. 434–453) led invasions into the Balkans in 442 and 447, Gaul in 451, and Italy in 452. The Hunnic threat remained until Attila's death in 453, when the Hunnic confederation he led fell apart. These invasions by the tribes completely changed

13861-455: The West were not uniform; some areas had greatly fragmented landholding patterns, but in other areas large contiguous blocks of land were the norm. These differences allowed for a wide variety of peasant societies, some dominated by aristocratic landholders and others having a great deal of autonomy. Land settlement also varied greatly. Some peasants lived in large settlements that numbered as many as 700 inhabitants. Others lived in small groups of

14028-627: The Western Roman Empire. In the 7th century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire —came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate , an Islamic empire, after conquest by Muhammad's successors . Although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire, Rome's direct continuation, survived in

14195-567: The acceptance of figurative monumental sculpture in Christian art , and by the end of the period near life-sized figures such as the Gero Cross were common in important churches. During the later Roman Empire, the principal military developments were attempts to create an effective cavalry force as well as the continued development of highly specialised types of troops. The creation of heavily armoured cataphract -type soldiers as cavalry

14362-417: The basilica is the use of a transept , or the "arms" of a cross-shaped building that are perpendicular to the long nave . Other new features of religious architecture include the crossing tower and a monumental entrance to the church , usually at the west end of the building. Carolingian art was produced for a small group of figures around the court, and the monasteries and churches they supported. It

14529-598: The cinema chain Multikino remains open today, which is located in the Jantar Shopping Centre . There is also a small specialist cinema called "Rejs" on 3 Maja street. There was a cinema called 'Milenium', which has now been replaced by the Biedronka chain of supermarkets. Słupsk has a developing economy based on a number of large factories . The footwear industry has been particularly successful in

14696-527: The city by use of force in 1273, having been strengthened by new alliance with his maternal cousin Bolesław Pobożny , the duke of Great Poland . Defeated Wartislaw II found refuge with Ziemomysł of Kuyavia , the duke of Inowrocław and sought assistance from the Order, but he died unexpectedly in Wyszogród in 1271. The remaining male relatives of Mestwin II, his uncles Sambor II and Racibor, allied with

14863-407: The city of Byzantium as the newly renamed eastern capital, Constantinople . Diocletian's reforms strengthened the governmental bureaucracy, reformed taxation, and strengthened the army, which bought the empire time but did not resolve the problems it was facing: excessive taxation, a declining birthrate, and pressures on its frontiers, among others. Civil war between rival emperors became common in

15030-461: The city were electrified. From 1985 to 1999 Słupsk had a trolleybus system . Słupsk used to be traversed east–west by European route E28 , which is known as National route 6 in Poland until a bypass running to the south of the town to carry the 6/E28 traffic was built. The bypass is a part of Expressway S6 which, when completed some time after 2015, will give Słupsk a fast road connection to Szczecin and Gdańsk . The city can also be accessed by

15197-476: The city with Neustettin ( Szczecinek ), Stolpmünde ( Ustka ), Zezenow ( Cecenowo ) (narrow gauge) and Budow ( Budowo ) (narrow gauge). The narrow-gauge tracks were rebuilt as standard gauge by 1933, but were demolished during the Second World War. After the war, the first train connection to be restored was that with Lębork , reopened May 27, 1945. Between 1988 and 1989 almost all of the lines traversing

15364-541: The city; the others had fled and the German soldiers abandoned it. However, the Soviet soldiers were ordered to set fire to the historical central Old Town, which was almost completely destroyed. After the war, the city became again part of Poland and most of the German population either fled or was expelled in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement . The city was settled by Poles, most of whom were expelled from

15531-599: The conquest of North Africa sundered maritime connections between those areas. Increasingly, the Byzantine Church differed in language, practices, and liturgy from the Western Church. The Eastern Church used Greek instead of the Western Latin. Theological and political differences emerged, and by the early and middle 8th century issues such as iconoclasm , clerical marriage , and state control of

15698-743: The construction of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople and the reconquest of North Africa from the Vandals and Italy from the Ostrogoths, under Belisarius (d. 565). The conquest of Italy was not complete, as a deadly outbreak of plague in 542 led to the rest of Justinian's reign concentrating on defensive measures rather than further conquests. At the Emperor's death, the Byzantines had control of most of Italy , North Africa, and

15865-551: The control of kings. There were perhaps as many as 150 local kings in Ireland, of varying importance. The Carolingian dynasty , as the successors to Charles Martel are known, officially took control of the kingdoms of Austrasia and Neustria in a coup of 753 led by Pippin III (r. 752–768). A contemporary chronicle claims that Pippin sought, and gained, authority for this coup from Pope Stephen II (pope 752–757). Pippin's takeover

16032-638: The conversion of the Moravians , Bulgars , Bohemians , Poles , Magyars, and Slavic inhabitants of the Kievan Rus' . These conversions contributed to the founding of political states in the lands of those peoples—the states of Moravia , Bulgaria , Bohemia , Poland , Hungary, and the Kievan Rus'. Bulgaria, which was founded around 680, at its height reached from Budapest to the Black Sea and from

16199-769: The death of Louis the Child , and the selection of the unrelated Conrad I (r. 911–918) as king. The breakup of the Carolingian Empire was accompanied by invasions, migrations, and raids by external foes. The Atlantic and northern shores were harassed by the Vikings , who also raided the British Isles and settled there as well as in Iceland. In 911, the Viking chieftain Rollo (d. c. 931) received permission from

16366-401: The death of Queen Isabella I of Castile in 1504, or the conquest of Granada in 1492. Historians from Romance-speaking countries tend to divide the Middle Ages into two parts: an earlier "High" and later "Low" period. English-speaking historians, following their German counterparts, generally subdivide the Middle Ages into three intervals: "Early", "High", and "Late". In the 19th century,

16533-645: The death of his uncles, Sambor II , prince of Lubiszewo (Lübschau) and Racibor Białogardzki , prince of Białogarda (Belgard an der Leba). Mestwin placed himself under the protection of the Ascanian Margraves of Brandenburg by recognizing their enfeoffment with Pomerania, which had already been made by the German Emperor Fredrick Barbarossa and renewed in December 1231 in Ravenna by Emperor Frederick II . In

16700-578: The disorder, was killed fighting the Goths at the Battle of Adrianople on 9 August 378. In addition to the threat from such tribal confederacies in the north, internal divisions within the empire, especially within the Christian Church, caused problems. In 400, the Visigoths invaded the Western Roman Empire and, although briefly forced back from Italy, in 410 sacked the city of Rome . In 406

16867-402: The earliest mention of the gard, since a castellany required the existence of a gard. The first surviving record explicitly mentioning the gard is from 1269: it notes a "Christianus, castellanus in castro Stolpis, et Hermannus, capellanus in civitate ante castrum predictum", thus confirming the existence of a fortress ("castrum") with a suburbium ("civitas"). Schmidt further says that the office of

17034-442: The early Carolingian period, with a growing dominance of elite heavy cavalry. The use of militia-type levies of the free population declined over the Carolingian period. Although much of the Carolingian armies were mounted, a large proportion during the early period appear to have been mounted infantry , rather than true cavalry. One exception was Anglo-Saxon England, where the armies were still composed of regional levies, known as

17201-676: The election campaign was marked by Nazi terror. During the Kristallnacht , the night of 9/10 November 1938, the local synagogue was burned down. The beginning of the Second World War halted the development of the city. The Nazis created a labour camp near Słupsk, which became Außenarbeitslager Stolp , a subcamp of the Stutthof concentration camp . During the war, Germans brought forced labourers from occupied and conquered countries and committed numerous atrocities. People in

17368-531: The elites was richly embellished with jewels and gold. Lords and kings supported entourages of fighters who formed the backbone of the military forces. Family ties within the elites were important, as were the virtues of loyalty, courage, and honour. These ties led to the prevalence of the feud in aristocratic society, examples of which included those related by Gregory of Tours that took place in Merovingian Gaul. Most feuds seem to have ended quickly with

17535-591: The emergence of Islam in Arabia during the lifetime of Muhammad (d. 632). After his death, Islamic forces conquered much of the Eastern Roman Empire and Persia, starting with Syria in 634–635, continuing with Persia between 637 and 642, reaching Egypt in 640–641, North Africa in the later seventh century, and the Iberian Peninsula in 711. By 714, Islamic forces controlled much of

17702-403: The empire than tax-payers. The Emperor Diocletian (r. 284–305) split the empire into separately administered eastern and western halves in 286; the empire was not considered divided by its inhabitants or rulers, as legal and administrative promulgations in one division were considered valid in the other. In 330, after a period of civil war, Constantine the Great (r. 306–337) refounded

17869-573: The empire to Christianity , a gradual process that lasted from the 2nd to the 5th centuries. In 376, the Goths , fleeing from the Huns , received permission from Emperor Valens (r. 364–378) to settle in the Roman province of Thracia in the Balkans . The settlement did not go smoothly, and when Roman officials mishandled the situation, the Goths began to raid and plunder. Valens, attempting to put down

18036-447: The empire, including Egypt, Syria, and Anatolia until Heraclius' successful counterattack. In 628 the empire secured a peace treaty and recovered all of its lost territories. In Western Europe, some of the older Roman elite families died out while others became more involved with ecclesiastical than secular affairs. Values attached to Latin scholarship and education mostly disappeared, and while literacy remained important, it became

18203-486: The empire. Such movements were aided by the refusal of the Western Roman elites to support the army or pay the taxes that would have allowed the military to suppress the migration. The emperors of the 5th century were often controlled by military strongmen such as Stilicho (d. 408), Aetius (d. 454), Aspar (d. 471), Ricimer (d. 472), or Gundobad (d. 516), who were partly or fully of non-Roman background. When

18370-454: The entire Middle Ages were often referred to as the " Dark Ages ", but with the adoption of these subdivisions, use of this term was restricted to the Early Middle Ages, at least among historians. The Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extent during the 2nd century AD; the following two centuries witnessed the slow decline of Roman control over its outlying territories. Economic issues, including inflation, and external pressure on

18537-433: The fact that Szczecin was then ruled by Sweden , the province's capital was situated not in the second-largest city of the region, but in the one closest to the former ducal residence— Stargard . However, the local economy stabilized. The constant dynamic development of the Kingdom of Prussia and good economic conditions saw the city develop. After the major state border changes (modern Vorpommern and Stettin joined

18704-550: The first mention was in two documents dating to 1227, signed by the Pomeranian dukes Wartislaw III and Barnim I and their mothers, confirming the establishment of an abbey in 1224 and donating estates, among them a village "in Stolp minore" or "in parvo Ztolp", respectively, to that abbey. Another document dated to 1180, which mentions a "castellania Slupensis" and would thus be the oldest surviving record, has been identified as

18871-418: The first time in a document dated 9 September 1310 when Brandenburgian margraves Waldemar and Johann V granted those privileges under Lübeck law , which was confirmed and extended in a second document, dated 2 February 1313. The margraves had acquired the area in 1307. Mestwin II accepted them as his superiors in 1269, confirmed in 1273, but later on, in 1282, Mestwin II and Polish Duke Przemysł II signed

19038-635: The frontiers combined to create the Crisis of the Third Century , with emperors coming to the throne only to be rapidly replaced by new usurpers. Military expenses increased steadily during the 3rd century, mainly in response to the war with the Sasanian Empire , which revived in the middle of the 3rd century. The army doubled in size, and cavalry and smaller units replaced the Roman legion as

19205-451: The imperial officials called missi dominici , who served as roving inspectors and troubleshooters. Charlemagne's court in Aachen was the centre of the cultural revival sometimes referred to as the " Carolingian Renaissance ". Literacy increased, as did development in the arts, architecture and jurisprudence, as well as liturgical and scriptural studies. The English monk Alcuin (d. 804)

19372-415: The king of the united Austrasia and Neustria. Charles, more often known as Charles the Great or Charlemagne , embarked upon a programme of systematic expansion in 774 that unified a large portion of Europe, eventually controlling modern-day France, northern Italy, and Saxony . In the wars that lasted beyond 800, he rewarded allies with war booty and command over parcels of land. In 774, Charlemagne conquered

19539-517: The labour camp were maltreated physically and psychologically and forced to undertake exhausting work while being subject to starvation. The Germans operated nine forced labour subcamps of the Stalag II-B prisoner-of-war camp in the city. Between July 1944 and February 1945, 800 prisoners were murdered by Germans in a branch of the Stutthof camp located in a railway yard in the city; today

19706-679: The large brooches in fibula or penannular form that were a key piece of personal adornment for elites, including the Irish Tara Brooch . Highly decorated books were mostly Gospel Books and these have survived in larger numbers , including the Insular Book of Kells , the Book of Lindisfarne , and the imperial Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram , which is one of the few to retain its " treasure binding " of gold encrusted with jewels. Charlemagne's court seems to have been responsible for

19873-528: The letters, of Pope Gregory the Great (pope 590–604) survived, and of those more than 850 letters, the vast majority were concerned with affairs in Italy or Constantinople. The only part of Western Europe where the papacy had influence was Britain, where Gregory had sent the Gregorian mission in 597 to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. Irish missionaries were most active in Western Europe between

20040-417: The line of Western emperors ceased, many of the kings who replaced them were from the same background. Intermarriage between the new kings and the Roman elites was common. This led to a fusion of Roman culture with the customs of the invading tribes, including the popular assemblies that allowed free male tribal members more say in political matters than was common in the Roman state. Material artefacts left by

20207-546: The long process of reunification of Polish principalities by the Piast dynasts. During the life of Mestwin II nobles and magnates of Greater Poland received grants and appointments to Pomerelian offices and estates. In 1287 both princes entered into another successor treaty in Słupsk , and there they included in their succession treaty another Western Slavic prince, Bogusław IV of Szczecin ( Bogislaw IV, Duke of Pomerania ). This treaty

20374-517: The main and sometimes only outposts of education and literacy in a region. Many of the surviving manuscripts of the Latin classics were copied in monasteries in the Early Middle Ages. Monks were also the authors of new works, including history, theology, and other subjects, written by authors such as Bede (d. 735), a native of northern England who wrote in the late 7th and early 8th centuries. The Frankish kingdom in northern Gaul split into kingdoms called Austrasia , Neustria , and Burgundy during

20541-410: The main tactical unit. The need for revenue led to increased taxes and a decline in numbers of the curial , or landowning, class, and decreasing numbers of them willing to shoulder the burdens of holding office in their native towns. More bureaucrats were needed in the central administration to deal with the needs of the army, which led to complaints from civilians that there were more tax-collectors in

20708-467: The middle of the 4th century, diverting soldiers from the empire's frontier forces and allowing invaders to encroach. For much of the 4th century, Roman society stabilised in a new form that differed from the earlier classical period , with a widening gulf between the rich and poor, and a decline in the vitality of the smaller towns. Another change was the Christianisation , or conversion of

20875-436: The migrations of the Slavs added Slavic languages to Eastern Europe. As Western Europe witnessed the formation of new kingdoms, the Eastern Roman Empire remained intact and experienced an economic revival that lasted into the early 7th century. There were fewer invasions of the eastern section of the empire; most occurred in the Balkans. Peace with the Sasanian Empire , the traditional enemy of Rome, lasted throughout most of

21042-464: The military was the horseshoe , which allowed horses to be used in rocky terrain. The High Middle Ages was a period of tremendous expansion of population . The estimated population of Europe grew from 35 to 80 million between 1000 and 1347, although the exact causes remain unclear: improved agricultural techniques, the decline of slaveholding, a more clement climate and the lack of invasion have all been suggested. As much as 90 per cent of

21209-429: The natives of Britannia  – modern-day Great Britain – settled in what is now Brittany . Other monarchies were established by the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula , the Suebi in northwestern Iberia, and the Vandal Kingdom in North Africa . In the sixth century, the Lombards settled in Northern Italy , replacing the Ostrogothic kingdom with a grouping of duchies that occasionally selected

21376-426: The north. The practice of assarting , or bringing new lands into production by offering incentives to the peasants who settled them, also contributed to the expansion of population. Mestwin II Mestwin II ( Polish : Mściwój II or Mszczuj II ) ( c. 1220 – December 25, 1294) was a Duke of Pomerelia , member of the Samborides dynasty. He ruled Pomerelia as a sole ruler from 1273 to 1294. Mestwin II

21543-445: The northwestern part of the city there is a huge hollow , a remnant of a former sand mine . Although there were once plans to build a waterpark in this area, they were later abandoned and the site remains unused. Słupsk has a temperate marine climate , like the rest of the Polish coastal regions. The city lies in a zone where the continental climate influences are very weak compared with other regions of Poland. The warmest month

21710-399: The number of inhabitants reached the highest level. The city's most notable sports club is basketball team Czarni Słupsk , which competes in the Polish Basketball League (top division), where they finished 3rd four times (as of 2022). They are based in Hala Gryfia . Middle Ages In the history of Europe , the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from

21877-525: The origin of those names: that it refers to a specific way of constructing buildings on boggy ground with additional pile support, which is still in use, or that it is connected with a tower or other defensive structure on the banks of the Słupia River. Later, under German administration, the town was named Stolp , to which the suffix in Pommern was attached in order to avoid confusion with other places similarly named. The Germanised name comes from one of five Slavic Pomeranian names of this settlement. The city

22044-478: The payment of some sort of compensation . Women took part in aristocratic society mainly in their roles as wives and mothers of men, with the role of mother of a ruler being especially prominent in Merovingian Gaul. In Anglo-Saxon society the lack of many child rulers meant a lesser role for women as queen mothers, but this was compensated for by the increased role played by abbesses of monasteries. Only in Italy does it appear that women were always considered under

22211-467: The peninsula in a region they called Al-Andalus . The Islamic conquests reached their peak in the mid-eighth century. The defeat of Muslim forces at the Battle of Tours in 732 led to the reconquest of southern France by the Franks, but the main reason for the halt of Islamic growth in Europe was the overthrow of the Umayyad Caliphate and its replacement by the Abbasid Caliphate . The Abbasids moved their capital to Baghdad and were more concerned with

22378-408: The political and demographic nature of what had been the Western Roman Empire. By the end of the 5th century the western section of the empire was divided into smaller political units, ruled by the tribes that had invaded in the early part of the century. The deposition of the last emperor of the west, Romulus Augustulus , in 476 has traditionally marked the end of the Western Roman Empire. By 493

22545-532: The political power devolved to the local lords. Missionary efforts to Scandinavia during the 9th and 10th centuries helped strengthen the growth of kingdoms such as Sweden , Denmark , and Norway , which gained power and territory. Some kings converted to Christianity, although not all by 1000. Scandinavians also expanded and colonised throughout Europe. Besides the settlements in Ireland, England, and Normandy, further settlement took place in what became Russia and Iceland . Swedish traders and raiders ranged down

22712-419: The protection and control of a male relative. Peasant society is much less documented than the nobility. Most of the surviving information available to historians comes from archaeology ; few detailed written records documenting peasant life remain from before the 9th century. Most of the descriptions of the lower classes come from either law codes or writers from the upper classes. Landholding patterns in

22879-429: The region, expanding its exports to many countries. The Scania commercial vehicles plant also plays a very significant role in Słupsk's economy, generating the highest revenue out of all companies currently based in Słupsk. Most of the buses currently manufactured there are exported to Western Europe . Before the end of World War II, the vast majority of the town's population was composed of Protestants . In 1994

23046-470: The rivers of the Russian steppe, and even attempted to seize Constantinople in 860 and 907 . Christian Spain, initially driven into a small section of the peninsula in the north, expanded slowly south during the 9th and 10th centuries, establishing the kingdoms of Asturias and León . In Eastern Europe, Byzantium revived its fortunes under Emperor Basil I (r. 867–886) and his successors Leo VI (r. 886–912) and Constantine VII (r. 913–959), members of

23213-424: The similar institution called Arcadia in Oradea , Romania , but the partnership ceased after 1989. The Millennium Cinema was one of the first in Poland to have a cinerama . The first Polish pizzeria was established in Słupsk in 1975. During the 1970 protests there were minor strikes and demonstrations. None were killed during the militia 's interventions. Major street name changes were made in Słupsk after

23380-449: The slow infiltration of the Balkans by the Slavs added a further difficulty for Justinian's successors. It began gradually, but by the late 540s Slavic tribes were in Thrace and Illyrium , and had defeated an imperial army near Adrianople in 551. In the 560s the Avars began to expand from their base on the north bank of the Danube ; by the end of the 6th-century, they were the dominant power in Central Europe and routinely able to force

23547-430: The southern part of Great Britain. In northern Britain, Kenneth MacAlpin (d. c. 860) united the Picts and the Scots into the Kingdom of Alba . In the early 10th century, the Ottonian dynasty had established itself in Germany , and was engaged in driving back the Magyars. Its efforts culminated in the coronation in 962 of Otto I (r. 936–973) as Holy Roman Emperor . In 972, he secured recognition of his title by

23714-411: The town in 1521, when Christian Ketelhut preached in the town. Ketelhut was forced to leave Stolp in 1522 due to an intervention by Bogislaw X, Duke of Pomerania . Peter Suawe, a Protestant from Stolp, however, continued his practices. In 1524, Johannes Amandus from Königsberg and others arrived and preached in a more radical way. As a consequence, Saint Mary's Church was profaned, the monastery's church

23881-447: The towns chosen as capitals. Although there had been Jewish communities in many Roman cities , the Jews suffered periods of persecution after the conversion of the empire to Christianity. Officially they were tolerated, if subject to conversion efforts, and at times were even encouraged to settle in new areas. Religious beliefs in the Eastern Roman Empire and Iran were in flux during the late sixth and early seventh centuries. Judaism

24048-461: The village of Stolpmünde (modern Ustka) and then constructed a port there, enabling a maritime economy to develop. After the Treaty of Templin in 1317 the city passed to the Duchy of Pomerania-Wolgast . In 1368 Pomerania-Stolp ( Duchy of Słupsk ) was split off from Pomerania-Wolgast due to the Partitions of the Duchy of Pomerania . The grandson of Polish King Casimir III the Great and his would-be successor Casimir IV became duke of Słupsk as

24215-514: The west, Byzantine control of most of the Western Empire could not be sustained; the reconquest of the Mediterranean periphery and the Italian Peninsula ( Gothic War ) in the reign of Justinian (r. 527–565) was the sole, and temporary, exception. The political structure of Western Europe changed with the end of the united Roman Empire. Although the movements of peoples during this period are usually described as "invasions", they were not just military expeditions but migrations of entire peoples into

24382-438: Was a trend throughout the old Roman lands that happened in the Early Middle Ages. This was especially marked in the lands that did not lie on the Mediterranean, such as northern Gaul or Britain. Non-local goods appearing in the archaeological record are usually luxury goods. In the northern parts of Europe, not only were the trade networks local, but the goods carried were simple, with little pottery or other complex products. Around

24549-402: Was an active proselytising faith, and at least one Arab political leader converted to it. In addition Jewish theologians wrote polemics defending their religion against Christian and Islamic influences. Christianity had active missions competing with the Persians' Zoroastrianism in seeking converts, especially among residents of the Arabian Peninsula . All these strands came together with

24716-438: Was an important feature of the 5th-century Roman military. The various invading tribes had differing emphases on types of soldiers—ranging from the primarily infantry Anglo-Saxon invaders of Britain to the Vandals and Visigoths who had a high proportion of cavalry in their armies. During the early invasion period, the stirrup had not been introduced into warfare, which limited the usefulness of cavalry as shock troops because it

24883-416: Was burned, and the clergy were treated poorly. The inhabitants of the town began the process of conversion to Lutheranism . In 1560 Polish pastor Paweł Buntowski preached in the town, and in 1586 Polish religious literature spread locally. The House of Griffins , which ruled Pomerania for centuries, died out in 1637. The territory was subsequently partitioned between Brandenburg-Prussia and Sweden . After

25050-617: Was confirmed and arrangement made public in Nakło , in 1291. These treaties resulted directly from aggressive policies of March of Brandenburg and the Teutonic Order against the territories of these Slavic duchies and provinces. He had three wives. First came princess Judith, daughter of Ditrich I duke of Brenna i Wettin, who died before 1275, then he married Piast princess Euphrosyne of Opole circa 1275 and they divorced in 1288, and finally married rather unknown Sulisława who died in 1292. He had two daughters: Katarzyna (Katherine), who married Pribislaw II , and Eufemia, eventually married to

25217-420: Was dominated by efforts to regain the dignity and classicism of imperial Roman and Byzantine art , but was also influenced by the Insular art of the British Isles. Insular art integrated the energy of Irish Celtic and Anglo-Saxon Germanic styles of ornament with Mediterranean forms such as the book, and established many characteristics of art for the rest of the medieval period. Surviving religious works from

25384-465: Was forced out of his duchy by Mestwin II and most likely his new ally in 1271. This action resulted in Wratislaw II and Sambor II military action against Mestwin II, and his own knights and nobles rebelled against him. Surrounded by adversity and even taken prisoner (for a short time in 1270) Mestwin II gave the possession of Danzig to the Brandenburg duke Conrad who was holding the city of Danzig until Mestwin II forced them to resign from their possession of

25551-427: Was incorporated into the newly formed Prussian Province of Pomerania . After World War II , the city again became part of Poland, as it fell within the new borders determined by the Potsdam Conference . Slavic names in Pomeranian — Stolpsk , Stôłpsk , Słëpsk , Słëpskò , Stôłp — and Polish — Słupsk — may be etymologically related to the words słup 'pole' and stołp 'keep'. There are two hypotheses about

25718-427: Was initially part of Okręg III , comprising the whole territory of the former Province of Pomerania east of the Oder River . Słupsk later became part of Szczecin Voivodeship and then Koszalin Voivodeship , and in 1975 became the capital of the new province of Słupsk Voivodeship . Life in the devastated city was organized anew. In 1945, the first post-war craft workshops and public schools were opened, trams and

25885-408: Was invited to Aachen and brought the education available in the monasteries of Northumbria. Charlemagne's chancery —or writing office—made use of a new script today known as Carolingian minuscule , allowing a common writing style that advanced communication across much of Europe. Charlemagne sponsored changes in church liturgy , imposing the Roman form of church service on his domains, as well as

26052-434: Was less need for large tax revenues and so the taxation systems decayed. Warfare was common between and within the kingdoms. Slavery declined as the supply weakened, and society became more rural. Between the 5th and 8th centuries, new peoples and individuals filled the political void left by Roman centralised government. The Ostrogoths , a Gothic tribe, settled in Roman Italy in the late fifth century under Theoderic

26219-436: Was marked by scholasticism , a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities . The theology of Thomas Aquinas , the paintings of Giotto , the poetry of Dante and Chaucer , the travels of Marco Polo , and the Gothic architecture of cathedrals such as Chartres are among the outstanding achievements toward the end of this period and into the Late Middle Ages. The Late Middle Ages

26386-470: Was marked by difficulties and calamities including famine, plague, and war, which significantly diminished the population of Europe; between 1347 and 1350, the Black Death killed about a third of Europeans. Controversy, heresy , and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the interstate conflict, civil strife, and peasant revolts that occurred in the kingdoms. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding

26553-439: Was marked by numerous divisions of the empire among his sons and, after 829, civil wars between various alliances of father and sons over the control of various parts of the empire. Eventually, Louis recognised his eldest son Lothair I (d. 855) as emperor and gave him Italy. Louis divided the rest of the empire between Lothair and Charles the Bald (d. 877), his youngest son. Lothair took East Francia , comprising both banks of

26720-406: Was not directly affected by the fighting in the First World War . The trams did not operate during the war, returning to the streets in 1919. Demographic growth remained high, although development slowed, because the city became peripheral, the Kreis (district) being situated on post-war Germany's border with the Polish Corridor . Polish claims to Stolp and its neighbouring area were refused during

26887-496: Was not possible to put the full force of the horse and rider behind blows struck by the rider. The greatest change in military affairs during the invasion period was the adoption of the Hunnic composite bow in place of the earlier, and weaker, Scythian composite bow. Another development was the increasing use of longswords and the progressive replacement of scale armour by mail armour and lamellar armour . The importance of infantry and light cavalry began to decline during

27054-416: Was occasionally called Stolpe , referring to the Słupia River , whose German name is Stolpe . Stolpe is also the Latin exonym for this place. Słupsk developed from a few medieval settlements located on the banks of the Słupia River , at the unique ford along the trade route connecting the territories of modern Pomeranian and West Pomeranian Voivodeships. This factor led to the construction of

27221-452: Was part of the Polish realm during the reign of Mieszko I and in the 11th century. According to several sources, the first historic reference to Słupsk comes from the year 1015 when the king of Poland Boleslaus I the Brave took over the town, incorporating it into the Polish state. In the 12th century, the town became one of the most important castellanies in Pomerania alongside Gdańsk and Świecie . However, several historians stated that

27388-442: Was reinforced with propaganda that portrayed the Merovingians as inept or cruel rulers, exalted the accomplishments of Charles Martel, and circulated stories of the family's great piety. At the time of his death in 768, Pippin left his kingdom in the hands of his two sons, Charles (r. 768–814) and Carloman (r. 768–771). When Carloman died of natural causes, Charles blocked the succession of Carloman's young son and installed himself as

27555-417: Was the denarius or denier , while the Anglo-Saxon version was called a penny . From these areas, the denier or penny spread throughout Europe from 700 to 1000 AD. Copper or bronze coins were not struck, nor were gold except in Southern Europe. No silver coins denominated in multiple units were minted. Christianity was a major unifying factor between Eastern and Western Europe before the Arab conquests, but

27722-511: Was the son of Swietopelk II and the Přemyslid dynasty princess Eufrozyna . As a young man, in 1243 he was taken into the Teutonic Order custody as a hostage , part of the ceasefire agreement between his father and the Order, but the Order did not keep their part of this agreement and failed to return Mestwin II who was held by them until 1248 (for some time in the Order castle in Austria ) when finally released. Most likely upon returning from Teutonic Order captivity his father made Mestwin II

27889-409: Was with the British Isles and Scandinavia, in contrast to the older Roman Empire with its trading networks centred on the Mediterranean. The empire was administered by an itinerant court that travelled with the emperor, as well as approximately 300 imperial officials called counts , who administered the counties the empire had been divided into. Clergy and local bishops served as officials, as well as

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