In the
High Middle Ages, the region of the later starostwo was a borderland of the
Piast Kingdom of Poland with
Duchy of Pomerania and
Margraviate of Brandenburg. In 1268, the largely unsettled area was given to the
Knights Templar by the Polish duke
Przemysł II. The order invited German settlers (
Ostsiedlung). The German name
Tempelburg for present-day Polish
Czaplinek dates back to that era, and derives from the German name of the Knights Templar,
Templer. In 1368, during an exchange of territories, Margrave
Otto VII of Brandenburg gave the areas around Czaplinek and
Wałcz (
Deutsch Krone) to the Polish king
Casimir III the Great, who in 1370 established Wałcz County () from these accessions: part of the
Poznań Voivodeship (palatinate), it consisted of seven loosely connected regions in royal or noble possession subordinate to the judicum castrensis in Wałcz. The starost was in charge of the local administration, military and jurisdiction. When a noble perceived an intrusion into his territory, he and his subjects traditionally reacted with an inequatio, a mounted raid, into the territory of his competitor on the other side of the border. In 1407, German and Polish nobility conquered the castle of
Draheim (Stare Drawsko). These
robber barons used the region as a base for raids until 1422, when they were defeated by the burghers of
Dramburg (Drawsko Pomorskie). In 1438 the
Teutonic Knights recognized Polish control of the region. In the 16th century, the region largely converted to
Lutheranism during the
Protestant Reformation. During the
Counter-Reformation, of the three important families only the von der Goltzs remained
Protestant, while the von Wedells and Czarnowskis converted to
Roman Catholicism, maintaining however a tolerant attitude towards the Protestant settlers. Many peasants fled from Pomerania to Draheim and other parts of Walcz county, where the nobles offered them hereditary farmland in deserted villages and clearances which they were to settle according to German law. The settlers primarily originated in Pomeranian and Neumark areas no more than away from the Draheim border, and their influx continued throughout the 16th and 17th centuries despite protests of their former superiors. This migration was enhanced by the
Thirty Years War, during which Pomerania and Neumark were devastated, while the Polish territories were spared. New villages were founded according to
Magdeburg law: their settlement was organized by a , usually a rich farmer or
burgher, who bought the office from the landlord and worked out the contracts ( or ) with the peasants. Since a was able to partition and sell his estate, with the heirs or other acquiring party gaining all privileges of a even if owning only part of such an estate, the number of increased significantly over time. This process was enhanced by the landlords, who needed the armed services of the at the border. In July 1655, during the
Second Northern War, Draheim was devastated by a trespassing
Swedish army. A Brandenburgian report noted that no more than 150 inhabitants remained, the rest had fled to nearby areas, but hesitated to return as they were deprived of all their means. Poland pawned Draheim to
Brandenburg-Prussia in the 1657
Treaty of Bromberg. This arrangement was confirmed in the 1660
Treaty of Oliva, but
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, did not take control of the territory until 1668.
Berlin subsequently administered the territory through the office of an , who had his seat in Draheim Castle. It was later leased to domain tenants. According to the Treaty of Bromberg, Frederick William promised not to infringe upon the rights of the Roman Catholic Church in Draheim. The number of Protestants in the territory gradually shrank. It was not until the reign of King
Frederick William I of Prussia (1713–40) that a Protestant church was built in Tempelburg. Draheim's role as a fief of Poland ended with the
First Partition of Poland in 1772. In spite of being included as part of
Kreis Neustettin,
Regierungsbezirk Köslin within
Province of Pomerania in 1817, the territory remained outside of the
German Confederation and became part of
Germany only upon formation of the
North German Confederation in
1866. It also remained a part of the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Poznań until becoming part of the newly established
Apostolic Administration of Tütz. ==References==