Duke Swantibor I was a son of
Barnim III, nicknamed
the church founder (born: ; died: 1368), who ruled in the
Teilherzogtum of
Pomerania-Stettin. After Barnim III's death in 1368, his three surviving sons
Casimir III, Swantibor I and
Bogislaw VII ruled Pomerania-Stettin jointly. At the time of their succession to power, Denmark under King
Waldemar IV of Denmark was at war with the
Hanseatic League and its allies, in particular Duke
Albert II of Mecklenburg. The late Duke Barnim III had sided with Denmark. His sons, however, made peace with Albert on 7 November 1368 and took a neutral stance towards Denmark. This brought them into conflict with Margrave
Otto of Brandenburg, who sided with Denmark. This conflict escalated to war. Duke Casimir III died during the siege of
Chojna in 1372. After Casimir's death, Swantibor I and Bogislaw VII ruled jointly, with Swantibor I now playing the leading role. He was faced with the challenge to maintain the position of Pomerania, which was splintered into several
Teilherzogtumer, against its neighbours, in particular, against Brandenburg. When Emperor
Charles IV (1316–1378) tried to win Brandenburg for his relatives, Swantibor initially feared that Charles IV would revive old claims that Brandenburg held suzerainty over Pomerania. On 17 May 1373 all the Pomeranian dukes, that is, Swantibor I and Bogislaw VII from Pomerania-Stettin,
Wartislaw VI and
Bogislaw VI from Pomerania-Wolgast,
Bogislaw V of Pomerania-Stolp and Philip of Rehberg, Bishop of
Cammin, joined forces to protect their interests and their common ownership of
Pomerania. When Emperor Charles IV had acquired Brandenburg for his family by the
Treaty of Fürstenwalde of 15 August 1373, however, Charles initiated a friendly relation with the Pomeranian dukes, contrary to their expectations, perhaps because he had married Bogislaw V's daughter,
Elisabeth of Pomerania. Charles IV was particularly friendly with Swantibor, who occasionally participated in imperial affairs, and who served as an imperial judge. The situation in Pomerania remained disorganized. The Dukes had conflicts with the Pomeranian cities and were short of funds due to their ongoing
feuds. The relation with the neighbouring
Teutonic Knights was inconsistent. In 1388, Swantibor I and Bogislaw VII served the order for a while. In 1403, however, Swantibor tried to make his son
Otto II archbishop of
Riga, against the will of the Order, who supported
John of Wallenrode as their candidate for the position. In the
Battle of Grunwald in 1410, a Pomeranian contingent led by Swantibor's son
Casimir V, fought on the side of the Order. The Order lost the battle and Casimir was taken prisoner by the victorious Poles. He was, however, released soon afterwards. In 1388, Charles IV's son
Sigismund (1368–1437)
enfeoffed Jobst of Moravia (1351–1411) with the
Margraviate of Brandenburg. Conflicts erupted again between Brandenburg and Pomerania. In 1409, a compromise was reached between Jobst and Swantibor and Jobst enfeoffed Swantibor with the Lordship of Beeskow. Swantibor then fell into disputes with the local nobility in Beeskow, who had previously supported him against Jobst. After Jobst died in 1411, Sigismund enfeoffed Brandenburg to Burgrave Frederick VI of Nuremberg, who later became Elector of Brandenburg as
Frederick I. Swantibor initially remained on his post as governor of the Mittelmark. In 1412, however, he retired ane left the business of government to his sons. Swantibor's sons soon fell into military conflicts with Frederick and Dukes Otto II and Casimir V defeated Frederick in the second Battle at the Kremmen Causeway. Swantibor I died on 21 June 1413, while the conflict with Brandenburg was still raging. He was buried in the
Cistercian monastery at
Kołbacz. The verdict of the historian Martin Wehrmann (1861–1937) was the Duke Swantibor
seems to have been an energetic and capable ruler, who was unfortunately, due to the condition of his country, unable to achieve permanent results. ==Marriage and issue==