From ducal stronghold to chapter provost’s residence. Lubin in the 11th–16th centuries

Abstract

Lubin is situated on the south-western edge of Wolin island, just at the Szczecin Lagoon and mouth of the Stara Świna River to the Baltic Sea. From the locality are known seven archaeological sites dated to the Middle Ages: stronghold, cemetery and five settlements (fig. 1). The central place in this settlement complex was occupied by stronghold, situated on a high moraine hill adjacent to the Lagoon (fig. 2), which in the past created the  possibility of control over the major water transport route, which was the Świna River connecting the Szczecin Lagoon with the Baltic Sea. The results of excavations carried out in the years 2008–2011 in Lubin along with older discoveries and written sources created a basis for settlement reconstruction of the stronghold hill in the Middle Ages and the early post-medieval period, its functions changing over time and conditions of these transformations. The oldest traces of settlement on the hill in the Middle Ages can be dated to the end of the 9th century or the first half of the 10th century. However, as late as in the second half of the 11th century it was fortified by construction of ramparts. The stronghold, built back then most likely by early state authority forming in this part of Pomerania, was to ensure control over the important communication route, and at the same time to become a regional administration, religious, and with the adjacent settlements, probably also an economic centre. In 1124 Lubin was one of centres visited by Bishop Otto of Bamberg during his first Christianization mission in Pomerania. At that time the St Nicolas church was erected in the stronghold. Relics of this wooden temple and formed next to it cemetery were discovered in 2009–2011. Probably as early as in the first half of the 12th century Lubin also became an important point in the structure of territorial organization of the Duchy of the West Pomerania, as centre of an administrative unit (provincia). The end of its importance was its capture and destruction in the eighth decade of the 12th century by Danish King Valdemar I. Shortly afterwards, in 1186 or 1187, duke of Pomerania granted the cathedral chapter in Kamień the stronghold with the whole district and the church. In the 13th century in place of former stronghold still functioned the church, serving parish function, and the cemetery. In the next century, however, a complete change in the hill spatial organization occurred: the church was moved to the neighbouring hill, the former fortifications were levelled, and soon after a towerhouse was built, which became the seat of the provost of the cathedral chapter in Kamień during his visits to Lubin. The building was not of defensive character, and its erection in this place could have been influenced by the view of the Szczecin Lagoon. The building was demolished as late as at the end of the 16th century, after the Lubin estate return to dukes of Szczecin.