Send Gift Baskets to Koszalin, Poland

Per the Medieval Chronicle of Greater Poland (Kronika Wielkopolska), Koszalin was one of the Pomeranian cities that Duke Bolesaw III Wrymouth of Poland conquered and subjugated in 1107 along with Koobrzeg, Kamiel, and Wolin. Afterward, in the 12th century, the area became part of the Griffin-ruled Duchy of Pomerania, a vassal state of Poland. After dividing Poland into smaller duchies, it became a vassal of Denmark in 1185 and a part of the Holy Roman Empire from 1227, which separated from Poland.

The Norbertine monastery in Biaoboki near Trzebiatów received a village known as Koszalice/Cossalitz in 1214 as a gift from Bogislaw II of Pomerania, Duke of Pomerania. New settlers, mostly Germans, settled the territory from outside Pomerania. Duke Barnim I transferred the eastern part of Koobrzeg Land, including the village, to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kammin in 1248.

Kammin bishop Hermann von Gleichen granted the village a charter on 23 May 1266, granting it Lübeck law, local government, autonomy, and multiple privileges to attract German settlers from the West. In 1276, the bishops became sovereign in Koobrzeg, moving their residence there while the diocese was administered from Koszalin. It was in 1278 that the local parish church and St. Mary Chapel on Chemska Hill came under the care of a Cistercian monastery.

After acquiring Jamno (1331), parts of Lake Jamno, and a spit between the lake and the sea, the city gained direct access to the Baltic Sea. As a member of the Hanseatic League (from 1386), it participated in the Baltic Sea trade, which led to several conflicts with the competing ports of Koobrzeg and Darowo. The city was a part of the Duchy of Pomerania-Wolgast between 1356 and 1417/1422. Against Koszalin’s rival city of Koobrzeg in 1446, Koszalin won a decisive victory. A conflict broke out in 1475 between the town of Koszalin and the Pomeranian Duke Bogislaw X, resulting in the duke’s kidnapping and temporary imprisonment.