Wartislaw VIII, Duke of Pomerania

Wartislaw VIII, Duke of Pomerania
Spouse(s)	Agnes of Saxe-Lauenburg
Noble family	House of Griffins
Father	Wartislaw VI, Duke of Pomerania
Mother	Anne of Mecklenburg-Stargard
Born	1373
Died	20 or 23 August 1415

Wartislaw VIII (1373 – 20 or 23 August 1415) was a duke of Pomerania from the House of Griffins house. He ruled in Pomerania-Wolgast from 1394 together with his brother Barnim VI. After Barnim died in 1405, he ruled alone.

Wartislaw VIII was the second son of Duke Wartislaw VI of Pomerania-Wolgast and his wife, Anne of Mecklenburg-Stargard.

His father initially intended that Wartislaw would join the clergy. At the age of 14, he was appointed the Archdeacon at Tribsees. But in 1393 he left the clergy to marry. According to later tradition, he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to obtain the required dispensation. He possibly started this pilgrimage together with his cousin Wartislaw VII of Pomerania-Stolp, who had to break off the journey due to illness.

After the death of his father, Wartislaw VI, in 1394, Wartislaw VIII ruled Pomerania-Wolgast jointly with his elder brother Barnim VI. During their joint reign, they sometimes joined the Hanseatic League in the fight against the piracy. Sometimes, however, Duke Barnim VI himself operated as a pirate, leading to a tense relationship with the Hanseatic League and the Teutonic Knights. Barnim VI died in 1405.

After his brother's death, Wartislaw VIII ruled Pomerania-Wolgast alone, and acted as guardian for his brother's two sons Wartislaw IX (born: 1400) and Barnim VII (born: c. 1404). He settled his dispute with the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights in March 1406 and undertook a pilgrimage to Rome, where Pope Gregory XII gave him a Golden Rose. After his return, Wartislaw gave the Golden Rose to the Pudagla Monastery, where it was soon revered as miraculous. It was later destroyed by abbott Henry, who ruled 1479–1493, because it had become an idol.

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