Conflict over rafting on the Rega
Conflict over rafting on the Rega was one of the trade disputes in Pomerania between Gryfice, Białoboki monastery and Trzebiatów, lasting from 1317 to 1686.
[1] The privileges granted to the cities, including the staple rights for Trzebiatów and indirect participation in the Hanseatic League, caused a more than 350-year-long conflict over the free rafting on the Rega river.
Despite the positive resolution of the dispute in favor of Gryfice, Trzebiatów undertook actions to hinder the free rafting on the Rega.
Thanks to the privileges obtained when Gryfice was granted town rights in 1262, and their confirmation in 1264, fishermen could freely conduct fishing, and merchants engaged in river and maritime trade.
Trzebiatów, situated to the north (closer to the river's mouth to the sea), received similar privileges in 1287,[4] as well as staple rights in 1303.
[11][12][10][13] Merchants organized the purchase of agricultural products, including grain, wax, hides, tar, hemp, meat, and honey.
[14] This was made possible by a privilege issued by Wartislaw IX and Barnim VII in 1436 for the Dutch, who became significant partners in the grain trade.
[9][10] The people of Gryfice lodged a complaint with Pope John XXII,[19] which led to a trial at the St. Mary's Church in Stettin (1326–1328).
[20] The process began with an official protest from the monastery's prosecutor and an accusation against the Gryfice municipal council for unlawful and criminal acts.
In front of the gathered assembly, the Białoboki prosecutor simultaneously cast a curse on the plaintiffs, declaring them excluded from the Christian community.
On 7 May 1328, the claims of the people of Gryfice were once again recognized, while the Norbertines were ordered to remove the devices blocking navigation on the river and to pay compensation of 5000 silver marks.
[15] In 1449, under the pretext of disrupting the operation of watermills, Trzebiatów attempted to block the river for all ships coming from the south, leading to an escalation of the conflict.
Mutual raids on merchant caravans, imposing tribute, and plundering nearby villages led to the ruin of both urban centers.
In 1457, with the cooperation of the monks, the people of Trzebiatów dug a new, shortened stream bed of the Rega river (bypassing Resko Przymorskie lake) in the area of present-day Mrzeżyno and established a new port there.
The situation was mediated by Bogislaw X, who in the early years of his reign ended the forty-year period of conflict between the two cities along the lower Rega river (23 October 1488).
In return, the people of Gryfice were obligated to provide 25 carts for two days a year for the maintenance and repair of port facilities, while Trzebiatów was to rebuild the water locks to ensure unhindered navigation.
They were caused by Gryfice's failure to deliver underwater parts for the renovation of breakwaters and the construction of ships that were too large compared to the capacity of the locks.
[31] The revival of Polish trade and cooperation with ports in Kołobrzeg, Darłowo, and indirectly with Trzebiatów and Gryfice, led to the economic growth of both cities during the Second Northern War, also known as the Swedish Deluge (1655–1660).
