Rostock

The Lordship of Rostock arose from the partition of Mecklenburg in 1227, with its seat at the Baltic port of Rostock. Its last prince, Nicholas I, sought Danish protection against neighboring Mecklenburg rulers, but Denmark gained effective control.

Henry II of Mecklenburg took Rostock in 1312 and received it as a Danish hereditary fief in 1323, ending the independent lordship. The city, a member of the Hanseatic League from 1251, founded its university in 1419. The dukes of Mecklenburg enforced their authority over the city at the end of the fifteenth century.