Bytów

Bytów, called Bütow in German, stands in the Kashubian country of eastern Pomerania. An early stronghold preceded the town, which passed to the Teutonic Order in 1329 and received town rights in 1346. Between 1399 and 1405 the knights built a castle here to guard their western frontier. Poland captured it after the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, but the Peace of Thorn returned it to the order the following year.

After the Thirteen Years' War, Bytów returned to Polish control and was granted to the Pomeranian dukes as a fief. When their line died out in 1637, the land came under direct Polish rule. The Treaty of Bydgoszcz in 1657 granted it as a hereditary fief to Brandenburg-Prussia, while Poland retained sovereignty. It was incorporated into Prussia following the First Partition of Poland.