The Swienca family was a medieval Pomeranian noble family which held high offices under various political powers in the Słupsk and Sławno Land and Gdańsk Pomerania from the mid-13th to the mid-14th centuries.
History It is named after its founder, Swienca or Swieca (Polish Święca, German Swenzo; referred to as Swenzo, Swenso or Suenzo in contemporary documentsCf. the respective entries in Pommersches Urkundenbuch and Pomerellisches Urkundenbuch), the elder of two brothers.
In Gdańsk Pomerania, the Swiencas were transiently the most powerful family after the dukes.Hartmut Boockmann, Deutsche Geschichte im Osten Europas. Ostpreußen und Westpreußen: Ostpreußen und Westpreußen, Siedler, 1992, p.161 In the Lands of Sławno and Słupsk, the region in Farther Pomerania between river Unieść in the West and the river Łeba in the East,Ellinor von Puttkamer: Die Swenzonen und das Land Schlawe, in: Der Kreis Schlawe - Ein pommersches Heimatbuch (M. Vollack, ed.), Vol. II: Die Städte und Landgemeinden, Husum: Husum Druck und Verlagsgesellschaft, 1989, , pp. 545-550. the border to Pomerelia, they ruled de facto autonomously under various dynasties until finally the sons of Wartislaw IV of Pomerania-Wolgast of the House of Pomerania made use of their rights as legal sovereigns of the Lands of Schlawe and Stolp and limited the power of the Swienca family considerably.
The Puttkamer family considers them to be their first documented ancestors. However, historians are divided on this issue.
Ancestry Source:Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln. Neue Folge. Band 19. Zwischen Weser und Oder, Vittorio Klostermann, 2000, table 8,
Święca, palatine and wójt of Pomerelia Peter I of Nowe, "chancellor" and "capitaneus" of Pomerelia, Lord of Nowe Peter II of Nowe, Lord of Tuchola John I (Jasco or Jesco, ) of Sławno, since 1308 Lord of Sławno Peter III of Sławno Lawrence () III of Sławno Lawrence I of Darłowo, Lord of Nowe, since 1308 Lord of Darłowo John (Jasco) II of Darłowo Nathalie Lawrence, castellan of Słupsk Święca junior Lawrence II Casimir () of Tuchola
Coat of arms The escutcheon of the Swienca family consisted of a griffin the lower half of the body of which is replaced by a sturgeon's tail, a type of arms known in heraldry as a fish griffin. The fish griffin appears also in the escutcheons of the town of Darłowo.
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