AHC: Polish Farther Pomerania

What it says on the tin, how can we get Poland to own Farther Pomerania with a point of divergence as late as possible but before 1618? I'm in the middle of trying to figure out a way to create a more powerful Poland with one idea being to give them a western border on the Oder by having Sigismund II Augustus turn down the idea of Joachim II being co-enfeoffed with the Duchy of Prussia so that it reverts to the Polish Crown in 1618 rather than entering a personal union with the Electorate of Brandenburg to form Brandenburg-Prussia, Farther Pomerania being the other major part needing to be dealt with. Any help people can give is gratefully appreciated, thanks.
 
Pomerania has been often divided among co-regents, often brothers from the house of the Gryphons.

From 1541 on, the border between Pommern-Wolgast and Pommern-Stettin had been near the current German-Polish border.

530px-Pommern-Wolgast.jpg


But these divisions always kept the idea of a common Pomeranian state with some common institutions alive, even if the co-regents had there own domains. In order to have Poland claim sucessfully the Stettin part, there should be the extinction of the ducal house and Poland arguing with some other party over the inheritance.

You probably have to severely restrict the power of Brandenburg, followed by a dynastical marriage between the Pomeranian dukes and the house of Vasa. So a claim exists that could lead to a permanent pertition between Polish Farther Pomerania and Swedish Hither Pomerania.
 
The hard way is the Griffins dying out and Poland being their heirs, which is hard since the Griffins were protestants and before Westphalia inter-faith marriage wasn't really usual.

The easiest way is plain conquest, Poland enter in conflict with the Habsburgs (like France and Sweden did in the TYW) and in the Peace snatch Pomerania east of the Oder, however alienating the Habsburgs as allies is going to bite their asses.
 
The hard way is the Griffins dying out and Poland being their heirs, which is hard since the Griffins were protestants and before Westphalia inter-faith marriage wasn't really usual.

The easiest way is plain conquest, Poland enter in conflict with the Habsburgs (like France and Sweden did in the TYW) and in the Peace snatch Pomerania east of the Oder, however alienating the Habsburgs as allies is going to bite their asses.
The last member of the Griffins was Anna of Pomerania, sister of Bogislaw XIV, who reunited all the Pomeranian territories. She was married to a Catholic, Ernest of Croy, a noble from the Southern Netherlands who fought for the Habsburgs in the 30 Years War. Their marriage contract stated that their children should have a Protestant education. Their only son, Ernest Bogislaw von Croy, was born in 1620, only some 40 days before his father died.
So, IOTL the Griffins accepted to marry one of their own to a minor Catholic noble. WI she had been married to a Catholic Polish prince instead? She was born in 1590, so a marriage between 1604 and 1618 is possible. Eventually her Polish husband could try to make good of her claim, and despite the inheritance treaty the Griffins had with the Hohenzollerns, if the Habsburgs have better luck in the 30 Years War and Brandenburg is weak they might prefer to see the territory under Polish Catholic control.
 
The last member of the Griffins was Anna of Pomerania, sister of Bogislaw XIV, who reunited all the Pomeranian territories. She was married to a Catholic, Ernest of Croy, a noble from the Southern Netherlands who fought for the Habsburgs in the 30 Years War. Their marriage contract stated that their children should have a Protestant education. Their only son, Ernest Bogislaw von Croy, was born in 1620, only some 40 days before his father died.
So, IOTL the Griffins accepted to marry one of their own to a minor Catholic noble. WI she had been married to a Catholic Polish prince instead? She was born in 1590, so a marriage between 1604 and 1618 is possible. Eventually her Polish husband could try to make good of her claim, and despite the inheritance treaty the Griffins had with the Hohenzollerns, if the Habsburgs have better luck in the 30 Years War and Brandenburg is weak they might prefer to see the territory under Polish Catholic control.

Good reasoning. another thing a weak Brandenburg is good for: To get an Oder border for Poland, the Hohenzollern have somehow lose the Neumark, which was regarded as part of the electorate of Brandenburg and thus theoretically inalienable under the terms of the Golden Bull of 1356.
 
Wasn't Neumark sold, or pawned, to the Teutonic Order historically? If Poland seized it during one of their wars against the Order, before the Order could sell it back to Brandenburg, would they be able to keep it?
 
Wasn't Neumark sold, or pawned, to the Teutonic Order historically? If Poland seized it during one of their wars against the Order, before the Order could sell it back to Brandenburg, would they be able to keep it?

1402 to 1454 (pawned back) or 1463 (sold back for 40.000 guilders). If the order had still owned it by 1466 and had it become a part of Royal Prussia, than Brandenburg would surely have contested that. Right now, I have no clue if the Brandenburg elecor would have been able to form a coalition that would have made Poland back off and accept the 40.000 guilders as payment for giving NM back to Brb.

Another possibility: From 1535 to 1571, Margrave Johann "Hans" von Brb-Küstrin was the younger brother of Elector Joachim of Brandenburg and had inherited the Neumark with Cottbus as his own principality. He died without direct heitrs, so the territory was reunited with Brb under Joachim's grandson Johann Georg. Had Johann had at least one son, there might heve been a separate Küstrin branch whose territories might have fallen unter Polish hegemony.

EDIT:
You can see the partition in the small map in the upper left corner:

1024px-Kur_Brandenburg.jpg
 
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In 1231 the margrave of Brandenburg was invested with the duchy of Pomerania (Slavia) and as far as the Empire was concerned Pomerania was considered as a fief of Brandenburg, not a direct fief of the Empire.
Naturally a weaker Brandenburg and Empire (though the latter isn't a real issue with this point of divergence) will help Poland to achieve their goal, most likely by conflict and treaty.
 

yourworstnightmare

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Maybe we're looking at it from the wrong perspective. Maybe have the Griffins inheriting the Polish throne at some Point would be the easiest solution.
 
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