Bogislaw was born in Rügenwalde (now Darłowo, Poland) into the House of Pomerania (Griffins). His father was Eric II, Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast, his mother was the duchess Sophia of Pomerania, both distant relatives of the House of Pomerania. Bogislaw was first married to Margaret of Brandenburg and later to Anna Jagiellon, daughter of Casimir IV Jagiellon, King of Poland.
He inherited all of the previously partitioned Duchy of Pomerania and became her sole ruler in 1478. Before Bogislaw"s reign, the Duchy of Pomerania had for a long time been divided into several splinter duchies, ruled by relatives of the Griffin house. In 1474, with his father"s death, Bogislaw inherited his splinter duchy, becoming Duke of Pomerania.
In 1478 with his uncle"s death, he inherited his splinter duchy, too, becoming the first sole ruler in the Duchy of Pomerania since about 200 years.
His father, Eric II, had left Pomerania in tense conflicts with Brandenburg and Mecklenburg. Bogislaw managed to resolve these conflicts by both diplomatic and military means.
Also, in 1478, Bogislaw regained areas lost to Brandenburg by his father, most notably the town of Gartz and other small towns and castles north of the Brandenburgian Uckermark. He confirmed the 1472 Peace of Prenzlau in 1479, leaving Strasburg with Brandenburg and Bogislaw had to take his possessions as a fief from Brandenburg.
When Bogislaw married Anna of Poland in 1491, all of Pomerania"s neighbors were tied to the House of Pomerania by marriage.
Bogislaw made use of these favourable conditions in 1493, and strengthened Pomerania"s position towards Brandenburg in the Treaty of Pyritz, which declared Pomerania not a fief of Brandenburg, but a fief of the Holy Roman Emperor. In 1496-1498, Bogislaw travelled to Jerusalem as a pilgrim. He died in Stettin.
