Summary

The Duchy of Prussia (German: Herzogtum Preußen, Polish Księstwo w Prusach), or Ducal Prussia (herzogliches Preußen, Prusy Książęce), is a hereditary territorial principality vassal of the King of Poland, founded in 1525 during the secularization of the Teutonic State by its Grand Master Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach, the first prince in Europe to officially adopt Lutheranism as his state religion.

In 1618, the Duchy of Prussia fell to the Elector of Brandenburg, John III Sigismund, of the House of Hohenzollern like Albert. This led to a personal union of the two territories (Brandenburg-Prussia), the foundation of the 18th-century Kingdom of Prussia.

The war between Poland and the Teutonic Order (1519-1521)

The Teutonic Knights have long been considered enemies by Poland, which inflicted a severe defeat on them in 1410 at Grunwald. A little later, Poland succeeded in seizing the western part of the Teutonic territories (Royal Prussia, around Danzig), following an agreement with the population in revolt against the order (Prussian League).

The election of Hohenzollern Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach as the thirty-seventh Grand Master after the death of Frederick of Saxony in 1510 led to renewed tensions with Poland, even though he was the nephew of King Sigismund I through his mother Sophie Jagellon. He refused all allegiance to Poland, even going so far as to ally himself with the Grand Prince of Moscow Vasily III, whose troops had invaded the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He then demanded the return of Royal Prussia to the Teutonic Order.

In December 1519, the Diet of the Kingdom of Poland voted to recognize a state of war with the Teutonic Order. Hostilities began in 1520: Polish troops laid siege to Marienwerder, while the Teutonic Order, reinforced by mercenaries, counter-attacked and laid siege to Danzig. The conflict was bogged down by a lack of resources on both sides.

In 1521, Emperor Charles V requested the suspension of war in Prussia, as the Turks had invaded Hungary. An armistice was signed at Thorn (Toruń) on April 5, 1521. A four-year truce was established, at the end of which the Emperor and the King of Poland agreed on the status of Teutonic Prussia.

The Grand Master took advantage of this four-year respite to make a radical change.

Albert of Brandenburg's conversion to Lutheranism (1524-1525)

The Germanic world was in the midst of a religious crisis. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the doors of Wittenberg Castle Church, condemning many of the Catholic Church's practices. This text, circulated throughout Germany, sparked off a major controversy, the main stages of which were: Luther's refusal to recant (Luther's public destruction of this bull (Luther's banishment from the Empire (Luther's shelter in Wartburg Castle by the Elector of Saxony Frederick III; his return to Wittenberg in early 1524. Luther not only enjoyed the support of this and other princes, but also popular support in Germany. A Lutheran camp quickly formed, ready to oppose the Emperor; this camp was formalized in 1531 by the Smalkalde League. Albert of Brandenburg joined this camp in the early 1520s, becoming an important part of it.

Traveling through the Holy Roman Empire in search of support for his Polish policy, the Grand Master rubbed shoulders with the main proponents of the Reformation: in particular, he visited Wittenberg, where Luther urged him first to allow clerics belonging to the order to marry, and then to complete the process of secularizing the order that had been underway since the 1460s. After this meeting, the two men maintained an ongoing correspondence.

In 1524, Albert brought Luther's relatives to Königsberg.

In 1525, he converted to Lutheranism and entered into negotiations with the King of Poland.

Treaty of Krakow with Poland (April 8, 1525)

Negotiations culminated in the Treaty of Krakow, signed on April 8, 1525, which was also the peace treaty legally ending the war of 1519.

Albert of Brandenburg obtained the agreement of the King of Poland for his conversion to the Lutheran religion and, above all, for the secularization of the Teutonic State as a hereditary duchy, in return for recognition of the suzerainty of the Kingdom of Poland over this new entity. The Duke of Prussia's vassal status was legally formalized by a tribute. A clause provided for the return of Prussian rights and territories to Poland in the event of the extinction of the Duke of Prussia's male line.

This vassalage implies the possibility of intervention by the King of Poland in the political life of the duchy; indeed, he represents a recourse for the disgruntled and, until the middle of the 17th century, sometimes succeeded in imposing his jurisdiction of appeal on successive dukes.

What's more, many noble families owned property in both Prussia and Poland, and the frequent wars in which Poland was involved offered Prussian nobles the chance of a military career in the Polish army.

Political consequences of the secularization of the Teutonic Order

The 1525 agreement led to the separation of the Livonian Order, an autonomous order within the Teutonic Order, which governed the territories east of the Baltic Sea (present-day Estonia and Latvia). The members of the Livonian Order did not follow the Grand Master in his conversion to Lutheranism (the secularization of the Livonian Order took place only a few years later).

Albert of Brandenburg was summoned to appear before the Court of Justice of the Holy Roman Empire, but failed to show up. He was thus banished from the Empire, but this was of no more importance to him than it was to Luther.

The secularization of orderly goods

On Luther's advice, he then undertook the secularization of the territory of which he had become Duke.

Secularization did not bring about any major economic or social changes, and the former Teutonic commanders and their subordinates retained their position in the social hierarchy once they had converted.

The duke, a major beneficiary of the secularization of ecclesiastical property, owned 48% of arable land in the duchy as early as the 16th century.

A Lutheran state

Lutheran Protestantism became the state religion with the Reformation decree of July 6, 1525.

On December 10 of the same year, the Diet of Königsberg published the Ecclesiastical Regulations (Kirchenordnung) to be applied within the new territorial Church of the Duchy of Prussia.

The conversion of the population at the Duke's instigation saved the ruling powers from large-scale social upheavals, such as a peasant revolt, and ensured continuity among the duchy's religious personnel: bishops, for example, secularized the dioceses under their charge.

The University of Königsberg (1544)

What's more, in 1544, a Lutheran university was founded in Königsberg, organized along the lines recommended by Philip Melanchthon. The Prussian university was the second-largest Protestant university in terms of date of foundation, and ensured the duchy's cultural influence in Poland. A number of Polish and Lithuanian nobles sent their children to the university, which also ensured the development of printing in northern Europe. Good relations with Luther are symbolized by the fact that the reformer's son came to study theology at this new university in Königsberg.

A population overwhelmingly in favor of the Reformation

After 1525, the dukes organized the conversion of their subjects to Lutheranism, who were required to have the same religion as their duke.

Lutheranism quickly met with great success and conversions multiplied among the population.

The mass nature of these conversions had an unexpected consequence: the Prussian duke saw the influence of his duchy grow among the inhabitants of Royal Prussia, a territory annexed to Poland during the 15th century.

The Grand Master, Albert of Hohenzollern-Ansbach, creates the title of Duke of Prussia for himself.

As a newly-created duke, Albert initially had to face Polish hostility, having refused the tribute due to the King of Poland.

The first dukes

The early years of Albert of Brandenburg's reign were prosperous. Faced with the peasantry, the Church's lands and treasures enabled him to maintain a sumptuous court. He encouraged learning by setting up schools in every town in the duchy, freed the serfs and had the Protestant catechism printed in German. In 1544, despite opposition, he founded the Albertina University in Königsberg.

However, this policy aroused opposition from the Prussian orders, who were seeking the support of Albert's suzerain, particularly with regard to his religious policy.

But internal religious and political conflicts soon took their toll on Albert of Brandenburg's health, and he was forced to relinquish most of his power. As his son Albert-Frédéric was still a minor, he had to choose a regent. Once he came of age, the Duke had to deal with the Orders and the Poles, whose successive kings had family ties with the Prussian dukes.

Albert died of the plague at Tapiau on March 20, 1568. He was succeeded by Albert-Frédéric, who was well-educated but suffered from severe insanity, and died on June 27, 1618 without a male heir.

Setting up institutions

Soon after the duchy was erected, powers were organized around an institutional triangle formed by the Polish suzerain, the Prussian duke and the orders.

These orders, representatives of the nobility and towns, recognize his power through homage, but are often in opposition to the duke and his policies, demanding accounts and sometimes standing up against his policies.

On October 5, 1566, Albert of Brandenburg, then at the end of his reign, had to concede them a constitution strictly framing the Duke's prerogatives. He had to agree to the creation of an Oberrat, made up of 4 councillors: the Grand Burgrave, the Grand Marshal, the Master of the Court and the Chancellor. Together with the Duke, they formed the Oberratstube, a body that lasted until 1808.

Often absent after the establishment of the personal union with Brandenburg, the duke was represented locally by a Statthalter, a governor chosen by the duke from among his close relatives.

The year 1618 marked a turning point in the history of the duchy. After Albert-Frédéric died without a male heir, the duchy, a small Baltic principality and vassal of the Republic of the Two Nations, devolved to his daughter Anne of Prussia, wife of Elector John III Sigismund of Brandenburg.

Union with Brandenburg

On the death of Duke Albert-Frédéric of Prussia, the duchy passed to his daughter Anne of Prussia, wife of John III Sigismund of Brandenburg, in a personal union known as Brandenburg-Prussia. Within this framework, the duchy retained its specific characteristics, but was only one of several territories placed under the Elector's scepter. Involved in the conflicts that punctuated the life of the Holy Roman Empire, and in which the Elector was often implicated, the Duchy was nevertheless a refuge for the Prince and his family during periods of occupation of the Electorate.

This personal union also altered the relationship between the Duke and his Duchy. The Duke was quick to call for the establishment of institutions comparable to those in force in the German electorate. Imposed from Berlin, the introduction of heavier taxation and financial reforms aimed at transforming the two principalities into a single state were not readily accepted in the duchy.

The end of Polish suzerainty

From 1655 to 1660, during the First Northern War, Brandenburg-Prussia temporarily allied itself with Sweden: on July 30, 1656, Sweden and Brandenburg-Prussia won the Battle of Warsaw against the Republic of the Two Nations. This alliance led to the plundering of the Duchy by Tatars in the service of the King of Poland.

On November 20, 1656, under the Treaty of Labiau, the King of Sweden, in difficulty with the Poles, recognized the sovereignty of Elector Frederick William I of Brandenburg over the Duchy of Prussia. On September 16, 1657, under the Treaty of Wehlau, the Duke of Prussia, frightened by Sweden's move into Royal Prussia, and the King of Poland allied themselves against Sweden; the Pole renounced his suzerainty over the Duchy of Prussia in return for breaking his alliance with Sweden. The "Duke in Prussia" became the "Duke of Prussia". The agreement was confirmed by the Treaty of Bromberg (November 9, 1657), followed by the Treaty of Oliva (moreover, as the duchy was outside the Empire, it asserted its sovereignty from this date, as the Duke of Prussia no longer owed feudal homage to any temporal power for the duchy.

The Duke, "King in Prussia

In 1700, during negotiations to form the Grand Alliance, the Duke of Prussia Frederick III obtained from the Emperor the establishment of his duchy as a kingdom. In the Holy Roman Empire, however, he could not be called "King of Prussia", but only "King in Prussia" (until 1772).

The provisions making the King of Poland the heir to the Prussian sovereign were not approved by the Diet of the Republic of the Two Nations until 1764, at the urging of the Russians.

Located south of the Baltic Sea, the duchy plays an important role in the Baltic Sea economy.

The transformation of the Teutonic State into a duchy did not alter the relationships between the various economic players, with the Duke of Prussia inheriting the prerogatives of the Grand Master.

At the same time, the ducal capital, Königsberg, experienced a certain economic boom, specializing in the export of textiles and leather from a vast hinterland.

Large properties

The Duchy of Prussia, heir to the Teutonic Order, developed the economy of the conquered territories during the 13th and 14th centuries by encouraging the cultivation of cereals on large estates. During the 16th century, the importance of the owners of these estates grew, not least because they were the only ones able to meet the needs of the dukes, who entrusted them with the management of their private or public estates.

At the crossroads of various trade routes

As a result, the Duchy was at the confluence of several trade routes, and a gateway between the Vistula and Niemen basins. In addition, the strong demand for timber and foodstuffs strengthened the economy of the Duchy and its main port, Königsberg. During the 16th century, however, the influence of Hanse merchants in the Duchy's economy declined, gradually replaced by Dutch traders.

What's more, weak demand, combined with a vast hinterland, quickly created the conditions for a large balance-of-payments surplus.

The Duchy's economy is essentially agrarian, based on large agricultural estates and an increasingly dependent peasantry.

Regular immigration

What's more, soon after the duchy was created, the Prussian rulers integrated many persecuted Protestants into the population of their state: as early as 1543, Dutch Protestants expelled by Charles V settled in Königsberg and Eylau, while Polish and Lithuanian Protestants settled in the south and northeast of the duchy respectively, boosting the duchy's demographic and economic dynamism.

Sources

1. Duchy of Prussia
2. Duché de Prusse
3. ^ The duchy's Evangelical (Protestant) church was the first formally established as a state religion.
4. ^ Notes and Queries. Oxford University Press. 1850.
5. Anonyme, Free Europe: Fortnightly Review of International Affairs, volumes 4 à 5, Broché, 1941.
6. Cornelius J. Dyck, Dennis D. Martin, Cornelius J. Dyck, Dennis D. Martin, Mennonite Brethren Pub. House, 1955.
7. Een Pruisische maat voor ongeveer veertig hectare.
8. Herbert Helbig: Ordensstaat, Herzogtum Preußen und preußische Monarchie. In: Richard Dietrich (Hrsg.): Preußen – Epochen und Probleme seiner Geschichte. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1964, S. 8 (Nachdruck 2019, ISBN 978-3-11-081858-1).