Albert I, Duke of Prussia
Encyclopedia
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
and, after converting to Lutheranism
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
, the first duke
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
of the Duchy of Prussia, which was the first state to adopt the Lutheran faith and Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
as the official state religion
State religion
A state religion is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state...
. Albert proved instrumental in the political spread of Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
in its early stage.
Because Albert was a member of the Brandenburg-Ansbach
Principality of Ansbach
The Principality of Ansbach or Brandenburg-Ansbach was a reichsfrei principality in the Holy Roman Empire centered on the Bavarian city of Ansbach...
branch of the House of Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
, it had been hoped that his election as Grand Master would reverse the decline of the Teutonic Knights since 1410; Duke Frederick of Saxony of the House of Wettin had been elected for the same reason. Instead, Albert's secularization
Secularization
Secularization is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions...
of the Prussian territories
Prussia (region)
Prussia is a historical region in Central Europe extending from the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea to the Masurian Lake District. It is now divided between Poland, Russia, and Lithuania...
of the Order eventually led to the inheritance of the Duchy of Prussia by the Margraviate of Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
.
Albert's titles (on his proclamation of 1561 in Königsberg
Königsberg
Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...
) were: Albert the Elder, Margrave of Brandenburg in Prussia, Stettin
Szczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
in Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
, Duke of the Kashubians
Kashubians
Kashubians/Kaszubians , also called Kashubs, Kashubes, Kaszubians, Kassubians or Cassubians, are a West Slavic ethnic group in Pomerelia, north-central Poland. Their settlement area is referred to as Kashubia ....
, and Wends
Wends
Wends is a historic name for West Slavs living near Germanic settlement areas. It does not refer to a homogeneous people, but to various peoples, tribes or groups depending on where and when it is used...
, Burgrave of Nuremberg
Burgrave of Nuremberg
- Further reading :* Sigmund Benker, Andreas Kraus : Geschichte Frankens bis zum Ausgang des 18. Jahrhunderts . 3rd edition. Beck, Munich 1997. ISBN 3-406-39451-5...
, and Count of Rügen
Rügen
Rügen is Germany's largest island. Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of the Vorpommern-Rügen district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.- Geography :Rügen is located off the north-eastern coast of Germany in the Baltic Sea...
etc..
Early life
Albert was born in AnsbachAnsbach
Ansbach, originally Onolzbach, is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is situated southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the Fränkische Rezat, a tributary of the Main river. As of 2004, its population was 40,723.Ansbach...
in Franconia
Franconia
Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...
as the third son of Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
Frederick I of Ansbach and Bayreuth was born at Ansbach as the eldest son of the Albert III, Margrave of Brandenburg by his second wife Anna, daughter of Frederick II, Elector of Saxony. His elder half-brother was the Elector Johann Cicero of Brandenburg...
. His mother was Sophia
Sophia of Poland
Sophia of Poland was a Polish and Lithuanian princess by birth and Margravine of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Kulmbach by her marriage to Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach.-Early life and family :...
, daughter of Casimir IV Jagiellon
Casimir IV Jagiellon
Casimir IV KG of the House of Jagiellon was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440, and King of Poland from 1447, until his death.Casimir was the second son of King Władysław II Jagiełło , and the younger brother of Władysław III of Varna....
, Grand Duke of Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
and King of Poland
Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)
The Kingdom of Poland of the Jagiellons was the Polish state created by the accession of Jogaila , Grand Duke of Lithuania, to the Polish throne in 1386. The Union of Krewo or Krėva Act, united Poland and Lithuania under the rule of a single monarch...
, and his wife Elisabeth of Austria
Elisabeth of Austria (d. 1505)
Elisabeth of Austria , , was a Polish-Lithuanian queen...
. He was raised for a career in the Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
and spent some time at the court of Hermann IV of Hesse
Hermann IV of Hesse
Hermann IV of Hesse was Archbishop-Elector of Cologne from 1480 to 1508 and Prince-Bishop of Paderborn from 1498 to 1508.-Early years, 1450–1473:...
, Elector of Cologne, who appointed him canon of the Cologne Cathedral
Cologne Cathedral
Cologne Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church in Cologne, Germany. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and is a World Heritage Site...
.
Despite being quite religious, he was also interested in mathematics and science, and sometimes is claimed to have contradicted the teachings of the Church in favour of scientific theories. His career was forwarded by the Church however and institutions of the Catholic clerics supported his early advance.
Turning to a more active life, Albert accompanied Emperor Maximilian I
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...
to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1508, and after his return spent some time in the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
.
Grand Master
Sigismund I the Old
Sigismund I of Poland , of the Jagiellon dynasty, reigned as King of Poland and also as the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until 1548...
, Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, would facilitate a settlement of the disputes over eastern Prussia, which had been held by the Order under Polish suzerainty
Suzerainty
Suzerainty occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary vassal state some limited domestic autonomy. The dominant entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a...
since the Second Peace of Thorn (1466).
The new Grand Master, aware of his duties to the empire and to the papacy, refused to submit to the crown of Poland. As war over the Order's existence appeared inevitable, Albert made strenuous efforts to secure allies and carried on protracted negotiations with Emperor Maximilian I. The ill-feeling, influenced by the ravages of members of the Order in Poland, culminated in a war
Polish–Teutonic War (1519–1521)
Polish–Teutonic War of 1519–1521 was the war between the Kingdom of Poland and the Teutonic Knights, fought from 1519 to 1521. The war ended with the armistice in 1521. Four years later, with the Treaty of Kraków, part of the Catholic Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights became secularized as...
which began in December 1519 and devastated Prussia. Albert was granted a four-year truce early in 1521.
The dispute was referred to Emperor Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
and other princes, but as no settlement was reached Albert continued his efforts to obtain help in view of a renewal of the war. For this purpose he visited the Diet of Nuremberg
Diet of Nuremberg
The Diet of Nuremberg is often called the Imperial Diet at Nuremberg.There were several of them because, according to the Golden Bull of 1356, each Holy Roman Emperor had to hold his first diet in Nuremberg after his election...
in 1522, where he made the acquaintance of the Reformer
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
Andreas Osiander
Andreas Osiander
Andreas Osiander was a German Lutheran theologian.- Career :Born at Gunzenhausen in Franconia, Osiander studied at the University of Ingolstadt before being ordained as a priest in 1520. In the same year he began work at an Augustinian convent in Nuremberg as a Hebrew tutor. In 1522, he was...
, by whose influence Albert was won over to Protestantism
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
.
The Grand Master then journeyed to Wittenberg
Wittenberg
Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a city in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the river Elbe. It has a population of about 50,000....
, where he was advised by Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
to abandon the rules of his Order, to marry, and to convert Prussia into a hereditary duchy for himself. This proposal, which was understandably appealing to Albert, had already been discussed by some of his relatives; but it was necessary to proceed cautiously, and he assured Pope Adrian VI
Pope Adrian VI
Pope Adrian VI , born Adriaan Florenszoon Boeyens, served as Pope from 9 January 1522 until his death some 18 months later...
that he was anxious to reform the Order and punish the knights who had adopted Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
doctrines. Luther for his part did not stop at the suggestion, but in order to facilitate the change made special efforts to spread his teaching among the Prussians, while Albert's brother, Margrave George of Brandenburg-Ansbach
George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
George of Brandenburg-Ansbach was a Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach from the House of Hohenzollern.- Early life :...
, laid the scheme before their uncle, Sigismund I the Old
Sigismund I the Old
Sigismund I of Poland , of the Jagiellon dynasty, reigned as King of Poland and also as the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until 1548...
of Poland.
Duke of Prussia
Treaty of Kraków
Treaty of Kraków was signed on 8 April 1525 between Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights. It officially ended the Polish-Teutonic War....
, Albert pledged a personal oath
Prussian Homage
The Prussian Homage or Tribute was the formal investment of Albert of Prussia as duke of the Polish fief of Ducal Prussia.In the aftermath of the armistice ending the Polish-Teutonic War Albert, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights and a member of the House of Hohenzollern, visited Martin Luther...
to Sigismund I and was invested with the duchy for himself and his heirs on 10 February 1525.
The Estates
Estates of the realm
The Estates of the realm were the broad social orders of the hierarchically conceived society, recognized in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period in Christian Europe; they are sometimes distinguished as the three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and commoners, and are often referred to by...
of the land then met at Königsberg
Königsberg
Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...
and took the oath of allegiance to the new duke, who used his full powers to promote the doctrines of Luther. This transition did not, however, take place without protest. Summoned before the imperial court of justice, Albert refused to appear and was proscribed, while the Order elected a new Grand Master, Walter von Cronberg
Walter von Cronberg
Walter von Cronberg was the 38th Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, serving from 1527 to 1543.- Biography :Von Cronberg hailed from a rather poor family of knights from Kronberg Castle near Frankfurt. He joined the Teutonic Order in 1497 and held the post of a tax collector in the Komturei of...
, who received Prussia as a fief at the imperial Diet of Augsburg
Diet of Augsburg
The Diet of Augsburg were the meetings of the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire in the German city of Augsburg. There were many such sessions, but the three meetings during the Reformation and the ensuing religious wars between the Roman Catholic emperor Charles V and the Protestant...
. As the German princes were experiencing the tumult of the Reformation, the German Peasants' War
German Peasants' War
The German Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt was a widespread popular revolt in the German-speaking areas of Central Europe, 1524–1526. At its height in the spring and summer of 1525, the conflict involved an estimated 300,000 peasants: contemporary estimates put the dead at 100,000...
, and the wars against the Ottoman Turks
Ottoman wars in Europe
The wars of the Ottoman Empire in Europe are also sometimes referred to as the Ottoman Wars or as Turkish Wars, particularly in older, European texts.- Rise :...
, they did not enforce the ban on the duke, and agitation against him soon died away.
In imperial politics Albert was fairly active. Joining the League of Torgau
League of Torgau
The League of Torgau was an alliance of Protestant princes, including Philip of Hesse and John of Saxony, which was formed in 1526 by Lutheran princes within the Holy Roman Empire, to oppose the terms set forth in the Edict of Worms. Because it had no substantial military, it was unable to...
in 1526, he acted in unison with the Protestants, and was among the princes who banded and plotted together to overthrow Charles V after the issue of the Augsburg Interim
Augsburg Interim
The Augsburg Interim is the general term given to an imperial decree ordered on May 15, 1548, at the 1548 Diet of Augsburg, after Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, had defeated the forces of the Schmalkaldic League in the Schmalkaldic War of 1546/47...
in May 1548. For various reasons, however, poverty and personal inclination among others, he did not take a prominent part in the military operations of this period.
The early years of Albert's rule in Prussia were fairly prosperous. Although he had some trouble with the peasantry, the lands and treasures of the church enabled him to propitiate the nobles and for a time to provide for the expenses of the court. He did something for the furtherance of learning by establishing schools in every town and by freeing serfs who adopted a scholastic life. In 1544, in spite of some opposition, he founded Königsberg University, where he appointed his friend Andreas Osiander to a professorship in 1549. Albert also paid for the printing of the Astronomical "Prutenic Tables
Prutenic Tables
The Prutenic Tables , were an ephemeris by the astronomer Erasmus Reinhold published in 1551. They are sometimes called the Prussian Tables after Albert I, Duke of Prussia, who supported Reinhold and financed the printing...
" compiled by Erasmus Reinhold
Erasmus Reinhold
Erasmus Reinhold was a German astronomer and mathematician, considered to be the most influential astronomical pedagogue of his generation. He was born and died in Saalfeld, Saxony....
and the first maps of Prussia by Caspar Hennenberger
Caspar Hennenberger
Caspar Hennenberger was a German Lutheran pastor, historian and cartographer....
.
This step was the beginning of the troubles which clouded the closing years of Albert's reign. Osiander's divergence from Luther's doctrine of justification
Justification (theology)
Rising out of the Protestant Reformation, Justification is the chief article of faith describing God's act of declaring or making a sinner righteous through Christ's atoning sacrifice....
by faith involved him in a violent quarrel with Philip Melanchthon, who had adherents in Königsberg, and these theological disputes soon created an uproar in the town. The duke strenuously supported Osiander, and the area of the quarrel soon broadened. There were no longer church lands available with which to conciliate the nobles, the burden of taxation was heavy, and Albert's rule became unpopular.
After Osiander's death in 1552, Albert favoured a preacher named Johann Funck
Johann Funck
Johann Funck, Funk or Funccius was a German Lutheran theologian. He was beheaded after a court intrigue.-Life:...
, who, with an adventurer named Paul Skalić, exercised great influence over him and obtained considerable wealth at public expense. The state of turmoil caused by these religious and political disputes was increased by the possibility of Albert's early death and the need, should that happen, to appoint a regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
, as his only son, Albert Frederick
Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia
Albert Frederick was duke of Prussia from 1568 until his death. He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was the second and last Prussian duke of the Ansbach branch of the Hohenzollern family.-Duke of Prussia:...
was still a mere youth. The duke was forced to consent to a condemnation of the teaching of Osiander, and the climax came in 1566 when the Estates
Estates of the realm
The Estates of the realm were the broad social orders of the hierarchically conceived society, recognized in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period in Christian Europe; they are sometimes distinguished as the three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and commoners, and are often referred to by...
appealed to King Sigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus
Sigismund II Augustus I was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the only son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548...
of Poland, Albert's cousin, who sent a commission to Königsberg. Scalich saved his life by flight, but Funck was executed. The question of the regency was settled, and a form of Lutheranism was adopted and declared binding on all teachers and preachers.
Virtually deprived of power, the duke lived for two more years, and died at Tapiau
Gvardeysk
Gvardeysk is a town and the administrative center of Gvardeysky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Pregolya River east of Kaliningrad. Population: -History:...
on 20 March 1568.
Albert was a voluminous letter writer, and corresponded with many of the leading personages of the time.
Legacy
Although Albert has received relatively little recognition in German history, his dissolution of the Teutonic State caused the founding of the Duchy of Prussia (and also the Hohernzollern dynasty), which would eventually become arguably the most powerful German state and instrumental in uniting the whole of Germany. Albert is therefore often seen as the father of the Prussian nation, and even as indirectly responsible for the unification of Germany.He was a skilled political administrator and leader, and effectively reversed the decline of the Teutonic Order, until he betrayed it by transforming the order's lands into his own duchy, secularizing it in the process.
He was the first German noble to support Luther's ideas and in 1544 founded the University of Königsberg (the so called Albertina
Albertina
The Albertina is a museum in Vienna, Austria, containing the world's best collection of old master prints and drawings.Albertina, a feminine adjectival form of Albert , may also refer to:...
) as a rival to the Roman Catholic Cracow Academy; it was only the second Lutheran university in the German states, after Marburg
Marburg
Marburg is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of March 2010, was 79,911.- Founding and early history :...
.
In 1891, a statue was erected to his memory in Königsberg
Königsberg
Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...
.
Spouse and Issue
Albert married first, to Princess Dorothea (1 August 1504-11 April 1547), daughter of King Frederick I of DenmarkFrederick I of Denmark
Frederick I of Denmark and Norway was the King of Denmark and Norway. The name is also spelled Friedrich in German, Frederik in Danish, and Fredrik in Swedish and Norwegian...
, in 1526. They had six children;
- Anna Sofie (1527–1591)
- Katharina (b. & d. 1528)
- Frederick Albert (1529–1530)
- Lucia Dorothea (1531–1532)
- Lucia (1537–1539)
- Albert (1539-1539)
He married secondly to Anna Maria
Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg wasa Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneberg by birth and by marriage Duchess of Prussia....
(1532–20 March 1568), daughter of Eric I
Eric I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Eric I, the Elder was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg from 1495 and the reigning prince of Calenberg-Göttingen.- Ancestry :Eric I was born on 16 February 1470 in Neustadt am Rübenberge at the castle of Rovenburg....
, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Brunswick-Lüneburg
The Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , or more properly Duchy of Brunswick and Lüneburg, was an historical ducal state from the late Middle Ages until the late Early Modern era within the North-Western domains of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, in what is now northern Germany...
, in 1550. The couple had two children;
- Elisabeth (1551–1596)
- Albert FrederickAlbert Frederick, Duke of PrussiaAlbert Frederick was duke of Prussia from 1568 until his death. He was a son of Albert of Prussia and Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg. He was the second and last Prussian duke of the Ansbach branch of the Hohenzollern family.-Duke of Prussia:...
(1553–1618)
Ancestors
External links
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