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Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Grand Master of the Order of Teutonic Knights and Duke in Prussia, 1490–1568

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Studies in Medieval and Modern German History

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Abstract

Threatened by internal dissolution, and weakened by wars with Poland which for years had been waged intermittently over disputed territories, the Teutonic Order made a dramatic recovery in 1525 by becoming a secular, Lutheran principality and making peace with Poland. Albert of Hohenzollern, Grand Master since 1511, had in 1524 accepted Luther’s recommendation to convert the lands of the Order into a hereditary duchy. By the Treaty of Cracow (1525), guaranteed by the entire House of Brandenburg, Albert renounced his territorial claims against Poland and agreed to make East Prussia a fief of the King of Poland.

Translated by Michael Barry for Government in Reformation Europe, 1520–1560, ed. Henry J. Cohen (London: Macmillan, 1971) pp. 169–202. The essay consists of excerpts chosen from Walther Hubatsch, Albrecht von Brandenburg-Ansbach (Cologne, 1960) pp. 169–202.

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Notes

  1. Strangely enough, the Reformation edict is nowhere printed complete. Tschackert (op. cit., vol. II, no. 371) still had access to the printed version in the Königsberg State Archives, which today is no longer there. H. F. Jacobson, Geschichte der Quellen des evangelischen Kirchenrechts des Preussischen Staates, vol. II (Königsberg, 1839) pp. 23ff.

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  2. Tschackert, op. cit., vol. I, pp. 10ff., with references. The one-sided verdict that the Order had not yet converted the country is not to be accepted. Tschackert overlooks the disastrous consequences of the wars and devastations after 1410. On paganism, see Johannes Maletius, Epistola de sacrificiis et idolatria veterum Borussorum (Königsberg, 1551), reprinted in Acta Borussica, ecclesiastica, civilia, literaria, vol. II (Königsberg and Leipzig, 1731), also in Mitteilungen der Litterarischen Gesellschaft Masovia, vol. VIII (Lötzen, 1902) pp. 177–96; H. Meletii, ‘Wahrhaftige Beschreibung der Sudawen auf Samland, samt ihrem Bockheiligen und Ceremonien’, Erleutertes Preussen, V (1742) 701–21.

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  3. Letter of the peasants of Samland to the administrator of the Amt of Tapiau, 4 September 1525, formerly in the Preussisches Staatsarchiv Königsberg, now in the Geh. Staatsarchiv, Berlin-W, Herzogliches Brief-Archiv (HBA); J. Voigt, ‘Geschichte des Bauernaufruhrs in Preussen im Jahre 1525’, Neue Preussische Provinzialblätter, III (1847) 1–50

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  9. Tschackert, op. cit., vol. II, nos 416–18. The eighty articles of the Landesordnung contain a ‘provisional ecclesiastical ordinance’ with liturgical appendix, which was separately printed in March 1526: E. Sehling, Die evangelischen Kirchenordnungen des XVI: Jahrhunderts, vol. IV, Das Herzogtum Preussen (Leipzig, 1911) nos 2–3, pp. 30–41.

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  10. Nostitz, op. cit. A short account of the history of the Ämter, based on sources, is in H. Schweichler, ‘Das Domänenwesen unter Herzog Albrecht in Preussen (1525–1568)’ (Ph.D. thesis, Königsberg, 1911; also in Mitteilungen der Litterarischen Gesellschaft Masovia, XVII (1912) 74–120)

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  19. F. S. Bock, Leben und Thaten des Durchlauchtigen Fürsten und Herrn, Herrn Albrechts des ältern, Markgrafen zu Brandenburg und Ersten Herzoges in Preussen (2nd edn, Königsberg and Leipzig, 1750) XX pp. 155ff.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bonn, Germany

    Walther Hubatsch (Professor of History)

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  1. Walther Hubatsch
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© 1985 Walther Hubatsch

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Hubatsch, W. (1985). Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Grand Master of the Order of Teutonic Knights and Duke in Prussia, 1490–1568. In: Studies in Medieval and Modern German History. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-17822-3_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-17822-3_3

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-17824-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-17822-3

  • eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)

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