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176-591: The Brandenburger Gold Coast , later Prussian Gold Coast , was a colony of Brandenburg-Prussia , later the Kingdom of Prussia , on the Gold Coast . The Brandenburg colony existed from 1682 to 1701, after which it became a Prussian colony from 1701 to 1721. In 1721, King Frederick William I of Prussia sold it for 7,200 ducats and 12 slaves to the Dutch West India Company . In May 1682,

352-612: A de facto province of the Prussian kingdom. Although Frederick was still only an elector within the portions of his domain that were part of the empire, he only acknowledged the emperor's overlordship over them in a formal way. In the mid-16th century, the margraves of Brandenburg had become highly dependent on the estates (counts, lords, knights and towns, no prelates due to the Protestant Reformation in 1538). The margraviate's liabilities and tax income as well as

528-732: A "Byzantine-like presidency over a family of nations, centred on pope and emperor in Rome". This has proved a lasting achievement. Otto's early death though made his reign "the tale of largely unrealized potential". Henry II died in 1024 and Conrad II , first of the Salian dynasty , was elected king only after some debate among dukes and nobles. This group eventually developed into the college of electors . The Holy Roman Empire eventually came to be composed of four kingdoms: Kings often employed bishops in administrative affairs and often determined who would be appointed to ecclesiastical offices. In

704-835: A baroque ceremony in Königsberg Castle . On 28 January, Augustus the Strong congratulated Frederick, yet not as Polish king, but as Saxon elector. In February, Denmark–Norway accepted Frederick's elevation in hope of an ally in the Great Northern War , and the Tsardom of Russia likewise approved in 1701. Most princes of the Holy Roman Empire followed. Charles XII of Sweden accepted Frederick as Prussian king in 1703. In 1713, France and Spain also accepted Frederick's royal status. The coronation

880-757: A clause of subjection of the chiefs to Frederick William's overlordship and an agreement allowing Brandenburg-Prussia to establish a fort, and is thus regarded the beginning of the Brandenburg-Prussian colonial era. To facilitate the colonial expeditions, the Brandenburg African Company was founded on 7 March 1682, initially with its headquarters in Berlin and its shipyards in Pillau , since 1683 in Emden . Throughout its existence,

1056-485: A compromise candidate. Henry VII was crowned king at Aachen on 6 January 1309, and emperor by Pope Clement V on 29 June 1312 in Rome, ending the interregnum. During the 13th century, a general structural change in how land was administered prepared the shift of political power toward the rising bourgeoisie at the expense of the aristocratic feudalism that would characterize the Late Middle Ages . The rise of

1232-560: A counter-offensive, pursuing the retreating Swedish forces through Swedish Pomerania . Polish king John III Sobieski planned to restore Polish suzerainty over the Duchy of Prussia, and for this purpose concluded an alliance with France on 11 June 1675. France promised assistance and subsidies, while Sobieski in turn allowed French recruitment in Poland-Lithuania and promised to aid Hungarian rebel forces who were to distract

1408-674: A decorative purpose, but was regarded a necessity to prevail in political competition. Though Frederick III held the elevated status of a prince elector , this status was also gained by Maximilian I of Bavaria in 1623, during the Thirty Years' War , also by the Elector of the Palatinate in the Peace of Westphalia (1648), and by Ernest Augustus of the House of Hanover in 1692. Thus,

1584-665: A document in 1474. The adoption of this new name coincided with the loss of imperial territories in Italy and Burgundy to the south and west by the late 15th century, but also to emphasize the new importance of the German Imperial Estates in ruling the Empire due to the Imperial Reform . The Hungarian denomination "German Roman Empire" ( Hungarian : Német-római Birodalom ) is the shortening of this. By

1760-500: A far-reaching constitutional act. Frederick's policies were primarily directed at Italy, where he clashed with the free-minded cities of the north, especially the Duchy of Milan . He also embroiled himself in another conflict with the Papacy by supporting a candidate elected by a minority against Pope Alexander III (1159–1181). Frederick supported a succession of antipopes before finally making peace with Alexander in 1177. In Germany,

1936-488: A gradual development of the imperial role. While the office of emperor had been reestablished, the exact term for his realm as the "Holy Roman Empire" was not used until the 13th century, although the emperor's theoretical legitimacy from the beginning rested on the concept of translatio imperii , that he held supreme power inherited from the ancient emperors of Rome . Nevertheless, in the Holy Roman Empire,

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2112-471: A growing Dutch presence in the area lowered Prussian revenues. Prussia’s slave output was, at its peak, less than a quarter of the United Netherlands '. Resources going into the colony were restricted as the colony neared its end. 4°45′13″N 2°04′01″W  /  4.75361°N 2.06694°W  / 4.75361; -2.06694 Brandenburg%E2%80%93Prussia Another consequence of

2288-415: A legal system of jurisdiction and public prosecution of criminal acts – a predecessor of the modern concept of rule of law . Another new concept of the time was the systematic founding of new cities by the emperor and by the local dukes. These were partly a result of the explosion in population; they also concentrated economic power at strategic locations. Before this, cities had only existed in

2464-538: A navy and colonies during the reign of Frederick William. The "Great Elector" had spent part of his childhood at the Pomeranian court and port cities of Wolgast (1631–1633) and Stettin (1633–1635), and afterwards studied at the Dutch universities of Leyden and The Hague (1635–1638). When Frederick William became elector in 1640, he invited Dutch engineers to Brandenburg, sent Brandenburgian engineers to study in

2640-600: A public ban and the confiscation of all Henry's territories. In 1190, Frederick participated in the Third Crusade , dying in the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia . During the Hohenstaufen period, German princes facilitated a successful, peaceful eastward settlement of lands that were uninhabited or inhabited sparsely by West Slavs . German-speaking farmers, traders, and craftsmen from the western part of

2816-578: A remarkable change in terminology as well. the Statutum affirmed a division of labor between the emperor and the princes and laid much groundwork for the development of particularism in Germany. Even so, from 1232 the vassals of the emperor had a veto over imperial legislative decisions and any new law established by the emperor had to be approved by the princes. These provisions not withstanding, royal power in Germany remained strong under Frederick and by

2992-586: A second stroke in 1619, aged 47. From 1619 to 1640, George William was elector of Brandenburg and duke of Prussia. He strove, but proved unable to break the dominance of the Electorate of Saxony in the Upper Saxon Circle . The Brandenburg-Saxon antagonism rendered the defense of the circle ineffective, and it was subsequently overrun by Albrecht von Wallenstein during the Thirty Years' War . While George William had claimed neutrality before,

3168-426: A series of revolts from a younger brother and from several dukes. After that, the king managed to control the appointment of dukes and often also employed bishops in administrative affairs. He replaced leaders of most of the major East Frankish duchies with his own relatives. At the same time, he was careful to prevent members of his own family from making infringements on his royal prerogatives. In 951, Otto came to

3344-455: A superior agency of the territories' Amtskammer chambers. The General War Commissariat ( Generalkriegskommissariat ) emerged as a second central agency, superior to the local Kriegskommissariat agencies initially concerned with the administration of the army, but until 1712 transformed into an agency also concerned with general tax and police tasks. In 1613, John Sigismund converted from Lutheranism to Calvinism , but failed to achieve

3520-401: A treaty was signed with the chiefs of Taccararay (now Takoradi ), some 30 kilometers east of Großfriedrichsburg. A fourth fort was built at a spring near the village of Taccrama , between Großfriedrichsburg and Dorotheenschanze, named Loge or Sophie-Louise-Schanze . Overall, the colony comprised roughly 50 kilometers of coastline, and did not extend into the hinterland. A second colony

3696-732: A truce with the raiding Magyars , and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade . Henry died in 936, but his descendants, the Liudolfing (or Ottonian) dynasty , would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom or the Kingdom of Germany for roughly a century. Upon Henry the Fowler's death, Otto , his son and designated successor, was elected king in Aachen in 936. He overcame

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3872-630: A victory. When the anti-Swedish coalition however gained the upper hand, Frederick William changed sides when Polish king John II Casimir Vasa confirmed his sovereignty in Prussia, but not in Ermland, in the Treaty of Wehlau-Bromberg in 1657. The duchy would legally revert to Poland if the Hohenzollern dynastic line became extinct. Hohenzollern sovereignty in the Prussian duchy was confirmed in

4048-465: Is the subject of debates: on one hand, it helped to restore peace in the lands of the Empire, that had been engulfed in civil conflicts after the end of the Hohenstaufen era; on the other hand, the "blow to central authority was unmistakable". Thomas Brady Jr. opines that Charles IV's intention was to end contested royal elections (from the Luxembourghs' perspective, they also had the advantage that

4224-517: Is unlikely that a particularly "strong ruler" such as Frederick II would have even pragmatically agreed to legislation that was truly concessionary rather than cooperative, neither would the princes have insisted on such. The Mainz Landfriede or Constitutio Pacis , decreed at the Imperial Diet of 1235, became one of the basic laws of the empire and provided that the princes should share the burden of local government in Germany. The authority of

4400-670: The Baltic Sea , the North Sea and along the connected navigable rivers. Each of the affiliated cities retained the legal system of its sovereign and, with the exception of the Free imperial cities , had only a limited degree of political autonomy. By the late 14th century, the powerful league enforced its interests with military means, if necessary. This culminated in a war with the sovereign Kingdom of Denmark from 1361 to 1370. The league declined after 1450. The difficulties in electing

4576-853: The Duchy of Courland agreed on a partition of Tobago , but since Courland later abandoned the territory and thus was no longer present on the island, the agreement was nullified, and negotiations with the English government which had interests in Tobago did not result in an agreement. In 1695, Brandenburg-Prussia attempted to acquire Tortola from England via diplomacy, but the negotiations went nowhere, and were eventually called off. Likewise, England declined an offer to purchase Sint Eustatius in 1697. 52°31′N 13°24′E  /  52.517°N 13.400°E  / 52.517; 13.400 Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire , also known as

4752-461: The Edict of Potsdam . Frederick William also started to centralize Brandenburg-Prussia's administration and reduce the influence of the outlying landed estates. In 1701 , Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg , succeeded in elevating his status to the title of King in Prussia . This was made possible by the Duchy of Prussia 's sovereign status outside the jurisdiction of the Holy Roman Empire of

4928-570: The German colonization of Africa began when the newly founded Brandenburg African Company (BAC, in German Brandenburgisch-Afrikanische Compagnie ), a company that administered the colony, which had been granted a royal charter by Frederick William , Elector of Brandenburg (core of the later Kingdom of Prussia ), established a small West African colony consisting of two Gold Coast settlements on

5104-741: The Great Sleigh Drive . However, when Louis XIV of France concluded the Dutch War by the Nijmegen treaties , he marched his armies east to relieve his Swedish ally, and forced Frederick William to basically return to the status quo ante bellum by the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679) . Though the Scanian War resulted only in minor territorial gains, attaching a small strip of the Swedish Pomeranian right bank of

5280-491: The Gulf of Guinea , around Cape Three Points in present Ghana : On 15 January 1701, the small colony was renamed Prussian Gold Coast Settlements, in connection with the founding of the Kingdom of Prussia, which formally took place three days later, when Frederick III , Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia , crowned himself King in Prussia (after which he became known as Frederick I of Prussia). From 1711 to April 1712,

5456-696: The Habsburg emperor , with whom he concluded an alliance on 22 December 1686. For this alliance, Frederick William relinquished rights on Silesia in favor of the Habsburgs, and in turn received the Silesian County of Schwiebus which bordered the Neumark . Frederick III, present at the negotiations as crown prince, assured the Habsburgs of the continuation of the alliance once he was in power, and secretly concluded an amendment to return Schwiebus to

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5632-671: The Habsburgs from their war against France . For this plan to work out, Poland-Lithuania had to first conclude her war against the Ottoman Empire , which French diplomacy despite great efforts failed to achieve. Furthermore, Sobieski was opposed by the Papacy , by Polish gentry who saw the Ottomans as the greater threat, and by Polish magnates bribed by Berlin and Vienna . Inner-Polish Catholic opposition to an intervention on

5808-835: The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe , usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor . It developed in the Early Middle Ages and lasted for almost a thousand years until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars . On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned Frankish king Charlemagne as Roman emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe more than three centuries after

5984-492: The Kingdom of Prussia sold the remaining rights to the colony to the Dutch , who renamed it Hollandia, as part of their larger Dutch Gold Coast colony. The king had no personal ties to the colony and saw it as a drain on his kingdom's resources. By this time the Brandenburg African Company had lost all but one of its ships at the colony due to Dutch and French plundering, and competition primarily with

6160-592: The Kreditwerk came under the aegis of the elector. Frederick William's excise tax ( Akzise ), which since 1667 replaced the property tax raised in Brandenburg for Brandenburg-Prussia's standing army with the estates' consent, was raised by the elector without consultation of the estates. The conclusion of the Second Northern War had strengthened the elector politically, enabling him to reform

6336-583: The Lordship of Derenburg , the County of Regenstein , the Lordship of Klettenberg and the Lordship of Lohra . This was primarily due to French efforts to counterbalance the power of the Habsburg emperor by strengthening the Hohenzollern , and while Frederick William valued these territories lower than Western Pomerania, they became step-stones for the creation of a closed, dominant realm in Germany in

6512-661: The Peace of Oliva , which ended the war in 1660. Brandenburg-Prussian campaigns in Swedish Pomerania did not result in permanent gains. In 1672, the Franco-Dutch War broke out, with Brandenburg-Prussia involved as an ally of the Dutch Republic . This alliance was based on a treaty of 1669, and resulted in French occupation of Brandenburg-Prussian Cleves . In June 1673, Frederick William abandoned

6688-672: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the following year started the Second Northern War . Frederick William offered protection to the Royal Prussian towns in the Treaty of Rinsk , but had to yield Swedish military supremacy and withdraw to his Prussian duchy. Pursued by Swedish forces to the Prussian capital , Frederick William made peace and allied with Sweden, taking the Duchy of Prussia and Ermland (Ermeland, Warmia) as fiefs from Charles X Gustav of Sweden in

6864-742: The Prussians in 1226. The monastic state of the Teutonic Order ( Deutschordensstaat ) and its later German successor state of the Duchy of Prussia was never part of the Holy Roman Empire. Under the son and successor of Frederick Barbarossa, Henry VI , the Hohenstaufen dynasty reached its apex, with the addition of the Norman kingdom of Sicily through the marriage of Henry VI and Constance of Sicily . Bohemia and Poland were under feudal dependence, while Cyprus and Lesser Armenia also paid homage. The Iberian-Moroccan caliph accepted his claims over

7040-415: The Second Northern War ( 1655 - 1660 ), the electors were also freed of old Polish vassalage and loyalty by the Treaty of Cracow gaining more independence for the Duchy of Prussia and gained territories of Lauenburg–Bütow and Draheim . The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679) expanded the province of Brandenburgian Pomerania to the lower Oder River . The second half of the 17th century laid

7216-576: The Sixth Crusade in 1228, which ended in negotiations and a temporary restoration of the Kingdom of Jerusalem . For his many-sided activities, prestige, and dynamic personality Frederick II has been called the greatest of all the medieval German emperors. In the Kingdom of Sicily and much of Italy, Frederick built upon the work of his Norman predecessors and forged an early absolutist state bound together by an efficient secular bureaucracy. Despite his imperial prestige and power, Frederick II's rule

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7392-414: The State of the Teutonic Order . It was a vassal of the Kingdom of Poland and was governed by Duke Albert of Prussia , a member of a cadet branch of the House of Hohenzollern . On behalf of her mother Elisabeth of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollern, Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg became Albert's second wife in 1550, and bore him his successor Albert Frederick . In 1563, the Brandenburgian branch of

7568-516: The Treaty of Königsberg in January 1656. The alliance proved victorious in the Battle of Warsaw in June, enhancing the elector's international reputation. Continued pressure on Charles X Gustav resulted in him conceding full sovereignty in Ducal Prussia and Ermland to Frederick William by the Treaty of Labiau in November to ensure the maintenance of the alliance. The Treaty of Radnot , concluded in December by Sweden and her allies, further awarded Greater Poland to Brandenburg-Prussia in case of

7744-399: The Wappen von Brandenburg sold a barrel of brandy to Africans in a territory claimed by the Dutch West Indies Company , the latter confiscated the ship in March. The crew of the remaining ship Morian managed to have three Guinean chieftains sign a contract on 16 May, before the Dutch expelled the vessel from the coastal waters. This treaty, officially declared as trade agreement, included

7920-422: The cities and the emergence of the new burgher class eroded the societal, legal and economic order of feudalism. Peasants were increasingly required to pay tribute to their landlords. The concept of property began to replace more ancient forms of jurisdiction, although they were still very much tied together. In the territories (not at the level of the Empire), power became increasingly bundled: whoever owned

8096-461: The monarchy . Frederick William's testament would have divided Brandenburg-Prussia among his sons, yet firstborn Frederick III with the emperor's backing succeeded in becoming the sole ruler based on the Treaty of Gera , which forbade a division of Hohenzollern territories. In 1689, a new central chamber for all Brandenburg-Prussian territories was created, called Geheime Hofkammer (since 1713: Generalfinanzdirektorium ). This chamber functioned as

8272-414: The patriarch of Constantinople . Charlemagne's good service to the Church in his defense of Papal possessions against the Lombards made him the ideal candidate. On Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, restoring the title in the West for the first time in over three centuries. This can be seen as symbolic of the papacy turning away from the declining Byzantine Empire toward

8448-403: The "better or worse of the country", in all legal commitments, and in all issues concerning pawn or sale of the elector's real property. To reduce the influence of the estates, Joachim Frederick in 1604 created a council called Geheimer Rat für die Kurmark ("Privy Council for the Electorate"), which instead of the estates was to function as the supreme advisory council for the elector. While

8624-415: The 1240s the crown was still rich in fiscal resources, land holdings, retinues, and all other rights, revenues, and jurisdictions. Frederick II used the political loyalty and practical jurisdictions granted to the higher German aristocracy to impose peace, order, and justice upon Germany. The jurisdictional autarky of the German princes was favoured by the crown itself in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries in

8800-427: The Bald ) and then the eastern ( Charles the Fat ), who briefly reunited the Empire, attaining the prize. In the 9th century, Charlemagne and his successors promoted the intellectual revival, known as the Carolingian Renaissance . Some, like Mortimer Chambers, opine that the Carolingian Renaissance made possible the subsequent renaissances (even though by the early 10th century, the revival already diminished). After

8976-406: The Baltic Sea. The Treaty of Grimnitz (1529) guaranteed Brandenburgian succession in the Duchy of Pomerania upon the extinction of the local House of Pomerania , and would have come into effect by the death of Pomeranian duke Bogislaw XIV in 1637. By the Treaty of Stettin (1630) however, Bogislaw XIV had also effectively handed over control of the duchy to Sweden, who refused to give in to

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9152-424: The Brandenburg-Prussian era into a system of provinces subordinate to the Stadtschloss, Berlin (Royal or Berlin Palace) in the capital city of Berlin . The Margraviate of Brandenburg had been the seat of the main branch of the Hohenzollerns, who were prince-electors in the Holy Roman Empire , since 1415. In 1525, by the Treaty of Krakow , the Duchy of Prussia was created through partial secularization of

9328-406: The Brandenburg-Prussian government with an attempt to establish the Geheimer Rat as a central authority for all territories in 1651, but this project proved to be unfeasible. Instead, the elector continued to appoint a governor ( Kurfürstlicher Rat ) for each territory, who in most cases was a member of the Geheimer Rat . The most powerful institution in the territories remained the governments of

9504-505: The Brandenburgian Uckermark in 1674, starting the German theater of the Scanian War (Brandenburg-Swedish War). Frederick William reacted promptly by marching his armies from the Rhine to northern Brandenburg, and encountered the rear of the Swedish army, which was in the process of crossing a swamp, in the Battle of Fehrbellin (1675). Though a minor skirmish from a military perspective, Frederick William's victory turned out to be of huge symbolic significance. The "Great Elector" started

9680-410: The Brandenburgian claim. The Peace of Westphalia settled for a partition of the duchy between Brandenburg and Sweden, who determined the exact border in the Treaty of Stettin (1653) . Sweden retained the western part including the lower Oder ( Swedish Pomerania ), while Brandenburg gained the eastern part ( Farther Pomerania ). Frederick William was dissatisfied by this outcome, and the acquisition of

9856-436: The Burgundian territories lost to France . Although the Italian territories were formally part of the empire, the territories were ignored in the Imperial Reform and splintered into numerous de facto independent territorial entities. The status of Italy in particular varied throughout the 16th to 18th centuries. Some territories like Piedmont-Savoy became increasingly independent, while others became more dependent due to

10032-436: The Carolingian king Louis the Child died without issue in 911, East Francia did not turn to the Carolingian ruler of West Francia to take over the realm but instead elected one of the dukes, Conrad of Franconia , as Rex Francorum Orientalium . On his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the Fowler of Saxony ( r.  919–936 ), who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919. Henry reached

10208-432: The Dutch alliance and concluded a subsidy treaty with France, who in return withdrew from Cleves. When the Holy Roman Empire declared war on France, a so-called Reichskrieg , Brandenburg-Prussia again changed sides and joined the imperial forces. France pressured her ally Sweden to relieve her by attacking Brandenburg-Prussia from the north. Charles XI of Sweden , dependent on French subsidies, reluctantly occupied

10384-411: The Dutch occupied Fort Dorothea. In 1717, the Prussian Gold Coast colony was physically abandoned by Prussia; from then until 1724, John Konny (in Dutch Jan Conny ) occupied Groß Friedrichsburg, despite the sale of the colony to the Dutch in 1721. Prussia was the last major European power, and first German state, to enter transatlantic trade. It was relatively isolated from major European trade hubs at

10560-417: The Emperor's legitimacy always rested on the concept of translatio imperii , that he held supreme power inherited from the ancient emperors of Rome . In a decree following the Diet of Cologne in 1512, the name was changed to the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation ( German : Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation , Latin : Sacrum Imperium Romanum Nationis Germanicae ), a form first used in

10736-426: The Empire were gradually reduced. Charles IV set Prague to be the seat of the Holy Roman emperor. After the death of Frederick II in 1250, Conrad IV , Frederick's son (died 1254), enjoyed a strong position having defeated his papal-backed rival anti-king , William of Holland (died 1256). However, Conrad's death was followed by the Interregnum , during which no king could achieve universal recognition, allowing

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10912-491: The Empire, both Christians and Jews, moved into these areas. The gradual Germanization of these lands was a complex phenomenon that should not be interpreted in the biased terms of 19th-century nationalism . The eastward settlement expanded the influence of the empire to include Pomerania and Silesia , as did the intermarriage of the local, still mostly Slavic, rulers with German spouses. The Teutonic Knights were invited to Prussia by Duke Konrad of Masovia to Christianize

11088-443: The European royals ignored Brandenburg-Prussia's claims in the Treaty of Rijswijk (1697). Frederick decided to raise the Duchy of Prussia to a kingdom. Within the Holy Roman Empire, no one could call himself king except the emperor and the king of Bohemia. However, Prussia was outside the empire, and the Hohenzollerns were fully sovereign over it. The practicability of this plan was doubted by some of his advisors, and in any case

11264-422: The Franks and began an extensive expansion of the realm. He eventually incorporated the territories of present-day France, Germany, northern Italy, the Low Countries and beyond, linking the Frankish kingdom with Papal lands. Although antagonism about the expense of Byzantine domination had long persisted within Italy, a political rupture was set in motion in earnest in 726 by the iconoclasm of Emperor Leo III

11440-448: The German Nation , and approval by the Royal House of Habsburg in Vienna in Austria , and the Holy Roman Emperor and other European royals in the course of forming alliances for the War of the Spanish Succession and the Great Northern War . From 1701 onward, the Hohenzollern dynasty domains were referred to as the Kingdom of Prussia , or simply Prussia. Legally, the personal union between Brandenburg and Prussia continued until

11616-458: The Habsburgs, which he eventually did in 1694. Throughout his reign, Brandenburg-Prussia remained a Habsburg ally and repeatedly deployed troops to fight against France. In 1693, Frederick III began to sound out the possibility of an elevation of his status at the Habsburg court in Vienna , and while the first attempt was unsuccessful, elevation to a king remained the central goal on his agenda. The envisioned status elevation did not merely serve

11792-554: The Hohenzollern was granted the right of succession by the Polish crown. Albert Frederick became duke of Prussia after Albert's death in 1568. His mother died in the same year, and thereafter he showed signs of mental disorder. Because of the duke's illness, Prussia was governed by Albert's nephew George Frederick of Hohenzollern-Ansbach-Jägersdorf (1577–1603). In 1573, Albert Frederick married Marie Eleonore of Jülich-Cleves-Berg , with whom he had several daughters. In 1594, Albert Frederick's then 14-year-old daughter Anna married

11968-444: The Holy Roman emperor seized the city. Otto died young in 1002, and was succeeded by his cousin Henry II , who focused on Germany. Otto III's (and his mentor Pope Sylvester's) diplomatic activities coincided with and facilitated the Christianization and the spread of Latin culture in different parts of Europe. They coopted a new group of nations (Slavic) into the framework of Europe, with their empire functioning, as some remark, as

12144-403: The Isaurian , in what Pope Gregory II saw as the latest in a series of imperial heresies. In 797, the Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine VI was removed from the throne by his mother, Empress Irene , who declared herself sole ruler. As the Latin Church only regarded a male Roman emperor as the head of Christendom , Pope Leo III sought a new candidate for the dignity, excluding consultation with

12320-503: The King of Bohemia had a permanent and preeminent status as one of the Electors himself). At the same time, he built up Bohemia as the Luxembourghs' core land of the Empire and their dynastic base. His reign in Bohemia is often considered the land's Golden Age. According to Brady Jr. though, under all the glitter, one problem arose: the government showed an inability to deal with the German immigrant waves into Bohemia, thus leading to religious tensions and persecutions. The imperial project of

12496-437: The Netherlands, and in 1646 married educated Luise Henriette of the Dutch House of Orange-Nassau . After the Thirty Years' War , Frederick William tried to acquire finances to rebuild the country by participating in oversea trade, and attempted to found a Brandenburg-Prussian East Indies Company. He engaged former Dutch admiral Aernoult Gijsels van Lier as advisor and tried to persuade the Holy Roman Emperor and princes of

12672-604: The Ottonian kings actually built their empire on the back of military and bureaucratic apparatuses as well as the cultural legacy they inherited from the Carolingians, who ultimately inherited these from the Late Roman Empire. He argues that the Ottonian empire was hardly an archaic kingdom of primitive Germans, maintained by personal relationships only and driven by the desire of the magnates to plunder and divide

12848-575: The Polish–Lithuanian nobility accept Frederick's royal status, seeing the Polish province of Royal Prussia endangered, and only in 1764 was the Prussian kingship accepted. Since Brandenburg was still legally part of the Holy Roman Empire, the personal union between Brandenburg and Prussia technically continued until the empire's dissolution in 1806. However, the emperor's power was only nominal by this time, and Brandenburg soon came to be treated as

13024-652: The Protestant Hungarian rebels' side added to the resentments. Thus, while Treaty of Żurawno ended the Polish-Ottoman war in 1676, Sobieski sided with the emperor instead, and the plan for a Prussian campaign was dropped. By 1678, Frederick William had cleared Swedish Pomerania and occupied most of it , with the exception of Rügen which was held by Denmark–Norway . This was followed by another success against Sweden, when Frederick William cleared Prussia of Swedish forces in what became known as

13200-573: The Reich", which tied the great imperial churches and their representatives to imperial service, thus providing "a stable and long-lasting framework for Germany". During the Ottonian era, imperial women played a prominent role in political and ecclesiastic affairs, often combining their functions as religious leader and advisor, regent or co-ruler, notably Matilda of Ringelheim , Eadgyth , Adelaide of Italy , Theophanu , and Matilda of Quedlinburg . In 963, Otto deposed John XII and chose Leo VIII as

13376-607: The Welfs from their possessions, but after his death in 1152, his nephew Frederick Barbarossa succeeded him and made peace with the Welfs, restoring his cousin Henry the Lion to his – albeit diminished – possessions. The Hohenstaufen rulers increasingly lent land to " ministeriales ", formerly non-free servicemen, who Frederick hoped would be more reliable than dukes. Initially used mainly for war services, this new class of people would form

13552-510: The aid of Queen Adelaide of Italy , defeating her enemies, marrying her, and taking control over Italy. In 955, Otto won a decisive victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld . In 962, Otto was crowned emperor by Pope John XII , thus intertwining the affairs of the German kingdom with those of Italy and the Papacy. Otto's coronation as emperor marked the German kings as successors to

13728-634: The area, so the focus of the colony was put almost exclusively on trading slaves. Prussia also leased part of the island Saint Thomas in the Caribbean (present-day part of the U.S. Virgin Islands ) from the Kingdom of Denmark as a colony to which it could transport slaves, and thus a transatlantic trade between the Prussian Gold Coast and the Caribbean was born. Under King Frederick William I , In 1721, after 39 years of administration,

13904-401: The army independently of the estates. By 1688, these military costs amounted to considerable 1,500,000 talers or half of the state budget. Ensuring a solid financial basis for the army, undisturbed by the estates, was the foremost objective of Frederick William's administrative reforms. He regarded military success as the only way to gain international reputation. The Swedish invasion of

14080-560: The backing of the French Pope, Clement V (established at Avignon in 1309), and that his prospects of bringing the empire into the orbit of the French royal house were good. He lavishly spread French money in the hope of bribing the German electors. Although Charles of Valois had the backing of pro-French Henry, Archbishop of Cologne , many were not keen to see an expansion of French power, least of all Clement V. The principal rival to Charles appeared to be Count Palatine Rudolf II . But

14256-474: The basis for Prussia to become one of the great players in European politics. The emerging Brandenburg-Prussian military potential, based on the introduction of a standing army in 1653 , was symbolized by the widely noted victories in the Battle of Warsaw in 1656 and Battle of Fehrbellin ( 1675 ) and by the Great Sleigh Drive ( 1678 ). Brandenburg-Prussia also established a Brandenburg Navy for on

14432-474: The basis for the later knights , another basis of imperial power. A further important constitutional move at Roncaglia was the establishment of a new peace mechanism for the entire empire, the Landfrieden , with the first imperial one being issued in 1103 under Henry IV at Mainz . This was an attempt to abolish private feuds, between the many dukes and other people, and to tie the emperor's subordinates to

14608-576: The belligerents, and Jülich-Berg was since ruled by the Catholic counts of Palatinate-Neuburg . After the Thirty Years' War , Wolfgang William, Count Palatine of Neuburg , disregarded a 1647 agreement with Frederick William which had favored the Protestants in the duchies, while Frederick William insisted that the agreement be upheld. Besides these religious motives, Frederick William's invasion also aimed at territorial expansion. The conflict had

14784-514: The company was underfunded, and expeditions were financed also by private capital, including payments by Raule and Frederick William. In July 1682, an expedition under East Prussian Otto Friedrich von der Groeben was sent to Guinea to erect the fortress Großfriedrichsburg . On 24 February 1684, another treaty with indigenous chiefs was signed that allowed the erection of a second fort in nearby Accada (now Akwida ), named Dorotheenschanze after Frederick William's second wife. On 4 February 1685,

14960-443: The consent and necessary financial contributions of the estates in a landtag decree of 26 July 1653. In turn, he confirmed several privileges of the knights, including tax exemption, assertion of jurisdiction and police powers on their estates ( Patrimonialgerichtsbarkeit ) and the upholding of serfdom ( Leibeigenschaft , Bauernlegen ). Initially, the estates' contributions were limited to six years, yet Frederick William obliged

15136-401: The constitution of Cleves and Mark in 1660 and 1661 to introduce officials loyal to him and independent of the local estates. In the Duchy of Prussia, he confirmed the traditional privileges of the estates in 1663, but the latter accepted the caveat that these privileges were not to be used to interfere with the exertion of the elector's sovereignty. As in Brandenburg, Frederick William ignored

15312-588: The conversion of the estates by the rule of cuius regio, eius religio . Thus, on 5 February 1615, he granted the Lutherans religious freedom, while the Elector's court remained largely Calvinist. When Frederick William I rebuilt Brandenburg-Prussia's war-torn economy, he attracted settlers from all Europe, especially by offering religious asylum, most prominently by the Edict of Potsdam which attracted more than 15,000 Huguenots . Brandenburg-Prussia established

15488-480: The council was permanently established in 1613, it failed to gain any influence until 1651 due to the Thirty Years' War . Until after the Thirty Years' War, the territories of Brandenburg-Prussia were politically independent from each other, connected only by the common feudal superior. Frederick William , who envisioned the transformation of the personal union into a real union , started to centralize

15664-534: The crown was not in question, rather its practical allocation in such a wide region which lacked a general administrative apparatus. Far from a broad diminution of royal power, the Mainz Landfriede was a constitutional recalibration based on the culmination of multi-decade political realities and a testament to Frederick II's considerable political strength, his increased prestige during the early 1230s, and sheer overpowering might that he succeeded in securing

15840-583: The crown was only valuable if recognized by the European nobility, most important the Holy Roman Emperor . In 1699, negotiations were renewed with emperor Leopold I , who in turn was in need of allies since the War of the Spanish Succession was about to break out. On 16 November 1700, the emperor approved Frederick's coronation in the Crown Treaty . With respect to Poland-Lithuania , who held

16016-551: The death of Charles the Fat in 888, the Carolingian Empire broke apart, and was never restored. According to Regino of Prüm , the parts of the realm "spewed forth kinglets", and each part elected a kinglet "from its own bowels". The last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy , who died in 924. Around 900, East Francia's autonomous stem duchies ( Franconia , Bavaria , Swabia , Saxony , and Lotharingia ) reemerged. After

16192-808: The dissolution of the Empire. At the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, most of the Holy Roman Empire was included in the German Confederation , with the main exceptions being the Italian states. As Roman power in Gaul declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control. In the late 5th and early 6th centuries, the Merovingians , under Clovis I and his successors, consolidated Frankish tribes and extended hegemony over others to gain control of northern Gaul and

16368-447: The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1806. However, by this time the emperor's overlordship over the empire had become in recent decades of a "figleaf" legal fiction . Hence, after 1701, Brandenburg was de facto treated as part of the Prussian kingdom. Frederick and his successors continued to centralize and expand the state, transforming the personal union of politically diverse principalities typical for

16544-503: The dual election of Frederick Barbarossa's youngest son Philip of Swabia and Henry the Lion's son Otto of Brunswick , who competed for the crown. After Philip was murdered in a private squabble in 1208, Otto prevailed for a while, until he began to also claim Sicily. Pope Innocent III , who feared the threat posed by a union of the empire and Sicily, was now supported by Frederick II, who marched to Germany and defeated Otto. After his victory, Frederick did not act upon his promise to keep

16720-465: The elector approved. In July 1680, Frederick William issued respective orders, and two ships were selected to establish trade contacts with African tribes and explore places where colonies could be established. On 17 September, frigate Wappen von Brandenburg ("Seal of Brandenburg") and Morian (poetic for "Mohr", "Negro") left for Guinea. The ships reached Guinea in January 1681. Since the crew of

16896-618: The elector introduced an Akzise to Pomerania and in 1688 to Magdeburg, while in Cleves and Mark an Akzise was introduced only between 1716 and 1720. Due to Frederick William's reforms, the state income increased threefold during his reign, and the tax burden per subject reached a level twice as high as in France . Under the rule of Frederick III (I) , the Brandenburg Prussian territories were de facto reduced to provinces of

17072-402: The electors, the great territorial magnates who had lived without a crowned emperor for decades, were unhappy with both Charles and Rudolf. Instead Count Henry of Luxembourg , with the aid of his brother, Archbishop Baldwin of Trier , was elected as Henry VII with six votes at Frankfurt on 27 November 1308. Though a vassal of King Philip, Henry was bound by few national ties, and thus suitable as

17248-420: The emperor had repeatedly protected Henry the Lion against complaints by rival princes or cities (especially in the cases of Munich and Lübeck ). Henry gave only lackluster support to Frederick's policies, and, in a critical situation during the Italian wars, Henry refused the emperor's plea for military support. After returning to Germany, an embittered Frederick opened proceedings against the duke, resulting in

17424-492: The empire after the Imperial Reform was a political body of remarkable longevity and stability, and "resembled in some respects the monarchical polities of Europe's western tier, and in others the loosely integrated, elective polities of East Central Europe." The new corporate German Nation, instead of simply obeying the emperor, negotiated with him. On 6 August 1806, Emperor Francis II abdicated and formally dissolved

17600-705: The empire following the creation – the month before, by French emperor Napoleon – of the Confederation of the Rhine , a confederation of German client states loyal not to the Holy Roman emperor but to France. Since Charlemagne , the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire . The term sacrum ("holy", in the sense of "consecrated") in connection with the medieval Roman Empire was used beginning in 1157 under Frederick I Barbarossa ("Holy Empire"):

17776-586: The empire of Charlemagne, which through the concept of translatio imperii , also made them consider themselves as successors to Ancient Rome. The flowering of arts beginning with Otto the Great's reign is known as the Ottonian Renaissance , centered in Germany but also happening in Northern Italy and France. Otto created the imperial church system, often called "Ottonian church system of

17952-454: The empire to participate. The emperor, however, declined the request as he considered it dangerous to disturb the interest of the other European powers. In 1651, Frederick William bought Danish Fort Dansborg and Tranquebar for 120,000 reichstalers . As Frederick William was unable to raise this sum, he asked several people and Hanseatic towns to invest in the project, but since none of these were able or willing to give sufficient money,

18128-494: The end of the German Empire , it was often called "the old Empire" ( das alte Reich ). Beginning in 1923, early twentieth-century German nationalists and Nazi Party propaganda would identify the Holy Roman Empire as the "First" Reich ( Erstes Reich , Reich meaning empire), with the German Empire as the "Second" Reich and what would eventually become Nazi Germany as the "Third" Reich. David S. Bachrach opines that

18304-420: The end of the 18th century, the term "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" fell out of official use. Contradicting the traditional view concerning that designation, Hermann Weisert has argued in a study on imperial titulature that, despite the claims of many textbooks, the name "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation" never had an official status and points out that documents were thirty times as likely to omit

18480-722: The estates ( Landständische Regierung , named Oberratsstube in Prussia and Geheime Landesregierung in Mark and Cleves), which were the highest government agencies regarding jurisdiction, finances and administration. The elector attempted to balance the estates' governments by creating Amtskammer chambers to administer and coordinate the elector's domains, tax income and privileges. Such chambers were introduced in Brandenburg in 1652, in Cleves and Mark in 1653, in Pomerania in 1654, in Prussia in 1661 and in Magdeburg in 1680. Also in 1680,

18656-598: The estates to continue the payments thereafter and created a dedicated office to collect the contributions. The contributions were confirmed by the estates in 1662, but transformed in 1666 by decree from a real estate tax to an excise tax. Since 1657, the towns had to contribute not soldiers, but monetary payments to the army, and since 1665, the estates were able to free themselves from contributing soldiers by additional payments. The initial army size of 8,000 men had risen to 25,000 to 30,000 men by 1688. By then, Frederick William had also accomplished his second goal, to finance

18832-466: The expected invasion. Henry also had plans for turning the Empire into a hereditary monarchy, although this met with opposition from some of the princes and the pope. The emperor suddenly died in 1197, leading to the partial collapse of his empire. As his son, Frederick II , though already elected king, was still a small child and living in Sicily, German princes chose to elect an adult king, resulting in

19008-484: The extinction of their ruling noble houses causing these territories to often fall under the dominions of the Habsburgs and their cadet branches . Barring the loss of Franche-Comté in 1678 , the external borders of the Empire did not change noticeably from the Peace of Westphalia – which acknowledged the exclusion of Switzerland and the Northern Netherlands, and the French protectorate over Alsace – to

19184-581: The fall of the ancient Western Roman Empire in 476. The title lapsed in 924, but was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor by Pope John XII , fashioning himself as Charlemagne's and the Carolingian Empire 's successor, and beginning a continuous existence of the empire for over eight centuries. From 962 until the 12th century, the empire was one of the most powerful monarchies in Europe. The functioning of government depended on

19360-575: The fields of Roncaglia in 1158 reclaimed imperial rights in reference to Justinian I 's Corpus Juris Civilis . Imperial rights had been referred to as regalia since the Investiture Controversy but were enumerated for the first time at Roncaglia. This comprehensive list included public roads, tariffs, coining , collecting punitive fees, and the seating and unseating of office-holders. These rights were now explicitly rooted in Roman law ,

19536-691: The forces of the Swedish Empire dominated Northern Germany, and along with her ally France , Sweden became guarantee power of the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The Swedish aim of controlling the Baltic Sea by establishing dominions on the coastline (" dominium maris baltici ") thwarted Frederick William's ambitions to gain control over the Oder estuary with Stettin (Szczecin) in Pomerania . The Brandenburgian margraves had long sought to expand northwards , connecting land-locked Brandenburg to

19712-408: The form of old Roman foundations or older bishoprics . Cities that were founded in the 12th century include Freiburg , possibly the economic model for many later cities, and Munich . Frederick Barbarossa was crowned emperor in 1155. He emphasized the "Romanness" of the empire, partly in an attempt to justify the power of the emperor independent of the (now strengthened) pope. An imperial assembly at

19888-621: The formerly exclusive club of the prince-electors now had nine members, six of whom were secular princes, and further changes seemed possible. Within the circle of prince-electors, August the Strong , Elector of Saxony , had secured the Polish crown in 1697, and the House of Hanover had secured succession of the British throne . From Frederick III's perspective, stagnation in status meant loss of power, and this perspective seemed to be confirmed when

20064-451: The fort soon after. On 27 July 1685, an expedition was mounted by Frederick William and Raule, who took possession of the vacated colony on 1 October. Subsequently, the fort was rebuilt and contacts to the indigenous population established. France was alarmed and sent a vessel to re-conquer the fort in late 1687, but the attack of a French frigate and a smaller vessel was beaten back by the Brandenburg-Prussian garrison. The victory improved

20240-469: The future. The Electors of Brandenburg inherited the Duchy of Prussia upon Albert Frederick's death in 1618, but the duchy continued to be held as a fief under the Polish Crown until 1656/7. Since John Sigismund had suffered a stroke in 1616 and as a consequence was severely handicapped physically as well as mentally, his wife Anna ruled the Duchy of Prussia in his name until John Sigismund died of

20416-401: The harmonious cooperation between emperor and vassals; this harmony was disturbed during the Salian period. The empire reached the apex of territorial expansion and power under the House of Hohenstaufen in the mid-13th century, but overextension of its power led to a partial collapse. Scholars generally describe an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, and

20592-432: The imperial office was traditionally elective by the mostly German prince-electors . In theory and diplomacy, the emperors were considered the first among equals of all Europe's Catholic monarchs. A process of Imperial Reform in the late 15th and early 16th centuries transformed the empire, creating a set of institutions which endured until its final demise in the 19th century. According to historian Thomas Brady Jr.,

20768-457: The interests of order and local peace. The inevitable result was the territorial particularism of churchmen, lay princes, and interstitial cities. However, Frederick was a ruler of vast territories and "could not be everywhere at once". The transference of jurisdiction was a practical solution to secure the further support of the German princes and, moreover, was a process which had already been underway even under Henry VI and Frederick Barbarossa. It

20944-461: The intermarriage between the nobility was the acquisition / incorporation of the lands far to the west of Brandenburg-Prussia located in western Germany of the Holy Roman Empire (A.D. c. 800 / 962 to 1806), and situated in the lower Rhenish / Rhine River of the principalities of the Duchy of Cleves , County of Mark and County of Ravensberg after the signing and agreements in the Treaty of Xanten in 1614 . The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648)

21120-449: The island in 1735. Their last remains were sold by auction in 1738. Brandenburg-Prussia tried to claim Crab Island in 1687, but the island was also claimed by other European powers beforehand, and when a second expedition in 1692 found the island under Danish control, the plan was abandoned. In 1689, Brandenburg-Prussia claimed Peter Island , but the small rock proved unsuitable for trade or settlement. In 1691, Brandenburg-Prussia and

21296-579: The king eventually led to the emergence of a fixed college of prince-electors ( Kurfürsten ), whose composition and procedures were set forth in the Golden Bull of 1356 , issued by Charles IV (reigned 1355–1378, King of the Romans since 1346), which remained valid until 1806. This development probably best symbolizes the emerging duality between emperor and realm ( Kaiser und Reich ), which were no longer considered identical. The Golden Bull also set forth

21472-414: The king of the sacral status he had previously enjoyed. The pope and the German princes had surfaced as major players in the political system of the Holy Roman Empire. As the result of Ostsiedlung, less populated regions of Central Europe (i.e. sparsely populated border areas in present-day Poland and Czechia) received a significant number of German speakers. Silesia became part of the Holy Roman Empire as

21648-399: The king, declared him deposed, and dissolved the oaths of loyalty made to Henry. The king found himself with almost no political support and was forced to make the famous Walk to Canossa in 1077, by which he achieved a lifting of the excommunication at the price of humiliation. Meanwhile, the German princes had elected another king, Rudolf of Swabia . Henry managed to defeat Rudolf, but

21824-411: The land had jurisdiction, from which other powers derived. Jurisdiction at the time did not include legislation, which was virtually nonexistent until well into the 15th century. Court practice heavily relied on traditional customs or rules described as customary. During this time, territories began to transform into the predecessors of modern states. The process varied greatly among the various lands and

22000-401: The long run. Of all Brandenburg-Prussian territories, the Electorate of Brandenburg was among the most devastated at the end of the Thirty Years' War. Already before the war, the population density and wealth in the electorate had been low compared to other territories of the empire, and the war had destroyed 60 towns, 48 castles and about 5,000 villages. An average of 50% of the population

22176-567: The lower Oder to Brandenburg-Prussian Pomerania , the war resulted in a huge gain of prestige for the elector. Frederick III of Brandenburg , since 1701 also Frederick I of Prussia , was born in Königsberg in 1657. Already in the last years of the reign of his father, the friendly relations with France established after Saint Germain (1679) had cooled, not least because of the Huguenot question . In 1686, Frederick William turned toward

22352-502: The main Brandenburg-Prussian naval base. From Pillau, part of the shipyard, the admiral's house and the wooden church of the employees was transferred to Emden. While Emden was not part of Brandenburg-Prussia, the elector owned a nearby castle, Greetsiel , and negotiated an agreement with the town to maintain a garrison and a port. In 1679, Raule presented Frederick William a plan to establish colonies in African Guinea , and

22528-480: The major figure of Brandenburg-Prussia's emerging naval and colonial enterprise. The Brandenburg-Prussian navy was established from ten ships which Frederick William leased from Raule, and achieved first successes in the war against Sweden supporting the siege of Stralsund and Stettin and the invasion of Rügen . In Pillau (now Baltiysk) on the East Prussian coast, Raule established shipyards and enlarged

22704-479: The margrave's finances were controlled by the Kreditwerk , an institution not controlled by the elector, and the Großer Ausschuß ("Great Committee") of the estates. This was due to concessions made by Joachim II in 1541 in turn for financial aid by the estates, however, the Kreditwerk went bankrupt between 1618 and 1625. The margraves further had to yield the veto of the estates in all issues concerning

22880-557: The mid-18th century to reach the pre-war population density. In June 1651, Frederick William broke the provisions of the Peace of Westphalia by invading Jülich-Berg , bordering his possessions in Cleves-Mark at the lower Rhine river. The Treaty of Xanten , which had ended the War of the Jülich succession between Brandenburg and the count palatines in 1614, had partitioned the once united Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg among

23056-643: The middle Rhine river valley region. By the middle of the 8th century, the Merovingians were reduced to figureheads, and the Carolingians , led by Charles Martel , became the de facto rulers. In 751, Martel's son Pepin became King of the Franks, and later gained the sanction of the Pope. The Carolingians would maintain a close alliance with the Papacy. In 768, Pepin's son Charlemagne became King of

23232-583: The moderately powerful but already old duke of Saxony. When he died in 1137, the princes again aimed to check royal power; accordingly they did not elect Lothair's favoured heir, his son-in-law, Henry the Proud of the Welf family, but Conrad III of the Hohenstaufen family, the grandson of Emperor Henry IV and nephew of Emperor Henry V. This led to over a century of strife between the two houses. Conrad ousted

23408-401: The name), it considerably lowered Frederick William's reputation. Due to his wartime experiences, Frederick William was convinced that Brandenburg-Prussia would only prevail with a standing army . Traditionally, raising and financing army reserves was a privilege of the estates, yet Frederick William envisioned a standing army financed independently of the estates. He succeeded in getting

23584-454: The national suffix as include it. In a famous assessment of the name, the political philosopher Voltaire remarked sardonically: "This body which was called and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire." In the modern period, the Empire was often informally called the German Empire ( Deutsches Reich ) or Roman-German Empire ( Römisch-Deutsches Reich ). After its dissolution through

23760-655: The nearby waters of the Baltic Sea , Gulf of Finland and passages west to the North Sea with access to the North Atlantic Ocean and additional German colonies were established along the Brandenburger Gold Coast and Arguin . Frederick William , known as "The Great Elector", opened up his realm of Brandenburg-Prussia to large-scale immigration (" Peuplierung ") of mostly Protestant refugees from all across Europe (" Exulanten "), most notably Huguenot immigration from France following

23936-469: The new elector retired the Brandenburgian army, but had an army raised again in 1643/44. Whether or not Frederick William concluded a truce and neutrality agreement with Sweden is disputed: while a relevant 1641 document exists, it was never ratified and has repeatedly been described as a falsification. However, it is not disputed that he established the growth of Brandenburg-Prussia. At the time,

24112-458: The new pope (although John XII and Leo VIII both claimed the papacy until 964, when John XII died). This also renewed the conflict with the Byzantine emperor, especially after Otto's son Otto II ( r.  967–983 ) adopted the designation imperator Romanorum . Still, Otto II formed marital ties with the east when he married the Byzantine princess Theophanu . Their son, Otto III , came to

24288-544: The new power of Carolingian Francia . Charlemagne adopted the formula Renovatio imperii Romanorum ("renewal of the Roman Empire"). In 802, Irene was overthrown and exiled by Nikephoros I and henceforth there were two Roman emperors. After Charlemagne died in 814, the imperial crown passed to his son, Louis the Pious . Upon Louis' death in 840, it passed to his son Lothair , who had been his co-ruler. By this point

24464-572: The other major cities were in ruins, and recovery took decades. By the Peace of Westphalia , which ended the Thirty Years' War in 1648 , Brandenburg also gained the Bishopric of Minden and Principality of Halberstadt , also the succession in the Farther Pomerania (incorporated in the Treaty of Stettin of 1653 ), and the Duchy of Magdeburg (incorporated later in 1680 ). With the Treaty of Bromberg (1657), these concluded during

24640-489: The population survived , and Magdeburg , once among the wealthiest cities of the empire, was burned down with most of the population slain . Least hit were the Duchy of Prussia , which was only peripherally involved in the war , and Minden . In 1670, the Great Elector invited Jews expelled from Vienna to settle in Brandenburg. Despite efforts to resettle the devastated territories, it took some of them until

24816-483: The port facilities. After the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679) , the navy was used to hijack Swedish ships in the Baltic Sea , and in 1680, six Brandenburg-Prussian vessels captured the Spanish vessel Carolus Secundus near Ostend to pressure Spain to pay promised subsidies. The Spanish ship was renamed Markgraf von Brandenburg ("Margrave of Brandenburg") and became the flagship of an Atlantic fleet that

24992-454: The potential to spark another international war since Wolfgang William wanted to have the still not demobilized army of Lorraine , which continued to operate in the region despite the Peace of Westphalia, to intervene on his side, and Frederick William sought support of the Dutch Republic . The latter however followed a policy of neutrality and refused to aid Frederick William's campaign, which

25168-626: The presence of Wallenstein's army forced him to join the Catholic-Imperial camp in the Treaty of Königsberg (1627) and accept garrisons. When the Swedish Empire entered the war and advanced into Brandenburg , George William again claimed neutrality, yet Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden compelled George William to join Sweden as an ally by occupying substantial territory in Brandenburg-Prussia and concentrating an army before

25344-455: The princes to consolidate their holdings and become even more independent as rulers. After 1257, the crown was contested between Richard of Cornwall , who was supported by the Guelph party , and Alfonso X of Castile , who was recognized by the Hohenstaufen party but never set foot on German soil. After Richard's death in 1273, Rudolf I of Germany , a minor pro-Hohenstaufen count, was elected. He

25520-510: The princes' support and rebound them to Hohenstaufen power. The Kingdom of Bohemia was a significant regional power during the Middle Ages . In 1212, King Ottokar I (bearing the title "king" since 1198) extracted a Golden Bull of Sicily (a formal edict) from Emperor Frederick II, confirming the royal title for Ottokar and his descendants, and the Duchy of Bohemia was raised to a kingdom. Bohemia's political and financial obligations to

25696-405: The privilege of the Prussian estates to confirm or veto taxes raised by the elector: while in 1656, an Akzise was raised with the estates' consent, the elector by force collected taxes not approved by the Prussian estates for the first time in 1674. Since 1704, the Prussian estates had de facto relinquished their right to approve the elector's taxes while formally still entitled to do so. In 1682,

25872-470: The provinces of Royal Prussia and Ermland , it was agreed that Frederick would call himself King in Prussia , instead of King of Prussia. Great Britain and the Dutch Republic , for similar reasons as the emperor, accepted Frederick's elevation prior to the coronation. On 17 January 1701, Frederick dedicated the royal coat of arms, the Prussian black eagle, and motto, " suum cuique ". On 18 January, he crowned himself and his wife Sophie Charlotte in

26048-549: The relations to the indigenous people, many of whom were carried off as slaves by the French before. While Arguin did not reach the economic importance of Großfriedrichsburg, it temporarily advanced to the world's primary staple port for slaves. The African colonies enabled Brandenburg-Prussia to participate in the Triangular trade , yet it lacked its own trading post in the Caribbean Sea . In 1684, Brandenburg-Prussia

26224-576: The result of the local Piast dukes' push for autonomy from the Polish Crown. From the late 12th century, the Duchy of Pomerania was under the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Empire and the conquests of the Teutonic Order made that region German-speaking. When the Salian dynasty ended with Henry V's death in 1125, the princes chose not to elect the next of kin, but rather Lothair III ,

26400-411: The rewards among themselves but instead, notable for their abilities to amass sophisticated economic, administrative, educational and cultural resources that they used to serve their enormous war machine. Until the end of the 15th century, the empire was in theory composed of three major blocs – Italy , Germany and Burgundy . Later territorially only the Kingdom of Germany and Bohemia remained, with

26576-465: The right to build fortification. The 1232 Statutum in favorem principum mostly extended these privileges to secular territories. Although many of these privileges had existed earlier, they were now granted globally, and once and for all, to allow the German princes to maintain order north of the Alps while Frederick concentrated on Italy. The 1232 document marked the first time that the German dukes were called domini terrae , owners of their lands,

26752-436: The son of Joachim Frederick of Hohenzollern-Brandenburg , John Sigismund . The marriage ensured the right of succession in the Prussian duchy as well as in Cleves . Upon George Frederick's death in 1603, the regency of the Prussian duchy passed to Joachim Frederick. Also in 1603, the Treaty of Gera was concluded by the members of the House of Hohenzollern , ruling that their territories were not to be internally divided in

26928-419: The suzerainty over Tunis and Tripolitania and paid tribute. Fearing the power of Henry, the most powerful monarch in Europe since Charlemagne, the other European kings formed an alliance. But Henry broke this coalition by blackmailing English king Richard the Lionheart . The Byzantine emperor worried that Henry would turn his Crusade plan against his empire, and began to collect the alamanikon to prepare against

27104-403: The system for election of the Holy Roman Emperor. The emperor now was to be elected by a majority rather than by consent of all seven electors. For electors the title became hereditary, and they were given the right to mint coins and to exercise jurisdiction. Also it was recommended that their sons learn the imperial languages – German , Latin , Italian , and Czech . The decision by Charles IV

27280-443: The term was added to reflect Frederick's ambition to dominate Italy and the Papacy . The form "Holy Roman Empire" is attested from 1254 onward. The exact term "Holy Roman Empire" was not used until the 13th century, before which the empire was referred to variously as universum regnum ("the whole kingdom", as opposed to the regional kingdoms), imperium christianum ("Christian empire"), or Romanum imperium ("Roman empire"), but

27456-403: The territory of Charlemagne was divided into several territories ( cf . Treaty of Verdun , Treaty of Prüm , Treaty of Meerssen and Treaty of Ribemont ), and over the course of the later 9th century the title of emperor was disputed by the Carolingian rulers of the Western Frankish Kingdom or West Francia and the Eastern Frankish Kingdom or East Francia , with first the western king ( Charles

27632-542: The throne only three years old, and was subjected to a power struggle and series of regencies until his age of majority in 994. Up to that time, he remained in Germany, while a deposed duke, Crescentius II , ruled over Rome and part of Italy, ostensibly in his stead. In 996 Otto III appointed his cousin Gregory V the first German pope. A foreign pope and foreign papal officers were seen with suspicion by Roman nobles, who were led by Crescentius II to revolt. Otto III's former mentor Antipope John XVI briefly held Rome, until

27808-472: The time, so the incentive existed to enter transatlantic trade and fortify the Prussian economy. The colony was founded for many reasons, mainly: for Prussia to increase its gold reserves, to supply slaves for Prussia's entry in the human cargo trade , and to engage in gum arabic and ostrich feathers trade. Yet shortly after its founding, it was soon realized that the greatest profits could only be made from human cargo trade as gold had eventually run scarce in

27984-418: The town walls of Berlin . George William did not conclude an alliance, but granted Sweden transit rights, two fortresses and subsidies. Consequently, Roman Catholic armies repeatedly ravaged Brandenburg and other Hohenzollern lands. During the Thirty Years' War , George William was succeeded by Frederick William , born 1620, who became known as "The Great Elector" ( Der Große Kurfürst ). The character of

28160-408: The treaty with Denmark was nullified in 1653. In 1675, after the victory at Fehrbellin and the Brandenburg-Prussian advance in Swedish Pomerania during the Scanian War , Frederick William decided to establish a navy. He engaged Dutch merchant and shipowner Benjamin Raule as his advisor, who after a first personal meeting with Frederick William in 1675 settled in Brandenburg in 1676 and became

28336-437: The two realms separate. Though he had made his son Henry king of Sicily before marching on Germany, he still reserved real political power for himself. This continued after Frederick was crowned emperor in 1220. Fearing Frederick's concentration of power, the pope finally excommunicated him. Another point of contention was the Crusade, which Frederick had promised but repeatedly postponed. Now, although excommunicated, Frederick led

28512-530: The wake of the Cluniac Reforms , this involvement was increasingly seen as inappropriate by the Papacy. The reform-minded Pope Gregory VII was determined to oppose such practices, which led to the Investiture Controversy with King Henry IV ( r.  1056–1106 , crowned emperor in 1084). Henry IV repudiated the pope's interference and persuaded his bishops to excommunicate the pope, whom he famously addressed by his birth name "Hildebrand" rather than his papal name "Gregory". The pope, in turn, excommunicated

28688-406: The whole Duchy of Pomerania was to become one of the main goals of his foreign policy. In the Peace of Westphalia, Frederick William was compensated for Western Pomerania with the secularized bishoprics of Halberstadt and Minden and the right of succession to the likewise secularized Archbishopric of Magdeburg . With Halberstadt, Brandenburg-Prussia also gained several smaller territories:

28864-423: The young elector had been stamped by his Calvinist nurturer Calcum , a long stay in the Dutch Republic during his grand tour , and the events of the war, of which a meeting with his uncle Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in Pomerania was among the most impressive. Frederick William took over Brandenburg-Prussia in times of a political, economical and demographic crisis caused by the war. Upon his succession,

29040-441: Was a major turning point toward the partitioning of central rule in the Empire. Since his political focus was south of the Alps, he was mostly absent from Germany and issued far-reaching privileges to Germany's secular and ecclesiastical princes to ensure their cooperation. In the 1220 Confoederatio cum principibus ecclesiasticis , Frederick gave up a number of regalia in favour of the bishops, among them tariffs, coining , and

29216-433: Was allotted an area near the capital city Charlotte Amalie , called Brandenburgery , and other territories named Krum Bay and Bordeaux Estates further west. In 1688, 300 Europeans and several hundred slaves lived on the Brandenburgian estates. In November 1695, French forces looted the Brandenburgian (not the Danish) colony. In 1731, the Brandenburg-Prussian company on Saint Thomas (BAAC) became insolvent, and abandoned

29392-410: Was dead, in some regions only 10% survived. The rural population, due to deaths and flight to the towns, had dropped from 300,000 before the war to 75,000 thereafter. In the important towns of Berlin-Cölln and Frankfurt an der Oder , the population drop was one third and two-thirds, respectively. Some of the territories gained after the war were likewise devastated: in Pomerania , only one third of

29568-545: Was denied the purchase of the French islands Sainte Croix and Saint Vincent . In November 1685, after a failed attempt to purchase Saint Thomas from Denmark–Norway , a Brandenburg-Danish agreement was reached that allowed the Brandenburg African Company to rent part of Saint Thomas as a base for 30 years, while the sovereignty remained with Denmark and administration with the Danish West Indies and Guinean Company . The first Brandenburgian vessel arrived in 1686 with 450 slaves from Großfriedrichsburg . Brandenburg-Prussia

29744-472: Was especially devastating. The Elector changed sides three times, and as a result Protestant groups of Evangelical Lutheran / Reformed / Calvinist and opposing Roman Catholic armies swept the lands back and forth, killing, burning, seizing men and confiscating any food or useful supplies. It is estimated that upwards of half the population of Central Europe / Germany of the late Medieval / Middle Ages period were killed or dislocated. Berlin and

29920-426: Was established at the Arguin archipelago off the West African coast (now part of Mauritania ). In contrast to the Guinean colony, Arguin had been a colony before: In 1520, Portugal had built a fort on the main island, which with all of Portugal came under Spanish control in 1580. In 1638 it was conquered by the Dutch Republic , and in 1678 by France , who due to high maintenance costs abandoned it and demolished

30096-405: Was furthermore opposed by the Imperial estates as well as the local ones. Politically isolated, Frederick William aborted the campaign after the Treaty of Cleves negotiated by Imperial mediators in October 1651. The underlying religious dispute was only solved in 1672. While military confrontations were avoided and the Brandenburg-Prussian army was primarily occupied with stealing cattle (hence

30272-448: Was most advanced in those territories that were almost identical to the lands of the old Germanic tribes, e.g. , Bavaria. It was slower in those scattered territories that were founded through imperial privileges. In the 12th century the Hanseatic League established itself as a commercial and defensive alliance of the merchant guilds of towns and cities in the empire and all over northern and central Europe. It dominated marine trade in

30448-402: Was not accepted by the Teutonic Order , who despite the secularization of the Duchy of Prussia in 1525 upheld claims to the region. The Grand Master protested at the emperor's court, and the pope sent a circular to all Catholic regents to not accept Frederick's royal status. Until 1787, papal documents continued to speak of the Prussian kings as "Margraves of Brandenburg". Neither did

30624-401: Was ordered to capture Spanish vessels carrying silver; it was not successful in this mission. In the following years, the navy was expanded, and the policy of leasing ships was replaced by the policy of building or purchasing them. On 1 October 1684 Frederick William bought all ships that had been leased for 110,000 talers . Also in 1684, the East Frisian port of Emden replaced Pillau as

30800-406: Was subsequently confronted with more uprisings, renewed excommunication, and even the rebellion of his sons. After his death, his second son, Henry V , reached an agreement with the Pope and the bishops in the 1122 Concordat of Worms . The political power of the Empire was maintained, but the conflict had demonstrated the limits of the ruler's power, especially in regard to the Church, and it robbed

30976-420: Was the first of the Habsburgs to hold a royal title, but he was never crowned emperor. After Rudolf's death in 1291, Adolf and Albert were two further weak kings who were never crowned emperor. Albert was assassinated in 1308. Almost immediately, King Philip IV of France began aggressively seeking support for his brother, Charles of Valois , to be elected the next king of the Romans. Philip thought he had

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