Royal Prussia

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Map of Royal Prussia (light pink) and Ducal Prussia (striped)
Flag of Royal Prussia

Royal Prussia ( Polish Prusy Królewskie ), also Prussian Royal Part or Polish Prussia , the western part of Prussia was called from 1454 , which included extensive areas of the historical territory of Pomerania .

Royal Prussia was an autonomous corporate state that had fallen away from the Teutonic Order and had its own parliament , which had emerged from the Prussian Confederation and which had voluntarily submitted to the person of the Polish monarch as the highest state authority. From 1454 it was first in a union not clearly defined under international law - often referred to in historiography as a "personal union" - then from 1569 in a real union with the Polish crown . Due to the partition of Poland in 1772 and 1793, western Prussia became the province of West Prussia by annexation to the Hohenzollern Kingdom of Prussia .

Chroniclers and cartographers referred to the area in Latin as “Prussia Occidentalis” or “Prut (h) enia Occidentalis” - parts of it also as “Pom (m) erella” (like Abraham Ortelius , who expressly called its location “uterque ripis Vistulae”: “ on both banks of the Vistula ”).

Most important localities and administrative structure

After the Prussian Confederation, as the Prussian Royal Share, had submitted to the patronage of the Polish king, the country was divided into three voivodships with the exception of the Diocese of Warmia , which was left to the bishop, so that there were a total of four administrative districts:

The Principality of Warmia was equal to a voivodeship under national law.

The state parliaments ( Sejmiki in Polish ) of the Pomeranian Voivodeship, the two other voivodships and the Principality each sent one member to the Reichstag of the Kingdom of Poland, and from 1569 to the joint Polish-Lithuanian Reichstag of the aristocratic republic of Poland-Lithuania .

Each of the three provinces was into smaller administrative units, districts called subdivided (These districts were larger than later, the German counties or these terms of area corresponding roughly Polish Powiate .)

The cities of Danzig , Elbing and Thorn were formally subject to this structure, but had extensive autonomy rights.

Kulm Voivodeship

The Kulm Voivodeship was divided into five smaller administrative units:

  • Thorn district
  • Rheden district
  • Graudenz district
  • Strasburg District
  • Neumark district

The latter two districts together formed the Michelauer Land . The following major cities were located in these five districts:

  1. Thorn, situated on the Vistula , oldest city in Prussia , first of the three largest cities in Prussia Royal share, with a Protestant high school illustrious
  2. Kulm , located on the Vistula River, capital of the province and the seat of both the province governor and a top Castellan , under the rule of the Bishop of the Diocese of Kulm standing
  3. Culmsee , seat of the bishop of the Kulm diocese
  4. Schönsee , seat of the Voivoda's Castle Court, venue of the small provincial parliament of the Voivodeship
  5. Strasburg , on the Drewenz , is the seat of a Starostei
  6. Golub , located on the Drewenz, seat of a Starostei
  7. Rheden , seat of a regional court
  8. Graudenz , located on an island in the Ossa , which flows here into the Vistula, in association with Marienburg alternating venue of the common Prussian state parliament
  9. Neumark , located on the Drewenz
  10. Löbau , former residence of the Kulm bishops

Malbork Voivodeship

The Malbork Voivodeship was divided into four smaller administrative units:

  • Marienburg District
  • Christburg District
  • Stuhm District
  • Tolkemit District

It extended over three Werder in the Vistula Delta , namely the Great Marienburger Werder , the Small Marienburger Werder and the Elbinger Werder . The following major cities were located in these four districts:

  1. Marienburg , located on the Nogat , seat of the voivod, in association with Graudenz alternating venue of the common Prussian state parliament of this voivodship
  2. Stuhm , seat of a Starosten and the regional court, also the venue of the Prussian parliament of this voivodeship
  3. Christburg , seat of the castle court for all four districts of this voivodeship
  4. Elbing, a fortified city on the Elbing , a river that comes from the nearby Drausensee , the second largest city in Prussia, had a Protestant grammar school
  5. Tolkemit , seat of a starost

Pomeranian Voivodeship

The Pomeranian Voivodeship , which had long been part of the Duchy of Pomerania , was divided into seven smaller administrative units:

  • Dirschau district (including the Gdansk district)
  • Neuchâtel district
  • Schwetz District
  • Tuchel District
  • Schlochau district
  • Putzig District
  • District of Mirchau

The following important localities were located in these seven districts

  1. Danzig, a fortified trading town on the Vistula with a seaport on the Danzig Bay , the third largest Prussian city, including the Danziger Werder , which is surrounded by the Vistula and the Motlawa , the Fresh Spit , the Weichselmünde fortress on the western branch of the mouth of the Vistula outflow to the Baltic Sea and the small town of Hela on the Hela peninsula
  2. Oliva , town with a Cistercian monastery
  3. Cute , seat of a starost
  4. Mirchau , seat of a starost
  5. Dirschau , located on the Vistula
  6. Schöneck , located on the river Ferse , seat of the castle court of this voivodeship
  7. Stargard , on the river Ferse, hosts the state parliament of this voivodeship
  8. Schwetz , located on the Vistula
  9. Tuchel , near the Brahe located
  10. Konitz
  11. Schlochau

Principality of Warmia

The Principality of Warmia , which was under the rule of the Warmia bishops, was divided into ten administrative districts. The most important localities were:

  1. Frauenburg , located on the Frischen Haff , seat of the cathedral chapter of the Diocese of Warmia
  2. Braunsberg , on the Passarge , had a Jesuit school
  3. Heilsberg where all situated to the Royal Palace of Warmia bishop.

history

Alliance of the Prussian Confederation with the King of Poland

Light gray: "Teutonic Order State in Prussia" as a fiefdom of the Polish king, called Ducal Prussia from 1525;
Colored: “Prussian royal share” divided into three voivodeships of Kulm, Marienburg and Pomerania and the prince-bishopric of Warmia, linked in a union with the Polish crown;
Khaki: Lande Lauenburg and Bütow as pledge property of the Dukes of Pomerania
(political status of the year 1466).

The Prussian Confederation was founded in 1440 out of dissatisfaction with the domestic and tax policy of the Teutonic Order . In 1452 the Prussian cities of Emperor Friedrich III. confirm their privileges and celebrations so that the Teutonic Order would be prevented from belittling them. Under the leadership of Hans von Baysen , the Federation renounced the Teutonic Order in early 1454 and placed itself under the protection of the King of Poland, Kasimir II of the Jagiellonian .

Program offered by the federal government to the king to protect Prussian territory was indeed pro forma by the Polish king in his kingdom incorporated as the backdated to March 6, 1454 Krakow's charter (privilege incorporationis) describes it, but the candidate was only through the counter-deed of the Prussian As of April 14, 1454 effective, with determination of the agreed autonomy rights. The pair of documents is an essential part of the constitution of the Prussian corporate state under the Polish crown.

Prussia's royal share was by no means a Polish province, but remained an independent country with its own state constitution. The mutual agreements essentially concerned the following points:

  1. In terms of honor and prerogatives, the Prussian landlords should be equal to the masters in Poland and should make their contribution to the election of the king in Poland.
  2. They are to be protected by the king against all their enemies.
  3. The king wants to protect and preserve all their rights and freedoms.
  4. The pound duty and other requirements on water and land are to be abolished.
  5. Shipwrecked cargo previously claimed by the Order should be returned to the owner and, if none existed, should go to the king.
  6. Offices and dignities should only be given to naturalized compatriots.
  7. Important matters concerning Prussia are to be discussed and decided upon with the responsible district administrators.
  8. The national borders should not be changed.
  9. Thorn and Danzig are said to be authorized to strike coins.
  10. Trade should be free everywhere, and the old customs should stop there.

All residents retained their prerogatives and privileges and the free use of the rights previously customary in the country (in the cities only the Kulm law applied ), and the payment of the feudal nexus ceased.

According to these treaties, the Thirteen Years War or the Prussian City War of parts of the Prussian estates and cities against the rule of the Teutonic Order, which quickly lost many of the sparsely occupied castles. In the Battle of Konitz , 1454, thanks to its mercenaries from Silesia and Bohemia , the Teutonic Order routed the Polish king and the troops of the general aristocracy , but this victory had no effect on the outcome of the war. After that, Polish aristocratic troops barely intervened in the conflict, but the order could not derive any advantages from it, as it lacked the financial strength to recruit further mercenary troops after the loss of tax revenue.

Second Peace of Thorn

Ruins of the order castle, which was destroyed by the Thorner citizens in the 15th century

In 1466, the Second Peace of Thorn sealed the stalemate and divided the Teutonic Order state in Prussia according to the ownership structure. While the eastern part of the Teutonic Order remained as a Polish fiefdom , the western Prussia formed an "autonomous German corporate state under the Polish crown", in which the large cities of Thorn , Elbing and especially Danzig took the position of city republics, similar to the free and imperial cities in the Holy Roman Empire . The Lande Lauenburg and Bütow went as pledge to Duke Erich II of Pommern-Wolgast as thanks for his support against the Teutonic Order.

The independence of Royal Prussia from the Crown of Poland was particularly evident in the Prussian citizenship , its own state constitution, retention of its own borders, as well as in the guarantee of its special rights such as its own state parliament, its own state government with von Baysen as governor , its own judiciary as well own minting rights, the preservation of which had contributed significantly to the apostasy from the Teutonic Order, as well as own diplomatic missions and own military of the big cities.

Prussian corporate state under the Polish crown

The largely autonomous "Prussian Royal Share" was a corporate state and had its own state parliaments, including German as the language of negotiation, its own state government ( Prussian state council with two chambers for cities and nobility) and its own coin. In addition, the big cities had their own defense sovereignty and their right to maintain their own diplomatic ties with foreign countries. They also became the subject of conflicts between the Prussian estates and the Polish king.

Hans von Baysen, former knight of the order and leader of the Prussian Confederation, was appointed governor of Prussia by the agreement, but died in 1459. His brother Stibor von Baysen was chosen as his successor, but the king abolished the post in 1467. However, the estates ignored the royal decision and continued to regard Stibor von Baysen as their governor of the country. It was not until 1472 that King Casimir Andreas finally appointed him as governor or only lawyer and captain of the country.

In 1467 there was an investiture dispute between the Polish King Casimir IV the Jagiellonian and the Prince-Bishop of Warmia, the so-called "Pfaffenkrieg" , which lasted from 1467 to 1479.

Inadequately regulated between the Prussian Royal Share on the one hand and Poland on the other hand, among other things, the mutual duty of assistance in the case of warlike undertakings outside the national borders. When Poland demanded money and help for foreign military measures against the expanding Ottoman Empire from the Prussian Royal Share in 1486 , it was initially denied assistance with the argument that the mutual agreements only affected the interior of the country, and it was not until 1490 that the Prussians gave in and paid the Turkish tax for which Kasimir thanked the city of Danzig in particular.

Reformation ideas and the master war

Reformation ideas spread from 1518, especially in the larger cities of Danzig, Elbing and Thorn, but were initially suppressed by Bishop Matthias Drzewicki of Kujawia and the city councils.

The war between Poland and the Teutonic Order from 1519 to 1521 took place on the Polish-Prussian territory. In Gdansk there were riots against the council from 1522, which was deposed in 1525 . Protestant preachers were employed in five churches for the first time and the monasteries were taken over. In 1526 King Sigismund put an end to this development, but could not eliminate the reformatory attitude of many citizens. The Principality of Warmia remained Catholic , the Prince-Bishop Stanislaus Hosius was one of the most effective opponents of any Reformation movement in the Kingdom of Poland and can be described as the savior of Catholicism .

Since 1535 Mennonites from the southwest of the German-speaking area and from the Netherlands settled in the Vistula Delta and made the area arable through drainage measures. They developed their Low German dialect called Plautdietsch . Their Protestant religion was tolerated.

Since the privilege of King Sigismund II August 1557, the Prussian cities have officially been able to employ Protestant preachers. In the following decades, Polish Prussia became predominantly Protestant (see Reformation in Poland ).

Autonomous part of the aristocratic republic of Poland-Lithuania

Prussia 1576 ( C. Henneberg , reprinted in 1645 by Joan Blaeu ): Ducal Prussia subsequently highlighted in color, Royal Prussia not
1701–1772 (French map from 1751):
Prusse Royale = Royal Prussia (Polish) next to Royaume de Prusse = Kingdom of Prussia (Brandenburg); Gdansk / Dantzick
Editing of the same map in which the colors of the bands delimiting the areas in the original were made area colors, except for the yellow shade in a relatively pale variant

Through the Union of Lublin in 1569, the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania merged to form the Real Union Poland-Lithuania , also known as the First Rzeczpospolita . The bilateral unification process was accompanied by an attempt to transform the autonomous Prussian Royal Share into a province of the Polish Empire through a kind of coup d'état.

The Lublin Reichstag was "always open prominent efforts of Poland" was preceded by many years, "to deprive West Prussia his 1454 established special status and transformation of the personal union of the same depress with Poland in a real union with the Polish province." 1555 repeated King Sigismund August. II before solemnly his earlier promise to the Polish greats that Prussia should be incorporated into the empire as a province. In 1562 the Prussian country messengers to the Polish Reichstag were assigned, already under threats in case of failure. The Diets of 1565, 1566 and 1567 were not attended by the Prussians; Despite the absence of the Prussian representatives, the Polish Reichstag resolved in all forms to incorporate Prussia into the Polish Empire.

Under threat of severe penalties for violations, King Sigismund II August declared in a decree of March 16, 1569 at the Lublin Sejm , which was handed to the Prussian country messengers on March 18, as the "highest and only interpreter of all laws and privileges" that the Prussian regional councilors are also councilors of the Reich and have their posts in the Reich Senate and, whenever they are called by the King of Poland, are required to discuss matters in the Prussian country as well as the Reich and to vote in the Reich Senate with the councilors of the crown, " Because they are the limbs of one inseparable body and in the same way the Prussian messengers should sit with the Polish and advise".

The city republics of Danzig, Thorn and Elbing were represented as "quarter cities" of the Prussian Confederation in the Reichstag of Poland-Lithuania . Royal Prussia also retained extensive autonomous special rights within the framework of this “Royal Republic”. It received a number of special constitutional regulations that a newly elected King of Poland had to approve of the Prussian lands before he was recognized by the Prussians. Later kings and the institutions of the republic continued to try to limit the special status of the Land of Prussia. One example was the dispute over the seals. Finally, it was agreed to use the Prussian seal, which was kept in Elbing, for domestic documents (in German), and the Polish one for documents in Polish.

A field of conflict arose in the second half of the 16th century between the city republic of Danzig and the Polish kingdom . For one thing, Danzig was the only city in the countries of the Polish Crown that refused to adapt its laws to the requirements of the Union of Lublin. On the other hand, the king wanted to build a Polish navy based in Gdansk, which the city viewed as a violation of its military autonomy. The Danzig delegation, headed by Albrecht Giese , even stood firm when the king took them into custody. In the end, the king waived the stationing of the fleet for a transfer fee and the negotiators were reinstated in their offices.

After this tug of war, Danzig refused to pay homage to the newly elected King Stephan Báthory in 1577 , before he did not receive the privileges (from June 16, 1454, July 9, 1455 and May 25, 1457 on own foreign policy, right to independent warfare, own administration, German official language and law; as well as after 1525/1557 also the Lutheran confession). The king had Danzig besieged in the so-called Danzig War and even directed Polish exports of goods via Elbing, before he finally gave in and confirmed the privileges .

Since the Reformation, religious tensions have been simmering between the Polish Catholic clergy , who are striving for dominance and working towards Polonization, and the Protestants , who made up the majority of the population. 150 years later fell in Tumult of Thorn after the devastation of a monastery in 1724 several citizens of political justice of the King of Poland to the victim, who, however, was none other than to Catholicism converted Elector Augustus the Strong of Saxony . Against this background, the suzerainty of the Polish crown was perceived by the Protestant camp as foreign rule by the 18th century at the latest.

There was a special regional awareness that required a certain distance both from the Polish king in Warsaw - whom they nevertheless dutifully served - and from the Duchy of Prussia - with whom they felt historically and culturally closely connected:

"Prussia has always been a free and independent state never subject to the crown of Poland [...] After the voluntary surrender of the lands of Prussia to the King of Poland [...] it [...] is a special one only for the king, but not for him Republic-subject province remained. "

In Jus Culmense or Culmish Law, the constitutional law of the entire Land of Prussia, which always kept its own state body completely separate from Poland, all laws, rights and arbitrariness are written down. In 1767 another edition was printed by Friedrich Bartels in Danzig.

West Prussia's borders with Western Pomerania , East Prussia , Posen and Poland on a map from 1906.
The three partitions of Poland-Lithuania in 1772, 1793 and 1795 by the monarchies of Prussia, Austria and Russia

Province of the Kingdom of Prussia

With the first partition of Poland-Lithuania in 1772, the history of the "Royal Polish Prussia" ended. On the one hand, as a result of the annexation by King Friedrich II , the country had lost its special status under state law as well as class privileges and was subjected to the laws of the absolute monarchy of the House of Brandenburg-Prussia. With the exception of the cities of Danzig and Thorn, it became the new province of West Prussia of the Kingdom of Prussia. Danzig and Thorn did not come in until the second partition of Poland-Lithuania in 1793 and, like Elblag before, lost their autonomous status as city republics. On the other hand, the Protestant camp felt liberated from the political pressure exerted by the Polish clergy, and the Jews were restored to normal civil rights. So the above example, was Bromberg imposed Jews ban lifted.

literature

  • West Prussia (encyclopedia entry). In: Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon , 6th edition, 20th volume, Leipzig and Vienna 1909, pp. 567-568.
  • Xaver Frölich : Political Poetry from Poland. Prussia, belonging to the years 1697–1707 . In: New Prussian Provincial Papers . Fourth episode. Volume 7, Königsberg 1870, pp. 535-544 .
  • Karl Russ : The place and family names in Prussian Poland . In: Globus. Illustrated magazine for country and folklore . Volume 6, Hildburghausen 1864, pp. 152-154.
  • Hans Prutz : History of the Neustadt district in West Prussia . Danzig 1872, e-copy .
  • H. Eckerdt: The small towns in Polish Prussia and the town days of the previous century. From handwritten sources . In: New Prussian Provincial Papers . Fourth episode, volume 9, Königsberg i. Pr. 1872, pp. 50-64.
  • Hans-Jürgen Bömelburg: Between the Polish estates and the Prussian authorities. From Royal Prussia to West Prussia (1756–1806) , Munich 1995, ISBN 3-486-56127-8 . ( Front cover )
  • Karin Friedrich : The Other Prussia. Royal Prussia, Poland and Liberty, 1569-1772 , Cambridge, 2000, ISBN 0-521-58335-7 . ( Front cover )
  • Matthias Weber (Hrsg.): Prussia in East Central Europe: History and Understanding History (Contributions to an international conference in Oldenburg), Writings of the Federal Institute for Culture and History of Germans in Eastern Europe, Volume 21, 2003, Oldenden Wissenschaftsverlag ISBN 3-486-56718-bourg 7 .
  • Michael G. Müller: Second Reformation and Urban Autonomy in Royal Prussia. Danzig, Elbing and Thorn in the epoch of confessionalization (1557–1660) , Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-05-003215-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Herbert Helbig : Ordensstaat, Duchy of Prussia and Prussian monarchy. In: Richard Dietrich (Hrsg.): Prussia - Epochs and problems of its history. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1964, p. 8 (reprint 2019, ISBN 978-3-11-081858-1 ).
  2. a b c Ferdinand Gottschalk : Prussian history . 1st volume, Königsberg 1850, p. 192.
  3. a b c d Anton Friedrich Büsching : Extract from a description of the earth. First part, which contains Europe and the northern part of Asia . Hamburg 1771, pp. 162-166.
  4. Emperor Friedr. III. recognizes 1452 privileges and celebrations of the Prussian cities, Gottfried Lengnich
  5. Gottfried Stolterfoth: Brief History and State Constitution of Polish Prussia, in ancient and modern times . Danzig 1764 ( e-copy ).
  6. Ständetum and state-building in Brandenburg-Preussen, international. Conference in Berlin, 1980 ( online )
  7. Gottfried Stolterfoth: Brief History and State Constitution of Polish Prussia, in ancient and modern times . Danzig 1764, pp. 55-56.
  8. Paulgerhard Lohmann, Reversal: Three Generations of a Family in the Hitler Period, 2003, p. 123 digitized
  9. ^ Hans-Jürgen Schuch: History and landscape of West Prussia
  10. Nicolaus Copernicus Complete Edition : The economic writings digitized
  11. ^ Karin Friedrich , The Other Prussia. Royal Prussia, Poland and Liberty, 1569-1772. Cambridge 2000, ISBN 0-521-58335-7 ( online )
  12. ^ Heinz Neumeyer: The constitutional position of West Prussia at the time of "Polish sovereignty" (1454–1772). Verlag Holzner, Kitzingen / Main 1953, p. 12; and Uwe Ziegler: Cross and Sword. The history of the Teutonic Order. Verlag Böhlau, Cologne / Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-412-13402-3 , p. 182.
  13. Peter Baumgart, Jürgen Schmädeke (ed.): Estates and state formation in Brandenburg-Prussen. Results of an international conference. Historical Commission of Berlin, Verlag de Gruyter, Berlin 1983, ISBN 3-11-009517-3 , p. 136. ( Preview in Google book search)
  14. Gottfried Stolterfoth: Brief History and State Constitution of Polish Prussia, in ancient and modern times . Danzig 1764, pp. 64-65.
  15. cf. with imprecise details Luise Schorn-Schütte : God's word and human rule. Political-theological languages ​​in early modern Europe . CH Beck, Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-406-68235-3 , pp. 177ff. (Subchapter Reformation and Urban Autonomy in Royal Prussia ).
  16. see https://www.g-gruppen.net/mennot.htm#a5
  17. At the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century, after the annexation of Royal Prussia by Brandenburg-Prussia 1772–1793, a large part emigrated to today's Ukraine at the invitation of Catherine II and Paul I , and from there many moved to America .
  18. ^ A b Hans Prutz : History of the Neustadt district in West Prussia . Danzig 1872, p. 104 .
  19. ^ Hans Prutz : History of the Neustadt district in West Prussia . Danzig 1872, p. 102 .
  20. ^ Hans Prutz : History of the Neustadt district in West Prussia . Danzig 1872, p. 103 .
  21. ^ Hans Prutz : History of the Neustadt district in West Prussia . Danzig 1872, p. 104 ff .
  22. ^ Albert Reusch : West Prussia under Polish scepter. Ceremonial speech held in the Elbinger Gymnasium on 13th Spt. 1872 . In: Old Prussian monthly . Volume 10, Königsberg 1873, pp. 140-154 .
  23. Hans-Jürgen Bömelburg, Between the Polish Estates Society and the Prussian Authoritative State. From Royal Prussia to West Prussia (1756–1806) , Munich 1995, ISBN 3-486-56127-8 ( online )
  24. ^ Hans-Jürgen Bömelburg: Between the Polish estates and the Prussian government. From Royal Prussia to West Prussia (1756–1806) , Munich 1995, p. 236