From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Prussia (region)
Prussia (region)
A cropped image of Prussia from "Spread of German settle-
ments to the Eastward, 800-1400". (Full map.)
Prūsa)
Prussia (Old Prussian: Prūsa is a historical region in
Central Europe extending from the south-eastern coast The Prussian tribes in the context of the other Baltic tribes, ca.
of the Baltic Sea to the Masurian Lake District. It is now 1200 AD. The Eastern Balts are shown in brown hues while the
divided between Poland, Russia, and Lithuania. The for- Western Balts are shown in green. The boundaries are approxi-
mer German state of Prussia derived its name from the mate.
region.
used the Baltic Sea as a trading route, frequently travel-
Prehistory ing from Truso to Birka (present-day Sweden).
At the end of the Viking Age, the sons of Danish king
Parts of the Baltic region retained large wilderness areas Harald Bluetooth and Canute the Great launched several
for longer than anywhere else in Europe. In prehistory, expeditions against the Prussians. They destroyed many
the east of the area was inhabited by the Eastern Balts, areas in Prussia, including Truso and Kaup, but failed to
whilst the Western Balts inhabited the Sambian peninsu- dominate the population totally. A Viking (Varangian)
la and the areas to the west. Over time, the Western Balts presence in the area was "less than dominant and very
consolidated into the Old Prussian nation. The Eastern much less than imperial."[1]
Balts of the area, including the Curonians, consolidated
into (a part of) the Latvian and Lithuanian nations.
About 350 BC Pytheas called the territory Mentenomon Old Prussians
and the inhabitants Guttones, neighbors of the Teutones. Main article: Old Prussians
A river to the east of the Vistula was called the Guttalus According to a legend, recorded by Simon Grunau, the
(also Guthalus) and was assumed to have been either the name "Prussia" is derived from Pruteno (or Bruteno),
Memel, the Alle, or the Pregel. the chief priest of Prussia and brother of the legendary
king Widewuto, who lived in the 6th century. The regions
Vikings in Prussia of Prussia and the corresponding tribes are said to bear
the names of Widewuto’s sons — for example, Sudovia is
Main article: Truso named after Widewuto’s son Sudo. In the first half of the
The Vikings started to penetrate the Eastern shores of 13th century, Bishop Christian of Prussia recorded the
the Baltic Sea in the 7th and 8th centuries. The largest history of a much earlier era. Adam of Bremen mentions
trade centres of the Prussians, such as Truso and Kaup, Prussians in 1072.
seem to have absorbed a number of Norsemen. Prussians
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Prussia (region)
The Old Prussians spoke a variety of languages, with
Old Prussian belonging to the Western branch of the
Baltic language group. Related, but not mutually intelli-
gible, are the modern representatives of the Baltic lan-
guages: Latvian and Lithuanian, from the East Baltic
branch. Roman historians had documented the Prussian
tribes as easterners, with Tacitus’ referring to them as the
Aesti.[2]
The territory was identified as Brus in the 8th century
map of the Bavarian geographer Adalbert of Prague. He
went to the area as a Christian missionary, accompanied
by armed guards, sent by Boleslaw I of Poland to convert
the Prussians. He was killed by a Prussian pagan priest in
997.[3]
Catholic dioceses in Prussia and adjacent areas. Situation after
the conquest in the late 13th century. Areas in purple under
control of the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights
ing of the term Prussia was widened to include areas west
of the Vistula.
With the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), Prussia was
divided into eastern and western lands. The western part
became the autonomous Royal Prussia within the King-
The center of Prussia until 1466: Ordensburg Marienburg, to- dom of Poland, while the eastern part of the monastic
day called Malbork state became a fief of Poland. In 1492, a life of Dorothea of
Montau, published in Marienburg (Malbork), became the
Attempts at conquest of Prussia first printed publication in Prussia.
After the state of the Polans was established in the 10th
century, they tried to conquer the land of the Prussians. Early modern era
Boleslaw I Chrobry sent Adalbert of Prague in AD 997 on
a military and Christianizing mission. In 1015, Boleslaw Main articles: Royal Prussia, Duchy of Prussia,
sent soldiers again, with some short-lived success, gain- Brandenburg-Prussia, and King in Prussia
ing regular paid tribute from some Prussians in the bor-
der regions, but it did not last. Polish rulers sent inva-
sions to the territory in 1147, 1161/1166 and a number
in the early 13th century. All these were repelled by the
Prussians, but the Culmer Land region became a contest-
ed area exposed to frequent raids.
Teutonic Knights
Main article: Teutonic Order state
In the 13th century Konrad of Masovia had called for Cru-
sades and tried for years to conquer Prussia, but failed.
Thus the pope set up further crusades. Finally he invited
the Teutonic Knights to fight the inhabitants of Prussia
in exchange for a fief of Chełmno Land. Prussia was con- Map by Caspar Henneberg, Elbing 1576: Duchy and Royal Prus-
quered by the Teutonic Knights during the Prussian Cru- sia originally with same color (for the duchy the color was
sade and administered within their Teutonic Order state. added later)
After the acquisition of Pomerelia in 1308/10, the mean-
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Prussia (region)
the Prussian kingdom[5] and the German Empire were
ceded to the Second Polish Republic. East Prussia, minus
the Memelland, received some districts of former West
Prussia and remained within the German Weimar Repub-
lic.
According to the Potsdam Conference in 1945 after
World War II, the Prussian region was divided between
Poland and the Soviet Union. Western Prussia (West
Prussia / Royal Prussia) and the East Prussian lands of
Warmia and Masuria are in Poland, while northern East
Prussia was divided between the Russian and Lithuanian
Soviet republics. The German state of Prussia, of which
the Prussian region was but a small part, was dissolved in
1947.
Prussia after 1466: light grey – Duchy of Prussia.
colored – Royal Prussia with its Voivodeships in personal union
with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Notes
[1] Gwyn Jones. A History of the Vikings. Oxford
During the Protestant Reformation, endemic religious
University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-19-280134-1. Page
upheavals and wars occurred, and in 1525, the last Grand
244.
Master of the Teutonic Knights, Albert of Brandenburg, a
[2] Although the Aesti are generally accepted to be the
member of a cadet branch of the House of Hohenzollern,
Prussians, primarily based on their association
adopted the Lutheran faith, resigned his position, and as-
with amber, this is by no means universally
sumed the title of "Duke of Prussia." In a deal partially
accepted. See Aesti.
brokered by Martin Luther, the Duchy of Prussia became
[3] "St. Adalbert", The Catholic Encyclopedia, New York:
the first Protestant state and a vassal of Poland. The ducal
Robert Appleton Company, 1907
capital of Königsberg, now Kaliningrad, became a centre
[4] However, the constitution of the short-lived
of learning and printing through the establishment of
Frankfurt Parliament incorporated Prussia and the
the Albertina University in 1544.
western and northern parts of Posen into Germany
Ducal Prussia passed to the senior Hohenzollern
from 1848 to 1851.
branch, the ruling Margraves of Brandenburg, in 1618,
[5] Since the Partitions of Poland which began in 1772.
and Polish sovereignty over the duchy ended in 1657
with the Treaty of Wehlau. Because Ducal Prussia lay out-
side of the Holy Roman Empire, Frederick I achieved the External links
elevation of the duchy to the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. • Partial Map of Prussia by Gerard Mercator, Atlas sive
The former ducal lands became known as East Prussia. cosmographica., Amsterdam 1594
Royal Prussia was annexed from the Polish-Lithuanian • Partial Map of Prussia by Kasper Henneberger,
Commonwealth by the Kingdom of Prussia during the Koenigsberg 1629
18th century Partitions of Poland and administered with- • Map of Old Prussia by K. Henneberger, 17th c.
in West Prussia. • Map of Prussia by K. Henneberger in: Christoph
Hartknoch, Alt- und neues Preussen..., Frankfurt 1684
Modern era • Map of Prussia and Freie Stadt Danzig from 18th c.
• Map of East Prussia K. Flemming, F. Handtke, Głogów
Main articles: Kingdom of Prussia, Province of Prussia,
ca. 1920, after Treaty of Versailles removed Memel
West Prussia, East Prussia, Free State of Prussia, Polish
area from Germany.
Corridor, Pomeranian Voivodship, Warmian-Masurian
• Dawne mapy i atlasy
Voivodeship, and Kaliningrad Oblast
Though the Kingdom of Prussia was a member of the Ger-
man Confederation from 1815 to 1866, the provinces of
Posen and Prussia were not a part of Germany[4] until the
creation of the German Empire in 1871 during the unifi-
cation of Germany.
By the Treaty of Versailles, some territories of West
Prussia and the Province of Posen that had belonged to
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prussia_(region)&oldid=445108070"
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Prussia (region)
Categories:
• History of Prussia
• Historical regions in Russia
• Historical regions in Poland
• Historical regions in Lithuania
• History of Poland
• History of Germany
• Divided regions
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