Frederick I (german: Friedrich I.; 11 July 1657 – 25 February 1713), of the
Hohenzollern dynasty, was (as Frederick III)
Elector
Elector may refer to:
* Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors
* Elector, a member of an electoral college
** Confederate elector, a member of ...
of
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...
(1688–1713) and
Duke of Prussia
The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...
in
personal union
A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...
(
Brandenburg-Prussia). The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first
King in Prussia
King ''in'' Prussia (German: ''König in Preußen'') was a title used by the Prussian kings (also in personal union Electors of Brandenburg) from 1701 to 1772. Subsequently, they used the title King ''of'' Prussia (''König von Preußen'').
Th ...
(1701–1713). From 1707 he was in personal union the sovereign prince of the
Principality of Neuchâtel
A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall under ...
(german: Fürstentum Neuenburg).
Biography
Family
Born in
Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was name ...
, Frederick was the third son of
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick William (german: Friedrich Wilhelm; 16 February 1620 – 29 April 1688) was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia, from 1640 until his death in 1688. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is ...
by his father's first marriage to
Louise Henriette of Orange-Nassau
Louise Henrietta of Nassau ( nl, Louise Henriëtte van Nassau, german: Luise Henriette von Nassau; 7 December 1627 – 18 June 1667) was a Countess of Nassau, granddaughter of William I, Prince of Orange, "William the Silent", and an El ...
, eldest daughter of
Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange
Frederick Henry ( nl, Frederik Hendrik; 29 January 1584 – 14 March 1647) was the sovereign prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 1625 until his death in 1647. In the last ...
and
Amalia of Solms-Braunfels
Amalia may refer to:
People
*Amalia (given name), feminine given name (includes a list of people so named)
* Princess Amalia (disambiguation), several princesses with this name
Films and television series
* ''Amalia'' (1914 film), the first ...
. His maternal cousin was King
William III of England
William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic f ...
. Upon the death of his father on 29 April 1688, Frederick became Elector Frederick III of
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...
and
Duke of Prussia
The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...
. Right after ascending the throne Frederick founded a new city southerly adjacent to
Dorotheenstadt
is a historic zone or neighbourhood (''Stadtviertel'') of central Berlin, Germany, which forms part of the locality (''Ortsteil'') of Mitte within the borough (''Bezirk'') also called Mitte. It contains several famous Berlin landmarks: the B ...
and named it after himself, the
Friedrichstadt.
[Stenzel (1841), Band 3, Buch VI, 2. Hauptstück, p. 406](_blank)
/ref>
Military career
Frederick was noted for his opposition to France, in contrast to his father who had sought an alliance with Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Ver ...
. Frederick took Brandenburg into the League of Augsburg
The Grand Alliance was the anti-French coalition formed on 20 December 1689 between the Dutch Republic, Kingdom of England, England and the Holy Roman Empire. It was signed by the two leading opponents of France: William III of England, William II ...
against France and in 1689 led military forces into the field as part of the allied coalition. That year an army under his command besieged and captured Bonn. Despite this opposition to France (a characteristic that was even more prominent in his son and heir) he was fond of French culture, and styled his court in imitation of that of Louis XIV.
Reign as King
The Hohenzollern state was then known as Brandenburg-Prussia. The family's main possessions were the Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg (german: link=no, Markgrafschaft Brandenburg) was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe.
Brandenburg developed out ...
within the Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...
and the Duchy of Prussia
The Duchy of Prussia (german: Herzogtum Preußen, pl, Księstwo Pruskie, lt, Prūsijos kunigaikštystė) or Ducal Prussia (german: Herzogliches Preußen, link=no; pl, Prusy Książęce, link=no) was a duchy in the region of Prussia establish ...
outside of the Empire, ruled as a personal union
A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...
. Although he was the Margrave
Margrave was originally the medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or of a kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain feudal families in the Em ...
and Prince-elector
The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
From the 13th century onwards, the prin ...
of Brandenburg and the Duke of Prussia
The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...
, Frederick desired the more prestigious title of king. However, according to Germanic law at that time, no kingdoms could exist within the Holy Roman Empire, with the exception of the Kingdom of Bohemia
The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...
which belonged to the Holy Roman Emperor.
Frederick persuaded Emperor Leopold I
Leopold I (Leopold Ignaz Joseph Balthasar Franz Felician; hu, I. Lipót; 9 June 1640 – 5 May 1705) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia. The second son of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, by his first wife, Maria An ...
to allow Prussia to be elevated to a kingdom by the Crown Treaty {{Short description, 1700 treaty between Brandenburg and Emperor Leopold I
In the Crown Treaty (also called Treaty of the Crown, ''Krontraktat'' in German) signed on 16 November 1700, Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, had ...
of 16 November 1700. This agreement was ostensibly given in exchange for an alliance against King Louis XIV in the War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
and the provision of 8,000 Prussian troops to Leopold's service. Frederick argued that Prussia had never been part of the Holy Roman Empire, and he ruled over it with full sovereignty. Therefore, he said, there was no legal or political barrier to letting him rule it as a kingdom. Frederick was aided in the negotiations by Charles Ancillon
Charles Ancillon (28 July 16595 July 1715)"Ancillon, Charles" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 378. was a French jurist and diplomat.
Life
Ancillon was born in Metz into ...
.
Frederick crowned himself on 18 January 1701 in Königsberg. Although he did so with the Emperor's consent, and also with formal acknowledgement from Augustus II the Strong
Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as K ...
, Elector of Saxony, who held the title of King of Poland, the Polish-Lithuanian Diet (Sejm) raised objections, and viewed the coronation as illegal.[Friedrich, Karin (2012). ''Brandenburg-Prussia, 1466–1806: The Rise of a Composite State''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan]
p. 66.
/ref> In fact, according to the terms of the Treaty of Wehlau and Bromberg, the House of Hohenzollern's sovereignty over the Duchy of Prussia was not absolute but contingent on the continuation of the male line (in the absence of which the duchy would revert to the Polish crown). Therefore, out of deference to the region's historic ties to the Polish crown, Frederick made the symbolic concession of calling himself "King in Prussia
King ''in'' Prussia (German: ''König in Preußen'') was a title used by the Prussian kings (also in personal union Electors of Brandenburg) from 1701 to 1772. Subsequently, they used the title King ''of'' Prussia (''König von Preußen'').
Th ...
" instead of "King of Prussia".
His royalty was, in any case, limited to Prussia and did not reduce the rights of the Emperor in the portions of his domains that were still part of the Holy Roman Empire. In other words, while he was a king in Prussia, he was still only an elector under the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Emperor in Brandenburg. Legally, the Hohenzollern state was still a personal union between Brandenburg and Prussia. However, by the time Frederick crowned himself as king, the emperor's authority over Brandenburg (and the rest of the empire) was only nominal, and in practice it soon came to be treated as part of the Prussian kingdom rather than as a separate entity. His grandson, Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...
, was the first Prussian king formally to style himself "King of Prussia" (from 1772 onwards).
Frederick was a patron of the arts and learning. The Prussian Academy of Arts
The Prussian Academy of Arts (German: ''Preußische Akademie der Künste'') was a state arts academy first established in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and late ...
in Berlin was founded by Frederick in 1696, as was the Academy of Sciences
An academy of sciences is a type of learned society or academy (as special scientific institution) dedicated to sciences that may or may not be state funded. Some state funded academies are tuned into national or royal (in case of the Unit ...
in 1700, though the latter was closed down by his son as an economic measure; it was reopened in 1740 by his grandson, Frederick II. Frederick also appointed Jacob Paul von Gundling as Professor of History and Law at the Berlin Knights Academy in 1705, and as historian at the Higher Herald's Office in 1706.
Frederick died in Berlin in 1713 and is entombed in the Berliner Dom
The Berlin Cathedral (german: link=yes, Berliner Dom), also known as the Evangelical Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church, is a monumental German Evangelical church and dynastic tomb (House of Hohenzollern) on the Museum Island in centra ...
.
His grandson, Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...
, referred to Frederick I as "the mercenary king", due to the fact that he greatly profited from the hiring of his Prussian troops to defend other territories, such as in northern Italy against the French. "All in all," he wrote of his grandfather, "he was great in small matters, and small in great matters."
Marriages and children
Frederick was married three times:
* first to Elizabeth Henrietta of Hesse-Kassel (1661-1683), with whom he had one child,
** Louise Dorothea, born 1680, who died without issue at age 25.
* then to Sophia Charlotte of Hanover
Sophia Charlotte of Hanover (30 October 1668 – 1 February 1705) was the first Queen consort in Prussia as wife of King Frederick I. She was the only daughter of Elector Ernest Augustus of Hanover and his wife Sophia of the Palatinate. Her eld ...
(1668-1705), with whom he had
** Frederick August (1685–1686)
** Frederick William I, born in 1688, who succeeded him.
* In 1708, he married Sophia Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who survived him but had no children by him.
He also had an official mistress, Catharina von Wartenberg, between 1696 and 1711. However, he was never known to make use of her services, being deeply in love with his second wife.
Ancestry
Notes
Further reading
* Dwyer, Philip G., ed. ''The Rise of Prussia, 1700–1830'' (2000).
* Frey, Linda, and Marsha Frey. ''Frederick I: The Man and His Times'' (1984).
External links
*
*
, -
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick 01 of Prussia
Kings of Prussia
1657 births
1713 deaths
17th-century Dukes of Prussia
18th-century Kings of Prussia
Brandenburg-Prussia
Dukes of Prussia
Electoral Princes of Brandenburg
Prince-electors of Brandenburg
House of Hohenzollern
Princes of Neuchâtel
German landowners
German Calvinist and Reformed Christians
People from the Duchy of Prussia
Nobility from Königsberg
Garter Knights appointed by William III
Burials at Berlin Cathedral
17th-century German military personnel
18th-century German military personnel
Brandenburgian nobility
German people of Dutch descent
German people of Portuguese descent
German army commanders in the War of the Spanish Succession
Military personnel from Königsberg