Prussia (region)

[[Image:Image-Prussia ethnicity.JPG|right|thumb|300px|A cropped image of Prussia from "Spread of German settlements to the Eastward, 800-1400". ([http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/shepherd/german_settlements_800_1400.jpg Full map.])]] '''Prussia''' ([[Old Prussian]]: '''Prūsa''') is a [[Historical regions of Central Europe|historical region]] in [[Central Europe]] extending from the south-eastern coast of the [[Baltic Sea]] to the [[Masurian Lake District]]. It is now divided between [[Poland]], [[Russia]], and [[Lithuania]]. The former [[Germany|German]] state of [[Prussia]] derived its name from the region. ==Prehistory== [[Image:Baltic Tribes c 1200.svg|thumb|350px|left|The Prussian tribes in the context of the other Baltic tribes, ca. 1200 AD. The Eastern Balts are shown in brown hues while the Western Balts are shown in green. The boundaries are approximate.]] Parts of the [[Baltic region]] retained large wilderness areas for longer than anywhere else in Europe. In prehistory, the east of the area was inhabited by the [[Eastern Balts]], whilst the [[Western Balts]] inhabited the [[Sambia|Sambian peninsula]] and the areas to the west. Over time, the Western Balts consolidated into the [[Old Prussians|Old Prussian]] nation. The Eastern Balts of the area, including the [[Curonians]], consolidated into (a part of) the [[Latvians|Latvian]] and [[Lithuanians|Lithuanian]] nations. About 350 [[Before Christ|BC]] [[Pytheas]] called the territory ''Mentenomon'' and the inhabitants ''Guttones'', neighbors of the [[Teutones]]. A river to the east of the Vistula was called the [[Guttalus]] (also Guthalus) and was assumed to have been either the Memel, the Alle, or the Pregel. == Vikings in Prussia == {{main|Truso}} The [[Vikings]] started to penetrate the Eastern shores of the [[Baltic Sea]] in the 7th and 8th centuries. The largest trade centres of the Prussians, such as [[Truso]] and [[Mokhovoye|Kaup]], seem to have absorbed a number of Norsemen. Prussians used the Baltic Sea as a trading route, frequently traveling from Truso to [[Birka]] (present-day Sweden). At the end of the [[Viking Age]], the sons of Danish king [[Harald Bluetooth]] and [[Canute the Great]] launched several expeditions against the Prussians. They destroyed many areas in Prussia, including Truso and Kaup, but failed to dominate the population totally. A Viking ([[Varangian]]) presence in the area was "less than dominant and very much less than imperial." ==Old Prussians== {{main|Old Prussians}} According to a legend, recorded by [[Simon Grunau]], the name "Prussia" is derived from Pruteno (or Bruteno), the chief priest of Prussia and brother of the legendary king [[Widewuto]], who lived in the 6th century. The regions of Prussia and the corresponding tribes are said to bear the names of Widewuto's sons — for example, [[Yotvingians|Sudovia]] is named after Widewuto's son Sudo. In the first half of the 13th century, Bishop [[Christian of Prussia]] recorded the history of a much earlier era. [[Adam of Bremen]] mentions Prussians in 1072. The Old Prussians spoke a variety of languages, with [[Old Prussian]] belonging to the [[Baltic languages|Western branch of the Baltic language group]]. Related, but not mutually intelligible, are the modern representatives of the Baltic languages: [[Latvian language|Latvian]] and [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], from the East Baltic branch. Roman historians had documented the Prussian tribes as ''easterners'', with [[Tacitus]]' referring to them as the ''Aesti''. 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 [[Martyrdom|killed by a Prussian pagan priest]] in 997. [[Image:Marienburg (1999).jpg|thumb|250px|The center of Prussia until 1466: [[Ordensburg Marienburg]], today called Malbork]] ===Attempts at conquest of Prussia === After the state of the [[Polans]] was established in the 10th century, they tried to conquer the land of the Prussians. [[Boleslaw I Chrobry]] sent [[Adalbert of Prague]] in [[AD]] 997 on a military and Christianizing mission. In 1015, Boleslaw sent soldiers again, with some short-lived success, gaining regular paid tribute from some Prussians in the border regions, but it did not last. Polish rulers sent invasions 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 contested area exposed to frequent raids. ==Teutonic Knights== {{main|Teutonic Order state}} [[Image:Ordensstaat-kirchlich.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Catholic [[diocese]]s 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]]]] In the 13th century [[Konrad of Masovia]] had called for [[Crusades]] 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 conquered by the [[Teutonic Knights]] during the [[Prussian Crusade]] and administered within their [[Teutonic Order state]]. After the acquisition of [[Pomerelia]] in 1308/10, the meaning 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 [[Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)|Kingdom of Poland]], while the eastern part of the monastic state became a [[fief]] of Poland. In 1492, a life of [[Dorothea of Montau]], published in Marienburg (Malbork), became the first printed publication in Prussia. ==Early modern era== {{main|Royal Prussia|Duchy of Prussia|Brandenburg-Prussia|King in Prussia}} [[Image:PRVSSIA1576Casparo Henneberg.png|right|thumb|300px|Map by Caspar Henneberg, Elbing 1576: [[Duchy of Prussia|Duchy]] and [[Royal Prussia]] originally with same color (for the duchy the color was added later)]] [[File:K0nigl+BherzoglPreussen en.png|right|thumb|300px|Prussia after [[Second Peace of Thorn|1466]]: light grey – Duchy of Prussia.
colored – Royal Prussia with its [[Voivodeship]]s in [[personal union]] with the [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]]]] During the [[Protestant Reformation]], endemic religious upheavals and wars occurred, and in 1525, the last [[Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights]], [[Albert, Duke of Prussia|Albert of Brandenburg]], a member of a cadet branch of the [[House of Hohenzollern]], adopted the [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] faith, resigned his position, and assumed the title of "Duke of Prussia." In a deal partially brokered by [[Martin Luther]], the [[Duchy of Prussia]] became the first Protestant state and a vassal of Poland. The ducal capital of [[Königsberg]], now [[Kaliningrad]], became a centre of learning and printing through the establishment of the [[Königsberg Albertina University|Albertina University]] in 1544. Ducal Prussia passed to the senior Hohenzollern branch, the ruling Margraves of [[Margraviate of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]], in 1618, and Polish sovereignty over the duchy ended in 1657 with the [[Treaty of Wehlau]]. Because Ducal Prussia lay outside of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], [[Frederick I of Prussia|Frederick I]] achieved the elevation of the duchy to the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] in 1701. The former ducal lands became known as [[Province of East Prussia|East Prussia]]. Royal Prussia was annexed from the [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]] by the Kingdom of Prussia during the 18th century [[Partitions of Poland]] and administered within [[West Prussia]]. ==Modern era== {{main|Kingdom of Prussia|Province of Prussia|West Prussia|East Prussia|Free State of Prussia|Polish Corridor|Pomeranian Voivodship|Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship|Kaliningrad Oblast}} Though the Kingdom of Prussia was a member of the [[German Confederation]] from 1815 to 1866, the provinces of [[Province of Posen|Posen]] and [[Province of Prussia|Prussia]] were not a part of [[Germany]] until the creation of the [[German Empire]] in 1871 during the [[unification of Germany]]. By the [[Treaty of Versailles]], some territories of West Prussia and the Province of Posen that had belonged to the Prussian kingdom and the German Empire were ceded to the [[Second Polish Republic]]. East Prussia, minus the [[Memelland]], received [[Marienwerder (region)|some districts]] of former West Prussia and remained within the German [[Weimar Republic]]. 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 [[Kaliningrad Oblast|Russian]] and [[Klaipėda Region|Lithuanian]] Soviet republics. The German state of Prussia, of which the Prussian region was but a small part, was dissolved in 1947. ==External links== *[http://www.frombork.art.pl/Frombork-foto/merkator.jpg Partial Map of Prussia by Gerard Mercator, Atlas sive cosmographica., Amsterdam 1594] *[http://www.frombork.art.pl/Frombork-foto/Mprus.jpg Partial Map of Prussia by Kasper Henneberger, Koenigsberg 1629] *[http://www.frombork.art.pl/Frombork-foto/Hart3_m.jpg Map of Old Prussia by K. Henneberger, 17th c.] *[http://www.frombork.art.pl/Frombork-foto/Hart4_m.jpg Map of Prussia by K. Henneberger] in: [[Christoph Hartknoch]], ''Alt- und neues Preussen...'', Frankfurt 1684 *[http://www.frombork.art.pl/Frombork-foto/m_reyilly.jpg Map of Prussia and Freie Stadt Danzig from 18th c.] *[http://www.frombork.art.pl/Frombork-foto/mapaXIX.jpg Map of East Prussia] K. Flemming, F. Handtke, Głogów ca. 1920, after Treaty of Versailles removed Memel area from Germany. *[http://www.frombork.art.pl/Pol130dm.htm Dawne mapy i atlasy] {{coord missing}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Prussia (Region)}}