R U S S I A. 





of Knights jf tin- Teuti.nie Order ; all appellation l>y 

 whieh ilicy afterwards became so famous, and which 

 they obtained from the name l>y which Germany, their 

 m:try, was called. Having hy donations and 

 other means l> ulent, and, consequently, pow( r- 



t'ul, and having been expelled, with the nthe: 



, from the Holy Land hy Saladin, they were first in- 

 tn:duced ( I -".'7j into t!ie territories which we arc consi- 

 dering by (.'niiradf, Duke of Ma>ovi;s, v. ho, in opposing 

 the pretensions of his uncle Boleslaus V. to the throne 

 of 1'oland, availed himself of their assistance in the at- 

 tempt. (.Vnradi- being unsuccessful, and peace being 

 restored, the Teutonic Knights had the province of 

 Culm assigned them. But they were of too ambitious 

 .tr.d warlike a character either to remain long in peace, 

 or to be contented with the limited territory which had 

 been given them. No sooner indeed was peace con- 

 cluded with Boleslaus, than they began to extend their 

 dominions over the neighbouring districts, towards the 

 north, and ere long obtained possession of Dantzick ; 

 a city even then of importance, and the inhabitants of 

 which they butchered in the most cruel and savage man- 

 ner. The cruelty thus shown so terrified the neighbouring 

 cities and provinces, that they, without almost any ex- 

 ception, tamely submitted to their ruthless invaders. 

 The increasing power, and the unrelenting tyranny of 

 the Knights, awakened the fears and the displeasure of 

 the church ; and, accordingly, they were commanded 

 by the Pope to renounce their conquests. They were 

 now, however, become too powerful to yield even to 

 this high authority, and submitted to be excommuni- 

 cated rather than profess obedience, and resign the ex- 

 tensive acquisitions they had acquired. But the Pope 

 was not the only enemy they had to encounter. Ula- 

 dislaus, King of Poland, marched against them ; and 

 his armies were found to be more formidable than the 

 anathemas of the see of Rome. After a bloody and 

 desperate engagement, they suffered a complete defeat, 

 though they were reinforced by the forces of the Dukes 

 of Masovia and Brandenburg ; the latter being involved 

 in these hostilities as he had presumed to sell the right 

 of certain lands to the Teutonic Knights. Had Ula- 

 dislaus availed himself of the advantages this victory 

 afforded him, he might have exterminated his enemies, 

 and delivered that quarter of Europe from a class of 

 men, who, for nearly three centuries, involved it in 

 slaughter and blood, and who seemed to sacrifice every 

 worthy principle to their own ambition and aggran- 

 dizement. But instead of pushing his advantages, he 

 concluded a peace with them under the mediation of 

 the kings of Bohemia and Hungary. The Knights, 

 however, were not of a character to keep a treaty of 

 peace long inviolate, however fair and desirable its con- 

 ditions might be. In a few months they not only re- 

 fused to evacuate Pomerania, according to their stipu- 

 lations, but endeavoured to extend their usurpations in 

 a41 directions. The Polish monarch, forced to march 

 against them a second time, gained so decisive a vic- 

 tory, that 1-000 Knights were slain on the field of battle, 

 and 30,000 auxiliaries either killed or taken prisoners. 

 UJadislaus was still influenced by the same feelings 

 with regard to the Knights as formerly, and instead of 

 extirpating them, lie granted them peace, on the condi- 

 tion of the provinces which occisioned the war being 

 ceded to him. Hostilities a third time broke out be- 

 tween Poland and the Knights ; but through the good 

 co.nduct and bravery of 1'lawen, thi'ir grand-master, an 

 advantageous peace was again granted them. The 

 Knights, notwithstanding the lung scries of wars in 



which they i.ad Lrm engaged with Poland, and the ''<* 

 resistance made by the native tribes whom they at- * -v- " 

 t.-iel.ed, were now (in addition to Culm, their : 

 ritory,) in possession of Samogitia, Nfasovia, Silesia, 

 and Pomerania, and the provinces now dciiomin;i' 



i Prussia. The original inhabitants of 

 these countries were, of course, superseded by Ger- 

 mans, who, in a great degree, introduced new customs, 

 new laws, and a new language. But the power of th 

 Teutonic Knights was not always to continue. In the 

 fifteenth century, after a series of discomfitures, they 

 were completely subdued by Casimir IV. and oblige*!, 

 to surrender the territories of Culm, Pomerania, and 

 other places to the Poles, on the condition that they 

 should retain Prussia, (now East Prussia,) and that 

 the grand-master of their order should have a seat 

 the Polish senate, and take an oath of allegiance arul 

 fidelity to Casimir and the republic. These conditions 

 were too severe to be easily acquiesced in by this tur- 

 bulent and entcri rising people; and accordingly tl 

 endeavoured, though unsuccessfully, to throw off tl 

 vassalage to Poland. The last grand-master of the or- ,\ < 

 der was Albert, elector of Brandenburg, and nephew elector of 

 to Sigismund I. King of Poland. He was elected to BraiKten- 

 this dignity in the hope that by his affinity to Sigis- I>ur 8' 

 mund he might obtain the restoration of parts of the gl 



.. . f f t T 1 1 1 1 r 1-1 tf "' *"* 



territories forfeited to Poland, and might accomplish Ol fc r .. 

 the removal of the vassalage they now were obliged to 

 pay to that power. But these hopes were completely 

 frustrated. Albert, in the first place, instead of using 

 interest with his uncle for the restitution of the lost 

 privileges of the Teutonic Knights, refused to do him 

 homage, and endeavoured not merely to throw off his 

 allegiance, but to recover by force of arms the provinces 

 which his predecessors had surrendered to Poland. In 

 the exhausted and dispirited state in which this order 

 was then placed, the result of so imprudent an attempt 

 may easily be conjectured. Albert was defeated at 

 every step of his enterprise, and was at length com- 

 pelled to resign the office and dignity of grand-master ; 

 in return for which, however, Sigismund conferred on 

 him the title of Duke, and the province he had enjoyed 

 as grand-master. Previously to this change of title and 

 of rank, he had to consent to lay aside the habit and the 

 tenets of the order over which he presided, to embrace 

 Lutheranism, and to consent to hold his dominions as 

 a fief of Poland. The title and possessions were to 

 descend (on the same conditions as those by which he 

 held them) to his heirs male, and upon failure of his 

 direct lineage, to revert to his brother or his male issue. 

 This event took place in 1531, nearly three centuries 

 after the time the Teutonic Knights obtained the grant 

 of the territory of Culm. Albert, now interested in 

 expelling this fraternity from his dominions, did not 

 rest till he had accomplished this object. The Knight* 

 transferred their chapter to Mariendal in Franconia; 

 and though once so powerful and so celebrated, they 

 gradually sunk into an obscure and unimportant people ; 

 and at this day little more than their name now rcmahu. 



Albert being descended of the house of Brandenburg, Tl* house 

 and being the founder of adynas'.y which has now attain- of Bran- 

 ed to such eminence, it may not be improper to turn back denburg. 

 and give a brief account of the family to M-Mch he be- 

 longed, and of which the present sovereign of Pru^-ia s 

 the representative. This family, (Ilohen Zollern,) which 

 is one of the oldest in Europe, had its origin in th* 

 south-west of Germany. From the earliest periods they 

 possessed a petty principality in Suabia, and occasion- 

 ally held the office of burg-grave or governor of the 



