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Duchy of Prussia 1525-1701 (Germany)

Herzogtum Preussen, polish fief 1525-1657

Duchy of Prussia 1525-1657
by Adam Kromer

Introduction
Duchy of Prussia 1525-1657
Royal Prussia 1466-1772 (Polish Prussia)
Royal Prussia Coat-of-Arms (Polish Prussia)

See also:

Other sites:

Prussian Historical Coats-of-Arms at Adam Kromer's Polish Heraldry website

Introduction

After the battle of Tannenberg 1410, the treaty of 1466 gave the King of Poland most of the Teutonic Order's territory west of the Vistula, thereafter called Royal Prussia, and the rest of Prussia (which in 1525 became the Duchy of Prussia) was subjected to Polish suzerainty.

Santiago Dotor, 29 June 2000

In 1525, the Grand Master, Albrecht von Brandenburg secularized the Teutonic Order and thereby took over control of Prussia, initially as a fief of Poland. Shortly thereafter, it was inherited by the Elector of Brandenburg, one of the princes entitled to elect the Emperor. When in 1660, the Duchy of Prussia became independent of Poland the way was opened to union with Brandenburg and thereby also the foundation of the Prussian state. In 1701, Prussia became a kingdom and from then till 1871, it was in a continuous stage of expansion until it came to be by far the largest German state, almost as large as all the others together.

The flags listed below mostly come from one or more flag charts or books, either directly, or taken from them from Siegel 1912. Where I can I will cite the date. Note that my citing a date does not imply that the flag was adopted then; indeed, in almost every case, it was adopted sometime earlier, since it takes some time for it to get to a chart. I never deliberately cite a flag after it ceased to be used, but since I will only "overrule" a source if I feel confident I can do so, it would surprise me if there were not several such cases. In all cases, the eagle's head is pointed towards the hoist unless otherwise stated. Since most of the data come (directly or indir