Albert of Brandenburg

Albert of Brandenburg 1490-1568, grand master of the Teutonic Knights (1511-25), first duke of Prussia (1525-68); grandson of Elector Albert Achilles of Brandenburg. In 1525 he became a Protestant, and on the advice of Martin Luther he secularized the dominions of the Teutonic Knights and became duke of the hereditary duchy of Prussia . The knights' lands had been held as a fief from the king of Poland, and the new duchy remained under Polish suzerainty. On the extinction of Albert's line (1618), Prussia passed to the senior line of Brandenburg, and in 1701 it was made a kingdom.

Albert of Brandenburg (1490–1545), Cardinal Abp. and Elector of Mainz. In 1517 he was charged with the publication in Saxony and Brandenburg of the indulgence for St Peter's, Rome; he secured the services of J. Tetzel to preach it. He was a man of liberal views and a friend of the humanists. Having temporized during the Peasants' War (1525), he threw in his lot with the German Catholic princes. He was a resolute defender of the Papacy, though he discouraged extreme measures against the Protestants.

Brandenburg State in ne Germany; the capital is Potsdam. The region formed the nucleus of the kingdom of Prussia. The March of Brandenburg was founded in 1134 by Albert I (the Bear). It came under the rule of the Hohenzollerns in 1411, and in 1417 Frederick I became the first Elector of Brandenburg. Frederick II became the first King of Prussia in 1701. Pop. (1999) 2,601,207.