Polish-Prussia? Royal Prussia? West Prussia? Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth? Notes for Clarification

The historical jurisdictions, names and political powers under which Mennonites lived since their arrival in lands that are today Poland are difficult to keep straight. However they are important for telling the story right. This post simply provides some notes for orientation with reference to the late sixteenth-century map below.

Polish- or Royal Prussia comes into being with the defeat of Teutonic Knights by the Polish Crown in 1466. See the pink-shaded area of the map below.

Ducal Prussia is a fiefdom of the Kingdom of Poland after 1525 (see stiped on map). In 1618, this duchy (voivodeship) is inherited by Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg, who separated it from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1657. After 1701, the Elector of Brandenburg is the “King of Prussia” when in that territory. With the First Partition of Poland in 1772, it becomes East Prussia.

By 1569 Polish- or Royal Prussia was fully integrated into Kingdom of Poland and part of the larger Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. With the First Partition of Poland in 1772, Royal Prussia is annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia (House of Hohenzollern, German) and becomes West Prussia. Further expansion with the 1792 and 1795 Partitions of Poland.

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, or the “Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania” – a federation after 1569, or simply referred to as the “Kingdom of Poland” (dominant partner) in many western sources, with significant religious toleration for the vast kingdom. It included Royal Prussia as well as Ducal Prussia. The Commonwealth is fully dismantled and annexed by Russia, Austria and Prussia (Hohenzollern) with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Partitions of Poland.

Danzig and Elbing are quasi free cities. James Urry (p. 47; below) writes helpfully:

“While the rule of Polish kings in Royal Prussia extended to the major cities of Danzig, Elbing, and Thom, in practice these urban centres had their own special charters and were controlled by independent councils with the authority to pass their own regulations. These limited the king's power and that of the Polish Parliament.”

Danzig was not annexed by the “Kingdom of Prussia” (Hohenzollern) with the First Partition of Poland in 1772 (as experienced by Mennonites in the Vistula Delta and Elbing), but with the Second Partition of Poland in 1792 (i.e., after the first group of Mennonites--mostly West Prussian subjects--left for Russia in 1788).

Below is a good sample paragraph by Richard D. Thiessen with many of the above political jurisdictions and powers in his GAMEO article on Alt-Schottland, just outside the city gates of Danzig:

"In 1520 Alt Schottland, a property of the Bishop of Cujawien, was totally destroyed during the siege of Danzig by the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, Albrecht von Hohenzollern. The Bishop strove to restore the former prosperity of the area, located outside the Danzig city walls, and accepted Dutch Anabaptists fleeing from the Netherlands and prohibited from settling in the city of Danzig onto his land holdings. ... Throughout the following years, the bishop defended the Mennonite tradesmen from attacks by the Danzig guilds, who complained that the Mennonites were competing with them without having memberships in the guilds. ... Until 1772 Alt Schottland was located in what was known as Royal Prussia (also known as Polish Prussia) in the Kingdom of Poland. The First Partition of Poland in 1772 resulted in the creation of a new province on 31 January 1773, called West Prussia, in which the village was located."

---Arnold Neufeldt-Fast

--Notes--

I have found the following helpful:

Mark Jantzen, “Anabaptists in Prussia,” in T & T Clark Handbook of Anabaptism, edited by Brian C. Brewer, 169-184 (London: T&T Clark, 2022).

Richard D. Thiessen, "Alt-Schottland," GAMEO, https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Alt_Schottland_(Pomeranian_Voivodeship,_Poland).

James Urry, Mennonites, Politics, and Peoplehood: Europe—Russia—Canada, 1525 to 1980 (Winnipeg, MB: University of Manitoba Press, 2006), 45-51.

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History of the Russian Mennonites

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