View source for Treaties of Cölln and Mewe

{{Short description|Treaties that transferred Neumark from the Teutonic Order to Brandenburg}}
The '''Treaties of Cölln and Mewe''', concluded in 1454 and 1455, transferred the [[Neumark]] (New March) from the [[State of the Teutonic Order]] to the [[Electorate of Brandenburg]]. The Teutonic Knights had received the area as a pawn from Brandenburg in 1402, and as a possession in 1429. Financial shortages due to the onset of the [[Thirteen Years' War (1454–1466)]] forced [[Ludwig von Erlichshausen]], [[Grand Master of the Teutonic Order]], to pawn the Neumark to [[Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg]], by the '''Treaty of Cölln''' on 22 February 1454, and to subsequently  sell it by the '''Treaty of Mewe''' on 16 September 1455.<ref>Leon Rogalski, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=W9NbAAAAcAAJ&dq=Gniewic+16+Wrze%C5%9Bnia+1455&pg=PA313 Dzieje Krzyżaków oraz ich stosunki z Polska, Litwę i Prussami, poprzedzone rysem dziejów wojen krzyżowych, czerpane z najlepszych źródeł]'', Nakładem i drukiem S. Orgelbranda, 1846</ref><ref>Philippe MEYER, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=GhxtBAAAQBAJ&dq=%22accord+de%22+1455+%22nouvelle+marche%22&pg=PT41 Une histoire de Berlin]'', edi8, 11/09/2014</ref><ref>Henry BOGDAN, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=rk7OAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22accord+de%22+%22f%C3%A9vrier+1454%22+++%22nouvelle+marche%22&pg=PT55 Les Hohenzollern]'', edi8, 13/02/2014</ref>
==Background==
[[File:Teutonic Order 1410.png|thumb|325px|Neumark (New March) as the westernmost part of the [[Teutonic Order State]]]]
In the second half of the 13th century, the [[Margraviate of Brandenburg]] had established the [[Neumark]] along the lower [[Warthe]] (Warta) river.<ref name=Gahlbeck402>Gahlbeck (2007), p. 402</ref> In 1374/1388, the Lords of Wedel transferred their rights on territories around [[Schivelbein]] and [[Złocieniec|Falkenburg]] to the [[Teutonic Order state]],<ref name=Gahlbeck402/> their eastern neighbor.
On September 29, 1402, [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund of Luxembourg]], [[King of Hungary]] and [[Margrave of Brandenburg]], who inherited Neumark after the death of his brother [[John of Görlitz]] in 1396, pawned the whole of the Neumark to the Teutonic Order.<ref name=Gahlbeck402/><ref name=Ortvay18>Ortvay, Band 3 (1894), p.18</ref> After the [[First Peace of Thorn]] (1411), [[Grand Master of the Teutonic Order|Grand Master]] (Hochmeister) [[Heinrich von Plauen]] intended to pawn the Neumark to the Polish king, and prepared a respective treaty.<ref name=Heinrich148>Heinrich (1992), p. 148</ref> The noble estates of the Neumark however, on the basis of their privileges, prevented the ratification of the treaty.<ref name=Heinrich148/>
On September 8, 1429, the Teutonic Order acquired the pawn as a full possession from [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund of Luxembourg]].<ref name=Gahlbeck402/><ref name=Ortvay35>Ortvay, Band 3 (1894), p.35</ref> In February 1454, the Order was at the verge of the [[Thirteen Years' War (1454–66)|Thirteen Years' War]] following a rebellion of the [[Prussian Confederation]], who was allied with the [[Poland during the Jagiellon dynasty|Kingdom of Poland]].<ref name=Neugebauer55>Neugebauer (1996), p. 55</ref> The Order's military and financial weakness<ref name=Boeckler203>Böckler (1995), p. 203</ref> resulted in an urgent need for money to attract and pay mercenaries.<ref name=Boockmann216>Boockmann (1998), p. 216</ref> To that end, the Grand Master [[Ludwig von Erlichshausen]] pawned the Neumark to Brandenburg<ref name=Boeckler203/> and many of his [[Prussia (region)|Prussian]] holdings to mercenary groups in 1454.<ref name=Boockmann216/>
==Treaties==
On 22 February 1454,<ref>Joachim & Hubatsch (1973), p. 840; Schultze (1989), p. 77</ref> a treaty was concluded in [[Cölln]]<ref name=Schultze77>Schultze (1989), p. 77</ref> (now part of [[Berlin]]) between elector [[Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg|Frederick II of Brandenburg]] and the [[Landvogt]]<ref name=Gallus77>Gallus (1798), p. 77</ref> (Land[[komtur]])<ref name=PrUB>Joachim & Hubatsch (1973), p. 840</ref> [[Friedrich von Polenz]]<ref name=Gallus77/> (Polentz)<ref name=PrUB/> in the name of Grand Master, wherein the Neumark was pawned to Brandenburg for 40,000 [[Rhenish guilder]]s.<ref>Böckler (1995), p. 203; Schultze (1989), p. 77</ref> On 6 March, Frederick II arrived at [[Landsberg an der Warthe]] to receive the homage of the estates.<ref name=Schultze77/> The nobles accepted the treaty on 31 March.<ref name=ADBVII479>Hirsch (ADB VII, 1878), p. 479</ref> The Polish king [[Casimir IV Jagiellon]] had also announced an interest in receiving the Neumark and upon hearing of the Teutonic offer to Brandenburg, entered negotiations with the Neumark nobles.<ref>Hirsch (ADB VII, 1878), p. 479; Sonthofen (1990), p. 173</ref> Yet the estates<ref name=ADBVII479/> and the Grand Master had favoured the Elector of Brandenburg.<ref name=Boeckler203/>
[[File:Gniew zamek fasada bok.JPG|thumb|150px|left|Teutonic Order's castle in [[Gniew|Mewe (Gniew)]]]]
In June, the noble estates of the Schivelbein area approached the Brandenburgian elector for protection against frequent Polish and [[Duchy of Pomerania|Pomeranian]] raids.<ref name=Heinrich148/> They argued that because of the Teutonic Order's crisis the [[vogt]] of the Neumark was unable to keep a sufficient number of men in arms.<ref name=Heinrich148/> During the following year, Frederick II continued his efforts to permanently re-gain the Neumark for Brandenburg.<ref name=Boeckler203/> Without success, he held talks with the Polish king in [[Bromberg]] (Bydgoszcz) about a peace between Poland and the Order.<ref name=Voigt147>Voigt (1860), p. 147</ref> The latter had not handed over the [[Świdwin|Schivelbein]] and [[Drezdenko|Driesen]] areas with the rest of the Neumark after the Cölln treaty to pressure Frederick II to assist it in the war, also had the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] asked Frederick to mediate in the dispute.<ref name=Voigt147/> On 7 April 1455, Frederick II received the hommage of the estates and asserted their privileges.<ref name=Amtsblatt>Amts-Blatt (1865), p. 82 (397)</ref>
On 16 September 1455, another treaty was concluded at the Order's castle in [[Gniew|Mewe]] between Frederick II and [[Ludwig von Erlichshausen]],<ref>Böckler (1995), p. 203; Gallus (1798), p. 77; Schultze (1989), p. 77</ref> wherein the Neumark was sold to Frederick for 100,000 Rhenish guilder.<ref name=BGN>Böckler (1995), p. 204; Gallus (1798), p. 77; Neugebauer (1996), p. 55</ref> The [[Świdwin|Schivelbein]] and [[Drezdenko|Driesen]] areas were explicitly included.<ref name=BGN/> The payment of 40,000 guilder resulting from the treaty of Cölln was included in the sum agreed on in Mewe.<ref name="Gallus77"/> The Order was granted the right to buy the Neumark back after Frederick II's death.<ref>Böckler (1995), p. 204; Schultze (1989), p. 77</ref> Brandenburg further granted the Order's forces safe conduct.<ref>Böckler (1995), p. 204</ref>
==Aftermath==
When by the [[Second Peace of Thorn]] (1466) the [[Teutonic Order State]] lost several territories to Poland, Frederick II was concerned that a Polish king might in place of the Order claim the right to buy the Neumark according to the Mewe treaty.<ref name=Schultze77/> He wrote down a respective memorandum, directed at his successors, wherein the latter were urged to not accept such claims, keep the Neumark within the "German lands and the Holy Roman Empire and the worthy Electorate Mark of Brandenburg" and not have it "brought to non-German tongue".<ref name=Schultze77/>
In 1517,<ref>Sach (2002), p. 307; Schultze (1989), p. 77</ref> [[Joachim I, Elector of Brandenburg]] and [[Albert, Duke of Prussia|Albert]] (Albrecht), [[Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights]], agreed in [[Berlin]] that the Order relinquished its right to purchase back the Neumark from Brandenburg, in turn, Joachim I obliged himself to aid Albert with 500 horse and 600 foot in the [[Polish–Teutonic War (1519–21)|expected war with Poland-Lithuania]].<ref>Sach (2002), p. 308</ref>
==Sources==
;References
{{Reflist|2}}
;Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
*Amts-Blatt der Königl. Preuß. Regierung zu Frankfurt a.O., Nr. 51, 1865.
*{{cite book|chapter=Die Festigung der Landesherrschaft durch die hohenzollernschen Kurfürsten und der Ausbau der Mark zum fürstlichen Territorialstaat während des 15. Jahrhunderts|last=Böckler|first=Heidelore|title=Brandenburgische Geschichte|editor-first=Ingo|editor-last=Materna|publisher=Akademie Verlag|year=1995|isbn=3-05-002508-5|pages=169–230|language=German|display-editors=etal}}
*{{cite book|title=Ostpreußen und Westpreußen|volume=1|series=Deutsche Geschichte im Osten Europas|editor=Boockmann, Hartmut|editor-link=Hartmut Boockmann|publisher=Siedler|year=1998|isbn=3-88680-212-4|language=German}}
*{{cite book|title=Archivführer zur Geschichte Ostbrandenburgs bis 1945|volume=31|series=Schriften des Bundesinstituts für Kultur und Geschichte der Deutschen im östlichen Europa|first=Christian|last=Gahlbeck|publisher=Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag|year=2007|isbn=978-3-486-58252-9|language=German}}
*{{cite book|title=Geschichte der Mark Brandenburg für Freunde historischer Kunde|volume=2|first=Gottfried Traugott|last=Gallus|year=1798|language=German}}
*{{cite book|chapter=Die 'Freien Herren' und das Land. Markgrafenherrschaft und landständliche Einflußnahme im Brandenburg des Spätmittelalters|last=Heinrich|first=Gerd|title=Die Anfänge der ständischen Vertretungen in Preußen und seinen Nachbarländern|volume=16|series=Schriften des Historischen Kollegs|editor-first=Hartmut|editor-last=Boockmann|publisher=Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag|year=1992|isbn=3-486-55840-4|language=German}}
*{{cite book|last=Hirsch|first=Theodor|chapter=Friedrich II., Kurfürst und Markgraf von Brandenburg|series=[[Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie]]|title=ADB (Onlinefassung)|volume=7|year=1878|pages=475–480|url=http://www.deutsche-biographie.de/artikelADB_pnd11853565X.html|language=German}}
*Joachim, Erich; Hubatsch, Walter (1973): Regesta historica-diplomatica Ordinis S. Mariae Theutonicorum, 1198-1525, Teil 1, Band 1, p.&nbsp;840: Verpfändung der Neumark an den Markgrafen von Brandenburg und dessen Hilfe für den Orden, Arnswalde, 13 June 1454. Anlage: Urkunde des Landkomturs Friedrich von Polentz über die Verpfändung der Neumark, 22 February 1454, Abschrift. Listed as PrUB JH I 12913 in [http://www1.uni-hamburg.de/Landesforschung/pub/orden1454.html Sarnowsky, Jürgen (1999-2009): Das virtuelle Preußische Urkundenbuch. Regesten und Texte zur Geschichte Preußens und des Deutschen Ordens.] Retrieved on 8 July 2010.
*{{cite book|title=Die Hohenzollern. Anfänge, Landesstaat und monarchistische Autokratie bis 1740|volume=1|first=Wolfgang|last=Neugebauer|publisher=Kohlhammer|year=1996|isbn=3-17-012096-4|language=German}}
*{{cite book|title=Hochmeister und Grossfürst. Die Beziehungen zwischen dem Deutschen Orden in Preußen und dem Moskauer Staat um die Wende zur Neuzeit|volume=62|series=Quellen und Studien zur Geschichte des östlichen Europa|first=Maike|last=Sach|publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag|year=2002|isbn=3-515-08047-3|language=German}}
*{{cite book|title=Die Mark Brandenburg|first=Johannes|last=Schultze|edition=2|publisher=Duncker&Humblot|year=1989|isbn=3-428-01376-X|language=German}}
*{{cite book|title=Der Deutsche Orden. 800 Jahre Geschichte|first=Wolfgang|last=Sonthofen|publisher=Rombach|year=1990|isbn=3-7930-0588-7|language=German}}
*{{cite book|title=Geschichte des brandenburgisch-preußischen Staates|first=Friedrich|last=Voigt|publisher=Dümmler|year=1860|language=German}}
*{{cite book|title=Geschichte der Stadt Pressburg|url=https://archive.org/details/geschichtedersta02ortv|first=Theodor|last=Ortvay|publisher=Stampfel|year=1892|language=German}}
{{refend}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Treaties of Colln and Mewe}}
[[Category:1450s treaties]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Margraviate of Brandenburg]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Teutonic Order|Colln and Mewe]]
[[Category:1450s in the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:1454 in Europe]]
[[Category:1455 in Europe]]
[[Category:15th century in the State of the Teutonic Order]]