Frederick I (German: Friedrich I.; 11 July 1657 – 25 February 1713), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was (as Frederick III) Elector of Brandenburg (1688–1713) and Duke of Prussia in personal union (Brandenburg–Prussia). The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia (1701–1713). From 1707 he was also Prince of Neuchâtel.
Contents
Early life
Born in Königsberg, Frederick was the third son of Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg by his father's first marriage to Louise Henriette of Orange-Nassau, eldest daughter of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange and Amalia of Solms-Braunfels. His maternal cousin was King William III of England. Upon the death of his father on 29 April 1688, Frederick became Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia. Right after ascending the throne Frederick founded a new city southerly adjacent to Dorotheenstadt and named it after himself, the Friedrichstadt.
Military career
Frederick was noted for his opposition to France, in contrast to his father who had sought an alliance with Louis XIV. Frederick took Brandenburg into the League of Augsburg against France and in 1689 led military forces into the field as part of the allied coalition. That year an army under his command besieged and captured Bonn. Despite this opposition to France (a characteristic that was even more prominent in his son and heir) he was fond of French culture, and styled his court in imitation of that of Louis XIV.
Reign as king
The Hohenzollern state was then known as Brandenburg-Prussia. The family's main possessions were the Margraviate of Brandenburg within the Holy Roman Empire and the Duchy of Prussia outside of the Empire, ruled as a personal union. Although he was the Margrave and Prince-elector of Brandenburg and the Duke of Prussia, Frederick desired the more prestigious title of king. However, according to Germanic law at that time, no kingdoms could exist within the Holy Roman Empire, with the exception of the Kingdom of Bohemia which belonged to the Holy Roman Emperor.
Frederick persuaded Emperor Leopold I to allow Prussia to be elevated to a kingdom by the Crown Treaty of 16 November 1700. This agreement was ostensibly given in exchange for an alliance against King Louis XIV in the War of the Spanish Succession and the provision of 8,000 Prussian troops to Leopold's service. Frederick argued that Prussia had never been part of the Holy Roman Empire, and he ruled over it with full sovereignty. Therefore, he said, there was no legal or political barrier to letting him rule it as a kingdom. Frederick was aided in the negotiations by Charles Ancillon.
Frederick crowned himself on 18 January 1701 in Königsberg. Although he did so with the Emperor's consent, and also with formal acknowledgement from Augustus II the Strong, Elector of Saxony, who held the title of King of Poland, the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth raised objections, and viewed the coronation as illegal. In fact, according to the terms of the Treaty of Wehlau and Bromberg, the House of Hohenzollern's sovereignty over the Duchy of Prussia was not absolute but contingent on the continuation of the male line (in the absence of which the duchy would revert to the Polish crown). Therefore, out of deference to the region's historic ties to the Polish crown, Frederick made the symbolic concession of calling himself "King in Prussia" instead of "King of Prussia".
Frederick leveraged the recognizance of other nations to attempt to construct the legitimacy of his assumed royal title. In this, the English were his most willing diplomatic allies. They first sent an envoy to Berlin, who conformed to the new royal protocol. Thereafter, they sent an ambassador to Berlin, who ceremonially recognised Frederick as king. In exchange, Frederick provided England with troops during the War of the Spanish Succession, though he often withheld these until he received the ceremonial concessions he desired.
Marriages and children
Frederick was married three times:
First, in 1679, to Elizabeth Henrietta of Hesse-Kassel (1661–1683), with whom he had one child,
Louise Dorothea, born 1680, who died without issue at age 25.
Then to Sophia Charlotte of Hanover (1668–1705), with whom he had
Frederick August (6 October 1685 – 31 January 1686) died in infancy.
Frederick William I, born in 1688, who succeeded him.
In 1708, he married Sophia Louise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, who survived him but had no children with him.
He also had an official mistress, Catharina von Wartenberg, between 1696 and 1711. However, he was never known to make use of her services, being deeply in love with his second wife.