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Teutonici or the Dutch Knights tho in all likelihood the Order had this name before it was brought into these parts consisting at its first institution chiefly of Germans Being call'd into Prussia say some by the Muscovite or as others sent thither by the Emperor Frideric II. they seated themselves at Marienberg about the year 1340 after a long engagement in a bloody war against the Natives under the thirteenth Great Master of their Order Sigefrid de Feuchtwangen In the year 1450 they were forc'd to submit to Casimir IV. King of Poland and at last the Order was surrender'd by Albert Marquise of Brandenburg the thirty-fifth and last Great Master of the Order to Sigismund King of Poland who thereupon created him Duke of Prussia Such of the Knights as disrelished this action of their Master Albert retir'd into Germany where they chose one Walter Croneberg Master of their Order Afterwards the Title was conferr'd upon Maximilian one of the younger Sons of the Emperor Maximilian II. But the Order never flourish'd but decay'd daily since the days of Albert before-mention'd and is at this day an obscure honour of little or no repute in the world The only Order of Knighthood at this day known in Germany or taken notice of for Knights of the Empire are the geschlagenen Rittern or dubb'd Knights on whom the Emperor confers that honour by touching them lightly upon the shoulder with a naked Sword and saying to each of them Esto Miles Dei Sancti Stephani The Title of Armiger Esquires or Esquire as we and the French use the word is wholly out of use in the Empire Yet in ancient Dutch Records we read of Skiltknaben and Wapeneren both which words have one and the same signification and are properly render'd Armigeri And these had their Title and Dignity conferr'd on them by delivery of a Sword only without girding it on with a blow on the cheek or ear which gave them the liberty of bearing a Sword or other Arms in attendance on a Knight or Ritter geschlagen but not of wearing it girded on as the Knight himself did For it was not lawful formerly for any subject whatever in the Empire to bear Arms excepting such as had the Emperors more especial licence so to do The Gentry in the Empire are express'd by the general name of Edel-lute Gentlemen which as our Gentleman is an universal name for all such as either from the blood of their Ancestors the favour of their Soveraign or their own virtue are raised to an eminency above the multitude Hence Edel-dom and Edel-heit are used to signifie Nobility and Veredelen and Edel-machen to Enoble Some singularly eminent Gentlemen in Francken Schwaben and Rhein-land who are free from Taxes and subject to no other Court but the Emperor's have the Title of die freye vom Adel or die freye Adeliche Reichs Ritterschaft i. e. the free Gentlemen or Ordo Equestris of the Empire Our English Saxons used the word Aedel in the same signification whence in Aelfric's Glossary Generositas is interpreted AEdelborynnesse Noble Birth and generosa is render'd by þ AEðele or a Noble Woman Indeed Aetheling Etheling or Adeling was commonly used by our Saxon Ancestors to denote the Kings eldest Son or Heir apparent to the Crown who afterwards got the Title of Prince of Wales Hence Edgar Etheling so often nam'd in our English Historians had his Surname which Robert of Glocester in his Poem upon King Harold a manuscript Copy of which may be seen in Sir John Cotton's Library explains thus The Gode tryewemen of the Lond wolde aabbe ymade King The kind Eir the young child Edgar Atheling Wo so were next King by kunde me cluped him Atheling Thervore me cluped him so vor by kunde he was King But if we search into the Etymology of the word we shall find that AEðeling is only a patronymic from the primitive AEðel and signifies no more then Nobilis ortu or Generosus i. e. one descended from him that was AEðel or a Nobleman Thus in King Aelfred's Saxon Version of Bede's Ecclesiastical History we read mid eallum AEðelingum his ðeode that is with all the Ethelings of his Nation instead of the Latin Cum cunctis Gentis suae Nobilibus Of the Present State of the German Church with a view of the Power and Dignity of the Archbishops Bishops Abbots and other Ecclesiastical Orders therein contain'd HOW much several of the Provinces and Principalities of the German Empire differ among themselves in points of Religion since the first beginning of the Reformation by Martin Luther we have shew'n before and it cannot be expected that where the Doctrines are so dissonant there should be an Uniformity in Church Discipline The intolerable greatness which the Roman Church had usurp'd in all parts of the Emperor's Dominions was the first thing which render'd it uneasie and therefore 't was no unexpected change when Luther's opinions had prevail'd with so many of the great Princes of the Empire to see Bishoprics converted into secular Principalities and a new form of Church-Government set up instead of Episcopal Dignity which had been so much abused The Archbishops and Bishops of the Roman Church Prelates of the Roman Church who to this day bear rule in such parts of Germany as have not embraced either Luther or Calvin's Doctrine have more power and exercise a greater authority in their several Bishoprics then any other Prelates in Christendom Most of them are great Princes and challenge as absolute a dominion over the Temporality of their Diocesses as any Secular Elector can pretend to over his own Lands and Inheritance Heretofore besides the three Ecclesiastical Electors there were five Archbishops and thirty Bishops that had Seats and Voices in the Assemblies and Diets of the Empire But their number has exceedingly decreased of late since the Archbishoprics of Magdeburg Bremen and Riga together with the Bishoprics of Halberstadt Minden and Werden have been chang'd into Secular Principalities those also of Besanson Verdun Mets and Toul cut off from the Empire and inseparably united to the Territories of Spain and France and lastly those of Valesia Losanna and Chur abolished by the Suisses Insomuch that at present in the Colledge of Princes of the Empire only the Archbishop of Saltzburg besides the Ecclesiastical Electors and about twenty Bishops have Votes By this secularizing three Archbishoprics and six Bishoprics the Protestant Princes some of them at least have lost the opportunities of providing for their younger Brethren in as plentiful a manner as they could have done before the Treaty of Munster For whilst the Archbishopric of Magdeburg was in the hands of the Elector of Saxony that of Bremen in the possession of the King of Denmark and the rest of the Spiritual Dignities which are now cut off from the Church were in the gift of other Princes of the Empire considerable maintenance was provided for many young Dukes and Counts who at this time can
those then of flesh-days tho every day be the memorial of one Saint at least yet are there but thirteen great and solemn holidays besides the Sundays nor do the ordinary people observe many of these and those they do observe they do it more with debauchery and drinking then devotion But in their fasts they are so severe that they will not taste any thing that comes of flesh not so much as a medicine if it have cornu cervi or ungula Alcis in it All authors take notice of the veneration they have to their images Their Images Possevine saith they do only not adore them Others say that they look upon the Saints as causes and coworkers of their salvation Yet divers amongst them are of another opinion A Protopope of Casansky speaking too liberally against this worship was degraded and thrust into a Monastery And their late Patriarch Nicon seeing he could not remedy it retir'd from his charge to a private life Others excuse this worship attributing it to the great ceremoniousness the Russes use both in their devotions and ordinary conversation All men take notice and make long discourses of their marriages and burials Their marriages But there is scarce any Nation that hath not some particularities about these many men also take delight in their own fancies That which is most peculiar to the Russes is that they keeping up their women especially their virgins very close and private rarely suffering them to come abroad so much as to Church or to make visits but never to Balls or merry meetings it happens frequently that a man comes to marry one whom he never saw before or is not acquainted with her conditions Parents commonly make up the matches only the young man may employ his mother or some other friend to see and give information of her as the maid doth of the bridegroom But in recompence of the inconveniencies which may follow they dissolve marriages upon very slight occasions and the man after a short forbearance hath liberty to marry again They go to Church and receive the Priests benediction who having ask'd their consents and read some prayers gives them his blessing and drinks to them and they also drink to one another All their friends present them and the gifts that please are prized that the value may be returned in a competent time those which are unuseful or superfluous they return again nor is it ill taken A woman is not worse esteemed for marrying a second husband but a third is scandalous What is particular in their burials is and burials that they carry out their dead even the Emperor himself the same day he dyes and accompany him with great howlings and lamentations of women They leave the body unburied for eight days praying for him every day then they return kiss him the Priest puts a billet into his mouth to testifie of his godly life and that he receiv'd absolution and then after some prayers they inter him and keep his anniversary with prayers and devotions They bury none in their Churches They think their baptism to be most solemn Their baptism and most effectual of any other celebrated amongst Christians Children they baptize in the Church adult persons in Rivers the Font stands in the midst of the Church and they consecrate new water for every one that is baptized imagining that the impurity of the childs original sin cleansed by baptism remains still in the water They have a solemn procession about the Font the Clerk who is always their Deacon carrying before the image of St. John Baptist As soon as the child is baptized he puts a grain of salt into his mouth anoints him making the sign of the cross upon the forehead hands breast and back with consecrated oyl puts him on a white shirt and hangs about his neck a little cross which he is obliged to wear as long as he lives which if it should not be found upon him at his death he would not receive Christian burial He assigns him also a particular Saint to be his Patron ordering the godfathers to put him in mind when he comes of age to have a particular devotion towards him Conceiving baptism to be the entrance into the Church they baptize all except the Greeks that come into their Church tho they have been before baptized in the name of the Father Son and Holy Ghost Those also who are excommunicated or are conceived to be out of the Church by any prophane or wicked action as those they call Chaldaeans they receive into the Church again by baptism So that there are those amongst them who have been baptized ten or twelve times In the rest of their ceremonies and doctrines Otherâ—â—â— remains of the â—â—â—ses they differ little from the Greek Church only they superadd divers things as the hallowing of their Rivers which they do twice every year the greatest pomp is on Palm-sunday when the Emperor leads the Patriarchs horse They account many things and persons unclean as Christians of another profession insomuch that the Emperor washeth his hands after any Christian Ambassador hath kissed them They will not permit such to enter into their Churches and if they do enter they sweep after them Divers sorts of meats also are accounted unclean nor do they willingly eat of any fowl or such thing killed by a woman After they have accompanied their wives they enter not the Church till they have washed and many other such observances they have After any one hath received Extreme Unction they will hardly give him meat but no medicine upon any terms so that he must dy in his own defence They begin the year on the first of September that day being as they suppose the first day and they keep their account from the creation They account our Lord to have been incarnate in 5509 of the world reckoning according to the Septuagint to which adding the year of our Lord as 5509 1679 gives their account of this present year 7188 and subtracting from the present year of the epocha at our Lords birth as 7188 + 5509 gives the present year of our Lord 1679. Their Offices are all in their own language which is the Sclavonian and hath so great affinity with the Polonian Lithvanian Cassubian Vandalian those also of Bochemia Dalmatia Bulgaria and Croatia that they can make ashift to converse one with another It remains that we speak something of their Religious They have many Monasteries Their 〈◊〉 ligious and some very rich but all of one order which is St. Basil Few of their Governors are Archimandritae or Abbots but most Priors or Igumeni Tho many of them have great revenues yet do they difficultly admit any one except he bring a stock with him which is seldom under three hundred Rubbles the rest of his estate he must dispose of at his admission The ceremonies of their reception are changing his cloths which are to be all of woollen clipping
generis quam Meritis in Patriam Honoratiss o Viro D. o NICOLAO VON BODECK Consuli et Primario Iudici in celeberrion totius Maris Baltici Emporio Vrbe Gedanensi artium literarumque â—autori benevolentiss o D. D. D. Ioannes Ianssonius MASOVIA Masovia called by the Polanders Mazowsze by the Germans Die Masaw lies in the very middle of Poland bounded on the north with Prussia on the east with Lithuania and Polessia on the west with some part of the lesser Poland on the south with the Palatinate of Rava 'T is usually divided into these four parts The Palatinates of Podlachia Plockzo Masovia strictly so called and the territories of Dobrin which last ought rather to be reckoned a part of the Palatinate of Plockzo There are different conjectures touching the original of its name The most commonly received is That upon the death of Mieceslaus the second the Nobility of Poland not enduring the impotent and effeminate government of his surviving Queen Rixo layd hands upon what every man could catch Among these Masos or as others call him Maslaus formerly Cup-bearer to the deceased King siezed upon that large tract of land which he after his own name called Masovia This Masos was afterwards overcome by Casimir the first by whom he was taken and put to death By this means it was again restor'd to the Crown of Poland though it still retained the name of Masovia But Stanislaus Serictius rejecting in part this story derives more probably the Massovii from the Massagetes I know saith he what our Historians have written touching the original of the Massovians But it seems incredible to me that so famous and couragious a people should stoop to borrow their denomination from so mean a person In the year 1220 Lescus the white in the Parliament of Sandomir granted the Dukedomes of Masovia Cujavia and Dobrinia to his brother Conrade from which time it was governed by Dukes of its own doing homage however to the Kings of Poland till the the year 1495 but then the race of the Dukes of Masovia began to fail For that year John Duke of Masovia dyed a Batchelour upon which John Albert reunited Plockzo to the Crown leaving the rest of Masovia to his brother Conrade Which after his decease in the year 1503 was granted to his children upon condition that for default of male issue it should return to the Crown which was effected in the reign of Sigismund the first In the same manner the Palatinate of Podlachia formerly belonging to Masovia and joyned by Casimir Jagellon to Lithuania return'd to the Kingdom of Poland in the year 1567. There are no peculiar Bishops in Masovia but the whole Province is divided under the jurisdiction of Posnan Plockzo and Luceoria The Metropolis of Masovia is Warsaw by the Polanders called Warfrawa seated in the very centre of the Polish dominions upon the Vistula encompassed with a double wall and deep ditch distant 40 German or 160 English miles from Posen and Cracow Here the King of Poland keeps his Court in a large four squared Palace built by Sigismund the third but much beautifyed by his successours Over against this on the other side of the river which is passable by a stately wooden bridge sits the great Parliament of Poland in another of the Kings Palaces called Viasdow seated in the midst of many and delicate Groves and Gardens In the City are publique buildings of good note the most remarkable of which is St. John Baptists Church where divine service is performed by secular Canons Not far from Viasdow in the suburbs called Cracow stands as a trophie of the victory obtained by the Poles over the Moscovite a small Chappel built by the Kings command for the burial of Demetrius Suiscius great Duke of Moscovie who dyed a captive in the Castle of Gostenin The Nobility of Masovia which are more numerous then in any other part of Poland being reckoned to amount to near forty thousand whereof fifteen thousand appear'd in a body at the Coronation of Sigismund the third are all Roman-Catholicks never suffering any of other religions or opinions to reside among them Out of these are sent yearly to the general Assembly of the Estates one Palatine and six Castellanes The Palatinate of Plockzo lyes eastward from Masovia between the Vistula and Prussia Plockzo 'T is divided into the territories of Plockzo Zavera Mlava and Srensco and sends out to the great Parliament four Senators that is The Bishop The Palatine and Castellanes of Plockzo Radzyagas and Sieprez It has its name from Plockzo its chief City seated on a high bank of the Vistula whence you have a fair prospect of a pleasant and fruitful Countrey The City is an Episcopal See and very populous There are in it several religious houses and Churches besides the Cathedral very well endowed especially the Abby of Benedictines in the suburbs where among other reliques is kept the head of St. Sigismund to whom the Church is dedicated enchased in gold given by Sigismund the third The territory of Dobrizin is properly a part of the Palatinate of Plockzo though Mr. Blaeu Dobrzin and some others have made it a distinct part of Masovia It has its name from the City Dobrzin situate between Cujavia and Plockzo on a rock near the banks of the Vistula The houses in it are generally of wood and the whole City is environed with wooden fortifications The Countrey affords great store of fruit and fish PRVSSIA Whence Prussia or Borussia called by the Germans Preussen should fetch its name Prussia is not easily determined Certain it is That it is not to be met with amongst antient authors Cluverius thinks Helmoldus who flourished in the twelfth Century is the oldest writer that gives any account of the Countrey under this name But both Dithmarus who lived in the beginning of the eleventh Century in the days of the Emperour Henry the second and before him an Anonymous writer of the life of St. Adalbert the Apostle of the Prussians about the year 990 mentions it Marianus Scotus will have the word derided from Aprutis a City saith he in these parts where St. Adalbert suffered martyrdome in the year 995. But this conjecture is vain and precarious for where any City of this name formerly stood or its ruins can at this day be found only he himself can tell us Johannes Annius Viterbiensis tells us the Prussians were at first called Pruti and that from one Prutus a Scythian King grandchild to Noah That this nation is an offspring of the antient Scythians is indeed allowable but to the rest of the story we can say no more then That 't is well known how nimble this author and his feign'd Berosus are at counterfeiting of names in the Etymologies of Countries Others of the same authority with Viterbiensis bring the Prussians out of Asia under the command of Prussia a King of Bithynia Some will have the word Prussi or Prutheni corrupted
that great Conqueror From his Loins after several generations descended Billiengus a potent King of the Vandals whose Mother say some was Charles the Great 's Sister He was the first that after his own conversion brought in the profession of Christianity into Mecklenburg tho afterwards at the instigation of his Son Micislaus both himself and all his Subjects turn'd Apostates The next famous Prince of Mecklenburg was Gottschalck surnam'd the Godly who would often himself take the pains to preach Christianity to his Subjects by whom he was at last for his Religion murder'd in the year 1066. From him descended amongst many others Henry II. who dying in the year 1228 left behind him two Sons Nicolot and John From the former of these sprang all the succeeding Princes of the Vandals until William the last Prince of that Line who died in the year 1430. From the later surnam'd Knese Janko or John the Divine because he had taken a Doctor of Divinity 's degree in the University at Paris are descended the present Dukes of Mecklenburg This John left behind him Henry who was six and twenty years kept prisoner by the Turks Father to Henry surnam'd the Lion whose two Sons Albert and John Dukes of Mecklenburg were by the Emperor Charles IV. created Princes of the Empire in the year 1349. Which is not to be understood tho I find this construction put upon it by several of the modern German Historians as if these two Princes before Charles's creation had been only ordinary Lords or Barons of Mecklenburg and by the Emperor advanc'd to the dignity of Princes or Dukes For from him they receiv'd no more than an admission into the number of the Estates of the Empire under whose protection they were brougth by making themselves members thereof upon condition they should be subject to its Laws and contribute to its necessities Albert's eldest Son Albert II. was chosen King of Sweden and not long after taken prisoner by Margaret Queen of Denmark by whom after several years imprisonment he was at last releas'd upon the payment of a vast ransom So that the management of the Dukedom of Mecklenburg was committed to his Brother Magnus a Prince that if we believe Chytraeus who in his first Book of the Saxon Chronicle has given him a noble character was nomine re Magnus endow'd with all the excellent qualities that are requisite to make a brave Prince His Son John who succeeded his Father in the Dukedom founded the University at Rostock in the year 1419. This Duke's Successors Henry the Fat and Magnus II. Founder of the Cathedral Church at Rostock upon the death of William the last Prince of the Vandals made themselves Masters of the whole Land of Mecklenburg After the death of this Magnus and his Son Albert II. the Dukedom came to his Grandchild John Albert in the year 1547 who first brought in the Lutheran Confession into his Dominions by demolishing Popish Abbeys and converting their Revenues to the use of the University at Rostock His Son John III. who died in the year 1592 left two Sons the eldest was Adolph Frideric who married Ann-Mary Countess of East Frisland by whom amongst other children he had Christian-Ludowic the present Duke of Mecklenburg-Swerin His youngest Son was Gustavus Adolphus who seated himself at Gustrow In the late Civil Wars in Germany the whole Land of Mecklenburg was overrun by the Imperial Army and the Dukedom conferr'd upon their ambitious and at last unfortunate General Albrecht Duke of Friedland However within a little while after the two Dukes Adolph Frideric and John Albrecht were reinstated in their Dominions by Gustavus Adolphus the victorious King of Sweden their Kinsman For a character of the present Dukes of Mecklenburg the Reader may have recourse to the following descriptions of Swerin and Gustrow the places of their residence The strength of these Princes would be considerable enough Militâ—â—â— strength sufficient to secure their own Territories and keep their neighbours in awe if firmly united Their equal pretensions to the sole government of the City and University at Rostock did formerly occasion some animosities between the two Houses but this quarrel has for some years last past been quite laid aside and now a difference in Religion the Duke of Swerin being a Romanist and he of Gustrow a Lutheran is the greatest cause of their mutual fears and jealousies Heretofore they thought it their chief interest to adhere to the Swedes and secure themselves under the wings of the potent Kings of that Nations but when after the many conquests of the brave Gustavus Adolphus the power of those Princes grew so formidable as to threaten an universal slavery to their neighbours round about them rather then the defence of any of their Liberties the Dukes of Mecklenburg thought it high time to relinquish that party and join with the Dane and Branburger in opposing their common enemy the King of Sweden They saw Wismar rent out of their hands without any probability of being ever recover'd and they had reason to fear that a great part of the adjoining Country would follow it if their ruin were not timely prevented by the strength of their new Allies The whole Land of Mecklenburg so much I mean as is now subject to the two Dukes which bear that Title is usually divided into these six parts Territries The Dukedomes of Mecklenburg strictly so call'd and Vandalia the Earldom of Swerin the Baronies of Rostock and Stargard and the Bishopric of Butzow In the Dukedom of Mecklenburg are reckon'd the Cities of Wismar to which is the neighbouring Island Poel Tempsin Gades Rhena and Bucow In the Dukedom of Vandalia Gustrow Sterneberg Malchin Stavenhagen Ivenack Neu-Calven Warin Pentzlin Rebell Wredenhagen Malchau Tetrou Goltberg Parchum Plage Lupsian Grabou Domitz Neu-Statt Eldenau and Gorlosen In the Barony of Rostock the City of Rostock Ribnitz Gnoien Tessin Laga Schwan Salines and Morlou In the Barony of Stargard Brandeburg Stargard Furstenburg Strelitz Mirow Fredland and Wesenberg And lastly in the Bishopric of Butzow the City of Butzow and the Peninsula of Swerin The most considerable Cities in the Dukedom of MECKLENBURG I. LUBEC Lubec This City is indeed situate in Wagerland and for that reason we have already given the Reader some short account of it in the Description of Denmark but because it is of it self an Imperial City wholly independant upon the Crown of Denmark and immediately subject to the Emperor of Germany we have reserv'd a more particular survey of it for this place And it cannot so properly be referr'd to any particular Province of the Empire as the Dukedom of Mecklenburg For altho the Citizens of Lubec do not pay any manner of tribute or homage to the Princes of Mecklenburg yet it may perhaps as justly be reckon'd part of that Dukedom as Bremen which never yet acknowledg'd any subjection to the Kings of Sweden may be esteem'd part of that Principality which now bears
death Elected Emperor Whereupon he conferr'd the Marquisate of Brandenburg upon his Brother 17. Sigismund King of Hungary and Bohemia who succeeding his Brother in the Empire sold the Marquisate to Jodocus Duke of Moravia but afterwards having redeem'd it out of the hand of William Marquise of Misnia to whom Jodicus had mortgaged it conferr'd it upon Frideric Burggraf of Noremberg at the Council of Constance in the year 1417. From which time we may begin to reckon up the third and last Catalogue of the Marquises of Brandenburg as follows 1. Frideric Burggraf of Noremberg was in consideration of his good services done against the Rebels in Hungary and Bohemia created as before said Marquise of Brandenburg paying only for his Investiture 400000 Crowns His Son 2. Frideric II. succeeded his Father Surnamed for his peevish and cruel temper the Marquise with the Iron teeth He was made Duke of Pomeren by the Emperor Frideric III. but his Brother 3. Albert relinquished all but the bare Title in Pomeren leaving nothing to his Successors but the name which they have hitherto kept of Dukes of Pomeren However he is said to have been so remarkable at some acts of Chivalry that the usual Titles conferr'd on him by Pope Pius II. were Achilles Germanicus and Vlisses Teutonicus He died at Francfurt at the Election of the Emperor Maximilian in the year 1494. His Son 4. John is reported to have been a Prince as eloquent as his Father was valiant and therefore he is commonly stiled Cicero Germanicus He left the Marquisate in the year 1499 to his Son 5. Joachim As great a Lover as his Father was a Master of Eloquence Founder of the University at Francfurt and first authorizer of the Reform'd Religion in Brandenburg 6. Joachim II. succeeded his Father and in the year 1534 got himself and his followers no small credit in a brave Expedition against the Turks at that time the common Enemy of the German Empire His Son and Successor 7. John George govern'd a long time in peace and prosperity During his life his Son 8. Joachim Frideric was Administrator of the Archbishopric of Magdeburg and after his Father's death govern'd the Marquisate of Brandenburg with the same peaceable meekness and piety He had the usual blessing of good and religious men the happiness to be a Father of many Children whereof the eldest 9. John Sigismund succeeded him He married Ann Daughter of Albert-Frideric Duke of Prussia and Mary Eleanor his Wife Daughter of William I. Duke of Cleve who married his Daughter to the said Duke as he did all the rest to other Princes with promise that upon the decease of her Brethren without issue she and her Heirs should succeed to all his Territories Upon this Title the present Elector of Brandenburg lays claim to the Dukedoms of Cleve Juliers and Bergen or the Mountains with the County of Ravensburg 10. George-William Son to John Sigismund and the Lady Ann beforemention'd claim'd in his Mother's right the Dukedoms aforesaid together with the Barony of Ravenstein All which were parted betwixt him and his Cousin-German Wolfgangus Palatine of Newburg and Son of Magdalen younger Sister to Mary-Eleanor But falling out at last about the division of their Territories they engaged their Friends and Allies in the broil the Palatine having call'd in to his assistance the Forces of Spain and the Elector John Sigismund in behalf of his Son the Confederate States of the Netherlands After the death of Bugislaus Duke of Pomeren 't was hoped he might succeed into that Dukedom also but how the Swede balk'd those expectations in the Treaty of Munster we have already inform'd the Reader This Marquise's Son 11. Frideric William is at present Elector of Brandenburg a Prince wise valiant religious temperate chast and in a word master of all the noble virtues without the least mixture of vices of his Countryand Family He was born in the year 1620 and upon his Father's death declared Elector in the year 1656. He has several Children by both his Wives before mention'd whereof the eldest Son or Electoral Prince Charles Emile was born the sixth of February in the year 1655. Tho the Elector of Saxony was formerly look'd upon as a much more potent Prince then the Marquise of Brandenburg Strength and for that reason has always taken place of him at the Elections of the Emperors yet certainly the case is much alter'd at present and the many accessions to the Elector of Brandenburg's Dominions whereof the present Marquise and his predecessors have made themselves Masters in these last ages have render'd him the most powerful and formidable Prince next to the Austrian Family in the German Empire Besides the Marquisate of Brandenburg he challenges the Dukedoms of Magdeburg Preussen Juliers Cleves Bergen Stetin Pomeren Casubia Vandalia Silesia Crossen and Jagerndorff Again he writes himself Duke of Rugen Prince of Halberstadt and Minden Earl of the Marck and Ravensberg and lastly Baron of Ravenstein The Marquise of Brandenburg's chief interest seems to consist in a firm adherence to the King of Denmark Interest who possibly is the only Prince can secure him from the encroachments of his neighbour the Swede Next to the Swedes he is most jealous of the Dukes of Saxony as having observed them more favoured by the House of Austria in the controversie about the Dukedoms of Juliers and Cleves then himself This obliged him to compose the differences betwixt himself and the Duke of Newburg upon easier terms then otherwise he would have been willing to have done The King of Poland is another terrible neighbour on the coasts of Prussia and therefore the Elector not daring to repose too great a confidence in a Prince who pretends a right to the Ducal as well as Regal Prussia is obliged to keep a constant and strong Army upon those coasts In the year 1657 this question was moved Whether the Elector of Brandenburg might lawfully be deprived of all the Territories which he held in Prussia as Dependances on the Crown of Poland upon his having enter'd into a League with the King of Sweden at that time declared Enemy to Poland The Polish Lawyers urged in the affirmative that the Elector was the King of Poland's Vassal and therefore forfeited his Lands by entering into a Confederacy with his Master's Enemies But certainly when we consider in what a miserable condition poor King Casimir was and how unable to defend either himself or his Subjects and again how probable 't was that in this conjuncture the Swedish Army would have swallow'd up the whole Dukedom of Prussia as it had already the greatest part of the Kingdom of Poland without being obliged to quit the field by such a Treaty the Poles had greater reason to thank the Elector for preserving by this expedient some part of their King's Dominions from the common destruction then to condemn him for wisely shunning the ruin which King Casimir had brought upon this Kingdom There are
whole Army 16. Otto deposed by Honorius for Simony 17. Rudolf Founder of St. Mary's Church in Halberstadt 18. Vlric who engaged himself in a war against Henry surnam'd the Lion Duke of Brunswic to the almost utter destruction of himself and his successors For the City was taken by the said Dukes Army and burnt down to the ground the Citizens also and Clergy-men taking Sanctuary in the Cathedral perish'd in the same flames with their Church 19. Theodoric who rebuilt the Cathedral which his predecessor had so unfortunately destroy'd 20. Barthold 21. Conrad 22. Frideric Burggrave of Kirchberg 23. Ludolf Count of Schladem 24. Meinhard 25. Ludolf the second Count of Schladem 26. Wolrad Count Kranichfeld 27. Herman Count of Blanckenburg 28. Albert Count of Anhalt 29. Albert Duke of Brunswic a great Warriour who fought above twenty pitcht battels as the Chronicles of Brunswic inform us and came off most commonly a Conqueror 30. Ludowic Landgraf of Thuringen and Marquise of Misnia 31. Albert a great Philosopher but unfortunate Soldier overcome in battel by Gerhard Bishop of Hildesheim an eloquent Prelate In remembrance of which overthrow the Burgers of Halberstadt have to this day a proverbial saying among them Klanck uberwand den Ranck that is Rhetoric prov'd too hard for Logic. 32. Ernest Count of Honstein 33. Rudolf Count of Anhalt 34. Henry Baron of Werberge 35. Albert Count of Werningenrode 36. John von Hoym. 37. Burcard Baron of Werberg 38. Gerhard von Hoym. 39. Ernest Duke of Saxony 40. Albert Marquise of Brandenburg 41. John Albert Marquise of Brandenburg 42. Frideric Elector of Brandenburg 43. Sigismund Brother to his predecessor Frideric 44. Henry Julius Son of Julius Duke of Brunswic elected Bishop when he was a child of two years old upon condition that the Dean and Chapter should have the whole government in their hands for twelve years paying only during the said term a certain yearly stipend of the Revenues of the Church to their Infant-Prelate In the year 1591 this Bishop abolish'd Popish Ceremonies and establish'd the Reform'd Religion in the Cathedral at Halberstadt 45. Henry Charles Son of the foremention'd Henry Julius he died at six years of age and was succeeded by his Brother 46. Rudolf who also died the year following and so the Diocess came to his Brother 47. Christian a great Champion in the Civil wars of Germany but not very fortunate 48. Leopold William Archduke of Austria the last Bishop of this place In his time the Reform'd Religion was laid aside and Popery once more establish'd in Halberstadt But not long after the Swedish Army having taken the Town restored the Augsburg Confession and kept possession of the City and Diocess until the ratification of the Treaty of Munster by which as we have said it was given to the Elector of Brandenburg under the Title of a Principality In which estate it continues unto this day The Town of Halberstadt is tolerably well built Halberstadt the streets are strait and uniform and many of the buildings fair and stately The most remarkable thing in the Town is the Commiss a vast Inn built by Henry Julius Duke of Brunswic and Luneburg and Bishop of Halberstadt This is thought to contain more and better accommodation for strangers then any other House of its kind in Europe Albert Count of Wallenstein and Duke of Friedland General of the Emperor's Forces in the Civil wars of Germany kept his Court for some months in this Inn and found lodgings in it for all his Attendants and Guards Other Towns of note in this Principality are Gruningen 1. Gruningen Where was anciently kept the residence of the Bishops of Halberstadt In the year 1593 the old Castle was demolish'd and a new one built at the charges of Henry Julius before mention'd The only remarkable things in this place at present are the great Organ in the new Chappel and Wine-Fat in the outer Court The later of these was made as the inscription shews by one Michael Werner of Landau upon the Rhine possibly in imitation of that much larger one at Heydelberg of which the Reader may expect a description in its place This at Gruningen will hold 161 Waggon loads of Wine reckoning six Hogsheads to each load 2. Oschersleben Oschersleben a small Town on the borders of the Dukedom of Magdeburg Not far from which lies Hornhausen now a despicable Village but once the larger Town on the two 3. Osterwic a strong little Town on the banks of the River Ilse It ancient name was Salingstede in which place as we have said the Emperor Charles the Great first founded the Bishopric which was afterwards by its first Bishop Hildegrine removed to Halberstadt Upon this removal says Werdenhagen the Town got the new name of Osterwic which signifies as much as am osten wieken oder weichen i.e. to move towards the East To these I think we might add the City of Quedlingburg a considerable and well situate Town on the River Bode but because it is subject at present to the Elector of Saxony we shall reserve a more particular description of it till we come to treat of some of that Prince's Dominions THURINGIA LANTGRAVIATUS Apud Janssonio-Waesbergios Mosem Pitt et Stephanum Swart Serenissimo Fortissimoque Principi ac Domino D BERNARDO Duci Saxoniae Iuliae Clivorum Montiumque Lantgravio THURINGIAE March Misniae Comiti Marcae et Ravensbergae Domino Ravestini etc. Hanc accuratissimam totius Thuringiae tabulam lubens consecrat dedicatque Henricus Hondius THE LANDGRAVIAT OF THURINGEN DVRINGEN or Thuringen in Latin Authors Duringia and Thuringia had its name from the old Deuringi Toringi Turingi or Thuringi who were a branch of the Vandalii mention'd by Tacitus and the ancient inhabitants of these parts Cluverius in his incomparable Description of old Germany gives us a large account of the manners religion c. of these people together with a learned account of their first passing over the Elb out of the Mark and fixing themselves in this place Micraelius guesses from the names of several Towns in Thuringen such as Gotha Gotleben Altengothen c. that the Thuringi were a Gothic people and no branch of the Vandals as Cluverius would make them But his argument will only prove that some part of the Gothic Nation has formerly intermix'd it self with the inhabitants of this Country and not that the Goths were once sole masters of the whole Province any more then the meeting with a few English names of Towns in Pembrokeshire and other parts of Wales will demonstrate the Welch men to be of an Anglo-Saxonic extraction This Province is bounded on the East with the River Sala on the North with the Hercynean Wood on the West with the River Werra on the South its utmost bounds are those vast Woods which separate it from Franconia and are usually known by the name of the Thuringian Forest The Country abounds almost every-where with Corn and in some places