Electorate of Brandenburg

A secular state of the Holy Roman Empire ruled by the margraves of Brandenburg, whose ruler held the right to elect the emperor. It became the core of the Hohenzollern monarchy that later formed Prussia.

Golden Bull of 1356: A constitutional decree that fixed the procedures for electing the Holy Roman Emperor and recognized seven prince-electors. It confirmed Brandenburg’s place among the empire’s seven hereditary electoral territories.
Prince-elector: A high-ranking ruler entitled to participate in choosing the Holy Roman Emperor. Brandenburg’s defining constitutional privilege was its elector’s vote for the emperor.
Treaty of Wehlau: A 1657 agreement that recognized the Hohenzollerns’ sovereignty over the Duchy of Prussia. It freed the elector from Polish overlordship in Prussia and enabled dynastic consolidation.
Electorate of Saxony: A territory of the Holy Roman Empire whose ruler held one of the seven original electoral votes. Saxony shared Brandenburg’s electoral rank but developed through a different dynastic and territorial history.
Thirty Years' War: A series of European conflicts from 1618 to 1648 that devastated much of the Holy Roman Empire. Brandenburg suffered severe losses, setting the conditions for postwar reconstruction.
Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg: The first Hohenzollern ruler of Brandenburg, invested as margrave and elector in 1415. His acquisition established Hohenzollern rule over the territory.
Margraviate of Brandenburg: A historical territory in northeastern Central Europe governed by margraves, later forming the heart of Prussia. The electorate’s political authority rested on this margraviate.
Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679): A 1679 peace treaty that returned most of Swedish Pomerania to Sweden after Brandenburg’s wartime occupation. It exposed the limits of the elector’s power despite military gains.
Electorate of Bavaria: A territorial state whose ruler held an electoral vote in the Holy Roman Empire from 1623. Bavaria’s later-created electorate shows that the imperial electoral college could change.
Treaty of Westphalia: The 1648 peace settlement that ended the Thirty Years’ War and reshaped political arrangements in the Holy Roman Empire. Its territorial settlement left Brandenburg with important gains, including rights in Pomerania.

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