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In 1443, Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg, built military castles and castles north of Berlin and Kern to deter the people of Berlin and Kern who were opposed to the monarch and to establish their authority in their hearts. In 1451, the Berlin Palace was initially completed and became the residence of the Elector of Brandenburg, and Frederick II successfully suppressed the revolt of the people of both cities. How Frederick II ruled Brandenburg, the captain told you.
First, aristocratic origin
Frederick II
Frederick was born on 19 November 1413 in Tangemünde, Holy Roman Empire, the second son of Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg, and Elizabeth, Princess Bavarian-Landshut, and the younger brother of John of Brandenburg. So it is not surprising that Frederick could not inherit the Electorate of Brandenburg by his father Frederick I, but could obtain a family fiefdom for the rest of his life.
Brandenburg
At that time, the Hohenzollern family had just jumped from a small German nobleman to a large nobleman, actively expanding its territory to enhance its own strength, and the Principality of Pomerania was located directly north of the Electorate of Brandenburg, and the two sides had been fighting for territorial issues for nearly three hundred years. Frederick I therefore inherited the wishes of the previous rulers of Brandenburg and continued to fight against the Duke of Pomerania.
Second, the marriage of Boli
Jogaila
In 1421, Frederick I formed an alliance with Jogaila, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, against Pomerania and the Teutonic Knights. Therefore, Frederick was engaged to the Polish princess Heidewig under his father's arrangement and went to live in Poland.
At that time, Jagilvo had no sons and only one daughter of Heidewig, so she was the first heir to the Polish throne, and Frederick, as Heidewig's fiancé, naturally wanted to inherit the Polish throne in the future, so after the engagement, he went to Krakow, the polish capital, to study in preparation for the future rule of Poland.
Poland
In 1424 and 1427, Jogaila's new wife, Sofia, gave birth to two sons, Władysław III and Kazimierz IV. Frederick and Heidewig's first succession was challenged, so their wedding was repeatedly postponed. But Heidewig's mother, Anna of Chelie, was the granddaughter of King Kazimierz III of Poland, so she had Polish royal blood and still had a great advantage over her two half-brothers.
In 1425, Hedwig's grandmother, Anna, Princess of Poland and Countess of Celje, died, losing a strong foreign aid. Until Hedwig's sudden death in 1431, Frederick was unable to marry her. But Frederick and Hedwig had developed a deep relationship during their long relationship, so they suffered from deep depression after her death.
Third, serve as the elector
Frederick I
In 1437, Frederick I, because of the inability of his eldest son John, made Frederick the heir to the throne, giving him full authority over the affairs of Brandenburg. Frederick I died of illness in 1440, and Frederick succeeded him as Frederick II, Elector of Brandenburg. After Frederick II ascended the throne, in order to strengthen the construction and administration of Brandenburg, he adopted a strategy away from the politics of the Holy Roman Empire and concentrated on internal affairs.
In 1417, Frederick I moved the capital of the Electorate of Brandenburg from Brandenburg an der Havel to Berlin, which became the political center of Brandenburg. In 1440, as soon as Frederick II ascended the throne, he demanded that the citizens of Berlin-Kern surrender the island of Spree to build palaces, suppressed their autonomy, separated Berlin from Kern, and forced Berlin to withdraw from the Hanseatic League in 1442.
Berlin Palace
Previously, Berlin was a member of the Hanseatic League, and was a sister city with the neighboring city of Kern, which practiced joint governance and had great autonomy and free trade. However, Frederick II's measures not only deprived the people of Berlin of their autonomy, but also changed from free trade according to their own needs to a trade that mainly supplied the needs of the electors, leading to popular discontent and resistance. However, Frederick II succeeded in suppressing the revolt of the people of Berlin and Kern, depriving Berlin and Kern of their autonomy, consolidating his rule, and successfully establishing an absolute monarchy.
Fourth, foreign policy
Ottoman
In 1444, Władysław III, King of Poland and Hungary, was killed in battle against the Ottoman Empire, and Poland entered a period of vacant throne. In 1446, the Bishop of Kraków, Zbignev Oleniki, proposed that Frederick II succeed to the Polish throne, but was opposed by most Polish nobles, and Frederick II was not interested in the Polish throne, so that Grand Duke Kazimierz IV of Lithuania was able to become King of Poland in 1447.
In 1454-1455, Frederick II took advantage of the fact that the Teutonic Knights and the Kingdom of Poland were mired in a thirteen-year war, and signed the Treaty of Coron and The Treaty of Mewell with the grand master of the Teutonic Knights, Conrad von Ehrlichhausen, from which he bought back East Brandenburg and acquired the ownership of Cottbus and Petts.
Principality of Pomerania
In 1464, Otto III, Duke of Pomerania, died childless, and Frederick II wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to annex the Duchy of Pomerania, so a war of succession broke out with the Griffin family branch of the Pomeranian succession. In 1470, Frederick II abdicated in dismay after repeated defeats in battles with the Griffins, leaving his younger brother Albrecht III as Elector of Brandenburg. Frederick II died of illness shortly after his abdication in 1471.
In general, Frederick II was a more effective monarch, suppressing the autonomy of the electors' domestic nobles and people, and establishing the stable rule of the Hohenzollerns over Brandenburg. But Hedwig's sudden death and his own disinterest in the Polish throne caused him to miss the Polish throne twice and fail to become king of Poland.