N am e s. chronicler o f tliefe regions, mentions th e Pruzzi, or Pniffians, among;
the chief -.Slavonic trib e s : n o r is -th e name u n k n ow n tq f ^ d am vof
. Bremen, a w rite r o f the precedmg|cpntury.
Extent.. ' Exclufive e ffm a ll .detaphed territories', th e kir^gdo’m lp f Pruffia n o r
extends from JHornburg and th e river Oker in the ‘country o f Halber-
ftadt, the furtheft weftern connected diftri£t, to th e river Memel, for
about 600 miles. T h e breadth, from the fouthern J im it o f Silefia to-
Dantzick, exceeds 300 miles. On th e ea-ft and fouth, Pruffia now
borders on the dominions o f Ruffia and Auftria, and the weftern limits
adjoin to .the bifhopric o f Hildeffieim if ambition* have, not extended
them d ill.further. ' Before the recent acquiiitions in Poland the number
ofPruffian fiibje&s was only computed at 5 ,621,500, in a total extent
o f 5 6 ,4 1 4 fquare miles, th a t is. about 99 to the fquare mile. A t pr^fent
at, th e y probably amount to about ‘-eight- • millions iff inclddrEig^ ptfie-
-»aargraviate o f Aidpsteh and Bayreuth^ computedva t'4©©j-©t$s^iand th e
laft acquiiitions in Poland eftimated at 2,100,000 inhabitants.*r
Original P o - T h e original population of Pruffia appears, from Tacitus and Pliny,
p tlon* to have oomfifted o f the Peucini and iEftii, gothic tribes bordering qpr'
th e Venedi w h o were Slavons. T h e amber o f fhe'-^ft-ii, who fieem fo*
have been merely a tribe- o f the Peucini, continued to ' be celebrated in ■
th e time o f T lieo d e ric ; b u t at what' fweeife. period thefe drigihal sin^-
habitants were expelled, or fubdued, by the Slavonic tribes on the
eaft, remains uncertain. Suffice it in general to obferve th a t the Slavonic
tribes extended widely over the N. o f G ermany, after th e old
gothic inhabitants had crowded to the more fertile regions o f the fouth,.
in -confequence o f the decline and fall o f the Roman empire. But the-
readtion o f the -knights o f the. Teu to n ic order-, in the twelfth and. .folio
wing centuries, deftroyed. great numbers o f the Slavons,. and in fome
•meafnre re ft or ed the original gothic population. Yet one- h a lf o f the-
Pruffian population- m.uft flill he cpnfidere.d as Slavonic;. as to the-'
for-mef Pomeranians mutt now be added a numerous acceffion o f Poles.,
In .general the Slavons; a-re far more enflaved by th e ir chiefs than a n y
o f the gothic nations ; and-it is believed th a t the Poliffi people, h ow -
* Gafgari Allgem. Jahrb.ucK,. j[8ooJ. Weimar.
ever
ever they may execrate the iron rod of. R-uffia, will have no caufe to
regret th a t tlu> lia\ e patted under the \u ftri m and Pruffian fceptres.
«b Tlie progreffive geography of thofe provinces which now conftitute
the Pruffian territory would,form an embroiled and multifarious topic.
Ptolemy’s eighth map o f Europe prefects .a very confuted idea, and
imperfect information. T h e voyage of Ohter, in the reign of Alfred,
affords a faint dawn o f modern know led g e ; which is inereafed by. the
defcriptions' of* A dam, o f Bremen, a n d Helmoldus. One o f the moll
lingular features in the .geography o f thefe regions, (hiring.the middle*
ages, is th e exiittten^f o f jipu|iil^ a city pftbgrgajt bytent and compierce*,
on tire rig h t bank o f the Oder in P omerania,' which was deftroyed by
Waldemar I king o f Denmark, f o . th it even the name hardly now
-exifts in'» a,'-f-plaeF>'catted „Wplliffi F u rth er 'to the ^e aft' -the ^Sl^vqdid
tribes on the Baltic continued Pagans to a late period ;.:and the country
■was little known, or v-ifited, except by a fpecics o f crufaders, who went,
to affift th e Teutonic knights |in fuhduing thofe Saracens, as they were
ftyled iiln-thengnbrance of-the times. | |
As this kingdom- is re c e n t,' and cpmpofed o f feveral.ancient ftates,
its hiftorical epochs, and antiquities are of courfe complex. Mot'to.
mention the fmaller provinces, among which is the di-Hant principality
e f N eufchatel, on th e frontiers,.of France, and Swiflerland, Pruffia may
be regarded asconfi.fting: o f four great divifions, the electorate o f Brandenburg
I th e kingdom o f Pruffia proper ; the large province o f Silefia
a n d a third p a rt o f the ancient’ kingdom o f Poland. As the family
which now rules thofe extenfive domains was originaliy thepledlpral
hou-fe .of Brandenburg; ;it will be proper firft to. trace the progrefs of.
/.p S 'fm w fe n .ri' v' : P W ■' A . ’ : '
- 1. T h e ’ G erman’ genealogies derive .the houfe o f Brandenburg from ’
■Thaffilo epunt o f Hohenzollern, who lived about th e ninth century.
Sigefred, a Saxon ebunt, having married th e daughter of H e n ry king of
Italy, was appointed Margrave p f B randenburg A. D.|| but many.
- centuries elapfed (before this- ‘dignity fell to /th e anceftor ox the prefent
family. T h e province had been fo r Tome centuries chiefly pofleffied:
by Slavonlc’nations, b u t th e Margrave foon railed it to'coiffiderable
g 1 diftiniaicxBu.
O r i g i n a l
Progreffive
Geography.
Hiftorical
Epochs. •