Great Elector
| Frederick William | |
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The Elector by Frans Luycx
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Duke of Prussia Elector of Brandenburg |
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| Reign | 1 December 1640 – 29 April 1688 |
| Predecessor | George William |
| Successor | Frederick III |
| Born |
16 February 1620 Stadtschloss, Berlin, Brandenburg-Prussia |
| Died | 29 April 1688 (aged 68) Stadtschloss, Potsdam, Brandenburg-Prussia |
| Spouse |
Luise Henriette of Nassau Sophia Dorothea of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg |
| Issue | William Henry, Electoral Prince of Brandenburg Charles, Electoral Prince of Brandenburg Frederick I of Prussia Philip William, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt Marie Amelie, Hereditary Princess of Mecklenburg-Güstrow Prince Margrave Albert Frederick Prince Charles Elisabeth Sophie, Duchess of Saxe-Meiningen Prince Christian Ludwig |
| House | Hohenzollern |
| Father | George William |
| Mother | Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate |
| Religion | Calvinism |
Frederick William (German: Friedrich Wilhelm) (16 February 1620 – 29 April 1688) was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia – and thus ruler of Brandenburg-Prussia – from 1640 until his death. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he is popularly known as "the Great Elector" (der Große Kurfürst) because of his military and political achievements. Frederick William was a staunch pillar of the Calvinist faith, associated with the rising commercial class. He saw the importance of trade and promoted it vigorously. His shrewd domestic reforms gave Prussia a strong position in the post-Westphalian political order of north-central Europe, setting Prussia up for elevation from duchy to kingdom, achieved under his son and successor.
Elector Frederick William was born in Berlin to George William, Elector of Brandenburg, and Elisabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate. His inheritance consisted of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, the Duchy of Cleves, the County of Mark, and the Duchy of Prussia.
During the Thirty Years' War, George William strove to maintain, with a minimal army, a delicate balance between the Protestant and Catholic forces fighting throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Out of these unpromising beginnings Frederick William managed to rebuild his war-ravaged territories. In contrast to the religious disputes that disrupted the internal affairs of other European states, Brandenburg-Prussia benefited from the policy of religious tolerance adopted by Frederick William. With the help of French subsidies, he built up an army to defend the country. In the Second Northern War, he was forced to accept Swedish vassalage for the Duchy of Prussia according to the terms of the Treaty of Königsberg (1656), but as the war progressed he succeeded in gaining full sovereignty for the Prussian duchy in the treaties of Labiau, Wehlau, Bromberg and Oliva, leaving the Holy Roman Emperor as his only liege for his imperial holdings.
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