This year, 500 years have passed since Grand Master of the Order of the infirmary of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the German home in Jerusalem, or Teutonic Knights, Albrecht dissolved the Order in Prussia and concluded a peace treaty with the Polish king, Sigismund the Old. The peace treaty, called the Kraków Treaty, was signed on 8 April 1525 and 2 days later, on 10 April 1525, on the Kraków marketplace the last large master in Prussia, Albrecht, knelt before Zygmunt Stary and paid tribute to him. Thanks to the treaty and tribute Albrecht became the prince of the lands of the erstwhile spiritual state, covering the territories of present-day Mazur and the royal circuit.
Prof. Jacek Wijaczka, the author of the book “The Krakow Treaty and the Prussian tribute of 1525”, believes that the acceptance by the Polish King Sigismund of the Old tribute from Albrecht was a political mistake, which took revenge for generations. “As a country we would be somewhere else today,” said the expert. According to Prof. Wijaczko, the beginning of the 1920s was the best time to solve problems which Poland had with the Teutonic Order since the 14th century. After the last war with Poland, from 1519-21, Albrecht no longer had any money or political support, he was alone. That was the best time to take over his land. If this were done by the Polish king then, apart from Gdańsk, Poland would have a second seaport in Królewiec, amber mines.
Prof. Wijaczka believes that the home situation in the country had a greater impact on King Sigismund Old's decision than the fact that Albrecht was his nephew. The end of the 15th and early 16th century is simply a period of conflict for who in Poland will actually rule: whether the king or the nobles or the church. And the attempts to reform, which have been made, specified as the ban on the holding of respective dignitys by the same persons, were to lead to the strengthening of the state and the king's power. Only that Szydłowiecki and Tomicki held respective functions at erstwhile and these reforms were good for them.
After the dissolution of the Order of Albrecht in Prussia, he changed his religion – from Catholic to Protestant. At the same time, he ordered all subjects to change their religion, which made the Prussian principality the world's first Lutheran state. Prof. Wijaczek believes that there are no papers proving that this decision was a surprise to the Polish king. The introduction of Lutheranism in Prussia caused improvement in this land of education. Since Duke Albrecht needed pastors, doctors and teachers, he founded a university in Królewiec, called Albertina, where he studied, among others, Jan Kochanowski.
In Królewiec the Polish Bible, poesy and many another books were printed. The faithful of the fresh church began to pray in national languages, which was a large affirmative change for them. Prof. Wijaczka believes that Prince Albrecht was a very good ruler. Prince Albrecht founded a castle library, left 1.5 1000 books, including the legendary Silver Library – books from it had silver frames. In the opinion of Prof. Wijaczka, Mazury can talk proudly of the fact that in the past Prince Albrecht ruled this very part of land.
The fact that on the basis of this post-Treaty state, the powerful Prusai grew, which made the partition of Poland, is another story, which is, of course, the long-term consequence of the Treaty of Krakow and the Prusai tribute. Prof. Wijaczek added that in the general awareness "Prusses are somewhere in Berlin". fewer Poles truly know that Prussia was a land in today's north-eastern part of our country. It is so worth to look at this fascinating communicative and realize how the Prusai tribute affected the destiny of Poland.
