Frederick William was the eldest son of the elector George William and Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, a granddaughter of William the Silent, prince of Orange.
At the age of seven Frederick William left Berlin to avoid approaching Catholic armies, and at the age of fourteen he was sent to Holland to study and to live with his relatives of the House of Orange.
When he came to power in 1640, his first action was to disband his army and make a separate truce with Sweden. However, the Swedes turned on him at the behest of King Louis XIV and invaded Brandenburg. After marching 250 kilometers in 15 days back to Brandenburg, he caught the Swedes by surprise and managed to defeat them on the field at the Battle of Fehrbellin, destroying the myth of Swedish military invincibility.
He restored the traditional rights of the Estates of Prussia and Cleves and Mark and granted the Estates of Brandenburg additional privileges in exchange for a monetary contribution.
Frederick William was known as "the Great Elector," and he was responsible for reforms that laid the basis for the elevation of Prussia from duchy to kingdom under his son, Frederick III, elector of Brandenburg (1657--1713), who became King Frederick I of Prussia in 1701.
Friedrich-Wilhelm 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-Treaty of Westphalia 1648.
Frederick William - The Great Elector (1620 – 1688)
