General Notes

Albert III (1414-1486), elector of Brandenburg (1470-86), born in Tangermünde,
Germany. He was nicknamed Achilles and Ulysses, because his unusual physical
strength and extraordinarily shrewd mind gave him in contemporary eyes a
resemblance to these Greek heroes. In 1440, on the death of his father,
Frederick I, the territorial possessions of the Hohenzollerns were divided
among Frederick's three sons. Albert received the principality of Ansbach, and
John, the principality of Bayreuth; Frederick became Elector Frederick II of
Brandenburg. His brothers' lands eventually came into Albert's possession; he
inherited Bayreuth from John and received Brandenburg through the abdication
of Frederick II in 1470. Albert strengthened the Hohenzollern hold on
Brandenburg by warring against independent towns and princes and by providing
against dispersal of the family lands after his death. His Dispositio Achillea
(The Political Testament of Achilles), made public in 1473, provided that at
his death Brandenburg should go intact to his oldest son, and the Hohenzollern
lands in Franconia go intact to his two younger sons, and that in all
succeeding generations both parts of the family holdings should descend only
to oldest sons.