The Dispositio Achillea (also: ''Constitutio Achillea'' or ''Achillean House Law'') was the disposition of the territories of Elector Albert III Achilles of Brandenburg as regulated in his last will and testament of 1473. In particular, the Achillea Dispositio stipulated that the Mark Brandenburg was to remain undivided and to be inherited in its entirety by the eldest son (at Albrecht Achilles death, that would be

John Cicero John II (2 August 1455 – 9 January 1499) was Elector of Brandenburg from 1486 until his death, the fourth of the House of Hohenzollern. After his death he received the cognomen ''Cicero'', after the Roman orator of the same name, but the electo ...

). This was a requirement of the

Golden Bull A golden bull or chrysobull was a decree issued by Byzantine Emperors and later by monarchs in Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, most notably by the Holy Roman Emperors. The term was originally coined for the golden seal (a ''bull ...

: electorates were required to be indivisible. Albrecht Achilles's younger sons,

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zoll ...

and Siegmund would inherit the Franconian Margraviates of

Brandenburg-Ansbach The Principality or Margraviate of (Brandenburg-)Ansbach (german: Fürstentum Ansbach or ) was a principality in the Holy Roman Empire centered on the Franconian city of Ansbach. The ruling Hohenzollern princes of the land were known as margrave ...

and

Brandenburg-Kulmbach The Principality of Bayreuth (german: Fürstentum Bayreuth) or Margraviate of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (''Markgraftum Brandenburg-Bayreuth'') was an immediate territory of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a Franconian branch of the Hohenzollern dynas ...

(later Brandenburg-Bayreuth), and draw lots to decide who would inherit which principality. If Albrecht Achilles were to have any more sons (which he did not), they would not inherit any land and should instead pursue an ecclesiastical career. Strictly speaking, at the time the Dispositio Achillea was written, it only defined the division of the Margraviates among the sons of the Margrave of the day. Over time, however, it was accepted as a succession principle of the

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenbu ...

and in 1541 the Dispositio Achillea and the House Treaty of Regensburg were accepted as a binding house law of the Hohenzollern

dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

. The central element of Achillea Dispositio was the principle of the indivisibility of the Mark Brandenburg, which it made part of the Hohenzollern

House law House law or House laws (''Hausgesetze'') are rules that govern a royal family or dynasty in matters of eligibility for succession to a throne, membership in a dynasty, exercise of a regency, or entitlement to dynastic rank, titles and styles. ...

, and not—as previously—only a clause in the Golden Bull. At the same time, it provided the cornerstone for a development that eventually lead to progressive separation of the Mark Brandenburg from the Hohenzollern stem lands in

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian languages, Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three Regierungsbezirk, administrative ...

. It created the two territories of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Brandenburg-Kulmbach, which were only reunited with the Mark's successor state of Prussia in 1792.

References and sources

* Gerhard Taddey: ''Lexikon der deutschen Geschichte'', Stuttgart, 1998, * M. Spindler, A. Kraus: ''Geschichte Frankens bis zum Ausgang des 18. Jahrhunderts'', Munich, 1997, House of Hohenzollern 1473 in Europe 1470s in the Holy Roman Empire 1470s in law {{Germany-hist-stub