George William

George William (born Nov. 13, 1595, Kölln an der Spree, Brandenburg [now in Berlin, Ger.]—died Dec. 1, 1640, Königsberg, Prussia [now Kaliningrad, Russia]) was the elector of Brandenburg (from 1619) through much of the Thirty Years’ War. Though a Calvinist, George William was persuaded by his Roman Catholic adviser Adam von Schwarzenberg to stay out of the struggle between the Holy Roman emperor and the German Protestant princes. His neutrality won him the hostility of...