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Frederick of Altmark

Margrave of Brandenburg, Lord of the Altmark

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 7, 2026
Entity authorityQ325948
Source-derived summary

Frederick III of Brandenburg, nicknamed the Fat, also the Younger (born: c. 1424; died: 6 October 1463 in Tangermünde) was Margrave of Brandenburg and Lord of the Altmark.

Life

Frederick was the youngest son of the Elector Frederick I of Brandenburg (1371–1440) from his marriage to Elizabeth (1383–1442 ), daughter of the Duke Frederick of Bavaria-Landshut.

His father's testament, stipulated that Frederick should rule the Margraviate of Brandenburg jointly with his older brother Frederick Irontooth, who also acted as his guardian from 1440 onwards, until at least 1456. Frederick III, however, began urging for more independence in 1445. He was supported by his brothers John and Albert Achilles. In 1447, Frederick received his own territory, consisting of the Altmark and Prignitz, under the sovereignty of Electoral Brandenburg. He fostered the influx of Jews into his territory, after his brother had driven them out of his margraviate in 1446. Frederick III resided in Tangermünde, Salzwedel and Arneburg. He neglected the business of government in such a way that his brother found it necessary in 1459 to intervene militarily against the intrigues in the country.

Since Frederick died without male heirs, the Altmark and Priegnitz fell back to the Electorate of Brandenburg when he died in 1463.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Frederick of Altmark” is margrave of Brandenburg, Lord of the Altmark. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Frederick, Altmark and Margrave, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1424, 1463, 1371, 1440—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1424. For this dossier, Frederick, Altmark and Margrave is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “margrave of Brandenburg, Lord of the Altmark” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q325948. VIAF identifies the subject as 80584644. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1424, 1463, 1371 and 1440.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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  2. Expand the search: follow Frederick of Altmark primary sources, Frederick of Altmark archive and Frederick research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Frederick of Altmark” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.