Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms

...populated. Their population has increased until they achieved a hereditary kingship that has lasted for generations. The religions practiced are Lutheranism original: 路得羅修教 (Lude luo xiu jiao), referring to the Protestant Reformation branch and Roman Catholicism. Three-fifths of the national population follow the Lutheran faith, while two-fifths follow the Catholic faith. Regarding foreign residents, there are no prohibitions whatsoever on which religion they may practice.

Their craftsmanship is excellent, and merchants gather there in great numbers. In ancient times, the people were of the Northern Barbarian stock original: 北狄 (Beidi); a traditional Chinese term for northern non-Han tribes, used here to describe the Baltic/Germanic tribes and were not subject to any external rule.

In the first year of the Jiaxi reign of the Song Dynasty 1237 CE, people from Germany original: 亞里曼 (Yaliman), from the French Allemagne; here referring specifically to the Teutonic Knights first approached their lands and used military force to subdue them.

In the second year of the Chenghua reign of the Ming Dynasty 1466 CE, the Germans were tyrannical and acted without principle. The local people, hoping to escape their misery, sought rescue from the King of Poland. After twelve years of conflict, the region eventually came under the jurisdiction of the Polish state.

In the forty-seventh year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty 1619 CE, the Polish monarch died without an heir original: 薨絕嗣 (hong juesi), and the territory returned to the jurisdiction of its own sovereign This refers to the Union of the Duchy of Prussia and the Electorate of Brandenburg. At that time, the monarch was re-established and began expanding the borders of the realm. In the fortieth year of the Kangxi reign of the Chinese Empire 1701 CE, although the country suffered through the trials of war...