This surname is accepted as being Northern European and usually German-Polish, but more properly its origination is Greek! It derives from the famous personal name 'Ambrosius' meaning 'immortal', a translation which has no doubt contributed to its popularity in almost every European country. Sometimes this popularity has resulted in almost unrecogniseable spellings, but that in surname terms, can be the price of fame! It is said that the name owes its popularity to St Ambrose (c340-397 a.d.), but its real popularity is as a result of the 12th century crusaders, who used Greece as their embarquation point for the many (failed) invasions of the Holy Land. The Crusaders took a liking to Greece, which may have been why they were unsuccesful invaders elsewhere. In Germany twelve separate languages existed through the medieval period, and as a result 'Ambrosius' became such spellings as Bross, Brosel, Broseke, Proseke, Broscheke, Prosky Prozescky etc. with Ambrozik, Brozek, Proskowetz (Polish), Bozek (Czech), Ambrois, Ambroix (France), Brosset (Belgium), and many, many, more. Examples of the earliest recordings include from the town of Brose in Germany in the year 1270, Broske Heinse, the name being properly used as a personal name, whilst in 1449 Arnold Broyske appears in the rolls of Barth, Pommerania. Other recordings are those of Jacob Prosche of Pirma in 1549, and on July 28th 1858, Amalie Louise Prozesky who was christened at Berlin Stadt, Brandenburg, Germany. The coat of arms associated with the surname has the unusual blazon of a blue field charged with three golden mortars, two in chief, one in base, bendwise. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Wernher Brosche, which was dated 1350, the charter register of Tamm, Ludwigsburg, Germany, during the reign of Emperor Charles 1V of the German Empire, 1346 - 1378. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.