The Duchy of Silesia (Polish: Księstwo śląskie, German: Herzogtum Schlesien, Czech: Slezské knížectví) with its capital at Wrocław was a medieval provincial duchy of Poland located in the region of Silesia. Soon after it was formed under the Piast dynasty in 1138, it fragmented into various Silesian duchies. In 1327, the remaining Duchy of Wrocław as well as most other duchies ruled by the Silesian Piasts passed under the suzerainty of the Kingdom of Bohemia as the Duchies of Silesia. The acquisition was completed when King Casimir III the Great of Poland renounced his rights to Silesia in the 1335 Treaty of Trentschin.
The boundaries varied slightly in the following decades: at least when the duchy was re-established for the sons of Władysław II the Exile in 1163 (see below), it also comprised Lubusz Land northwest of Krosno, which had been the western outpost of Greater Poland and passed to the margraves of Brandenburg in 1248. In 1177 the Polish High Duke Casimir II the Just attached the former Lesser Polish castellanies of Bytom, Oświęcim, Zator, Siewierz und Pszczyna to Upper Silesia in favour of Duke Mieszko IV Tanglefoot. After Silesia as a whole had become a Bohemian fief according to the 1335 Treaty of Trentschin, these lordships – except for the state countries of Bytom and Pszczyna – returned to the Polish Crown.
The testament however failed to prevent a violent inheritance conflict between Władysław and his younger half-brothers, who allied against him. After his failed bid to take control of the entire Kingdom in 1146, he lost his status as the senior duke, was excommunicated by Archbishop Jakub ze Żnina of Gniezno and fled to the Holy Roman Empire. The duchy was then under control of his half-brother High Duke Bolesław IV the Curly.
With support from Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, who had campaigned in Greater Poland in 1157 and forced Bolesław IV to cede Silesia, Władysław's sons were able to return to the duchy in 1163. As long as they were under pressure by High Duke Bolesław IV, they ruled jointly at Wrocław, until tensions between them erupted into an open conflict in 1172. As a result, the brothers divided the duchy among themselves; the first partition of many which led to the creation of numerous Silesian duchies in the following centuries:
Władysław's eldest son, Bolesław I the Tall, received Lower Silesia with Wrocław as his residence; therefore his estates are sometimes already referred to as Duchy of Wrocław.
The second son, Mieszko I Tanglefoot, received a far smaller part in Upper Silesia and took his residence at Racibórz; this resulted in the creation of the Duchy of Racibórz. In view of his disadvantage, the Polish High Duke Casimir II the Just ceded him further Lesser Polish territories in 1177 (see above).
After a revolt by Bolesław's eldest son, Jarosław, who feared for his heritage, his father ceded him a strip of land around Opole, for the first time creating the Duchy of Opole. In turn Jarosław had to prepare for an ecclesiastical career and remain celibate. Likewise Bolesław's and Mieszko's youngest brother, Konrad Spindleshanks, when he came of age claimed his rights and about 1177 received the Lower Silesian lands around Głogów; leading to the first creation of the Duchy of Głogów. However, Bolesław I outlived both his youngest brother and his son, and both territories fell back to him in 1190 and 1201 resp.
Bolesław I died in the same year and was succeeded by his only surviving son Henry I the Bearded, who soon entered into conflict with his Piast relatives as well as with his German neighbours. In 1202 he had to face the invasion of his uncle Mieszko I, who, still dissatisfied with the 1172 partition, annexed the Opole territory of late Jarosław. The Duchy of Opole remained with the estates of Mieszko's descendants, whereby the secession of Upper Silesia was conclusive. In 1206 Henry I came to an agreement with the Polish High Duke Władysław III Spindleshanks to swap Lubusz Land for the Greater Polish Kalisz region. The plan however was foiled, when Władysław III lost the seniorate and furthermore Lubusz was occupied by the troops of the Wettin margrave Conrad II of Lusatia. Duke Henry had to struggle for his northwestern outpost, which he regained upon the margrave's death in 1210. He had to defend Lubusz once more against the campaigns of Landgrave Louis IV of Thuringia from 1221. Upon the death of his cousin Duke Casimir I of Opole, son of Mieszko I Tanglefoot, in 1230, he acted as guardian of his minor nephews, thereby once again ruling over whole Silesia. In 1232 he became High Duke of Poland, and as he was able to secure the succession of his son Henry II the Pious upon his death in 1238, it seemed that the Polish fragmentation could be overcome and the will of Bolesław III Krzywousty would finally be fulfilled.
Henry II in 1239 had to resign the regency of Upper Silesia in favour of his cousin Mieszko II the Fat. He anew defended Lubusz, this time against the forces of the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg, and in 1241 granted it to his second son Mieszko. The hopes for a re-unification of the Polish lands under the Silesian Piasts ended with the Mongol invasion of Poland and Henry's death at the 1241 Battle of Legnica. His eldest son Bolesław II the Bald could not prevail as High Duke against Bolesław V the Chaste of Lesser Poland and, after he regained Lubusz upon the death of his brother Mieszko in 1242, finally had to divide his Silesian heritage with his younger brothers in 1248:
Bolesław II himself took his residence in the west at Legnica, thereby establishing the Duchy of Legnica together with his youngest brother Konrad. Soon after he sold Lubusz to the Brandenburg margraves, who finally gained a foothold beyond the Oder to establish the Neumark region. In 1251 Konrad, actually elected Bishop of Passau, forced Bolesław to cede the Duchy of Głogów to him.
The residence of Wrocław fell to his younger brothers Henry III the White and Władysław, thereby establishing the Duchy of Wrocław proper.
The subdivision of the Silesian duchies increased over the following generations and accompanied the fragmentation of Poland. Henry's III son Henry IV Probus upon the death of his uncle Władysław in 1270 ruled at Wrocław and in 1288 even became High Duke of Poland, until the male line became extinct with his death in 1290. He was succeeded by his cousin Duke Henry V the Fat, son of Henry's III brother Bolesław II, who once again re-united the duchies of Wrocław and Legnica under his personal rule. The duchy lost its southern territories in 1290–1291, i.e. the Kłodzko Land, which passed to Bohemia, and the towns of Świdnica, Rychbach, Ząbkowice, Ziębice and Strzelin, which passed to the Duchy of Jawor after Duke Bolko I the Strict of Jawor supported Henry V's assumption of the Duchy of Wrocław. Nevertheless, upon the death of Henry V in 1296, his heritage was again partitioned among his sons. The second, Duke Henry VI the Good, in order to ward off claims raised by his elder brother Duke Bolesław III the Generous of Legnica, in 1327 signed an inheritance treaty with King John of Bohemia, like most of the Silesian duchies had been vassalized by the Kingdom of Bohemia in the early 14th century. As the Polish king Casimir III in the 1335 Treaty of Trentschin had renounced Silesia, Henry's VI duchy passed without opposition to the Bohemian kingdom when he died without male heirs three months later.
Silesia was incorporated into the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, after King Casimir III had acknowledged the acquisition by the 1348 Treaty of Namslau with King Charles IV — except for the Upper Silesian duchies of Oświęcim and Zator, which in the 16th century were integrated in the Polish Kraków Voivodeship, as well as the Duchy of Siewierz, that was purchased by the Archbishop of Kraków in 1443.
The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I. The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of King Casimir III the Great.
Henry II the Pious was Duke of Silesia and High Duke of Poland as well as Duke of South-Greater Poland from 1238 until his death. Between 1238 and 1239 he also served as regent of Sandomierz and Opole–Racibórz. He was the son of Henry the Bearded and a member of the Silesian Piast dynasty. In October 2015, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Legnica opened up his cause for beatification, obtaining him the title of Servant of God.
The Duke of Silesia was the title of sons and descendants of the Polish Duke Bolesław III Wrymouth. In accordance with the last will and testament of Bolesław, upon his death his lands were divided into four or five hereditary provinces distributed among his sons, and a royal province of Kraków reserved for the eldest, who was to be High Duke of all Poland. This was known as the fragmentation of Poland. Subsequent developments lead to further splintering of the duchies.
The Duchy of Greater Poland was a district principality in Greater Poland that was a fiefdom of the Kingdom of Poland. It was formed in 1138 from the territories of the Kingdom of Poland, following its fragmentation started by the testament of Bolesław III Wrymouth. In 1177, the state broke had separated into the duchies of Poznań, Gniezno and Kalisz, and united again in 1279, lasting in that form until 1320, when it was incorporated back into the Kingdom of Poland. Its capital was Poznań.
The Kingdom of Poland was a monarchy in Central Europe during the medieval period from 1025 until 1385.
Bolesław I the Tall was Duke of Wroclaw from 1163 until his death in 1201.
Bolesław II the Horned, known also as Bolesław II the Bald, a member of the Silesian Piasts, was High Duke of Poland briefly in 1241 and Duke of Silesia at Wrocław from 1241 until 1248, when the duchy was divided between him and his brothers. After the partition, he ruled the Silesian Duchy of Legnica until his death. The second Mongol raid against Poland, led by Nogai Khan, occurred during his reign.
Henry III the White, a member of the Silesian Piasts, was Duke of Silesia at Wrocław from 1248 until his death, as co-ruler with his brother Władysław.
Władysław of Salzburg, also known as Władysław of Wrocław or Władysław of Silesia, a member of the Silesian Piasts, was co-ruler in the Duchy of Wrocław since 1248. He served as chancellor of King Ottokar II of Bohemia from 1255 and was elected Bishop of Bamberg in 1257 and Bishop of Passau in 1265. Władysław became Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg in the same year, and from 1268 also served as administrator of the Wrocław diocese.
Anne of Bohemia, a member of the Přemyslid dynasty, was Duchess of Silesia and High Duchess of Poland from 1238 to 1241, by her marriage to the Piast ruler Henry II the Pious. She was celebrated by the community of Franciscan nuns at St Clara of Prague Abbey in Wrocław as their founder and patron.
Henry the Bearded was a Polish duke from the Piast dynasty.
The Duchies of Silesia were the more than twenty divisions of the region of Silesia formed between the 12th and 14th centuries by the breakup of the Duchy of Silesia, then part of the Kingdom of Poland. In 1335, the duchies were ceded to the Kingdom of Bohemia under the Treaty of Trentschin. Thereafter until 1742, Silesia was one of the Bohemian crown lands and lay within the Holy Roman Empire. Most of Silesia was annexed by the King of Prussia under the Treaty of Berlin in 1742. Only the Duchy of Teschen, the Duchy of Troppau and the Duchy of Nysa remained under the control of the Bohemian crown and as such were known as the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia until 1918.
Konrad I of Głogów, a member of the Silesian Piasts, was Silesian duke of Głogów from 1249/50 until his death.
The Silesian Piasts were the elder of four lines of the Polish Piast dynasty beginning with Władysław II the Exile (1105–1159), eldest son of Duke Bolesław III of Poland. By Bolesław's testament, Władysław was granted Silesia as his hereditary province and also the Lesser Polish Seniorate Province at Kraków according to the principle of agnatic seniority.
The Duchy of Głogów or Duchy of Glogau was one of the Duchies of Silesia, formed in course of the medieval fragmentation of Poland into smaller provincial duchies. Its capital was Głogów in Lower Silesia. It existed in 1177–1185 and 1251–1506 and was ruled by the Silesian Piasts, followed by John Corvinus and the Jagiellonian dynasty.
The Duchy of Legnica or Duchy of Liegnitz was one of the Duchies of Silesia, formed during the fragmentation of Poland into smaller provincial duchies, ruled by a local line of the Piast dynasty between 1248 and 1675. Its capital was Legnica in Lower Silesia.
The Duchy of Brzeg or Duchy of Brieg was one of the Duchies of Silesia, created in 1311 during the fragmentation of the Duchy of Legnica. A Bohemian fief from 1329, it was ruled by the Silesian Piasts until their extinction in 1675. Its capital was Brzeg in Lower Silesia.
The Treaty of Trencin was concluded on 24 August 1335 between King Casimir III of Poland and King John of Bohemia together with his son Margrave Charles IV. The agreement was reached by the agency of Casimir's brother-in-law King Charles I of Hungary and signed at Trencin Castle in the Kingdom of Hungary. It initiated the transfer of suzerainty over the former Polish province of Silesia to the Kingdom of Bohemia, whereafter the Duchies of Silesia were incorporated into the Bohemian Crown. Following the integration of this treaty, the three kingdoms of Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland met at the First Congress of Visegrad later in 1335 to further discuss the division of land. This congress also made the treaty official.
Duchy of Kraków was a duchy in Lesser Poland that existed from 1227 until 1300. Its capital was Kraków. It was formed in 1227 from the Seniorate Province, following the abolishment of the Duchy of Poland. It remained independent until 1300, when it had become a fiefdom within the Kingdom of Poland. In 1320, it was incorporated into the United Kingdom of Poland.
The Duchy of Opole and Racibórz was one of the numerous Duchies of Silesia ruled by the Silesian branch of the royal Polish Piast dynasty. It was formed in 1202 from the union of the Upper Silesian duchies of Opole and the Racibórz, in a rare exception to the continuing feudal fragmentation of the original Duchy of Silesia.
Historia Narodu Śląskiego. Prawdziwe dzieje ziem śląskich od średniowiecza do progu trzeciego tysiąclecia (History of Silesian Nation. True history of Silesian lands from the Middle Ages to the threshold of the third Millennium), Zabrze 2003 ISBN83-919589-0-6.
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