Duchy of Silesia

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with
Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia
.
Duchy of Silesia
Księstwo śląskie (Polish)
Herzogtum Schlesien (German)
Slezské knížectví (Czech)
1138–1335
Flag of Silesia
Banner of arms
Established
1138
• Duke Władysław II
   exiled
1146
• Racibórz split off
1172
• Opole split off
1172
• Legnica split off
1248
• Incorporated by
   Bohemia
1335
1348
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Duchy of Poland
Duchies of Silesia
(Bohemian Crown)
∟Duchy of Racibórz
∟Duchy of Opole
∟Duchy of Legnica
∟Duchy of Brzeg
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Wrocław

The Duchy of Silesia (

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 to the Kingdom of Bohemia as 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
.

Geography

During the time of its establishment, the Silesian lands covered the basin of the upper and middle Oder river. In the south the Sudetes mountain range up to the Moravian Gate formed the border with the lands of Bohemia - including Kłodzko Land - and Moravia. After a more than century-long struggle, the boundary had just been determined by an 1137 agreement with the Bohemian duke Soběslav I. In the west Lower Silesia bordered on the German March of Lusatia (later Lower Lusatia) and the former Milceni lands around Bautzen (later Upper Lusatia) with the boundary running along the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers. Silesia was limited by the Polish provinces of Greater Poland in the north and the Seniorate Province of Lesser Poland in the east, separated by the Przemsza and Biała rivers.

The boundaries varied slightly in the following decades: at least when the duchy was re-established for the sons of

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
.

History

Fragmentation of Poland in 1138:
  Duchy of Silesia under Władysław II

As the Silesian Province (

High duke, Bolesław's first-born son Władysław II the Exile
, who also held the Duchy of Kraków.

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:

After a revolt by Bolesław's eldest son,

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.

Władysław

Henry II in 1239 had to resign the regency of Upper Silesia in favour of his cousin

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:

The subdivision of the Silesian duchies increased over the following generations and accompanied the

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. Nevertheless, upon his death 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

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.

Dukes

Main article:
Dukes of Silesia
Full coat of arms of the duke 1290

As Henry VI left no male heirs, his lands were inherited by King John of Bohemia.

Maps

The following maps illustrate continuing fragemtarization of the Duchy of Silesia, and shifting borders of the individual smaller duchies.

  • 1248–1249
    1248–1249
  • 1249–1273
    1249–1273
  • 1273–1277
    1273–1277
  • 1277–1278
    1277–1278
  • 1278–1281
    1278–1281
  • 1281–1284
    1281–1284
  • 1284–1287
    1284–1287
  • 1287–1290
    1287–1290
  • 1290–1291
    1290–1291
  • 1294–1296
    1294–1296
  • 1296–1301
    1296–1301
  • 1306–1309
    1306–1309
  • 1309–1311
    1309–1311
  • 1312–1317
    1312–1317
  • 1317–1321
    1317–1321
  • 1322–1331
    1322–1331

Aftermath

After the inheritance of Bohemia by the

Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship) and Czechoslovakia (Czech Silesia) after the Polish–Czechoslovak War
of 1919.

References

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Duchy_of_Silesia&oldid=1211552525"