Duchy of Teschen

Duchy of Teschen

*Księstwo Cieszyńskie* (Polish)

*Těšínské knížectví* (Czech)

*Herzogtum Teschen* (German)

*Ducatus Tessinensis* (
Latin
)
Duchy of Teschen Księstwo Cieszyńskie (Polish); Těšínské knížectví (Czech); Herzogtum Teschen (German); Ducatus Tessinensis ( Latin);
1290–1918
	Flag Coat of arms1
	Roman Catholicism
Dukes
• 1290–1315	Mieszko I (first duke)
• 1625–1653	Elizabeth Lucretia (last Piast ruler)
• 1895–1918	Archduke Frederick Habsburg (last duke)
History
• Partitioned from Opole-Racibórz	1281
• Split off Oświęcim	1315
• Vassalized by Bohemia	1327
• Split off Bielsko	1572
• Habsburg rule	1653
• Part of Austrian Silesia	1742/45
• Disestablished	1918
• Spa Conference	28 July 1920
Population
• 1910	350,000
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Duchy of Opole and Racibórz
First Czechoslovak Republic
Second Polish Republic
	1 Coat of arms of the Duchy of Teschen and the regional branch of the Piast dynasty

The Duchy of Teschen (

Silesian dukes of the Piast dynasty from 1290 until the line became extinct with the death of Duchess Elizabeth Lucretia in 1653.^[1]

The ducal lands initially comprised former Lesser Polish territories east of the Biała River, which in about 1315 again split off as the Polish Duchy of Oświęcim, while the remaining duchy became a fiefdom of the Bohemian kings in 1327 and was incorporated into the Lands of the Bohemian Crown in 1348. While the bulk of Silesia was conquered by the Prussian king Frederick the Great in the Silesian Wars of 1740–1763, Teschen together with the duchies of Troppau (Opava), Krnov and Nysa remained with the Habsburg monarchy and merged into the Austrian Silesia crown land in 1849. The so-called "commander line" of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty, a cadet branch descending from Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen, held the title "Duke of Teschen" until 1918.

History

The duchy shared the history of the

Mieszko I Tanglefoot, who ruled as Duke of Racibórz

.

Defying the Polish

Władysław Opolski in 1281, whereafter Opole-Racibórz was again divided among his four sons. The eldest, Mieszko, initially ruled the Duchy of Racibórz with Cieszyn and Oświęcim, jointly with his minor brother Przemysław

. After another partition in 1290, Mieszko took his residence in Cieszyn and became the first Duke of Teschen.

Piast rule

Like most of his Silesian Piast relatives, Mieszko approached the mighty

kings of Bohemia; during the Polish internal struggles after the death of High Duke Leszek II, in 1291, he and his younger brother Duke Bolko I of Opole signed a support agreement with King Wenceslaus II. Mieszko also had the Teschen lands on the Vistula and Biała rivers and the Beskid foothills settled by German immigrants. He colonised the remote parts of his duchy and vested Cieszyn, Oświęcim, Zator, Skoczów and Karviná with town privileges. His adhered to the alliance with Bohemia even after in 1310 the House of Luxembourg assumed the throne in Prague

.

After Mieszko's death in 1315, his son

fiefdom of the Bohemian kings and part of the Crown of Bohemia.^[3] Local Piast rulers often possessed other lands outside the duchy itself, as the Duchy of Siewierz, half of Głogów and some parts of Bytom

.

After the death of Duke

Przemyslaus II, who after the death of Boleslaus II in 1452 ruled alone. From the late 15th century onwards, the Beskid valleys in the south were settled by Vlach peasants from neighbouring Moravian Wallachia

.

While the Lands of the Bohemian Crown passed to the

Roman Catholicism for the sake of political advantage and enacted several Counter-Reformation measures. Indeed, Emperor Matthias

appointed him Silesian governor in 1617, however, he died a few months later.

The Cieszyn Piast rule continued until 1653, when the male line became extinct with the death of Adam Wenceslaus' son

Elizabeth Lucretia, who began a lengthy lawsuit on her heritage. Nevertheless, when she died in 1653, the duchy passed directly to the Bohemian monarchs,^[5] at that time the Habsburg emperor Ferdinand III and his son King Ferdinand IV

.

Habsburg rule

Ferdinand IV ruled Teschen until his death in 1654, whereafter the duchy fell back to Emperor Ferdinand III. His Habsburg successors continued the re-Catholicization policies. In 1722 Emperor

Prince Albert of Saxony

, who thus became known colloquially as the Duke of Saxe-Teschen.

Although most of Silesia had passed to Prussia, Teschen with Bielsko and the duchies of

Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty. While the Duchy of Teschen finally merged into the crown land of Austrian Silesia after the Revolutions of 1848, the ducal title passed down Charles' line, first to his eldest son, Archduke Albert, and then in 1895 to Albert Frederick's nephew, Archduke Frederick

.

With Austrian Silesia, the territory of Teschen became part of the Cisleithanian half of the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy upon the Compromise of 1867. At the end of World War I both the crown land and the ducal title were disestablished with the dissolution of Austria-Hungary. Archduke Frederick, appointed Austrian field marshal in 1914 but soon neutralized by Chief-of-Staff Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, found his vast possessions expropriated and retired to Magyaróvár in Hungary.

Aftermath

At the end of the war, local Polish and Czechoslovak self-governments were established in the territory of Cieszyn, which on 5 November 1918 signed an interim agreement under which the territory – including the town of Cieszyn itself – was divided along the Olza (Olše, Olsa) River. However, the preliminary convention failed to settle the border conflict between the newly established state of Czechoslovakia and the Second Polish Republic, which claimed further areas of the former Cieszyn duchy with a predominantly Polish-speaking population. The ongoing conflict escalated when Czechoslovak troops crossed the Olza on 23 January 1919, starting the Polish–Czechoslovak War.

Clashes of arms continued until 31 January, but neither of the belligerents benefited: at the 1920

expelled

.

Demographics

Languages of sermons in Roman Catholic parishes in the 17th century (red - Polish, yellow - Czech, blue - German, striped - Polish and German
1910 Austrian census - percentage of Polish-speaking population
1910 Austrian census - percentage of Czech-speaking population
1910 Austrian census - percentage of German-speaking population

According to the Austrian census taken in 1910, the duchy had about 350,000 inhabitants: 54.8% Polish-speaking, 27.1% Czech-speaking and 18.1% German-speaking.^[7] While the Czech population mainly settled in the western areas around Frýdek, the German population was clustered around Bielsko (German: Bielitz).

Dukes of Teschen

Silesian Piasts

1290–1315 Mieszko I
1315–1358 Casimir I, son, swore homage to King John of Bohemia in 1327
1358–1410 Przemyslaus I Noszak, son
1410–1431 Boleslaus I, son
1431–1442 Wenceslaus I, became Duke of Siewierz and Bielsko
1431–1442 Wladislaus, Duke of Głogów
1431–1452 Boleslaus II
1431–1477
Przemyslaus II
1477–1528 Casimir II
- 1518–1524 Wenceslaus II, son, co-ruler with his father
1528–1579 Wenceslaus III Adam, son of Wenceslaus II
1579–1617 Adam Wenceslaus, son
1617–1625 Frederick William, son, left no male heirs
1625–1653 Elizabeth Lucretia, sister.

Following the death of

Emperor Charles VI, as King of Bohemia, vested his cousin Leopold of Lorraine

with the ducal title.

House of Habsburg-Lorraine

1722–1729 Leopold
1729–1765 Francis I Stephen, son, husband of Maria Theresa, Holy Roman Emperor from 1745
1765–1766 Emperor Joseph II, son
1766–1797 Archduchess Maria Christina
- 1766–1822 Prince Albert Casimir, husband
1822–1847 Charles, nephew and adoptive son
1847–1849 Albert, son

Titular dukes

1849–1895 Albert
1895–1918 Frederick, nephew, title abolished in Austrian law in 1918.
Archduke Albrecht Franz, Duke of Teschen (1897–1955) continued to use the title after the death of his father.

Old maps

The Duchy of Teschen: 17th/18th century map by Matthäus Seutter
The Duchy of Teschen in 1724, by Jonas Nigrinus
The Duchy of Teschen in 1736, by Matthaeus Schubarth
The Duchy of Teschen. 1746 map by Johann Homann
17th/18th century map of the Duchy of Teschen by Joh David Schleuen
Polish map of the Duchy of Cieszyn, 20th century

Footnotes

^ Panic 2002, 6.
^ "Teschen | region, Europe". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
^ Panic 2002, 7.
^ Panic 2002, 16.
^ Žáček 2004, 175
^ Decree of the Conference of Ambassadors with regard to Teschen, Spisz and Orava, dated Paris, August 5, 1920, League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 2, pp. 50-58
^ Nowak 2008, 13.

References

Biermann, Gottlieb (1894). Geschichte des Herzogthums Teschen (in German) (2nd ed.).
OCLC 34926439
.

Nowak, Krzysztof (2008). "Polskość i ruch narodowy". In Krzysztof Nowak (ed.). Pierwsza Niepodległość. Cieszyn: Urząd Miejski Cieszyn. pp. 7–17.
ISBN 978-83-89835-40-6
.

OCLC 55650394
.

Žáček, Rudolf (2004). Dějiny Slezska v datech. Praha: Libri.
ISBN 80-7277-172-8
.

External links

1600s Map of German lands with the Duchy of Teschen

49°44′59″N 18°37′46″E / 49.749767°N 18.629392°E / 49.749767; 18.629392

[1] Panic 2002, 6.

[2] "Teschen | region, Europe". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2018-10-04.

[3] Panic 2002, 7.

[4] Panic 2002, 16.

[5] Žáček 2004, 175

[6] Decree of the Conference of Ambassadors with regard to Teschen, Spisz and Orava, dated Paris, August 5, 1920, League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 2, pp. 50-58

[7] Nowak 2008, 13.

[1]

[3]

[5]

[7]

v t e Duchies of Silesia
	Original	Duchy of Silesia
	Lower Silesia	Duchy of Bierutów Duchy of Brzeg Duchy of Głogów Duchy of Jawor Duchy of Legnica Duchy of Lwówek Duchy of Nysa Duchy of Oleśnica Duchy of Żagań Duchy of Münsterberg
	Upper Silesia	Duchy of Bielsko Duchy of Bytom Duchy of Cieszyn Duchy of Głogówek and Prudnik Duchy of Głubczyce Duchy of Krnov Duchy of Opava Duchy of Opole Duchy of Opole and Racibórz Duchy of Oświęcim Duchy of Prudnik Duchy of Pszczyna Duchy of Racibórz Duchy of Siewierz Duchy of Zator
	Other	Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia County of Kladsko

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