Silesian Piasts

The Silesian Piasts were the elder of four lines of the Polish

In 1163, Bolesław the Curly was pressed by Frederick Barbarossa to return the hereditary Silesian province to Władysław's sons

Mieszko at the same time was able to expand his duchy with the former

After Henry's death in 1241, his brother

These divisions often were the result of fierce and militant conflicts, in which not only the Silesian parties but also their partisans from other parts of Poland and neighboring Bohemia were involved. Whereas the connections to Poland diminished the political ties with Bohemia became increasingly stronger.

In their exile in Germany, the Piasts had witnessed the inner colonizations along the Elbe river and strived to develop sparsely populated Silesia by calling in Germans from the west, slowly increasing Silesia's German population which came to dominate the region over the next centuries.^[10]

The reign of duke

In 1335,

During the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, various branches of the Silesian Piasts became extinct. In 1532, the last Duke of Opole, John II the Good, died, leaving most of Upper Silesia under direct Bohemian rule. In 1675, the last legitimate Silesian Piast – George William, Duke of Liegnitz – died. The last male Silesian Piast was baron Ferdinand II Hohenstein, who died in 1706, the last female Piast, Charlotte, died in 1707.^[4]

Silesian Piasts and Poland

The Silesian Piasts formed the oldest branch of the first Polish royal dynasty. This was the reason that even after the fragmentation of Poland their interest in Polish matters was still strong. Norman Davies stated that the dynastic loyalty of all Piast dukes as well as a single ecclesiastic organisation still secured the unity of the divided Kingdom of Poland. In his opinion the alleged "will" to separate from Poland is contradicted by the continuous involvement of the Silesian Piasts in Polish affairs. He remarks that the dukes of Silesia did not break their connections with their relatives in the rest of Poland. The most visible evidence of this is said to be the fact that in the 13th century three Silesian Dukes – Henry I, Henry II and Henry IV – took control of Kraków and therefore of the senior throne of the whole of Poland.^[19]: 113

In Davies' opinion, the Germanisation of Silesia did not necessarily mean a desire to move apart from Poland. He suggests that it was more likely a way to satisfy the Silesian Piasts' ambitions inside Poland. The planned introduction of German settlers would strengthen Silesia, and also the Silesian Piast claims to the senioral throne in Kraków. Only when the Silesian Piasts' ambitions to rule in Kraków were thwarted did they decide to set their province on a different course.^[19]: 114

Family tree of Silesian Piasts

Silesian Piasts, branch of Opole

Silesian Piasts, branch of Głogów

Family tree of the Silesian Piasts

Footnotes