The Duchy of Silesia (Polish: Księstwo Śląskie, German: Herzogtum Schlesien, Czech: Slezské knížectví, Silesian: Ślōnski firsztyntōm) 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.
Contents
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 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.
History
As the Silesian Province (Polish: dzielnica śląska), the duchy was one of five main provinces established in medieval Poland according to the Testament of Bolesław III Krzywousty. By the terms of the will from 1138–1146 it was controlled by the Senior Duke of Poland or 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:
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.
Dukes
Władysław the Exile (1138–1146), progenitor of the Silesian Piasts, also High Duke of Poland, deposed
Bolesław the Curly (1146–1163), stepbrother
Bolesław I the Tall, eldest son of Władysław, re-installed (1163–1201)
Henry I the Bearded (1201–1238), son, also High Duke of Poland from 1232
Henry II the Pious (1238–1241), son, also High Duke of Poland, killed in Battle of Legnica
Bolesław II the Bald (1241–1248), son, became Duke of Legnica in 1248 partition
Henry III the White (1248–1266), brother, jointly with
Władysław (1248–1270), brother, also Archbishop of Salzburg from 1265
Henry IV Probus (1266–1290), son of Henry III, Duke of Wrocław from 1270, also High Duke of Poland from 1288, no issue
Henry V the Fat (1290–1296), son of Bolesław II, Duke of Legnica since 1278
Henry VI the Good (1296–1335), second son, under tutelage of:
Bolko I the Strict (1296–1301), son of Bolesław II
King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia (1301–1305)
Bolesław III the Generous (1305–1311), eldest son of Henry V, Duke of Legnica since 1296
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.
Aftermath
After the inheritance of Bohemia by the House of Habsburg in 1526, the Silesian duchies gradually passed under control of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy until King Frederick II of Prussia invaded Silesia in 1740 and annexed most of it during the First Silesian War. The bulk of the duchy, enlarged by the County of Kladsko and Upper Lusatian territories annexed from Saxony, was subsequently reorganized as part of the Prussian Province of Silesia, while the duchies remaining under Austrian control were reconstituted as the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia in 1742. The duchies which had remained in Poland were subsequently annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia (New Silesia) and the Habsburg monarchy (Galicia) during the 18th century Partitions of Poland. The Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia lasted as a crown land of Cisleithanian Austria until 1918, whereupon it was divided between the Second Polish Republic (Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship) and Czechoslovakia (Czech Silesia) after the Polish–Czechoslovak War of 1919.