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Principality Of Cieszyn
The Duchy of Teschen (german: Herzogtum Teschen), also Duchy of Cieszyn ( pl, Księstwo Cieszyńskie) or Duchy of Těšín ( cs, Těšínské knížectví), was one of the Duchies of Silesia centered on Cieszyn () in Upper Silesia. It was split off the Silesian Duchy of Opole and Racibórz in 1281 during the feudal division of Poland and was ruled by Silesian dukes of the Piast dynasty from 1290 until the line became extinct with the death of Duchess Elizabeth Lucretia in 1653. 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 ...
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Flag Of The Duchy Of Teschen
The flag of the Duchy of Teschen was established in 2016 through the initiative of regional history enthusiasts in cooperation with the prominent Polish heraldic and vexillologist Alfred Znamierowski. The flag refers to the coat of arms and the historic banners of the Duchy of Teschen. The modern flag is an expression of respect for the history and tradition of the Duchy of Teschen, and also part of the different identities of the present inhabitants of the Cieszyn Silesia towards Lower and Upper Silesia. History The oldest image of the Duchy of Teschen flag or banner was shown on the personal seal of the first duke, Mieszko I. That seal was attached to the document from 1297. The next premises of the flags, or rather ducal banners, date from the 14th century, and are associated with Duke Przemyslaw I Noszak (read: Noschack) who, from 1355, took an active part in political life, becoming one of the most important figures in the court of the Czech rulers over time, which inclu ...
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Polish Language
Polish (Polish: ''język polski'', , ''polszczyzna'' or simply ''polski'', ) is a West Slavic language of the Lechitic group written in the Latin script. It is spoken primarily in Poland and serves as the native language of the Poles. In addition to being the official language of Poland, it is also used by the Polish diaspora. There are over 50 million Polish speakers around the world. It ranks as the sixth most-spoken among languages of the European Union. Polish is subdivided into regional dialects and maintains strict T–V distinction pronouns, honorifics, and various forms of formalities when addressing individuals. The traditional 32-letter Polish alphabet has nine additions (''ą'', ''ć'', ''ę'', ''ł'', ''ń'', ''ó'', ''ś'', ''ź'', ''ż'') to the letters of the basic 26-letter Latin alphabet, while removing three (x, q, v). Those three letters are at times included in an extended 35-letter alphabet, although they are not used in native words. The traditional ...
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Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split into two main subregions, Lower Silesia in the west and Upper Silesia in the east. Silesia has a diverse culture, including architecture, costumes, cuisine, traditions, and the Silesian language (minority in Upper Silesia). Silesia is along the Oder River, with the Sudeten Mountains extending across the southern border. The region contains many historical landmarks and UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is also rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. The largest city and Lower Silesia's capital is Wrocław; the historic capital of Upper Silesia is Opole. The biggest metropolitan area is the Upper Silesian metropolitan area, the centre of which is Katowice. Parts of the Czech city of Ostrav ...
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Biała (Vistula)
Biała (german: Bialka) is a river in southern Poland, a right tributary of the Vistula, around long. It is the main river of the city of Bielsko-Biała and used to be historically important as a border river dividing not only Bielsko and Biała but also for several centuries the states of Bohemia (succeeded by the Habsburg monarchy) and Poland. Geography Two sources of the river are located on the north-east slopes of the Klimczok mountain in the Silesian Beskids on the elevation of around . The upper part the river, known as ''Białka'' (diminutive form of ''Biała''), has characteristics of a mountain stream. The first settlement it runs through is the village of Bystra. Before Mikuszowice it joins with ''Biała'' stream beginning on eastern slopes of Magura mountain in Little Beskids, then the river veers north and on the length of it forms a pivotal line of the city of Bielsko-Biała, afterward it flows in between Czechowice-Dziedzice to the west and Gmina Bestwina to t ...
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Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate culture featuring diverse architecture, folk costumes, dances, cuisine, traditions and a rare Lesser Polish dialect. The region is rich in historical landmarks, monuments, castles, natural scenery and UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The region should not be confused with the modern Lesser Poland Voivodeship, which covers only the southwestern part of Lesser Poland. Historical Lesser Poland was much larger than the current voivodeship that bears its name. It reached from Bielsko-Biała in the southwest as far as to Siedlce in the northeast. It consisted of the three voivodeships of Kraków, Sandomierz and Lublin. It comprised almost 60,000 km2 in area; today's population in this area is about 9,000,000 inhabitants. Its landscap ...
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Silesian Piasts
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. Early history The history of the Silesian Piasts began with the feudal fragmentation of Poland in 1138 following the death of the Polish duke Bolesław III Wrymouth. While the Silesian province and the Kraków seniorate were assigned to Władysław II the Exile, his three younger half–brothers Bolesław IV the Curly, Mieszko III the Old, and Henry of Sandomierz received Masovia, Greater Poland and Sandomierz, respectively, according to the Testament of Boleslaw III. Władysław soon entered into fierce conflicts with his brothers and the Polish nobility. When in 1146 he attempted to take control of the whole ...
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Dukes Of Silesia
The Duke of Silesia was the 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. At the beginning of the 14th century, fourteen independent Duchies existed in Silesia: Brzeg, Wrocław, Świdnica, Jawor, Ziębice, Głogów, Ścinawa, Żagan and Oleśnica in Lower Silesia; Koźle, Cieszyn, Bytom, Niemodlin, Opole, Strzelce, Racibórz and Opava in Upper Silesia and the ecclesiastical Duchy of Nysa. Between 1327 and 1329 most dukes accepted the overlordship of Bohemian king John of Bohemia, who acquired the right of succession for all of these duchies. In the coming centuries all branches of the Silesia ...
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History Of Poland During The Piast Dynasty
The period of rule by the Piast dynasty between the 10th and 14th centuries is the first major stage of the history of Poland, history of the Polish state. The dynasty was founded by a series of dukes listed by the chronicler Gall Anonymous in the early 12th century: Siemowit, Lestek and Siemomysł. It was Mieszko I of Poland, Mieszko I, the son of Siemomysł, who is now considered the proper founder of the Polish state at about 960 AD. The dynasty, ruling house then remained in power in the Polish lands until 1370. Mieszko converted to Christianity of the Western Latin Church, Latin Rite in an event known as the Baptism of Poland in 966, which established a major cultural boundary in Europe based on religion. He also completed a unification of the Lechites, Lechitic tribal lands that was fundamental to the existence of the new country of Poland. Following the emergence of the Polish state, List of Polish monarchs, a series of rulers converted the population to Christianity, crea ...
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Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of (chronologically) Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526. In 1742 the greater part of Upper Silesia was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia, and in 1871 it became part of the German Empire. After the First World War the region was divided between Poland (East Upper Silesia) and Germany (West Upper Silesia). After the Second World War, West Upper Silesia also became Polish as the result of the Potsdam Conference. Geography Upper Silesia is situated on the upper Oder River, north o ...
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Piast Dynasty
The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branches of the Piast dynasty continued to rule in the Duchy of Masovia and in the Duchies of Silesia until the last male Silesian Piast died in 1675. The Piasts intermarried with several noble lines of Europe, and possessed numerous titles, some within the Holy Roman Empire. The Jagiellonian kings after John I Albert were also descended in the female line from Casimir III's daughter. Origin of the name The early dukes and kings of Poland are said to have regarded themselves as descendants of the semi-legendary Piast the Wheelwright (''Piast Kołodziej''), first mentioned in the '' Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum'' (Chronicles and deeds of the dukes or princes of the Poles), written c. 1113 by Gallus Anonymus. However, the ter ...
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Archduke Friedrich, Duke Of Teschen
Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen (Friedrich Maria Albrecht Wilhelm Karl; 4 June 1856 – 30 December 1936) was a member of the House of Habsburg and the supreme commander of the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I. Early life Friedrich was born at the castle of Gross Seelowitz in Moravia (today Židlochovice near Brno in the Czech Republic), the son of Karl Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife Archduchess Elisabeth Franziska of Austria. His siblings included Queen Maria Cristina of Spain, Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria, a candidate for the Kingdom of Poland, and Archduke Eugen of Austria, an Austrian officer. When Friedrich's uncle Archduke Albert, Duke of Teschen died in 1895, he and his brothers each inherited large estates. Friedrich owned properties at Ungarisch-Altenburg (now Mosonmagyaróvár in Hungary), Belleje, Saybusch (now Żywiec in Poland), Seelowitz (now Židlochovice) and Frýdek in the Czech Republic, and Pressburg (now Bratislava ...
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Elizabeth Lucretia, Duchess Of Cieszyn
Elizabeth Lucretia of Cieszyn (german: Elisabeth Lukretia von Teschen; pl, Elżbieta Lukrecja Cieszyńska; cs, Alžběta Lukrécie Těšínská; 1 June 1599 – 19 May 1653), was a reigning Duchess of Cieszyn (Teschen, Těšín) from 1625 until her death. Born as the third child and second daughter of Adam Wenceslaus, Duke of Cieszyn (by his wife Princess Elisabeth Ketteler of Courland, daughter of Gotthard Kettler, Duke of Courland), she was the last ruler of Cieszyn from the Polish-origin Silesian Piast dynasty. After her death, the Duchy of Cieszyn reverted to the Bohemian Crown as a completed fiefdom and was onward ruled directly by the Bohemian kings, then members of the House of Habsburg. Subsequently, Habsburg dynasty bore the title until the fall of the Empire and the liquidation of the Duchy of Cieszyn in 1918. Life Originally raised in the Lutheran faith, in 1610 she converted to the Catholicism, together with her whole family. On 13 July 1617 her father, Adam Wenc ...
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