The Duchy of Löwenberg () or Duchy of Lwówek () was one of the

Duchies of Silesia The Duchies of Silesia were the more than twenty divisions of the region of Silesia formed between the 12th and 14th centuries by the breakup of the Duchy of Silesia, then part of the Kingdom of Poland. In 1335, the duchies were ceded to the King ...

and medieval Poland established in 1281 as a division of the

Duchy of Jawor Duchy of Jawor (, ) was one of the duchies of Silesia and medieval Poland established in 1274 as a subdivision of the Duchy of Legnica. It was ruled by the Silesian Piasts, with its capital at Jawor in Lower Silesia. It was the southwesternmost ...

. The duchy of Lwówek was ruled by the

Silesian Piast 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 here ...

Bernard the Lightsome Bernard the Lightsome (also known as of Lwówek; or ''Lwówecki''; 1253 or 1257 – 25 April 1286) was a Duke of Lwówek (Löwenberg) since 1278 (with his brother until 1281) and Jawor (Jauer) during 1278–1281 (as a co-ruler of his brother). ...

, with its capital at

Lwówek Śląski Lwówek Śląski (; formerly ''Lwów''; ) is a town in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship in Poland. Situated on the Bóbr River, Lwówek Śląski is about NNW of Jelenia Góra and has a population of about 9,000 inhabitants. It is the administrativ ...

Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a historical and geographical region mostly located in Poland with small portions in the Czech Republic and Germany. It is the western part of the region of Silesia. Its largest city is Wrocław. The first ...

. It was the southwesternmost duchy of Poland at the time.

Geography

The original duchy was located in the south-western part of

on the current lands of

Lwówek Śląski County Lwówek is a town in Nowy Tomyśl County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,961 inhabitants (2010). History Town rights were granted by King Władysław II Jagiełło. The town was known as Lwów, before the name was changed to the cu ...

with the southern part of the duchy covering most of the modern

Jelenia Góra County __NOTOC__ Karkonosze County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, south-western Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms pass ...

was the biggest town (around 11.000 inhabitants.) and also the capital of the duchy. The town of Lwowek had its own

mint Mint or The Mint may refer to: Plants * Lamiaceae, the mint family ** ''Mentha'', the genus of plants commonly known as "mint" Coins and collectibles * Mint (facility), a facility for manufacturing coins * Mint condition, a state of like-new ...

and

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

. The town had double walls and two big churches. Some other important towns located within the lands of the duchy were:

Wleń Wleń () is a small historic town in Lwówek Śląski County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It lies on the Bóbr river in the historic Lower Silesian region, approximately south-east of Lwówek Śląski, and west of the re ...

Gryfów Śląski Gryfów Śląski (), simplified to Gryfów (), is a historic town in Lwówek Śląski County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Gryfów Śląski. As of 2019, the ...

() and

Jelenia Góra Jelenia Góra (; ; ) is a historic city in southwestern Poland, within the historical region of Lower Silesia. Jelenia Góra is situated in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, close to the Karkonosze mountain range running along the Polish-Czech bo ...

(). The main factor of the rapid development of the area was

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

surrounding Lwowek Slaski and the trade road

Via Regia The Via Regia (Royal Highway) is a European Cultural Route following the route of the Historic roads, historic road of the Middle Ages. There were many such ''viae regiae'' associated with the king in the medieval Holy Roman Empire. History ...

. Some sources say that a few tons of gold were excavated in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

from the mines around Lwowek. After the exhaustion of the gold mines the citizens started to earn from cloth producing,

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal ...

crafts A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...

, trade and

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

processing.

History

was the only ruler of the duchy of Lwowek. He was the youngest son of the Silesian prince Boleslaw II Rogatka and Hedwig, daughter of

Henry I, Count of Anhalt Henry I ( 1170 – 1252), a member of the House of Ascania, was Count of Anhalt from 1212 and the first ruling Anhalt prince from 1218 until his death. Life He was the oldest son of Count Bernhard of Anhalt probably by his first wife Judith ...

. He became the ruler 3 years after his father died, in 1281 when Bernards' brother

Bolko I the Strict Bolko (Bolesław) I the Strict, also known as Bolko (Bolesław) of Jawor ( or ''Srogi'' or ''Jaworski''; 1252/56 – 9 November 1301), was a Duke of Lwówek Śląski, Lwówek 1278–81 (with his brother as co-ruler) and Duchy of Jawor, Jawor after ...

partitioned the

and granted him western part of the duchy with its capital in

. The

and the duchy of Lwówek cooperated as brothers ruled in the two duchies. Bernard died unmarried and childless in 1286 and because of a lack of heirs the duchy of Lwówek was annexed and ruled by the

again by Bernard's brother Bolko I.

Castles

There were several castles guarding the lands of the duchy. The most important were those located in

, Gryfów and

Lwówek Lwówek is a town in Nowy Tomyśl County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,961 inhabitants (2010). History Town rights were granted by King Władysław II Jagiełło. The town was known as Lwów, before the name was changed to the cu ...

. Lwówek Castle () was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

castle in Lwówek built to protect the inhabitants of the town. It was built at the beginning of the 13th century as a seat of Silesian princes. It was located in the southern part of the town, along the

town walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or Earthworks (military), earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as ...

. The founder of the castle was probably

Henry I the Bearded Henry the Bearded (, ; c. 1165/70 – 19 March 1238) was a Polish duke from the Piast dynasty. He was Dukes of Silesia, Duke of Silesia at Wrocław from 1201, Seniorate Province, Duke of Kraków and List of Polish monarchs, High Duke of all Kin ...

. The castle was often visited by princes of Jawor and Swidnica-Jawor (for example

). The castle was partly destroyed during a fire in 1381 but the town council decided to rebuild the castle and in 1389 the renovation was complete. Since 1444 the castle was no longer a public property. The castle was destroyed again in 1475 after a huge

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

and has never been rebuilt again. Now in the place of the castle stands the oldest

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

which started producing beer in 1209. The only remains of the castle are the

foundations in the brewery's basement. Gryf Castle is located in Proszowka near Gryfow. The first owner of the castle was

Konrad II the Hunchback Konrad II the Hunchback () (1252/65 – 11 October 1304) was Duke of Ścinawa from 1278 to 1284, patriarch of Aquileia in 1299, and Duke of Żagań from 1284 until his death. Biography He was the second son of Konrad I, Duke of Głogów by his fi ...

. Wleń Castle is located in Łupki near

. File:Gryf1 (js).jpg, Remainings of the Gryf Castle File:SM Łupki Zamek Wleń (2017) (9) ID 596187.jpg, Wlen Castle File:SM Łupki Zamek Wleń (2017) (6) ID 596187.jpg, The main tower of the castle There were also many medieval

guard tower A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are ...

s along

road.

Gallery

File:Lwówek Ślaski Ratusz9.JPG, Medieval bas-relief on the south wall of the town hall in Lwowek Slaski - a symbol of the town, with a sentence written in

latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

which means "Fair as a lion" File:POL Lwówek Śląski COA (1967-1996).svg, Medieval coat of arms of the town of Lwowek Slaski File:POL Lwówek Śląski COA.svg, Modern coat of arms of the town of Lwowek Slaski File:Lwówek Śląski, mury obronne z basztami (7).JPG, Medieval fortifications of Lwowek Slaski File:Baszta Lubańska w Lwówku Śląskim.jpg, Tower of Lubanian Gate - a place of a former town gate in Lwowek Slaski File:Lwówek Śląski, mury obronne z basztami (1).JPG, The high town wall of Lwowek Slaski (of double surrounding walls in general) File:Lwówek Śląski Obwarowania Baszta Bolesławiecka.JPG, Tower of Boleslawieckan Gate in Lwowek Slaski File:Baszta Bramy Złotoryjskiej.jpg, Tower of Złotoryjan Gate in Lwowek File:Rakowice Wielkie, wieża mieszkalna, widok od pn-zach..JPG, Guard tower in Rakowice Wielkie File:Lwówek Śląski, kościół Wniebowzięcia NMP, widok od z Bramy Lubańskiej.JPG, Big church in Lwowek File:Gryfów Śląski, kościół pw św. Jadwigi 1.jpg, Church of st. Hedwig in Gryfow File:Gryfów Śląski, mury obronne 02.jpg, Town walls of Gryfow File:Gryfów Śląski, Rynek 15 - fotopolska.eu (252961).jpg, Houses in Gryfow File:Church in Wlen.jpg, Church in Wlen

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Löwenberg, Duchy of Duchies of Silesia States and territories established in 1281 1281 establishments in Europe 13th-century establishments in Poland States and territories disestablished in 1286 1286 disestablishments in Europe 13th-century disestablishments in Poland