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
The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were a number of incorporated states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods connected by feudal relations under the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom o ...
in 1348. While the bulk of
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. S ...
was conquered by the
Prussian king
Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
in the
Silesian Wars of 1740–1763, Teschen together with the duchies of
Troppau (Opava),
Krnov and
Nysa remained with the
Habsburg monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
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
Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Laurentius of Austria, Duke of Teschen (german: link=no, Erzherzog Karl Ludwig Johann Josef Lorenz von Österreich, Herzog von Teschen; 5 September 177130 April 1847) was an Austrian field-marshal, the third s ...
, held the title "Duke of Teschen" until 1918.
History
The duchy shared the history of the
Cieszyn Silesia region, and also in part that of Silesia in general: the Teschen area was the south-easternmost part of the medieval
Duchy of Silesia
The Duchy of Silesia ( pl, Księstwo śląskie, german: Herzogtum Schlesien, cs, Slezské knížectví) with its capital at Wrocław was a medieval duchy located in the historic Silesian region of Poland. Soon after it was formed under the Piast ...
, a Polish province established upon the death of Duke
Bolesław III Wrymouth in 1138. According to his
testament, the Silesian lands were to be ruled by his eldest son
Władysław II, who became the progenitor of the
Silesian Piasts. Though he was exiled by his younger half-brothers after he had tried to gain control over Poland as a whole, his sons, backed by Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt ...
, were able to return and to secure their Silesian inheritance. In 1172 they divided the heritage: the Upper Silesian lands with the Cieszyn area stretching up to the
Beskid Mountains fell to the second son
Mieszko I Tanglefoot
Mieszko IV Tanglefoot ( pl, Mieszko IV Plątonogi) (c. 1130 – 16 May 1211) was Duke of Kraków and High Duke of Poland from 9 June 1210 until his death one year later. He was also Duke of Silesia from 1163 to 1173 (with his brother as co-ruler) ...
, who ruled as
Duke of Racibórz.
Defying the Polish
agnatic seniority
Agnatic seniority is a patrilineal principle of inheritance where the order of succession to the throne prefers the monarch's younger brother over the monarch's own sons. A monarch's children (the next generation) succeed only after the males ...
principle, Mieszko Tanglefoot in 1202 occupied the neighbouring
Duchy of Opole from his nephew
Henry the Bearded
Henry the Bearded ( pl, Henryk (Jędrzych) Brodaty, german: Heinrich der Bärtige; c. 1165/70 – 19 March 1238) was a Polish duke from the Piast dynasty.
He was Duke of Silesia at Wrocław from 1201, Duke of Kraków and High Duke of all P ...
, forming the united Upper Silesian
Duchy of Opole and Racibórz. His descendants ruled Upper Silesia until the death of Mieszko's grandson Duke
Władysław Opolski in 1281, whereafter Opole-Racibórz was again divided among his four sons. The eldest,
Mieszko
Mieszko is a Slavic given name of uncertain origin.
Onomastics
There are three major theories concerning the origin and meaning of the name of Duke Mieszko I of Poland. The most popular theory, proposed by Jan Długosz, explains that Mieszko is a ...
, 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
The Duchy of Bohemia was established in 870 and raised to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198. Several Bohemian monarchs ruled as non-hereditary kings beforehand, first gaining the title in 1085. From 1004 to 1806, Bohemia was part of the Holy Roman ...
; during the Polish internal struggles after the death of High Duke
Leszek II Leszek II can be referred to:
* Leszek II, legendary ruler of Poland
* Leszek II the Black
Leszek II the Black (c. 1241 – 30 September 1288), was a Polish prince of the House of Piast, Duke of Sieradz since 1261, Duke of Łęczyca since 1267, ...
, 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
Oświęcim (; german: Auschwitz ; yi, אָשפּיצין, Oshpitzin) is a city in the Lesser Poland ( pl, Małopolska) province of southern Poland, situated southeast of Katowice, near the confluence of the Vistula (''Wisła'') and Soła riv ...
,
Zator,
Skoczów
Skoczów (pronounced , german: Skotschau, cs, Skočov) is a town and the seat of Gmina Skoczów in Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 14,385 inhabitants (2019). The town lies in the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia ...
and
Karviná with
town privileges
Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...
. His adhered to the alliance with Bohemia even after in 1310 the
House of Luxembourg assumed the throne in
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
.
After Mieszko's death in 1315, his son
Władysław took the lands east of the Biała river where he established the separate
Duchy of Oświęcim, which eventually became a fief of the
Polish Crown. His brother
Casimir I retained the western part and in 1327 swore
homage
Homage (Old English) or Hommage (French) may refer to:
History
*Homage (feudal) /ˈhɒmɪdʒ/, the medieval oath of allegiance
*Commendation ceremony, medieval homage ceremony Arts
*Homage (arts) /oʊˈmɑʒ/, an allusion or imitation by one arti ...
to King
John of Bohemia
John the Blind or John of Luxembourg ( lb, Jang de Blannen; german: link=no, Johann der Blinde; cz, Jan Lucemburský; 10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346), was the Count of Luxembourg from 1313 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King o ...
. After that Teschen became an autonomous
fiefdom of the Bohemian kings and part of the
Crown of Bohemia. 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
Bolesław I in 1431, the rule over the duchy was shared by his wife
Euphemia and their four sons. In 1442 the duchy was divided between the brothers who all bore the ducal title; nevertheless, the real control over the duchy passed to
Boleslaus II and
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
Moravian Wallachia ( cs, Moravské Valašsko, or simply ''Valašsko''; ro, Valahia Moravă) is a mountainous ethnoregion located in the easternmost part of Moravia in the Czech Republic, near the Slovak border, roughly centered on the cities ...
.
While the Lands of the Bohemian Crown passed to the
Habsburg dynasty in 1526, the Duchy of Teschen during the reign of Duke
Wenceslaus III Adam, from 1528 onwards, shifted to
Protestantism
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
. Influenced by the
Moravian governor
John of Pernstein, his tutor and father-in-law, he turned to the
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...
faith in 1540 and his subjects had to follow according to the ''
cuius regio, eius religio
() is a Latin phrase which literally means "whose realm, their religion" – meaning that the religion of the ruler was to dictate the religion of those ruled. This legal principle marked a major development in the collective (if not individual ...
'' rule. In 1560, still during his lifetime, he ceded the
Duchy of Bielsko with Karviná and
Frýdek to his son and heir
Frederick Casimir. Nevertheless, Frederick died already in 1571 and his father, struggling with financial problems, had to sell Bielsko as a
state country
State country (german: Freie Standesherrschaft; cs, stavovské panství; pl, państwo stanowe) was a unit of administrative and territorial division in the Bohemian crown lands of Silesia and Upper Lusatia, existing from 15th to 18th centuries. ...
to the
Princes of Pless. The remaining duchy passed to the only surviving son
Adam Wenceslaus, who in 1610 shifted back to
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
for the sake of political advantage and enacted several
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
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
Frederick William amidst the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...
in 1625. The intentions of the Habsburg rulers to seize the duchy as a reverted fief were initially thwarted by his surviving sister, Duchess
Elizabeth Lucretia, who began a lengthy lawsuit on her heritage. Nevertheless, when she died in 1653, the duchy passed directly to the Bohemian monarchs, 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
Charles VI separated Teschen from the Bohemian Crown and granted the duchy to Duke
Leopold of Lorraine, whose son
Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to:
* Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407)
* Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450
* Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547
* Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...
was to marry Charles's daughter
Maria Theresa. Leopold had unsuccessfully claimed his maternal grandmother's rights to the north Italian
Duchy of Montferrat, which Charles had taken and given to the
Dukes of Savoy in 1708 as part of their alliance pact. Once
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...
, Francis had to face the attack by the
Prussian king
Frederick the Great
Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...
, who after the 1742
Peace of Breslau
The Treaty of Breslau was a preliminary peace agreement signed on 11 June 1742 following long negotiations at the Silesian capital Wrocław (german: Breslau) by emissaries of Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria and King Frederick II of Prussia ...
took the bulk of Silesia, while Teschen remained with the Habsburg Monarchy. In 1766 Teschen passed to Francis' eldest surviving daughter, Archduchess
Maria Christina and her husband
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
Krnov (Jägerndorf),
Opava (Troppau) and southern part of episcopal
Nysa (Neisse) remained under Habsburg control and passed to the newly established
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...
in 1804. Archduchess Maria Christina had died in 1798 and as her marriage remained childless, upon the death of the widowed Albert in 1822 the duchy passed to their adopted son,
Archduke Charles of Austria, who assumed the title of ''
Herzog
''Herzog'' (female ''Herzogin'') is a German hereditary title held by one who rules a territorial duchy, exercises feudal authority over an estate called a duchy, or possesses a right by law or tradition to be referred to by the ducal title. ...
von Teschen'' and became progenitor of the Teschen cadet branch of the
Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty. While the Duchy of Teschen finally merged into the
crown land
Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it ...
of
Austrian Silesia after the
Revolutions of 1848
The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europ ...
, 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
The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (german: Ausgleich, hu, Kiegyezés) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereignty and status of the Kingdom of Hungary ...
. At the end of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
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
Spa Conference the division of the former duchy along the Olza was confirmed. The eastern part of Cieszyn Silesia was incorporated into the Polish
Autonomous Silesian Voivodeship
In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy, from , ''autonomos'', from αὐτο- ''auto-'' "self" and νόμος ''nomos'', "law", hence when combined understood to mean "one who gives oneself one' ...
, while the western part (including the
Zaolzie region) became part of
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
. This was confirmed on 5 August 1920 by the
Conference of Ambassadors. After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
the remaining German population was
expelled.
Demographics
File:Slask cieszynski wizytacje 17wiek.png, Languages of sermons in Roman Catholic parishes in the 17th century (red - Polish, yellow - Czech, blue - German, striped - Polish and German
File:Śląsk Cieszyński-Polacy 1910.png, 1910 Austrian census - percentage of Polish-speaking population
File:Śląsk Cieszyński-Czesi 1910.png, 1910 Austrian census - percentage of Czech-speaking population
File:Śląsk Cieszyński-Niemcy 1910.png, 1910 Austrian census - percentage of German-speaking population
According to the
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
census taken in 1910, the duchy had about 350,000 inhabitants: 54.8% Polish-speaking, 27.1% Czech-speaking and 18.1% German-speaking.
[Nowak 2008, 13.] 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
Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was the first ruler of Poland and the founder of the first independent Polish state, the Duchy of Poland. His reign stretched from 960 to his death and he was a member of the Piast dynasty, a son of Siemomysł and ...
* 1315–1358
Casimir I, son, swore homage to King
John of Bohemia
John the Blind or John of Luxembourg ( lb, Jang de Blannen; german: link=no, Johann der Blinde; cz, Jan Lucemburský; 10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346), was the Count of Luxembourg from 1313 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King o ...
in 1327
* 1358–1410
Przemyslaus I Noszak, son
* 1410–1431
Boleslaus I, son
* 1431–1442
Wenceslaus I, became Duke of
Siewierz
Siewierz is a town in southern Poland, in the Będzin County in the Silesian Voivodeship, seat of Gmina Siewierz.
History
Siewierz was first mentioned in 1125, and was administered by the Castellan of Bytom. In 1177, Casimir II of Poland grant ...
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
Elizabeth Lucretia, Teschen reverted to the royal domain of Bohemia. In 1722,
Emperor Charles VI
Charles VI (german: Karl; la, Carolus; 1 October 1685 – 20 October 1740) was Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy from 1711 until his death, succeeding his elder brother, Joseph I. He unsuccessfully claimed the thron ...
, 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
Albert Franz Josef Karl Friedrich Georg Hubert Maria, Archduke of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Duke of Teschen (In German: ''Erzherzog Albrecht Franz Josef Karl Friedrich Georg Hubert Maria von Österreich, Herzog von Teschen'') ...
(1897–1955) continued to use the title after the death of his father.
Old maps
File:Mattheus Seuter, Ducatus Teschenensis.jpg, The Duchy of Teschen: 17th/18th century map by Matthäus Seutter
File:Jonas Nigrinus, Ducatus Teschinensis.jpg, The Duchy of Teschen in 1724, by Jonas Nigrinus
File:Matthaeus Schubarth, Ducatus Teschinensis.jpg, The Duchy of Teschen in 1736, by Matthaeus Schubarth
File:Principatus Teschinenis Superiorem Silesiam AD1746.jpg, The Duchy of Teschen. 1746 map by Johann Homann
File:Joh David Schleuen, Das Fürstenthum Teschen map.jpg, 17th/18th century map of the Duchy of Teschen by Joh David Schleuen
File:Duchy of Teschen.jpg, Polish map of the Duchy of Cieszyn, 20th century
Footnotes
References
*
*
*
*
External links
1600s Map of German lands with the Duchy of Teschen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teschen, Duchy Of
States and territories disestablished in 1918
States and territories established in 1281
Duchies of Silesia
Cieszyn Silesia
Dukedoms of Poland
History of Czech Silesia
Duchesses of Teschen