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Neudeck Palace
Neudeck Palace (Polish language, Polish: ''Zamek w Świerklańcu''; German language, German: ''Schloss Neudeck''; ) was the residence of the Aristocratic family, aristrocratic Henckel von Donnersmarck family in Upper Silesia. The palace complex and park was one of the largest and most magnificent in the German Empire and was popularly known as Little Palace of Versailles, Versailles or Upper Silesian Versailles. It is located around two kilometers south-east of the town of Świerklaniec, Neudeck (Polish: Świerklaniec) in the Tarnogórski, Tarnowskie Góry County in Poland. The Old and New Palace were set on fire by the Red Army in 1945 and demolished in August 1961. Today, the complex consists of the palace park, the Cavalier Palace, the Donnersmarck funeral chapel and several farm buildings and monuments. History In the Middle Ages, the area around today's Świerklaniec was a strategically important point, as the Brynica formed a natural border between Silesia and Poland. In ...
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Bytom
Bytom (Polish pronunciation: ; Silesian language, Silesian: ''Bytōm, Bytōń'', ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Voivodeship, the city is 7 km northwest of Katowice, the regional capital. It is one of the oldest cities in the Upper Silesia, and the former seat of the Silesian Piasts, Piast dukes of the Duchy of Bytom. Until 1532, it was in the hands of the Piast dynasty, then it belonged to the House of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern dynasty. After 1623 it was a state country in the hands of Henckel von Donnersmarck, the Donnersmarck family. From 1742 to 1945 the town was within the borders of Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia and Germany, and played an important role as an economic and administrative centre of the Katowice urban area, local industrial region. Until the outbreak of World War II, it was the main centre of national, social, cultural and publishing organisations fighting to preserve Polish identity in Upper Silesia. In the interbe ...
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Gothic Style
Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture. It originated in the Île-de-France and Picardy regions of northern France. The style at the time was sometimes known as ''opus Francigenum'' (); the term ''Gothic'' was first applied contemptuously during the later Renaissance, by those ambitious to revive the architecture of classical antiquity. The defining design element of Gothic architecture is the pointed arch. The use of the pointed arch in turn led to the development of the pointed rib vault and flying buttresses, combined with elaborate tracery and stained glass windows. At the Abbey of Saint-Denis, near Paris, the choir was reconstructed between 1140 and 1144, drawing together for the first time the developing Gothic ...
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Guilder
Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' (" gold penny"). This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Empire for the Fiorino d'oro (introduced in 1252 in the Republic of Florence). Hence, the name has often been interchangeable with ''florin'' (currency sign ''ƒ'' or ''fl.''). The guilder is also the name of several currencies used in Europe and the former colonies of the Dutch Empire. Gold guilder The guilder or gulden was the name of several gold coins used during the Holy Roman Empire. It first referred to the Italian gold florin, introduced in the 13th century. It then referred to the Rhenish gulden (''florenus Rheni'') issued by several states of the Holy Roman Empire from the 14th century. The Rhenish gulden was issued by Trier, Cologne and Mainz in the 14th and 15th centuries. Basel minted its own ''Apfelgulden'' between 1 ...
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Piast Dynasty
The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented List of Polish monarchs, Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I of Poland, Mieszko I (–992). The Poland during the Piast dynasty, 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 (until 1526) 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 dynasty, Jagiellonian kings ruling after the death of Casimir IV of Poland 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 pri ...
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Jan II The Good
Jan II of Opole () ( – 27 March 1532) was a Duke of Opole-Brzeg (until 1481)- Strzelce-Niemodlin in 1476 (with his brothers as co-rulers during 1476), ruler over Gliwice (in 1494), Toszek (in 1495), Niemodlin (again, in 1497), Bytom (in 1498), Koźle (in 1509), and Racibórz (in 1521). He belonged to the Silesian branch of the Polish Piast dynasty which was the oldest branch of the first Polish royal dynasty. He was born as the second son of Duke Nicholas I of Opole by his wife Agnes, daughter of Duke Louis II of Brzeg. Life Early political activities After the death of his father and eldest brother Louis in 1476, Jan II initially shared the government over the Duchy with his younger brother Nicholas II. Soon, however, probably still in 1476, the brothers decided to make the division of their domains: Jan II took over the governments over Opole, Strzelce and Brzeg, while Nicholas II received Niemodlin. However, this division was only a formality as the two brothers continue t ...
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Duchy Of Opole
The Duchy of Opole (; ) or Duchy of Oppeln () was one of the duchies of Silesia ruled by the branch of Polish Piast dynasty, formed during the medieval fragmentation of Poland into provincial duchies. Its capital was Opole () in Upper Silesia. States and territories disestablished in the 1200s States and territories disestablished in 1532 History Duke Bolesław III Wrymouth had restored Polish fortunes to some extent but having endured terrific internal strife, he decreed in his will (1138) that the Polish kingdom would be better divided into four hereditary principalities for each of his four sons as a kind of family federation. One became Duke of Greater Poland (around Gniezno), another Silesia, another Lesser Poland (around Kraków), another, half-heathen Masovia. The rising local magnates, dowered with estates, preferred provincial princes. But the division of loyalties among these princes brought on a long period of dynastic struggle, intrigue, and national weakness. By t ...
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Duchy Of Bytom
The Duchy of Bytom (, , ) was a duchy in Upper Silesia, one of the Duchies of Silesia, Silesian duchies of fragmented Piast dynasty, Piast-ruled Poland. It was established in Upper Silesia about 1281 during the division of the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz among the sons of Duke Władysław Opolski. The duchy's capital was Bytom, formerly part of Lesser Poland until in 1177 the Polish High Duke Casimir II the Just had attached it to the Silesian Duchy of Racibórz. History When Władysław's second son Casimir of Bytom, Casimir became Duke of Bytom, he at first ruled jointly with his brother Duke Bolko I of Opole and from 1284 on alone. The conflict with his Silesian Piasts, Piast cousin Duke Henryk IV Probus of Silesia-Wrocław led Casimir to seek shelter from King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and in 1289 he became the first Silesian Piast duke to submit himself under Kingdom of Bohemia, Bohemian overlordship. With the death of Casimir's grandson Duke Bolesław of Bytom, Bolesław in 1 ...
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Konrad II The Gray
Konrad II the Gray () (c. 1340 – 10 June 1403) was a Duke of Oleśnica, Koźle and half of Bytom since 1366 and Duke of half of Ścinawa since 1397 until his death. He was the second child but only son of Duke Konrad I of Oleśnica by his second wife Euphemia, daughter of Władysław, Duke of Koźle-Bytom Bytom (Polish pronunciation: ; Silesian language, Silesian: ''Bytōm, Bytōń'', ) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Voivodeship, the city is 7 km northwest of Katowice, the regional capital. It is one .... Life After the death of his father in 1366, Konrad II inherited all his lands as one and only ruler. Little is known about his rule. In 1377 he named his only son and heir, the future Konrad III, as his co-ruler. In 1397 he received half of Ścinawa as payment after the death of Henry VIII the Sparrow. Marriage and issue By 23 February 1354 Konrad II married with Agnes (b. 1338 – d. by 27 April 1371), daughter of Casi ...
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Cieszyn
Cieszyn ( , ; ; ) is a border town in southern Poland on the east bank of the Olza River, and the administrative seat of Cieszyn County, Silesian Voivodeship. The town has 33,500 inhabitants ( and lies opposite Český Těšín in the Czech Republic. Both towns belong to the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia, and formerly constituted the capital of the Duchy of Cieszyn as a single town. Geography The town is situated on the Olza (river), Olza river, a tributary of the Oder River, which forms the border with the Czech Republic. It is located within the western Silesian Foothills north of the Silesian Beskids and Mt. Czantoria Wielka, a popular ski resort. Cieszyn is the heart of the historical region of Cieszyn Silesia, the southeasternmost part of Upper Silesia. Until the end of World War I in 1918 it was a seat of the Duchy of Cieszyn, Dukes of Cieszyn. In 1920 Cieszyn Silesia was divided between the two newly created states of Second Polish Republic, Poland and First Czec ...
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Casimir II The Just
Casimir II the Just (; 28 October 1138 – 5 May 1194) was a Lesser Polish Duke of Wiślica from 1166 to 1173, and of Sandomierz after 1173. He became ruler over the Polish Seniorate Province at Kraków and thereby High Duke of Poland in 1177; a position he held until his death, though interrupted once by his elder brother and predecessor Mieszko III. In 1186 Casimir also inherited the Duchy of Masovia from his nephew Leszek, becoming the progenitor of the Masovian branch of the royal Piast dynasty, and great-grandfather of the later Polish king Władysław I the Elbow-high. The honorific title "the Just" was not contemporary and first appeared in the 16th century. Early life Casimir, the sixth but fourth surviving son of Bolesław III Wrymouth, Duke of Poland, by his second wife Salomea, daughter of Count Henry of Berg, was born in 1138, after his father's death but on the same day. Consequently, he was not mentioned in his father's will, and thus left without any land. Du ...
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Mieszko I
Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was Duchy of Poland (966–1025), Duke of Poland from 960 until his death in 992 and the founder of the first unified History of Poland, Polish state, the Civitas Schinesghe. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was the first Christian ruler of Poland and continued the policies of both his father Siemomysł and his grandfather Lestek, who initiated a process of unification among the Polish tribes and the creation of statehood. According to existing sources, Mieszko I was a potent politician, a talented military leader and a charismatic ruler. Through both alliances and military force, he extended ongoing Polish conquests. Early in his reign, he subjugated Kuyavia and likely Gdańsk Pomerania and Masovia. For most of his reign, Mieszko I waged war for control of West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Western Pomerania. He eventually annexed it to the vicinity of the lower Oder River. His internal reforms were aimed at expanding and improving the so-called war ...
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