Silesia: Early History and Hapsburg Rule

Some historians maintain that the area was inhabited by the Silingae, a Vandal tribe, from the 3d cent. b.c. to the 3d cent. a.d. Slavic tribes settled here c.a.d. 500, and Silesia was an integral part of Poland by the 11th cent. King Boleslaus III (reigned 1102–38), of the Piast dynasty, divided Poland into four hereditary duchies (of which Silesia was one) for the benefit of his sons. After 1200 the duchy of Silesia fell apart into numerous minor principalities.

The Silesian Piasts encouraged German colonization of their lands, the larger part of which became thoroughly Germanized, and in the early 14th cent. the Silesian princes accepted the king of Bohemia as their suzerain and thus became mediate princes of the Holy Roman Empire. During the Hussite Wars of the 15th cent. Silesia, with Moravia, was temporarily detached from the Bohemian crown and was ruled by Hungary. In 1490, however, both Silesia and Moravia reverted to Bohemia, with which they passed to the house of Hapsburg in 1526.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Modern Silesia
• Hapsburg Rule
• Early History and Hapsburg Rule

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