Duchy of Oels

Duchy of Oleśnica Herzogtum Oels (de) Księstwo Oleśnickie (pl) Olešnické knížectví (cs)
Silesian duchy
← 1313 – 1884 →
Silesia 1312-1317: Creation of the Duchy of Olésnica (blue) for Bolesław in 1313
Capital	Oleśnica
Government	Principality
Historical era	Middle Ages Early modern period
- Partitioned from Głogów	1313
- Vassalized by Bohemia	1328
- Henry of Poděbrady     Duke	1495
- Silvius Nimrod of     Württemberg Duke	1649
- Frederick Augustus of     Brunswick Duke	1792
- Disestablishment	1884

The Duchy of Oels or Duchy of Oleśnica (Latin: Ducatus Olsnensis, German: Herzogtum Oels, Czech: Olešnické knížectví) was one of the duchies of Silesia, with the capital in Oleśnica,^[1] Poland.^[2]

Oleśnica Castle

Initially part of the Piast Duchy of Wrocław, the Oleśnica area became part of the Duchy of Głogów in 1294, following an armed conflict between Duke Henry III and Henry V the Fat, Duke of Wrocław. After the death of Duke Henry III in 1309, it gained significant autonomy during the division of the Głogów lands and the creation of the Duchy of Oleśnica for Henry's son Bolesław in 1313, followed by his brother Konrad I in 1321.

Konrad sought protection from the claims of his Piast cousin King Władysław I the Elbow-high of Poland at the Bohemian crown and in 1328 swore allegiance to King John the Blind of Bohemia. Thus after the local branch of the Silesian Piasts had died out with the death of Duke Konrad X in 1492, Henry of Poděbrady, the son of the predeceased Bohemian King George of Poděbrady claimed the duchy as a ceased fief for him and his descendants, finally acknowledged by George's successor King Vladislav II Jagellonský in 1495.

When the Poděbrad dynasty became extinct in 1647, Emperor Ferdinand III of Habsburg enfeoffed Duke Silvius I Nimrod of Württemberg with Oleśnica, who had married the daughter of the last Poděbrad duke. The duchy remained under the Crown of Bohemia until in 1742 it was conquered by the Kingdom of Prussia in the course of the Silesian Wars. The Württemberg dukes remained landowners and in 1792 the duchy was inherited by Frederick Augustus of Brunswick-Lüneburg, son of Charles I, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. From 1815 Oleśnica was ruled in personal union with the Duchy of Brunswick until its dissolution after Duke William had died without issue in 1884.

Ducatus in Silesia Inferiore Olsnensis, engraving by Pieter Schenk the Younger, about 1720

See also

• Dukes of Silesia

Notes

1. ^ (Polish) (English) Panorama miast, Oleśnica Accessed 2008-01-04. "Oleśnica had been an important trade settlement and the capital of a Duchy, undergoing its prime development during the Renaissance period."
2. ^ Zofia Uszyńska, University of Michigan, Poland, Travel Guide Publisher: AGPOL, 1960. Digitized Nov 13, 2006. Accessed 2008-01-04. "Oleśnica used to be the capital of the Duchy of Oleśnica, which was ruled until the end of the 15th c. by Polish dukes of the Piast dynasty."