Duchy of Racibórz

The Duchy of Racibórz was one of the many Silesian duchies created by the fragmentation of medieval Poland, centred on the town of Racibórz in Upper Silesia. It was formed in 1172 for Mieszko I Tanglefoot, a son of the Silesian duke Bolesław the Tall, and originally included Koźle and Cieszyn. Mieszko enlarged his lands in 1177 with Bytom, Oświęcim, Zator, Pszczyna and Siewierz, and in 1202 he seized the duchy of his deceased nephew Jarosław, creating the united Duchy of Opole and Racibórz. That union was divided again after 1281, and in 1290 Racibórz was recreated for Przemysław, one of the sons of Władysław of Opole. German settlement in the southern parts of the duchy during the medieval Ostsiedlung left a lasting mark on local place names. In 1327 Przemysław's son Leszek paid homage to King John of Bohemia, making the duchy a Bohemian fief; when Leszek died without heirs in 1336 the king granted it to the Přemyslid dukes of Opava. Racibórz changed hands and boundaries repeatedly before it was merged once more with Opole in 1521 under Jan II the Good.