Key Facts
- Duration
- 1335–1742 (under Bohemian crown)
- Number of duchies
- More than twenty
- Key transfer
- Ceded to Kingdom of Bohemia, 1335
- Prussian annexation
- Most of Silesia taken by Prussia, 1742
- Remaining Bohemian lands
- Teschen, Troppau, and Nysa retained until 1918
Imperial Zenith Metrics
Historical Trajectory
Phase I: Rise
The Duchies of Silesia emerged between the 12th and 14th centuries as the original Duchy of Silesia, a component of the Kingdom of Poland, fragmented among Piast dynastic heirs. Repeated inheritance divisions produced more than twenty separate duchies across the region. In 1335, under the Treaty of Trentschin, these duchies were collectively ceded to the Kingdom of Bohemia, integrating Silesia into the Bohemian crown lands within the Holy Roman Empire.
Phase II: Zenith
Under Bohemian suzerainty, Silesia functioned as a collection of largely autonomous principalities within the Holy Roman Empire, contributing to the region's commercial and cultural development through its linen trade and mining industries. The duchies retained local governance structures under their respective dukes, while Bohemian overlordship provided a broader political framework that connected Silesia to Central European dynastic and economic networks.
Phase III: Decline
The War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1742) proved decisive for Silesia's fate. Frederick II of Prussia invaded and defeated Austria, and under the Treaty of Berlin in 1742 Prussia annexed most of the duchies. Only the Duchy of Teschen, the Duchy of Troppau, and the Duchy of Nysa remained under Bohemian (Habsburg) control, collectively styled the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, until the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918.
Notable Imperial Reigns
Selected rulers mapping the empire’s trajectory