Silesia

Silesia (Czech: Slezsko; German: Schlesien (help·info); Latin: Silesia; Polish: Śląsk; Silesian: Ślůnsk) is an historical region in central Europe, located along the upper and middle Oder River, upper Vistula River, and along the Sudetes, Carpathian (Silesian Beskids) mountain range. Most of it is now within the borders of Poland (Opole and Lower Silesian Voivodeships), with small parts in the Czech Republic (Czech Silesia). The largest cities are Wrocław and Katowice.

People have inhabited Silesia from the time immemorial. Slavic peoples first arrived in this territory around the 6th century. It became the territory of Greater Moravia and Bohemia. Rulers of Bohemia received ducal authority by pledging allegiance to Emperor Otto I in 950 AD. With the establishment of the Piast Poland shortly thereafter, Boleslaw I Chrobry united Silesia with the Polish state.In the Middle Ages, Silesia was divided among many independent duchies ruled by branches of the Piast dynasty. During this time, cultural and ethnic German influence increased due to immigrants from the German-speaking components of the Holy Roman Empire. It subsequently became a possession of the Bohemian crown under the Holy Roman Empire in the 14th century, and passed with that crown to the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria in 1526. The Duchy of Crossen was inherited by Brandenburg in 1476 and, with the renunciation by King Ferdinand I in 1538, it became an integral part of Brandenburg.