Duchy of Oświęcim
Duchy of Oświęcim | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1315–1564 | |||||||||
Silesian duchies in 1309–11, Oświęcim before its separation from the Duchy of Cieszyn (yellow) | |||||||||
| Status | Silesian duchy | ||||||||
| Capital | Oświęcim | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Partitioned from Cieszyn | 1315 | ||||||||
• Vassalized by Bohemia | 1327 | ||||||||
• Split off Zator | 1445 | ||||||||
• Sold to Poland | 1457 | ||||||||
• Incorporated into Kraków Voivodeship | 1564 | ||||||||
| 1772 | |||||||||
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| Today part of | Poland | ||||||||
The Duchy of Oświęcim (Polish: Księstwo Oświęcimskie), or the Duchy of Auschwitz (German: Herzogtum Auschwitz), was one of the Duchies of Silesia in the lands of Lesser Poland (Małopolska), formed in the aftermath of the fragmentation of Poland, centered around Oświęcim.
It was established about 1315 on the Lesser Polish lands east of the Biała river held by the Silesian branch of the Polish royal Piast dynasty. Briefly semi-autonomous, with its capital in Oświęcim, it was finally sold to the Kingdom of Poland in 1457. Thanks to the annexation to the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, the areas of the Duchy of Oświęcim were reunited with the Kraków Land of Lesser Poland. Annexed by the Habsburg Empire in 1772 as a part of Galicia, the remaining ducal title ceased to exist in 1918 with the lands being reincorporated into the Second Polish Republic as a part of Kraków Voivodeship.