Duchy of Opole

Duchy of Opole was one of the duchies of Silesia ruled by the branch of Polish Piast dynasty. Its capital was Opole (Oppeln, Opolí) in Upper Silesia. History Duke Boleslaus III 'Wrymouth' (who died a feudatory of the German Emperor) had restored Polish fortunes to some extent but having endured terrific internal strife, he decreed in his will (1138) that the Polish kingdom would be better divided into four hereditary principalities for each of his four sons as a kind of family federation. One became Duke of Great Poland (around Gniezno), another Silesia, another Lesser Poland (around Cracow), another, half-heathen Masovia. The rising local magnates, dowered with estates, preferred provincial princes. But the division of loyalties among these princes brought on a long period of dynastic struggle, intrigue, and national weakness. By this time Silesia, under strong German influence, had been divided into sixteen minuscule principalities and was finally annexed by Bohemia. Civil wars followed which encouraged foreign intervention. Boleslaus IV (1146–73) submitted (1157) as vassal of the German Emperor, Frederick I Barbarossa, and the Piast dukes in Silesia ultimately grew wholly Germanized. The disputes, however, continued. Duke Bolesław I the Tall and his younger brother Mieszko I Tanglefoot divided the territory among themselves into the two duchies of Wrocław and Racibórz. Bolesław originally had the intention to bequest the Duchy of Wrocław as a whole to his son of his second marriage Henry I the Bearded, which caused the protest of his eldest son Jarosław. After a long-term dispute in 1172 the Duchy of Opole was formed with Jarosław becoming the first duke. In turn he was obliged to an ecclesiastical career and became Bishop of Wrocław in 1198.