This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Poeticbent (talk | contribs) at 23:39, 13 January 2008 (WP:Proper names#Place_names, relevancy, WP:UNDUE, +ref). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 23:39, 13 January 2008 by Poeticbent (talk | contribs) (WP:Proper names#Place_names, relevancy, WP:UNDUE, +ref)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Duchy of Pless or the Duchy of Pszczyna (Template:Lang-de, Template:Lang-pl, was a duchy of Silesia, with its capital at Pszczyna (Pless), Poland.
At first the lands of Pszczyna were treated as a part of Little Poland (Template:Lang-pl) but in 1178 King of Poland Casimir II the Just gave them to one of the Dukes of Silesia, Mieszko I Tanglefoot, who attached it to his lands, the duchies of Opole and of Racibórz. Leszek Pszczyński was forced to accept vassalization by John I of Bohemia in 1327 putting the Duchy in the Bohemian sphere of influence up until his death in 1336. For a time, the Duchy was ruled by the Přemyslid dynasty. From 1412 until 1452 Helena, sister of Jogaila, ruled the Duchy. After her stepdaughter governed from 1452 until 1462 the House of Podebrady took over, and it was part of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown. The Thurzó family acquired the Duchy and sold it in 1548 to the Promnitz family, who ruled the Duchy with the approval of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor until 1765.
In the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) most of Silesia was conquered by Prussia. The Duke of Ratibor represented the district of Pless-Rybnik in the parliament of the North German Confederation. In 1903, the Centre Party's delegation from Silesia was largely replaced, although by very thin majorities, by the Polish National Democrats.
The lands retained a large Polish-speaking majority (86% in the Prussian Census of 1867) and were reattached to Poland in 1922, as part of the settlement after the Silesian Uprisings.
References
- Julian Janczak, Zarys dziejów kartografii śląskiej do końca XVIII wieku, Opole: 1976. Accessed 2008-13-01
- Victor Moritz Karl, prince of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst, also Prince of Corvey; younger brother of Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, later Chancellor, who had given up the family estates. Half of the district belonged to the Prince of Pless; the Hohenlohes owned much of the rest.
- Anderson, p.1464-68.
- Margaret Lavinia Anderson, "Voter, Junker, Landrat, Priest: The Old Authorities and the New Franchise in Imperial Germany" The American Historical Review, Vol. 98, No. 5. (Dec., 1993), pp. 1448-1474. JSTOR link.
- Theodor G. Ahrens, "The Present Status of the European Bison or Wisent" Journal of Mammalogy, Vol. 2, No. 2. (May, 1921), pp. 58-62.JSTOR link.
- Daisy, Princess of Pless, by Herself. New York (1929) Ed. and Introd. by Maj. Desmond Chapman-Huston.