Duchy of Teschen

Duchy of Teschen Księstwo Cieszyńskie (Polish) Těšínské knížectví (Czech) Herzogtum Teschen (German) Ducatus Tessinensis (Latin)
1290–1918
Flag Coat of arms1
Silesia duchies in 1290–91: Teschen under Mieszko I in yellow
Status	Silesian duchy Fiefdom of Bohemia (from 1327) Part of the Bohemian Crown (from 1348)
Capital	Cieszyn
Common languages	Latin (officially) Czech and German (later) Polish (popularly)
Religion	Lutheranism Roman Catholicism
Dukes
• 1290–1315	Mieszko I (first duke)
• 1625–1653	Elizabeth Lucretia (last Piast ruler)
• 1895–1918	Archduke Frederick Habsburg (last duke)
History
• Partitioned from Opole-Racibórz	1281
• Split off Oświęcim	1315
• Vassalized by Bohemia	1327
• Split off Bielsko	1572
• Habsburg rule	1653
• Part of Austrian Silesia	1742/45
• Disestablished	1918
• Spa Conference	28 July 1920
Population
• 1910	350,000
Preceded by Succeeded by Duchy of Opole and Racibórz First Czechoslovak Republic Second Polish Republic
1 Coat of arms of the Duchy of Teschen and the regional branch of the Piast dynasty

The Duchy of Teschen (German: Herzogtum Teschen), also Duchy of Cieszyn (Polish: Księstwo Cieszyńskie) or Duchy of Těšín (Czech: Těšínské knížectví), was one of the Duchies of Silesia centered on Cieszyn (Teschen) in Upper Silesia. It was split off the Silesian Duchy of Opole and Racibórz in 1281 during the feudal division of Poland and was ruled by Silesian dukes of the Piast dynasty from 1290 until the line became extinct with the death of Duchess Elizabeth Lucretia in 1653.^[1]

The ducal lands initially comprised former Lesser Polish territories east of the Biała River, which in about 1315 again split off as the Polish Duchy of Oświęcim, while the remaining duchy became a fiefdom of the Bohemian kings in 1327 and was incorporated into the Lands of the Bohemian Crown in 1348. While the bulk of Silesia was conquered by the Prussian king Frederick the Great in the Silesian Wars of 1740–1763, Teschen together with the duchies of Troppau (Opava), Krnov and Nysa remained with the Habsburg monarchy and merged into the Austrian Silesia crown land in 1849. The so-called "commander line" of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty, a cadet branch descending from Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen, held the title "Duke of Teschen" until 1918.