Duchy of Racibórz in the context of "Racibórz"

Lower Silesia (Polish: Dolny Śląsk [ˈdɔlnɨ ˈɕlɔ̃sk]; Czech: Dolní Slezsko; German: Niederschlesien [ˈniːdɐˌʃleːzi̯ən] ; Silesian: Dolny Ślōnsk; Upper Sorbian: Delnja Šleska [ˈdɛlnʲa ˈʃlɛska]; Lower Sorbian: Dolna Šlazyńska [ˈdɔlna ˈʃlazɨnʲska]; Lower Silesian: Niederschläsing; Latin: Silesia Inferior) is a historical and geographical region mostly located in Poland with small portions in the Czech Republic and Germany. It is the western part of the region of Silesia. Its largest city is Wrocław.

The first state to have a stable hold over the territory of what will be considered Lower Silesia was the short-lived Great Moravia in the 9th century. Afterwards, in the Middle Ages, Lower Silesia was part of Piast-ruled Poland. It was one of the leading regions of Poland, and its capital Wrocław was one of the main cities of the Polish Kingdom. Lower Silesia emerged as a distinctive region during the fragmentation of Poland in 1172, when the Duchies of Opole and Racibórz, considered Upper Silesia since, were formed of the eastern part of the Duchy of Silesia, and the remaining, western part was since considered Lower Silesia. The oldest Polish writing and first Polish print were created in the region. During the Ostsiedlung, the Piast rulers invited German settlers to settle in the region, which until then had a Polish majority. As a result, the region became largely German-speaking by the end of the 15th century.

The House of Hunyadi was one of the most powerful noble families in the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th century. A member of the family, Matthias Corvinus, was King of Hungary from 1458 until 1490, King of Bohemia (ruling in Moravia, Lower Lusatia, Upper Lusatia, and Silesia) from 1469 until 1490, and Duke of Austria from 1487 until 1490. His illegitimate son, John Corvinus, ruled the Duchy of Troppau from 1485 until 1501, and five further Silesian duchies, including Bytom, Głubczyce, Loslau, Racibórz, and Tost, from 1485 until 1490. The Hunyadi coat-of-arms depicted a raven with a golden ring in its beak.

The founder of the family, Voyk, received the eponymous Hunyad Castle (in present-day Hunedoara, Romania) from Sigismund, King of Hungary, in 1409. His ethnicity is the subject of scholarly debate. Some modern historians describe him as a Vlach, or Romanian, knez or boyar, from either Wallachia or Transylvania. Others describe him as a Cuman or Slav nobleman. According to the 15th-century historian, Johannes de Thurocz, Voyk moved from Wallachia to Transylvania. Voyk's oldest son, John Hunyadi, was often mentioned as a "Vlach" by his contemporaries.

The Principality of Opava (Czech: Opavské knížectví; Polish: Księstwo Opawskie) or Duchy of Troppau (German: Herzogtum Troppau) was a historic territory split off from the Margraviate of Moravia before 1269 by King Ottokar II of Bohemia to provide for his natural son, Nicholas I. The Opava territory thus had not been part of the original Polish Duchy of Silesia in 1138, and was first ruled by an illegitimate offshoot of the Bohemian Přemyslid dynasty, not by the Silesian Piasts like many of the neighbouring Silesian duchies. Its capital was Opava (Troppau) in the modern-day Czech Republic.

From 1337 onwards, the Přemyslid dukes also ruled the adjacent former Piast Duchy of Racibórz, whereupon Opava became united with the Upper Silesian lands. When the Opava branch became extinct in 1464, it fell back to the Bohemian Crown, from 1526 part of the Habsburg monarchy. In the final three centuries of its existence, the duchy was ruled by the House of Liechtenstein. It was dissolved with the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, but the title of Duke of Troppau and Jägerndorf still exists, belonging to a present-day monarch, Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein. The Duchy of Jägerndorf (Krnov) was another of the Silesian duchies.

Sigismund Báthory (Hungarian: Báthory Zsigmond; 1573 – 27 March 1613) was Prince of Transylvania several times between 1586 and 1602, and Duke of Racibórz and Opole in Silesia in 1598. His father, Christopher Báthory, ruled Transylvania as voivode (or deputy) of the absent prince, Stephen Báthory. Sigismund was still a child when the Diet of Transylvania elected him voivode at his dying father's request in 1581. Initially, regency councils administered Transylvania on his behalf, but Stephen Báthory made János Ghyczy the sole regent in 1585. Sigismund adopted the title of prince after Stephen Báthory died.

The Diet proclaimed Sigismund to be of age in 1588, but only after he agreed to expel the Jesuits. Pope Sixtus V excommunicated him, but the ban was lifted in 1590, and the Jesuits returned a year later. His blatant favoritism towards the Catholics made him unpopular among his Protestant subjects. He decided to join the Holy League against the Ottoman Empire. Since he could not convince the Diet to support his plan, he renounced the throne in July 1594, but the commanders of the army convinced him to revoke his abdication. At their proposal, he purged the noblemen who opposed the war against the Ottomans. He officially joined the Holy League and married Maria Christina of Habsburg, a niece of the Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolph II. The marriage was never consummated.

The Duchy of Bytom (Polish: Księstwo Bytomskie, Czech: Bytomské knížectví, German: Herzogtum Beuthen) was a duchy in Upper Silesia, one of the Silesian duchies of fragmented Piast-ruled Poland. It was established in Upper Silesia about 1281 during the division of the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz among the sons of Duke Władysław Opolski. The duchy's capital was Bytom, formerly part of Lesser Poland until in 1177 the Polish High Duke Casimir II the Just had attached it to the Silesian Duchy of Racibórz.