Duchy of Opole and Racibórz

The Duchy of Opole and Racibórz was one of the numerous Duchies of Silesia ruled by the Silesian branch of the royal Polish Piast dynasty. It was formed in 1202 from the union of the Upper Silesian duchies of Opole and the Racibórz, in a rare exception to the continuing feudal fragmentation of the original Duchy of Silesia. In 1281 it was split again. In 1521 it was recreated by the last Silesian Piast, Duke Jan II the Good. After his heirless death the duchy fell to the Kingdom of Bohemia. It was briefly part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th century; eventually like most of the province of Silesia it was annexed by Prussia after the First Silesian War in 1742.