After
Bolesław I the Tall and his younger brother
Mieszko I Tanglefoot backed by Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossa had retained their
Silesian heritage in 1163, the Duchy of Racibórz was formed in 1172 as a territory for Mieszko. It was centered on the towns of
Racibórz,
Koźle and
Cieszyn. Mieszko's small share was enlarged the first time in 1177, when he received the territories of
Bytom,
Oświęcim,
Zator,
Pszczyna and
Siewierz from his uncle High Duke
Casimir II the Just of Poland. In 1202 Mieszko occupied the
Duchy of Opole of his deceased nephew
Jarosław, forming the united
Duchy of Opole and Racibórz. After the death of Mieszko's grandson Duke
Władysław Opolski in 1281, his sons again divided the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz and in 1290 the Duchy of Racibórz was recreated again, assigned to Władysław's youngest son
Przemysław. Racibórz at that time comprised the lands of
Wodzisław,
Żory,
Rybnik,
Mikołów and
Pszczyna, while some of the territory of was used for the creation of the duchies of
Cieszyn and
Bytom under Przemysław's brothers. A large number of place names of German origin in the southern part of the Duchy are the effect of medieval
Ostsiedlung. In 1327 Przemysław's son Duke
Leszek paid homage to King
John of Bohemia, whereafter his duchy became a
Bohemian fief. After Leszek died without issue in 1336, King John seized the duchy and granted it to the
Přemyslid Duke Nicolas II of
Opava (Troppau), forming the united Duchy of Opava and Racibórz. The Duchy would suffer several territorial changes until in 1521 it was again merged with Opole under Duke
Jan II the Good. As a Duchy of Opole and Racibórz, after Jan's death in 1532 it fell back to the
House of Habsburg, Bohemian kings since 1526. The fief was given in pawn to Margrave
George of Brandenburg-Ansbach from the
House of Hohenzollern. From 1645 to 1666 as part of the
Duchy of Opole and Racibórz it was held by the Polish
House of Vasa. It was annexed and incorporated into the
Kingdom of Prussia by the 1742
Treaty of Breslau. The title of a "Duke of Ratibor" was acquired by Landgrave
Victor Amadeus of Hesse-Rotenburg in 1821. King
Frederick William IV of Prussia in 1840 granted it to the landgrave's nephew Prince
Victor of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, in turn for his renunciation of the
Hohenlohe inheritance in favour of his younger brother
Chlodwig. On 18 September 1939, in the skirmish of Pociecha in the
Kampinos Forest, in which three
TKS tankettes destroyed three German tanks, two
Panzer 35(t)s and a
Panzer IV Ausf. B, from the 1t. Leichte Division. As a result of the battle the commander of the German platoon and heir to the
Duchy of Racibórz, 23-year-old Silesian prince and lieutenant Viktor IV Albrecht Johannes von Ratibor, who rode in the Panzer IV, was killed.
Rudy Palace, near Ratibor, was the main residence of the Dukes until 1945. ==Dukes==