Abstract

The events of the second half of the twelfth century was a watershed in the relationship between Poland and Silesia. In general, this period of Polish history is considered to be the beginning of the fragmentation of the Piast patrimony into politically separate principalities. Disagreements between individual Piast dynasts led to a series of civil wars which were sett-led by a further division of the Piast realm as apanages to younger members of the dynasty. Opportunistic Imperial interventions in the turbulent internal politics of the Piast monarchy further complicated matters, specifically the thorny issue of overlordship of Silesia became the key aspect of the relationship between Poland and the Empire. For these reasons the later part of the twelfth century is considered the era in which the origins of the separation of Silesia from the Piast monarchy was first placed.