page_title: Bolesławiec
section_title: Middle Ages
hierarchical_section_title: Bolesławiec / History / Middle Ages
caption_attribution_description: Polski: Bolesławiec Rynek 41 - Ratusz, 1525, 1781 This is a photo of a monument in Poland identified by the ID 590350
context_page_description: Bolesławiec is a historic town situated on the Bóbr River in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in southwestern Poland. It is the administrative seat of Bolesławiec County, and of Gmina Bolesławiec. The population was estimated at 38,852 inhabitants in 2019. Founded in 13th century Silesia, the town is known for its long-standing pottery-making tradition and heritage Old Town.
context_section_description: In the Early Middle Ages the region was inhabited by the Bobrzanie tribe, one of the Polish tribes, and it became part of the emerging Polish state under its first historic ruler Mieszko I around 990. A Slavic stronghold was erected in present-day Bolesławiec in the late 9th century. As a result of the 12th-century fragmentation of Poland into smaller duchies still ruled by the founding Piast dynasty, it formed part of the duchies of Silesia, Legnica and Jawor until 1392. Following the 1241 invasion, a walled town began to take shape. In 1251, mention is made of Boleslawiec's town charter. Then a part of the Silesian Duchy of Legnica under Bolesław II the Bald, the town from 1297 belonged to the Duchy of Jawor under Bolko I the Strict. In 1316, in order to better protect the townspeople from hostile incursion, new walls were constructed around the town. The city seal, still used today, was also first used in 1316.
  In 1346, the town joined seven other urban centers in forming the Silesian Association of Fortified Towns. In that same year, the Duchy of Jawor with Bolesławiec was inherited by Duke Bolko II the Small of Świdnica, and upon his death in 1368, it was inherited by Emperor Charles IV, who had married Duke Bolko's niece Anna of Świdnica. After the dissolution of the Duchy of Jawor in 1392, the town was incorporated into the Kingdom of Bohemia, itself a state of the Holy Roman Empire.
  The year 1422 was of particular importance, because in that year, the town was granted beer-brewing privileges. The walls surrounding Bunzlau, now more than a century old, in 1429 failed to prevent a Hussite army from sacking the town.  Further tribulations transpired in 1462 when the Bóbr river flooded the lower-lying sections of the town. From 1469 to 1490 it was under the rule of Hungary, before falling back to Bohemia, then ruled by the Jagiellonian dynasty. In 1479, the old defenses were replaced by a new double ring of walls.
caption: Town Hall at dusk
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