Duchy of Bernstadt | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1412–1745 | |||||||||
 Flag
| |||||||||
| Status | Silesian duchy Fief of the Bohemian Crown (until 1742) | ||||||||
| Capital | Bernstadt (Bierutów) | ||||||||
| Historical era | Late Middle Ages Early modern period | ||||||||
• Split off Oels | 1412 | ||||||||
• Again ruled from Oels | 1447 | ||||||||
| 1495 | |||||||||
| 1648 | |||||||||
| 1742 | |||||||||
• Re-united with Oels | 1745 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Poland | ||||||||
The Duchy of Bernstadt (German: Herzogtum Bernstadt, Polish: Księstwo bierutowskie, Czech: Bernštatské knížectví) was a Silesian duchy centred on the city of Bernstadt (Bierutów) in Lower Silesia (now in Poland) and formed by separation from the Duchy of Oels (Oleśnica). It was first ruled by the Silesian Piasts dynasty, until its extinction in 1492. In 1495 it and the Duchy of Oels passed to the Dukes of Münsterberg, who came from the House of Poděbrady. In 1647 the Duchy of Bernstadt passed by marriage to the Dukes of Württemberg.