Duchy of Nysa

Coat of arms of the Duchy of Nysa

Map of Silesia by Martin Helwig, native of Nysa, published in 1645 in Atlas novus of Willem and Joan Blaeu. The Duchy of Nysa (here depicted as DVCATUS GROTKAVIENSIS) extents to Jeseník (Freienwalde) in the south and Osoblaha (Holtzeplotz) in the east.

The Duchy of Nysa (Template:Lang-pl) or Duchy of Neisse (Template:Lang-de) was one of the duchies of Silesia. Alongside the Duchy of Siewierz, it was the only ecclesiastical duchy in the region, as it was ruled by a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. Nowadays the territory is divided between Poland and the Czech Republic.

In 1198 Jarosław Opolski, son of Bolesław I the Tall and also bishop of Wrocław, was given the territories near Nysa (Neisse) by his father. After Jarosław's death in 1201, Henry I the Bearded decided to leave Nysa, as well as the castellany of Otmuchów, under control of the Bishopric of Wrocław. In 1290 Henryk IV Probus gave the bishops privileges of autonomy on their lands in Nysa, creating the legal basis for the Duchy of Nysa. Henryk z Wierzbna, bishop of Wrocław (1302-1319), was the first to use the title of Duke of Nysa.

The duchy was abandoned by the bishops during the Silesian Wars and annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1810 it was secularized by Prussia, its autonomy removed and it was incorporated into the Prussian administrative structure. The small part remaining in Austria was likewise secularized in 1850.