SilesianPrzesieka, literallySilesian Cutting (Polish:Przesieka Śląska or Oseg,Silesian:Sylezyjske Ôdciyńcie,German:Schlesischer Grenzwald, Hag orPreseka,Latin:Indago) was a densely forested, uninhabited and unpassable strip of land in the middle ofSilesia, spreading fromGolden Mountains in the south, along theNysa Kłodzka to theOdra, and then along theStobrawa, reaching the towns ofNamysłów andByczyna in northern Silesia. Originally, the Silesian Cutting was a boundary, separating territories of two WesternSlavic tribes, theSlezanie and theOpolanie. In the 12th century, along the Cutting a border ofLower Silesia andUpper Silesia was established.[1][2][3]
For a long time, the Silesian Cutting was used as a natural military obstacle, protecting the area ofOpole from raids of theMoravian and Czech tribes. However, it did not prevent theHussites from invading Silesia in 1420 (see alsoHussite Wars).[4]
The SilesianPrzesieka was a wide, uninhabited border forest, strengthened on the inside by cut-down trees whose branches were twisted together, with thick bushes and sometimesramparts and trenches from the 8th–9th century blocking movements from the west.[5] Gates, which could be closed in dangerous times, controlled all roads leading outwards. ThePrzesieka was maintained by local Polish peasants and used in their self-defence.[5] If a settlement expanded in size the fortifications were moved outwards. Placenames like Osiek, Ossig, Hag, HänchenPrzesieka, Lower Silesian Voivodeship orPrzesieka, Podlaskie Voivodeship commemorated these unique natural circumstances.[2][3][4][6]
Starting atNamysłów andByczyna, the main Lower SilesianPrzesieka (Preseka) comprised the area ofKluczbork, today's woodland between the rivers Stobrawa and Mała Panew and ended at the SilesianMuschelkalk ridge. The fortification continued on the other side of theOder at theNiemodlin woodland, incorporated the woods to the right of theNysa Kłodzka and theGolden andOwl Mountains. From there the cutting turned northeast and incorporated theSudetes, which separated Silesia and Bohemia, including the foothills on a distance of 80 kilometers. ThePrzesieka continued up to the Lower Silesian heathland, the border toLusatia, a region which was especially well fortified by three trenches (German: Dreigräben) and a passage to the west ofSzprotawa. From theBóbr knee the Cutting incorporated the woodlands ofZielona Góra and eastwards the border forests between Silesia andGreater Poland. At the riverBarycz the Cutting turned south to close the circle around Lower Silesia.
The distribution of the Upper Silesian border forests is relatively unknown. Only the westernPreseka atHrubý Jeseník and its foothills, the woodlands of the northernCarpathian Mountains and theMoravian Gate as well as at the woodlands of thePolish Jura are established. This enclosed area was divided into two chambers by a border zone. This innerPrzesieka is in parts preserved until today, visible at the upper Malapane and betweenRybnik andPszczyna. Equally unknown in detail is the division of the Lower Silesian region, which was also partitioned into small chambers divided by strips of woodland.
Town-like settlements already existed before theOstsiedlung, as craftsmen and merchants formedsuburbs of fortified strongholds (burg(h)s,castra). Usually, Slavic marketplaces were set at an open range with few or no permanently inhabited buildings and, after Christianization, a church. Market fields (ring,rynek) were in close proximity to fortified strongholds. This system was borrowed from 10th centuryEast Francia and persisted in the Slavic regions until the Ostsiedlung.[7] As the Silesian dukes initiated the German Ostsiedlung the border forests offered the chance to plan irrespective of older settlements. This approach was started byHenry I in the late 12th century, and soon other noble and clerical landlords competitively followed his example. The German settlers cleared the forests and thus destroyed the protective effect of the Preseka. To defend their now unprotected soil the Silesian dukes replaced the dissolving Preseka by a strip of villages, fortified towns and castles. The area became the center of the evolving society (Neustamm) of the GermanSilesians.