TheSilesian tribes (Polish:plemiona śląskie) is a term used to refer to tribes, or groups ofWest Slavs[1] that lived in the territories ofSilesia in the Early Middle Ages. The territory they lived on became part ofGreat Moravia in 875 (now mostly in theCzech Republic) and later, in 990, thefirst Polish state created by dukeMieszko I and then expanded by kingBoleslaw I at the beginning of the 11th century. They are usually treated as part of thePolish tribes[2] and sometimes as part of theGermanic tribes.[3] Two tribes among them are sometimes considered as Czech (Moravian) tribes.[4]
Before and during themigration period the territory of south westPoland - Silesia - was inhabited by various peoples. It includedCelts and probably someGermanic tribes - among them - theSilingi.Tacitus in his description ofMagna Germania mentionsSuevi:Marsigni,Osi,Gotini,Buri in what later became Silesia and Burgundiones and Lygii at the Vistula.[5]
However, during the migration period, those peoples had moved west and vacated territories inCentral Europe. Lands in the basins ofOder andVistula were then taken byPolish tribes who repopulated these abandoned areas and created their own tribal organizations. The Silesian tribes, together with thePolans,Masovians,Vistulans andPomeranians were the most important Polish tribes.[6] These five tribes "shared fundamentally common culture and language and were considerably more closely related to one another than were the Germanic tribes."[7]
Eventually the Silesian tribes, together with other Polish tribes, formed what is nowPolish ethnicity andculture.[8] This process is called ethnic consolidation in which several ethnic communities of kindred origin and cognate languages, merge into a single one.[9]
The tribal differences started to disappear after the unification ofPoland in the 10th and 11th centuries. The main factors of these process were the establishment of a single monarchy that ruled over all Polish tribes as well as creation of a separateecclesiastical organization within the boundaries of the newly established Polish state.[10] In the course of the 12th century the remaining tribal differences within regions were almost entirely gone. The names of the smaller tribes disappear from the annals of history as well as the names of some prominent tribes (Vistulans, Polans). However, in some places, names of the most important tribes transform into names of the whole regions (Mazovians forMazovia, Silesians forSilesia). As a result of thefragmentation of Poland some of those regions were again divided into smaller entities (e.g. Silesia intoLower Silesia andUpper Silesia), however the tribal era was already over and these divisions reflected only political subdivisions of the Polish realm.[11]