Opava Přemyslids

Nicolas I of Opava (1255–1318), the illegitimate son of the Czech king Přemysl Otakar II and his mistress Anežka of Kuenring, became the founder of the Opava family line of Přemyslids. Even though he was not born out of wedlock, he was recognized by Pope Alexander IV (1199–1261) as the son of the Czech king, but without the possibility of making a hereditary claim to the royal throne.

Around 1269, Přemysl Otakar II granted Opava (then Opava province) to his son Nicolas. In the documents, Nicolas is referred to as "the Lord of Opava".

In 1318, Opava was handed over to Nicolas's son Nicolas II Opava (1288–1365), titled the first Duke of Opava, and the territory was confirmed as a fief of the Czech king. Opava thus became an independent land in the union of the Czech Crown, similar to Moravia.

The Opava Přemyslid line died out on the spear side (in Czech, on the sword side) in 1521, with the death of the last male descendant of this dynasty, Valentin Hrbatý. He died on November 13, 1521, in his castle Raciborz in Silesia. A sword was ritually broken over his coffin in the local Dominican Monastery to signify that his line had definitively died out. The grave, including the broken sword, was discovered in 1997 during the exploration of the necropolis of the Raciborz princes by archaeologist Krystyna Kozłowska.