he Bohemian lands had been settled by Celts (Boii) from 5th BC until 2nd AD, then

by various Germanic tribes (Marcomanni, Quadi, Lombards and others) until they
moved on to the west during the Migration Period (1st-5th century). At the
beginning of the 5th century the population decreased vigorously and, according to
mythology led by a chieftain Čech, the first Western Slavs came in the second half
of the 6th century. In the course of the decline of the Great Moravian realm during
the Hungarian invasions of Europe in the 9th and 10th century, the Czech Přemyslid
dynasty established the Duchy of Bohemia. Backed by the East Frankish kings, they
prevailed against the reluctant Bohemian nobility and extended their rule eastwards
over the adjacent Moravian lands.

In 1198 Duke Ottokar I of Bohemia received the royal title by the German anti-king
Philip of Swabia. Attached to his Kingdom of Bohemia was the Margraviate of Moravia
established in 1182 and Kłodzko Land, the later County of Kladsko. From the second
part of the 13th century onwards, German colonists ("German Bohemians") settled in
the mountainous border area on the basis of the kings' invitation during the
Ostsiedlung (in Prague they lived already from the early 12th century) and lived
alongside the Slavs.

The Silesian lands north of the Sudetes mountain range had been ruled by the Polish
Piast dynasty from the 10th century onwards. While Bohemia rose to a kingdom, the
Silesian Piasts alienated from the fragmenting Kingdom of Poland. After in 1310 the
Bohemian crown had passed to the mighty House of Luxembourg, nearly all Silesian
dukes pledged allegiance to King John the Blind and in 1335 the Polish king Casimir
III the Great officially renounced Silesia by the Treaty of Trentschin. King John
had also acquired the lands of Bautzen and Görlitz (later Upper Lusatia) in 1319
and 1329. His son and successor Charles IV, also King of the Romans since 1346,
incorporated the Silesian and Lusatian estates into the Bohemian Crown and upon his
coronation as Holy Roman Emperor confirmed their indivisibility and affiliation
with the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1367 Emperor Charles IV also purchased the former March of Lusatia (Lower
Lusatia) in the northwest. However, during the Thirty Years' War both Lusatias
passed to the Electorate of Saxony by the Peace of Prague. After the Bohemian Crown
(Crown of Saint Wenceslas) passed to the House of Habsburg in 1526, the Bohemian
crown lands together with the Kingdom of Hungary and the Austrian "hereditary
lands" became part of the larger Habsburg monarchy. In 1742 the Habsburg queen
Maria Theresa lost the bulk of Silesia to Prussia upon the First Silesian War, part
of the War of the Austrian Succession.