Szprotawa

Szprotawa stands at the meeting of the Szprotawa and Bóbr rivers in Lower Silesia. It received town rights around 1260 and fuller privileges in 1304. In 1331 the Duchy of Głogów, including the town, became a fief of the Bohemian Crown while remaining under its Piast rulers. The town's commerce included cattle, salt and grain moving between Silesia, Greater Poland and German lands; hammer mills are recorded from the fourteenth century. In 1506 the town was incorporated into the Bohemian kingdom, and the Habsburgs took the crown in 1526. After the First Silesian War, Szprotawa passed to Prussia in 1742. Its riverside markets and workshops continued under these changing rulers.