A series of centralized territories and the name of a city and province in southwestern Poland. Opole the city began as the home of the Slavic Opolanie tribe; the earliest mention of it was in the 9th century. In 1202 it became the capital of the Opole principality, which included the entire Upper Silesia region. The town passed to Bohemia (1327), the Habsburgs (16th century), and Prussia (1742) and was returned to Poland in 1945. Each Opoles' as a territory was dominated by a fortified timber citadel which often had large and complex defenses; examples are at Leczyic and Szeligi.