Olszarowie z Sibicy na Śląsku Cieszyńskim od XVII do początku XX w.

Narodowe Centrum Nauki

The article presents the genealogy and material status of the Olszar family from Sibica (today's outskirts of Český Těšín) starting with the progenitor of the family – Jan (died after 1654). The Olszar family from Sibica was a Protestant family but in the first half of the 18 th century they converted to Catholicism even though families in their village remained faithful to Lutheranism. The interesting thing is that the conversion came after the Treaty of Altranstädt (1706), which had significantly improved the situation of Lutherans in Cieszyn Silesia. Because of their material status (owners of settlement land), the Olszars belonged to the rural elite throughout the discussed period. They also had a seat in the local self-government. Jan (1835–1921), a farmer from Kalembice near Cieszyn, Polish national activist and member of Macierz Szkolna Księstwa Cieszyńskiego (cultural and educational organization in the Duchy of Cieszyn), came from this line. On the basis of the Olszar family it can be stated that in the examined period, no great nationwide reform led to the exchange of elites on the local level in Cieszyn Silesia.