Mauzoleum Piastów w Legnicy

In November 1675, on St. Hubert's Day, Duke George William, Lord of Legnica, Brzeg, and Wołów, took part in a deer hunt in the forests near Lubsza. The weather was bitterly cold, and the young ruler contracted a severe fever. To make matters worse, seeking rest, he stopped at a peasant's cottage in the village of Kościerzyce, where children were suffering from smallpox, which he himself contracted. Ultimately, the ruler was transported to Brzeg Castle, but it was too late to save him. George William died alone, his agony long and painful. His mother and sister did not manage to return from their trip to Vienna. The last male descendant of the first kings of Poland died on the morning of November 21, 1675, at the age of just 15. Thus ended the history of the great House of Piast, whose glory and fall have been chronicled for centuries in the sculptures and paintings of the Legnica Mausoleum.