His older half-brother, Frederick Casimir, only son of Wenceslaus III Adam's first marriage, died a few years before he was born, in 1571.

This triple regency continued until 1586, when the Dowager Duchess Sidonia Katharina remarried with the Hungarian nobleman Imre III Forgach, Obergespan [Count] of Trenčín (17 February) and the eldest regent, Duke George II of Brzeg, died (7 May).

Finally, Rudolf II gave his brother the Bohemian crown, which placed to Adam Wenceslaus in a particularly awkward situation, who had submitted in 1611 when he had to paid homage to the new King in Wrocław.

The exact reasons for the Duke of Cieszyn's conversion are unknown, but this was probably in order to amended his relations with his sovereign, King Matthias of Bohemia, since 1612 also Holy Roman Emperor.

[1] This radical step in fact improved the Duke's relations with Emperor Matthias, who on 6 February 1617 appointed Adam Wenceslaus as Landeshauptmann General of Silesia.

The constant trips, expensive military expeditions, and finally the change of faith, led the Duchy in the imminent bankruptcy.

Two examples of his expensive lifestyle were the trip to Wrocław to paid homage to the King Matthias—his suite, composed by 285 people, were richly furnished by him—and in 1614, after a vote for his miraculous conversion, Adam Wenceslaus went on a pilgrimage to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska.