It was established in Upper Silesia about 1281 during the division of the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz among the sons of Duke Władysław Opolski.

In 1472 Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, then self-declared King of Bohemia, annexed Bytom and pledged it to Lord Jan of Zierotin.

In 1498 it was finally merged back into the Duchy of Opole under the rule of Duke Jan II the Good.

Jan had signed an inheritance treaty with Margrave George of Brandenburg-Ansbach, who in 1526 was enfeoffed with Bytom by King Louis II Jagiellon of Bohemia.

After the 1620 Battle of White Mountain Emperor Ferdinand II of Habsburg took the opportunity to deprive Elector George Wiliam of Brandenburg of the rule over Bytom.