As a result of the fragmentation of Poland, it became part of the Duchy of Głogów, ruled by the Piasts and Jagiellons until its dissolution in 1506.

While it was still a part of Austrian Silesia, the town became highly significant to German literature during the Baroque era.

Gryphius immortalized the sack of the city in a detailed account entitled Fewrige Freystadt, which made him many enemies.

In the Silesian Wars of the 18th century the town was annexed by Frederick the Great to the Kingdom of Prussia and, from 1871, was part of the German Empire.

[2] After the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, the town became again part of Poland, although with a Soviet-installed communist regime, which stayed in power until the Fall of Communism in the 1980s.