As a result of the general progress in science, the turn of the 17th century saw the beginnings of modern geography of Silesia. Along with the intellectual trends of the Enlightenment, it was enormously influenced by the geographical discoveries of the 15th and 16th century. Of great importance was also the increase in productive forces resulting in, among other things, a growing interest in natural resources (e.g. mining), and consequently in their geography and production techniques. In Silesia, this was manifested by poems by Walenty Roździeński, Officina ferraria (Kraków 1612) and, somewhat earlier, by Krzysztof Winter’s Fabrilium Silesiae officinarum fodinarumque descriptito et denotatio brevis (Frankfurt 1556). Growing local patriotism lay at the heart of the development of regional geography. In Silesia, this new movement was represented by cartographer Martin Helwig, naturalist Caspar Schwenckfeld and geographer Nicolaus Henelius…