Editing Sorbs (section)

===High and Late Middle Ages===
In 1002, the Sorbs came under the rule of their Slavic relatives, the Poles, when [[Bolesław I of Poland]] took over Lusatia. Following the subsequent [[German–Polish War (1003–1018)|German–Polish War of 1003–1018]], the [[Peace of Bautzen]] confirmed Lusatia as part of Poland; but, it returned to German rule in 1031. In the 1070s, southern Lusatia, passed into the hands of the Sorbs' other Slavic relatives, the Czechs, within their [[Duchy of Bohemia]]. There was a dense network of dynastic and diplomatic relations between German and Slavic feudal lords, e.g. [[Wiprecht of Groitzsch]] (a German) rose to power through close links with the Bohemian (Czech) king and marriage to the king's daughter. 

The [[Kingdom of Bohemia]] eventually became a politically influential member of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] but was in a constant power-struggle with neighbouring Poland. In the following centuries, at various times, parts of Lusatia passed to [[Piast dynasty|Piast]]-ruled fragmented Poland. In the German-ruled parts, Sorbs were ousted from [[guild]]s, the Sorbian language was banned and [[Ostsiedlung|German colonisation]] and Germanisation policies were enacted.{{sfn|Golecka|2003|p=57}}

From the 11th to the 15th century, agriculture in Lusatia developed and colonization by Frankish, Flemish and Saxon settlers intensified. This can still be seen today from the names of local villages which geographically form a patchwork of typical German (ending on -dorf, -thal etc.) and typical Slavic origin (ending on -witz, -ow etc.), indicating the language originally spoken by its inhabitants, although some of the present German names may be of later origin from the time of planned name changes to erase Slavic origin, especially in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1327 the first prohibitions on using Sorbian before courts and in administrative affairs in the cities of [[Altenburg]], [[Zwickau]] and [[Leipzig]] appeared. Speaking Sorbian in family and business contexts was, however, not banned, as it did not involve the functioning of the administration. Also the village communities and the village administration usually kept operating in Sorbian.