Dolní Benešov (Czech pronunciation:[ˈdolɲiː ˈbɛnɛʃof]; German:Beneschau) is a small town in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It was first mentioned in a 1312 deed as an estate of the Benešovice noble family and received town privileges in 1493 by King Vladislaus II of Bohemia. On a ca. 1588 map of Poland and Silesia by G. Mercator it is spelt Benischaw, and spelt Benischow on a ca. 1688 map by N.S. D'Abbeville. So the original family name was likely spelt Benis, with the suffix -chaw or -chow meaning domain or town. In an 1812 reference book (A System of Geography, Ancient and Modern by James Playfair, Hill, p. 695) it is spelt Benischau, with a German suffix. On an 1880 map of Silesia it is spelt Beneschau. In 1846 Salomon Mayer Rothschild, who owned the ironworks in nearby Vítkovice, acquired Benešov Palace, probably then spelt Palace Benisowa (of the Benis family).