Duchy of Legnica | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1248–1675 | |||||||||
 Greatest extent of territory of the Duchy during the reign of Henry V (orange) | |||||||||
 Helwig map from 1561 (south) | |||||||||
| Status | District duchy of Poland Fiefdom of the Bohemian Crown (from 1348) | ||||||||
| Capital | Legnica | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages Early modern period | ||||||||
• Partitioned from the Duchy of Wrocław | 1248 | ||||||||
• Split off Duchy of Głogów | 1251 | ||||||||
• Split off Duchy of Jawor | 1274 | ||||||||
• Split off Duchy of Brzeg | 1311 | ||||||||
• Vassalized by Bohemia | 1329 | ||||||||
• Reunited with the Duchy of Brzeg | 1419 | ||||||||
• Inheritance treaty with Brandenburg | 1537 | ||||||||
• Seized by Habsburgs | 1675 | ||||||||
• Annexed by Prussia | 1763 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Poland Germany¹ | ||||||||
¹ Portion of Lubusz Land on the left bank of the Oder River | |||||||||
The Duchy of Legnica (Polish: Księstwo Legnickie, Czech: Lehnické knížectví) or Duchy of Liegnitz (German: Herzogtum Liegnitz) was one of the Duchies of Silesia, formed during the fragmentation of Poland into smaller provincial duchies, ruled by a local line of the Piast dynasty between 1248 and 1675. Its capital was Legnica in Lower Silesia.
Legnica Castle had become a residence of the Silesian dukes in 1163 and from 1248 was the seat of a principality in its own right, ruled by the Silesian branch of the Piast dynasty until the extinction of the line in 1675. Formed by Bolesław II the Bald, Duke of Lower Silesia at Wrocław, Legnica shared the fate of most of the others Silesian duchies, falling into Bohemian, Austrian and eventually—after the First Silesian War—Prussian spheres of influence.