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.