The Battle of Legnica (Polish: Bitwa pod Legnicą), also known as the Battle of Liegnitz (German: Schlacht von Liegnitz) or Battle of Wahlstatt (German: Schlacht bei Wahlstatt), was a battle between the Mongol Empire and the combined defending forces of European fighters that took place at Legnickie Pole (Wahlstatt) near the city of Legnica in the Silesia province of the Kingdom of Poland on 9 April 1241.

A combined force of Poles, Czechs and Germans under the command of the Polish duke Henry II the Pious of Silesia, supported by feudal nobility and a few knights from military orders sent by the Pope, attempted to halt the Mongol invasion of Europe. The battle came two days before the Mongol victory over the Hungarians at the much larger Battle of Mohi.

As with many historical battles, the exact details of force composition, tactics, and the actual course of the battle are lacking and sometimes contradictory.

A modern revisionist interpretation is that it was a crushing defeat for the Eastern European forces where they suffered heavy casualties. It is known that the Mongols had no intentions at the time of extending the campaign westward, because they went to the Kingdom of Hungary to help the main Mongol army in the conquest of the country.

Legnica [lɛɡˈɲit​͡sa] ( listen) (former Lignica, German: Liegnitz, Czech: Lehnice, Latin: Lignitium) is a town in south-western Poland, in Silesia, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the plain of Legnica, riverside: Kaczawa (left tributy of the Oder) and Czarna Woda. Between 1 June 1975 and 31 December 1998 Legnica was the capital of the Legnica Voivodeship. It is currently the seat of the county. Since 1992 the city is the seat of the Diocese of Legnica.

As of 31 December 2009 (2009 -12-31)^[update] Legnica has 104,178 inhabitants and is the third largest city in the voivodeship (after Wrocław and Wałbrzych) and 38th in Poland. It also constitutes the southernmost and the largest urban center of Legnicko-Głogowski Okręg Miedziowy with agglomeration of 448.617 inhabitants. Legnica is the largest city of the Legnicko-Głogowski Okręg Miedziowy conurbation. Legnica is a member of the Association of Polish Cities.

The area of Legnica was at the intersection of travel routes of Celtic and East Germanic tribes. Tacitus in his Germania and Ptolemy recorded the Lugii (Lygii) in Magna Germania, and mentioned their town of Lugidunum, which has been attributed to both Legnica and Głogów. When the East Germanic tribes left for southern Europe, West Slavic tribes moved in and were the first group to settle it permanently.