Lebus

Lebus stands on a steep ridge above the Oder, commanding the country on both sides of the middle river. A Polish castellany held the height, and in 1124–1125 a bishopric was established here under the archbishop of Gniezno. Castle, cathedral and town made Lebus an ecclesiastical and political centre on a contested frontier. In 1373 the forces of Emperor Charles IV captured Lebus and desecrated its cathedral; the bishops moved their residence to Fürstenwalde. Hussite forces plundered the town and castle in 1431. Although the bishopric endured after the loss of its original seat, the last Catholic bishop died in 1555 during the religious changes of the Reformation.