Lidzbark

Lidzbark was the capital of the prince-bishopric of Warmia, a religious and cultural centre whose great brick castle housed its bishops for centuries. The Teutonic Knights conquered the earlier Prussian settlement in 1240; it became the episcopal seat in 1306 and received town privileges in 1309. The bishops began their castle in the 1350s, creating one of Warmia's most imposing residences.

Nicolaus Copernicus lived at the castle from 1503 while serving his uncle, the bishop. During the Great Northern War Charles XII of Sweden stayed here in the winter of 1703–1704. In the eighteenth century Bishop Adam Stanisław Grabowski found a manuscript of the medieval chronicle of Gallus Anonymus and arranged its first printing. Prussia annexed Warmia in 1772, ending Lidzbark's role as capital of the prince-bishopric.