prince bishopric · Poland, Lithuania and Russia

Prince-Bishopric of Warmia

1243 CE – 1772 CE · capital Lidzbark Warminski

A church principality in Prussia, ruled by its bishops for over 500 years, where Nicolaus Copernicus worked as a canon.

Origins

In 1243 the papal legate William of Modena divided conquered Prussia into four dioceses, one of them Warmia. Its bishop received a third of the diocese as his own territory, while the rest went to the Teutonic Order. The bishops made Lidzbark their residence and the cathedral chapter settled at Frombork.

Rule and society

The bishops ruled as territorial princes, with their own castles, towns and officials, and Warmia was settled by German colonists alongside Old Prussians and later Poles. Lucas Watzenrode, bishop from 1489, brought his nephew Nicolaus Copernicus to serve the chapter, and Copernicus wrote his work on the heavens at Frombork. Bishop Stanislaus Hosius made it a stronghold of the Counter-Reformation.

Decline and legacy

After the Second Peace of Thorn in 1466 Warmia came under the protection of the Polish Crown, keeping wide self-government as part of Royal Prussia. The First Partition of Poland in 1772 gave it to the Kingdom of Prussia, which took over the bishops' lands. The last bishop-prince, the poet Ignacy Krasicki, kept only his spiritual office.

Connections (5)

More states of Poland, Lithuania and Russia →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Prince-Bishopric of Warmia. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/prince-bishopric-of-warmia
MLA
“Prince-Bishopric of Warmia.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/prince-bishopric-of-warmia. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Prince-Bishopric of Warmia.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/prince-bishopric-of-warmia.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Prince-Bishopric of Warmia’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/prince-bishopric-of-warmia (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻