Warmia
Warmia (Polish: Warmia, Latin Warmia or Varmia, German Ermland or Ermeland) is a region between Pomerania and Masuria in northern Poland. Together with Masuria it forms the Warminsko-Mazurskie Voivodship. It is located in a border area which has been under the rule of many different rulers from several countries over its long history; the most notable of these rulers were those of the Teutonic Knights, Poland and the Kingdom of Prussia.
To the west of Warmia is Pomesania, to the south Culmland (Ziemia Chelminska), Sassinia and Galindia (later called Masuria) and to the east Sambia. In the north it borders the Vistula Bay.
In the 13th century, most of the Prussian region, including Warmia, was conquered by the Teutonic Knights. They had received the reins of government from the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in 1228. The grant was confirmed by papal bull in 1234. Nevertheless, Poland never recognized the rights of the order to rule the country.
Warmia was one of four dioceses created in 1242 by the papal legate William of Modena.
Nicolaus Copernicus is the most famous inhabitant of Warmia, who spend most of his life in Frombork.
Second Treaty of Thorn (1466) removed Warmia from the protectorate of the Teutonic Knights and placed it under the sovereignty of the King of Poland. This was confirmed in the Treaty of Piotrkow (December 7, 1512), which conceded to the King of Poland a limited influence in the election of bishops.
Between the 13th and centuries Warmia as well as other parts of Prussia were colonised by German (north) and Polish (south) settlers. The bishopric was a part of a Polish province of the church and bishops were usually Poles
At the time of the 1772 Partitions of Poland Warmia was incorporated into the Kingdom of Prussia. The last bishop, Ignacy Krasicki, a Polish writer, was nominated to Gniezno Archbishopric.
Since that time it shares the history of East Prussia, with the exception that the people of that region were Catholic. Northern Warmia population used high German langauge (in opposition to neighbouring areas of East Prussia, while Polish south was populated by Warmiaks.
The end of World War II was a particularly bloody time in Warmia's history. As Soviet conquered the area, WehrwÃÂölfe, groups of militia youngsters twelve to eighteen years old or younger, as well as old men, carried out defensive campaigns against the attacking communist military and para-military units. At the same time, there was the killing of many Ukrainian, Belorussian and Polish settlers (deported from Polish lands overtaken by the Soviet Union) at the hands of the NKVD trained Soviet troops.
In 1945 Warmia was annexed by Poland, though officially placed "under Polish administration" by the Potsdam Conference.Today is part of region called Warmia i Mazury.