Lucas Watzenrode the Younger (sometimesWatzelrode andWaisselrod;German:Lucas Watzenrode der Jüngere;Polish:Łukasz Watzenrode; 30 October 1447 – 29 March 1512) wasPrince-Bishop of Warmia (Ermland) and patron to his nephew, astronomerNicolaus Copernicus.

The family and its name stemmed from the Silesian village of Weizenrodau and Romeo, nowPszenno. Watzenrode was born inThorn (Toruń), son of the merchantLucas Watzenrode the Elder (1400–62). He studied atJagiellonian University, and at the universities ofCologne andBologna.

After his sister Barbara and her husband Niklas Koppernigk^[1] died circa 1483, Lucas cared for their four children, Katharina, Barbara, Andreas and Nicolaus, the last of whom would become known as astronomerNicolaus Copernicus.

TheBishopric of Warmia, previously part of theMonastic State of the Teutonic Knights, had, with theSecond Peace of Thorn (1466), come under the protection of the King ofPoland. Based on that treaty, the Polish King had the right to appoint the Bishop. Neither the Warmia chapter, however, nor their newly elected bishop,Nicolaus von Tüngen (1467–89), acknowledged the King's right to do so.

Poland contested von Tüngen's election, and this led to theWar of the Priests (1467–79) and the First Treaty of Piotrków Trybunalski (1479), by which the chapter was obliged to seek consensus with the Polish king. TheBishopric of Warmia was madesuffragan to theArchbishopric of Riga, then headed by Archbishop Michael Hildebrand.

This agreement was somewhat vague, as shown in the 1489 election of the next bishop, Lucas Watzenrode, who wasmitred byPope Innocent VIII against the explicit wishes of KingCasimir IV Jagiellon, who would have preferred that one of his sons, Frederic, become Bishop of Warmia. Watzenrode resisted, and when Casimir died in 1492 and was succeeded byJohn I Albert, Watzenrode could finally establish the exemption of the Bishopric from Riga. With theSecond Treaty of Piotrków Trybunalski (1512), later bishops accepted a limited influence of the Polish King on elections. TheHoly See considered the Bishopric exempt until 1992, when it was made anarchbishopric, which by its nature is exempt.

Watzenrode, a successful organizer of his territory's internal affairs, resided at Heilsber, nowLidzbark. He reorganized the cathedral school and planned to found a university at Elbing, nowElbląg. He argued that theTeutonic Order had fulfilled its mission in the Baltic region, by then converted to Christianity, and proposed sending the Order to more heathen regions. TheOttoman Empire was an ongoing threat and had taken over large parts of Europe, and the Bishop suggested that the Order "do battle with theTurks."

The Bishopric was exposed to repeated armed attacks by the Teutonic Order, which attempted to regain the territory. Poland sought to rescind the Prince-Bishopric's autonomy, hoping to force the surrender of its prerogatives to the Polish crown.^{[citation needed]} In this area of conflict, Watzenrode guarded the interests ofWarmia and maintained friendly relations with Poland. He was a long-time opponent of the Teutonic Knights, and shortly after his death it was rumored that he had been poisoned by them.^[2]

As seen in many pictures of Lucas Watzenrode the Younger, he kept the practice of tonsure.^[3] More specifically, Lucas kept the style of Roman tonsure. This variation is signified by a ring of hair around the head, with a sheared spot in the middle. Lucas's usage of tonsure exemplifies his humility or sympathy.

Watzenrode looked after his orphaned two nephews and two nieces. Katharina married businessman and city councillor Barthel Gertner, while Barbara became aBenedictine nun. Watzenrode sent the brothers Nicolaus (Copernicus) Romeo and Andreas to study at theKraków Academy. and in Italy (Bologna,Padua,Ferrara). After his studies, Copernicus assisted his uncle in administrative matters and was his closest advisor as well as his personal physician.

Watzenrode also took care of his son Philipp Teschner,^{[further explanation needed]} whose mother was the daughter of the rector of the Johannes school in Thorn. When Watzenrode became bishop he arranged for Philipp Teschner to become mayor ofBraunsberg (nowBraniewo)^{[further explanation needed]}.

Lucas Watzenrode the Younger died inThorn (Toruń) during his return from an official journey.

• Bücherei Danzig, J. Kretzmer, Liber de episcopatu et episcopi Varmiensis ex vetusto Chronico Bibliotheca Heilsbergensis, 1593
• Christoph Hartknoch, Preußische Kirchen-Historia, Frankfurt a.M., 1668
• M.G. Centner, Geehrte und Gelehrte Thorner, Thorn 1763
• A. Semrau, "Katalog der Geschlechter der Schöffenbank und des Ratsstuhles in der Altstadt Thorn 1233-1602", in: Mitteilungen des Copernicus-Vereins für Wissenschaft und Kunst zu Thorn 46 (1938)
• Wojciech Iwanczak (1998). "WATZENRODE, Lucas". In Bautz, Traugott (ed.).Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German). Vol. 13. Herzberg: Bautz. col. 389-393.ISBN 3-88309-072-7.
• Poczet biskupów warmińskich, Olsztyn 1998
• Jürgen Hamel: Nicolaus Copernicus. - Spektrum Verlag: Heidelberg, 1994.
• Hans Schmauch (1957)."Lucas Watzenrode (in Copernicus' article)".Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German). Vol. 3. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. pp. 349–355.

• Górski Karol,Łukasz Watzenrode : życie i działalność polityczna (1447-1512), Wrocław 1973.