Lidzbark received municipal rights on 12 August 1308. The town owes its fame to the location of the seat of Warmia bishops, who exercised secular and spiritual power in Warmia from 1243. Until 1795, the castle Lidzbark was a place of residence of distinguished representatives of Polish culture: Łukasz Watzenrode, Mikołaj Kopernik, Jan Dantyszek, Stanisław Hozjusz, Marcin Kromer, Jan Stefan Wydżga, Andrzej Chryzostom Załuski, Adam Stanisław Grabowski, Ignacy Krasicki. They developed an important cultural centre here. The Castle Museum was established in 1927 and the Warmia Museum was established in 1961; the latter one, since 1 January 1963, has been a branch of the Museum of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn.