Pokrzywno is a village in the administrative district of

Gmina Gruta __NOTOC__ Gmina Gruta is a rural gmina (administrative district) in Grudziądz County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. Its seat is the village of Gruta, which is approximately east of Grudziądz and north-east of Toruń. ...

, within

Grudziądz County Grudziądz County ( pl, powiat grudziądzki) is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-central Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local gove ...

Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, also known as Cuiavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship or simply Kujawsko-Pomorskie, or Kujawy-Pomerania Province ( pl, województwo kujawsko-pomorskie ) is one of the 16 voivodeships (provinces) into which Poland is divide ...

, in north-central Poland. It lies approximately west of

Gruta Gruta (german: Grutta) is a village in Grudziądz County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Gruta. It lies approximately east of Grudziądz and north- ...

, south-east of

Grudziądz Grudziądz ( la, Graudentum, Graudentium, german: Graudenz) is a city in northern Poland, with 92,552 inhabitants (2021). Located on the Vistula River, it lies within the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship and is the fourth-largest city in its prov ...

, and north of

Toruń )'' , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg , image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg , nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town , pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...

History

The area formed part of Poland since the country's establishment in the 10th century. The village was mentioned in a document from 1222 under its

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

ized name ''Copriven''. Its Old Polish name was ''Koprzywno''. A

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

was built here by the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

in 1242, on the site of an older fortification. Between 1278 and 1416 it was the seat of a

commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

. During the

Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War The Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War, also known as the Great War, occurred between 1409 and 1411 between the Teutonic Knights and the allied Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Inspired by the local Samogitian uprising, the war beg ...

, in 1410, the castle was captured by the Poles, and it was granted by King

Władysław II Jagiełło Jogaila (; 1 June 1434), later Władysław II Jagiełło ()He is known under a number of names: lt, Jogaila Algirdaitis; pl, Władysław II Jagiełło; be, Jahajła (Ягайла). See also: Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło. w ...

to Dobiesław of Oleśnica. In 1454, it was recaptured by Poles, and made the seat of

starost The starosta or starost (Cyrillic: ''старост/а'', Latin: ''capitaneus'', german: link=no, Starost, Hauptmann) is a term of Slavic origin denoting a community elder whose role was to administer the assets of a clan or family estates. Th ...

s (local administrators). The castle chapel was damaged severely by fire in 1611, but was soon renovated by starost Ludwik Mortęski. In 1657, the castle was conquered by the Swedish army during the Deluge. The castle chapel was destroyed again, however, it was soon renovated again by starost . In 1789, the chapel of the castle collapsed. The semi-ruined castle was later used as a

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...

, supplying building materials for houses and roads nearby. Ruins of the castle still remain in the village. In 1905, the village had 288 inhabitants.

References

{{Gmina Gruta Villages in Grudziądz County Castles of the Teutonic Knights