Wawrzyniec Goślicki

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Wawrzyniec Goślicki (

Bishop of Poznań (1601–1607), political thinker and philosopher best known for his book De optimo senatore
(1568).

Tombstone (fragment) of the bishop Wawrzyniec Goślicki in the Poznań cathedral
Grzymała coat-of-arms

Biography

He was the son of Paweł Goślicki and Ewa Kamieniecka.

Kamieniec Podolski (1586), Chełm (1590), Przemyśl (1591), and Poznań (1601).[2][3] Goślicki was a man of affairs, highly esteemed by contemporaries, and frequently engaged in active politics. He was also a staunch advocate of religious tolerance in Poland. It was due to his influence and to a letter that he wrote to the Pope against the Jesuits that they were prevented from establishing schools at Kraków during his reign.[4] He was the only prelate who, in 1587, acceded to the Warsaw Confederation
.

Goślicki's Latin book

British Civil Wars of the 1640s.[5]

In this book Goślicki shows the ideal statesman who is well versed in the humanities as well as in economy, politics, and law. He argued that law is above the ruler, who must respect it, and that it is illegitimate to rule over a people against their will. He equated godliness with reason, and reason with law.

Nobles' Democracy (1505–1795) and were based on 14th-century writings by Stanisław of Skarbimierz. The book was not translated into Polish for 400 years.[2]

The book was influential abroad, exporting the ideas of Poland's

Algernon Sydney and Thomas Jefferson (who had it in his library[7]), but there is no evidence of a direct link with Jefferson's Declaration of Independence.[2]

Goślicki argued that distinguished senators were more useful to a state than the king or the common people:

For the king, being alone, cannot see everything and it often happens that either he yields to desires or his emotions disturb his ability of discretion. Also an ignorant crowd without a thought and head (as a proverb says) cannot by any means possess such prudence, while the senate, composed of men distinguished by virtue, prudence, and glory of accomplished deeds is capable from its middle position, as if from an observation point, of caring for the common weal of the state, perceiving those matters which are beneficial, and freeing it from disturbances, rebellions, and dangers.[3]

He was an influence in the framing the

Polish Constitution of 3 May 1791, which historian Norman Davies calls "the first constitution of its kind in Europe".[8]

See also

The title page to Goślicki's The Counsellor from 1598

References

  1. ^ Hadyna, Stanisław (2019). "Biskup kamieniecki Wawrzyniec Goślicki – życie i działalność" (PDF). Rocznik Historyczny Muzeum Historii Polskiego Ruchu Ludowego. 35: 197.
  2. ^
    JSTOR 1290243
  3. ^
    Michael J. Mikoś
    . Contains short bio.
  4. ^ a b  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Goslicki, Wawrzyniec". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 265.
  5. ^ Poland's 1997 Constitution in Its Historical Context; Daniel H. Cole, Indiana University School of Law, 22 September 1998 http://indylaw.indiana.edu/instructors/cole/web%20page/polconst.pdf
  6. ^ What Did Shakespeare Know About Poland? Internet Shakespeare Editions
  7. ^ The Constitution of 3 May 1791 by Hon. Carl L. Bucki
  8. ISBN 0-19-820171-0
    .

Further reading

  • Wenceslas J. Wagner et al., Laurentius Grimaldius Gosliscius at His Age – Modern Constitutional Law Ideas in the Sixteenth Century, in 'Polish Law Throughout the Ages'
  • W. J. Stankiewicz, The accomplished senator of Laurentius Gosliscius
  • Teresa Bałuk-Ulewiczowa, The Senator of Laurentius Goslicius and the Elizabethan Counsellor, in 'The Polish Renaissance'
  • Teresa Bałuk-Ulewiczowa, Goslicius' Ideal Senator and His Cultural Impact over the Centuries: Shakespearean Reflections. Kraków: Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences and Jagiellonian University, 2009.
  • Aleksander Stępkowski (ed.), O senatorze doskonałym studia. Warszawa: Kancelaria Senatu, 2009 [1](collective volume in Polish with essays by A. Stępkowski, J. Mańkowski, M.A. Janicki, R. Lollo, and T. Bałuk-Ulewiczowa).
  • (in Polish) Szczucki, Lech (ed.). Filozofia i myśl społeczna XVI wieku. Warszawa: PWN, 1978, 314–315.

External links

Preceded by
Jan Tarnowski
Bishop of Poznań

1601–1607 		Succeeded by
Andrzej Opaleński
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