Wawrzyniec Grzymała Goślicki

Wawrzyniec Grzymała Goślicki (Latin: "Laurentius Grimaldius Gosliscius"; born between 1530 and 1540, died on October 31, 1607) was a Polish nobleman, Bishop of Poznań (1601-1607), political thinker and philosopher best known for his book "De optimo senatore" (1568; English translation: "The Counsellor", 1598).

Biography

Born near Płock, after studying at Kraków's Jagiellonian University and at Padua and Bologna, he entered the Roman Catholic Church. In 1569 he also joined the Polish royal chancery and as a secretary served two kings, Zygmunt August and Stefan Batory, and was successively appointed bishop of Kamieniec Podolski (1586), Chełm (1590), Przemyśl (1591), and Poznań (1601). 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. He was the only prelate who, in 1587, acceded to the Warsaw Confederation.

Goślicki's Latin book "De optimo senatore" (published during his stay in Italy in Venice, 1568) and dedicated to King Zygmunt August, subsequently appeared in two English translations, as "A commonwealth of good counsaile" (1607) and as "The Accomplished Senator... Done into English... By Mr. Oldisworth" (1733). 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 its will. He equated godliness with reason, and reason with law. Many of the book's ideas comprised the foundations of Polish 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.

The book was influential abroad, exporting the ideas of Poland's Golden Freedom and democratic system. It was a political and social classic, widely read and long popular in England after its 1598 translation [ [http://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/Criticism/shakespearein/poland2.html What Did Shakespeare Know About Poland? Internet Shakespeare Editions] ] ; read by Elizabeth I of England, it was also known by Shakespeare, who used his depiction of an incompetent senator as a model for Polonius in Hamlet. Its ideas might be seen in the turmoil that gripped England around the times of Glorious Revolution. Goślicki's ideas were perhaps suggestive for future national constitutions. Goślicki never wrote that "all men are created equal," but did say, "Sometimes a people, justly provoked and irritated, by the Tyranny and Usurpations of their Kings, take upon themselves the undoubted Right of vindicating their own liberties." The book was allegedly read by Robert Bellarmine, Algernon Sydney and Thomas Jefferson (who had it in his library [http://info-poland.buffalo.edu/classroom/constitution.html The Constitution of May 3, 1791] by Hon. Carl L. Bucki] ), but there is no evidence of a direct link with Jefferson's Declaration of Independence.Daniel H. Cole, "From Renaissance Poland to Poland's RenaissanceThe Struggle for Constitutionalism in Poland by Mark Brzezinski," "Michigan Law Review", Vol. 97, No. 6, 1999 pp. 2062-2102, says (p 2075) the direct link between Goślicki and Jefferson remains elusive--that is no one has shown Jefferson read Goślicki, although it was so asserted by the Polish ambassador to the U.S. in 1932. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0026-2234%28199905%2997%3A6%3C20 in JSTOR] ]

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.Wawrzyniec Goślicki, [http://staropolska.gimnazjum.com.pl/ang/renaissance/goslicki.php3 THE ACCOMPLISHED SENATOR Book One] Translated by Michael J. Mikoś. Contains short bio.]

He was an influence in the framing of Europe's first modern codified national constitution, and the world's second after the USA, the Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791.

ee also

*Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
*szlachta
*sarmatism
*Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski
*Andrzej Maksymilian Fredro

References

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"
*Terasa Bałuk-Ulewiczowa, "The senator of Laurentius Gosliscius and the Elizabethian Councilor", in 'The Polish Renaissance'
*pl icon Szczucki, Lech (ed.). "Filozofia i myśl społeczna XVI wieku." Warszawa: PWN, 1978, 314–315.