Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski
Encyclopedia
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
Renaissance
Renaissance in Poland
The Renaissance in Poland lasted from the late 15th to the late 16th century and is widely considered to have been the Golden Age of Polish culture. Ruled by the Jagiellon dynasty, the Kingdom of Poland actively participated in the broad European Renaissance...
scholar, humanist
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
and theologian
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
, called "the father of Polish democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
." His book De Republica emendanda (o poprawie Rzeczypospolitej) was widely read and praised across most of Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
Europe.
Life
Modrzewski was born in WolbórzWolbórz
Wolbórz is a town in Piotrków County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Wolbórz. It lies approximately north-east of Piotrków Trybunalski and south-east of the regional capital Łódź....
(also known as Woybor, Voibor, Woibor, Wojbor, Woyborz and Wolborz), near Piotrków Trybunalski
Piotrków Trybunalski
Piotrków Trybunalski is a city in central Poland with 80,738 inhabitants . It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship , and previously was the capital of Piotrków Voivodeship...
, the son of Jakub Modrzewski (1477–1529). Modrzewski family was of the gentry (though some authors speak of impoverished nobility) and held the hereditary title of mayor (wójt/vogt
Vogt
A Vogt ; plural Vögte; Dutch voogd; Danish foged; ; ultimately from Latin [ad]vocatus) in the Holy Roman Empire was the German title of a reeve or advocate, an overlord exerting guardianship or military protection as well as secular justice...
/advocatus) of Wolbórz. After graduating from the Kraków Academy, he was ordained a vicar and served under Archbishop Jan Łaski (the Elder), and later under the Bishop of Poznań, Jan Latalski. From 1530 he was connected to the court of Jan Łaski the Younger, the Primate of Poland and nephew of the elder Łaski. Having lived for a time in Germany, where he studied at the Lutheran University he met Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
and other early Protestant reformers in Wittenberg
Wittenberg
Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is a city in Germany in the Bundesland Saxony-Anhalt, on the river Elbe. It has a population of about 50,000....
. He also took care of the library of Erasmus bought by Łaski.
He returned to Poland in 1541 and stayed in the capital, where he met with Mikołaj Rej. Modrzewski advocated sending a mixed ecclesiastical and secular delegation to the 1545 Ecumenical
Ecumenical council
An ecumenical council is a conference of ecclesiastical dignitaries and theological experts convened to discuss and settle matters of Church doctrine and practice....
Council of Trent
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent was the 16th-century Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church. It is considered to be one of the Church's most important councils. It convened in Trent between December 13, 1545, and December 4, 1563 in twenty-five sessions for three periods...
(where he would be sent as a Polish delegate). He supported Irenicism
Irenicism
Irenicism in Christian theology refers to attempts to unify Christian apologetical systems by using reason as an essential attribute. The word derives from the Greek eirene meaning peace. It is a concept related to natural theology, and opposed to polemicism or war-like argumentation, and rooted in...
(the importance of unity) and the democratic and ecumenical element in the Church. He became an official at the court of Sigmundus Augustus in 1547. Since he was leaning strongly towards the reformist circles (especially Calvinian
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
and Arian
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
/Polish brethren
Polish Brethren
The Polish Brethren were members of the Minor Reformed Church of Poland, a Nontrinitarian Protestant church that existed in Poland from 1565 to 1658...
), he became in danger of being accused of heresy and was ultimately stripped of his ecclesiastical titles and offices. The king, however, issued a letter of protection for him. In 1553 he retired to his native Wolbórz.
Modrzewski debuted as a writer in 1543 with the work called Lascius, sive de poena homicidii (On The Penalty for Manslaughter; or Łaski, czyli O karze za mężobójstwo in Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
). In it, Modrzewski criticized the inequality prescribed by the law for different social classes: for example, while the penalty for killing a nobleman ranged from 120 grzywna – through life imprisonment – to death, the penalty for killing a peasant was only 10 grzywna. Yet it was On the Improvement of the Commonwealth (De Republica emendanda) that brought him eternal and international fame. In it, he advocated a strong monarchy that would protect the rights of all citizens. He postulated equality of all before the law, and criticized the 1565 ban 1565 on land-owning by non-nobles. He wrote that peasants should own the soil which they work, and that townsfolk should be able to buy land and be elected to offices (those rights were being reserved only for the nobility back then), demanded the reform (secularization) of education, and division between state and church. This treatise was translated into many European languages and earned him many enemies in the Church. Pope Paul V placed the book on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum
Index Librorum Prohibitorum
The Index Librorum Prohibitorum was a list of publications prohibited by the Catholic Church. A first version was promulgated by Pope Paul IV in 1559, and a revised and somewhat relaxed form was authorized at the Council of Trent...
(list of prohibited books).
De Republica emendanda
Modrzewski's crowning achievement printed in 1551 was: Commentariorum De Republica emendanda libri quinque (Five Books of Commentaries on the Improvement of Commonwealth, or Rozważań o poprawie Rzeczypospolitej ksiąg pięć in Polish) published in the printing house of Łazarz Andrysowic. Originally it was to include all five manuscripts: 1. De Moribus (On Customs); 2. De Legibus (On Laws); 3. De Bello (On War); 4. De Ecclesia (On Church), and 5. De Schola (On School). However, as some of Modrevius' theses were considered unorthodox by the Church and opposed, only the three first books were included in the original publication.The first complete edition – consisting of all five beforementioned books, and dialogues entitled: De utraque specie Coenae Domini ('On the twofold nature of the Lord's Table') – was published in 1554 in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
by Johannes Oporinus
Johannes Oporinus
Johannes Oporinus was a humanist printer in Basel, the son of the painter Hans Herbst- Life :...
, after which Modrzewski was forced to leave the capital. The first Polish translation by Cyprian Bazylik was published in Łosk in 1577. The book was widely read and praised across Renaissance Europe. It was translated into German, French, Spanish; and Russian in the 17th century.
Other works
- 1543: Lascius sive de poena homicidii (On The Penalty For Manslaughter, Polish title: Łaski albo o karze za mężobójstwo)
- 1545: Oratio Philatelis Peripatetici in senatulo hominum scholasticorum de decreto conventus, quo pagi civibus adimi permittuntur, habita... (The Discourse Of A Truthful Peripatethic spoken among the learned men about the parliamentary decree, which allows country estates to be taken away from townfolk, Polish title Mowa Prawdomówcy Perypatetyka o postanowieniu sejmu zezwalającym na odbieranie mieszczanom wiejskich posiadłości, wypowiedziana w kole ludzi uczonych)
- 1561: Narratio simplex rei novae et eiusdem pessimi exempli... (Simple story considering the curious case and the bad example which it is..., Polish title Prosta opowieść o niezwykłej sprawie stanowiącej zgubny przykład, a zarazem użalenie się na krzywdy i skarga przeciw Stanisławowi Orzechowskiemu z Rusi)
- 1590: Silvae, including Modrevius' four theological discourses (De tribus personis et una essentia Dei, On the three Persons and one essence of God; De necessitate conventus habendi ad sedandas religionis controversias, On the necessity of gathering to cease the religious controversies; De Iesu Christo On Jesus Christ; De Homousio On Homousia")
Lineage
Descendants of Modrzewski's daughter, include Polish President Lech KaczyńskiLech Kaczynski
Lech Aleksander Kaczyński was Polish lawyer and politician who served as the President of Poland from 2005 until 2010 and as Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 22 December 2005. Before he became a president, he was also a member of the party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość...
and Princess Mathilde, Duchess of Brabant
Princess Mathilde, Duchess of Brabant
Princess Mathilde, Duchess of Brabant, DHS , is the wife of the heir apparent to the Belgian throne, Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant...
, plus notable others with the last name Modrzejewski and Modrzejewska
Quotes
- "Without laws there can be no true freedom." (Bez praw nie może być prawdziwej wolności.)
- "The peasant is not your slave, he is your neighbor."
See also
- Polish literaturePolish literaturePolish literature is the literary tradition of Poland. Most Polish literature has been written in the Polish language, though other languages, used in Poland over the centuries, have also contributed to Polish literary traditions, including Yiddish, Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, German and...
- Piotr SkargaPiotr SkargaPiotr Skarga was a Polish Jesuit, preacher, hagiographer, polemicist, and leading figure of the Counter-reformation in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was called the "Polish Bossuet" due to his oratorical abilities.He was born February 2, 1536 in Grójec, to a family of lesser landless gentry...
- Szymon StarowolskiSzymon StarowolskiSzymon Starowolski was a writer, scholar and historian in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was probably born near Pruzhany, and died near Kraków. He was very prolific writer, left behind over 70 works, mostly in Latin...
- History of philosophy in Poland
- List of Poles