Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski () (20 September 1503 – 1572) was a Polish

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

scholar,

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

and

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

, called "the father of Polish

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

". His book ''De Republica emendanda'' (''O poprawie Rzeczypospolitej'') was widely read and praised across most of

Europe, influencing thinkers such as Jean Bodin, Hugo Grotius and Johannes Althusius. Prof. dr hab. Edmund Kotarski
"Andrzej FRYCZ Modrzewski (Fricius Modrevius)" with bibliography.
''Virtual Library of Polish Literature.'' Retrieved September 28, 2011.

Life

Modrzewski was born in Wolbórz (also known as Woybor, Voibor, Woibor, Wojbor, Woyborz and Wolborz), near Piotrków Trybunalski, the son of Jakub Modrzewski (1477–1529). Modrzewski family belonged to the gentry (though some authors speak of impoverished nobility), bore Jastrzębiec coat of arms, and held the hereditary title of mayor (''wójt/ vogt/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 ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...

and other early Protestant reformers in

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

. He also took care of the library of

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

bought by Łaski. From 1540 onwards, he served as the titular parish priest in Brzeziny and Skoszewy. In 1541, during his stay in the capital, he met with

Mikołaj Rej Mikołaj Rej or Mikołaj Rey of Nagłowice (4 February 1505 – between 8 September/5 October 1569) was a Polish poet and prose writer of the emerging Renaissance in Poland as it succeeded the Middle Ages in Poland, Middle Ages, as well as a po ...

. Modrzewski advocated sending a mixed ecclesiastical and secular delegation to the 1545 Ecumenical

Council of Trent The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...

(where he would be sent as a Polish delegate). He supported Irenicism (the importance of unity) and the democratic and ecumenical element in the Church. He became an official at the court of Sigismund II Augustus in 1547. Since he was leaning strongly towards the reformist circles (especially Calvinian and Arian/ Polish brethren), 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). 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 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 In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

) 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 Pope Paul V (; ) (17 September 1552 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death, in January 1621. In 1611, he honored Galileo Galilei as a mem ...

placed the book on the ''

Index Librorum Prohibitorum The (English: ''Index of Forbidden Books'') was a changing list of publications deemed heretical or contrary to morality by the Sacred Congregation of the Index (a former dicastery of the Roman Curia); Catholics were forbidden to print or re ...

'' (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 ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

by Johannes Oporinus, 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 Victor Modrzewski, Polish President Lech Kaczyński and Princess Mathilde, Duchess of Brabant.Mathilde Marie Christine d'Udekem d'Acoz: genealogia (Potomkowie Sejmu Wielkiego)
/ref>

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."

Notes

External links

Works by Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski
in digital library Polona {{DEFAULTSORT:Modrzewski, Andrzej Frycz 1503 births 1572 deaths People from Piotrków County 16th-century writers in Latin Jagiellonian University alumni 16th-century Polish politicians Polish Renaissance humanists Polish Roman Catholic theologians Polish political writers 16th-century Polish nobility 16th-century Polish writers 16th-century Polish male writers 16th-century Polish philosophers