Goślicki, Wawrzyniec

▪ Polish bishop

Latin pseudonym  Laurentius Grimalus  

born c. 1530, near Płock, Pol.

died Oct. 31, 1607, Ciążeń

      Roman Catholic bishop and diplomat whose political writings were precursory to Catholic liberalism.

      In 1569 he joined the royal chancery and served two Polish kings, Sigismund II Augustus and Stephen Báthory. Successively appointed bishop of Kamieniec Podolski (1586), Chełm (1590), Przemyśl (1591), and Poznań (1601), he was the only prelate who, in 1587, signed the Compact of Warsaw granting equal rights to all Poles in matters of religion.

      Under his Latin name of Laurentius Grimalus, Goślicki published (1568) in Venice his principal work, De optimo senatore. The first English edition appeared in 1598 as The Counsellor Exactly Pourtraited; it was immediately banned, as was the second, shortened edition, A Common-wealth of Good Counsaile (1607). In 1733 a more nearly correct translation by William Oldisworth appeared under the title The Accomplished Senator. Opposing absolute monarchy and supremacy of the people, Goślicki recommended that the senate should stand between the sovereign and the people, controlling the sovereign and representing the people. He was one of the earliest political theorists to advocate the right of revolt against tyranny.

Additional Reading

W.J. Stankiewicz, The Accomplished Senator of Laurentius Goslicius (1946).

* * *