Wawrzyniec Grzymała Goślicki

Wawrzyniec Grzymała Goślicki (Latin: Laurentius Grimaldius Goslicius, * 1530, † 1607 in Poland) was a Polish bishop, political thinker and philosopher. He attained a high degree of popularity in Europe by his main work, De optimo senatore.

After his studies at the Jagiellonian University and in Padua, he joined the Roman Catholic Church. In 1569 he was appointed to the royal chancery. From then on he served two Polish kings Sigismund II Augustus and Stephen Báthory. He was appointed in 1586 in the episcopal office after Kamieniec Podolski. This was followed on 22 January 1590 bishoprics in Chelm, Przemysl on May 10, 1591 and 1601 poses. Goślicki was a politically very active man and an estimation by his contemporaries personality. He was a strong supporter of religious tolerance in Poland. Because of his influence and of a letter to the Pope, it was the Counter-Reformation forces, notably the Jesuits prohibited to establish their own schools in Krakow. He was the only Catholic priest, who confirmed the Articles of Confederation Warsaw with his signature 1587.

Goślickis book De optimo senatore (first published in 1568, Venice), 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 argued that the law on a ruler, that is, a monarch stands, as was a rule against the will of the majority of the population illegal. Many of the existing ideas in his book containing the basics of Polish nobility democracy (1505-1795) and based on the writings of the 14th century by Stanisław Skarbimierz.

In England the idea of the responsibility of a king over his subjects was so revolutionary that Goślickis book was banned there for long. His ideas contributed to the creation of future national constitutions at much. His book was read by Thomas Jefferson and commented, who was a friend and mentor, the author of the Constitution of the United States of America and also had a significant influence on the development of the first modern codified national constitution in Europe, the Constitution of May 3

His final resting place he found in Poznań cathedral, Kathedrsle St. Peter and Paul.