Frycz Modrzewski, Andrzej

Frycz Modrzewski, Andrzej

 

Born 1503, in Wolborz; died there in 1572. Polish publicist and public figure.

After graduating from the University of Krakow in 1519, Frycz Modrzewski served as secretary to Chancellor J. taski and later as a royal secretary. In his principal work, De republica emendanda (1551; rev. ed., 1554), he appealed for the equality of all social classes before the law, a stronger central government, mitigation of the abuses of serfdom, creation of a national church, and public education free of church influence. The book was banned by the Papal Curia. Frycz Modrzewski’s views influenced Polish and European social thought.

WORKS

Dzieta wszystkie, vols. 1–5. Warsaw, 1953–59.
Index. Warsaw, 1960.

REFERENCES

Pol’skie mysliteli epokhi Vozrozhdeniia. Moscow, 1960. Pages 69–128.
Kaweska-Gryczowa, A., and J. Rostkowska. A. Frycz Modrzewski: Bibliografia. Wroclaw, 1962.