Paweł Włodkowic

He advocated a form of religious tolerance and defended Poland and non-Christian Baltic tribes against the Teutonic Knights and the crusading movement in general.

[1] Though it is commonly assumed that "Włodkowic" was a surname, it was in fact a patronymic denoting that he was the son of a certain Włodko or Włodzimierz of the Dołęga family.

Włodkowic’s address at the council is considered to have been "not only one of the greatest achievements of Poland in their political fight against the Teutonic Order but also a huge contribution to the Christian theory of just war.

As early as the beginning of the 15th century, along with Stanisław of Skarbimierz, Włodkowic strongly supported the idea of conciliarism and pioneered the notion of peaceful coexistence among nations – a forerunner of modern theories of human rights.

For this, he, the king of Poland, and the entire Polish nation were virulently attacked by the Dominican John of Falkenberg (himself later condemned and imprisoned for his intemperance), and his thesis somewhat more judiciously rejected by Domenico da San Gimignano, Ardicino della Porta da Novara [it], and André Dias de Escobar, Bishop of Ciudad Rodrigo.