Wawrzyniec Goślicki
Wawrzyniec Goślicki (between 1530 and 1540 – 31 October 1607), in Latin called Laurentius Grimaldius Goslicius, was a Polish nobleman, Bishop of Poznań (1601–1607), political thinker and philosopher best known for his 1568 book De optimo senatore.
In 1569 he joined the Polish royal chancery and as a secretary served two kings, Sigismund II Augustus and Stefan Batory, and was successively appointed bishop of Kamieniec Podolski (1586), Chełm (1590), Przemyśl (1591), and Poznań (1601).
Goślicki's Latin book De optimo senatore (published during his stay in Italy in Venice, 1568[3]) and dedicated to King Zygmunt August, subsequently appeared in four English translations: as The Counsellor ( considered inaccurate) in 1598, A commonwealth of good counsaile in 1607, The Accomplished Senator...
The book proved immensely important in Britain among forces opposed to the Tudor monarchy; it was widely quoted and cited in opposition pamphlets and leaflets during the period leading up to the British Civil Wars of the 1640s.
He never wrote that "all men are created equal," but did say, "Sometimes a people, justly provoked and irritated, by the Tyranny and Usurpations of their Kings, take upon themselves the undoubted Right of vindicating their own liberties."
