1551

On improving the Commonwealth (excerpts)

Historical context

In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth there was no equality before the law. Though that was actually nothing unusual in a class society, some manifestations of that injustice were striking. The issue of the penal judiciary and the attempts to make punishment for homicide (homicidium) more severe were discussed throughout the 16th century. The Old Polish law distinguished between several categories of manslaughter, depending on the premeditation, the perpetrator’s and the victim’s class and whether they were related. While a nobleman who killed a nobleman was subject to a fine or prison sentence, a peasant or townsman faced a death sentence for the same crime.

In this context Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski was a unique figure. He not only remained an advocate of equality and a keen fighter for the reform of the penal code as far as punishment for homicide was concerned, but also his horizons were much broader. Written in impeccable Latin, his O poprawie Rzeczypospolitej [on the betterment of the Commonwealth] was a work which undertook to present the state affairs in a comprehensive manner. Its beginning was based on Aristotle’s authority, but the shift in thinking was manifested in the details. Frycz modified Stagirite’s definition and stressed that “all inhabitants of the Commonwealth are obliged to direct all their work, intentions, effort, diligence, and providence towards the benefit of all citizens’ well-being, so that everybody can live a happy life.” This thought then set the direction of the reasoning presented throughout it. The Commonwealth exists because it is bound by law and as the same laws are to govern the state, then criminals should be subject to equal punishment. Thus equality before the law is a consequence of the initial assumption that the Commonwealth exists for the happiness of all its citizens. And the law, which is to serve the state, can vary punishments, but only to the top dignitaries’ detriment because their crimes do more harm to the state than the crimes committed by plebeians.

On the one hand, Frycz’s thought was characterized by great radicalism of opinions and it was difficult to expect that the 16th-century society would accept it. On the other hand, O poprawie Rzeczpospolitej is a pearl of the Old Polish political thought, which in its masterpiece did not forget to plead the lowest class’ cause.

Document text

jPaginate.js - Demo