Paweł Włodkowic

Who was Paweł Włodkowic?

Paweł Włodkowic was a distinguished scholar, jurist and rector of the Cracow Academy who defended Poland and native non-Christian tribes against the Teutonic Knights and its policies of conquest.

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. He was born in Brudzeń Duży near Dobrzyń nad Wisłą and studied at Prague University, where he took degrees in 1393. He continued studying law at Padova, Italy, in 1404–1408.

In 1411 or 1412 he was made a doctor of canon law at the Academy in Kraków, where he also began to lecture. He was influenced by the philosophies of William of Ockham, Matthew of Cracow and Stanisław of Skarbimierz. In 1413 he served as King Jagiełło's emissary at Buda, Hungary, during disputes with the Teutonic Order. In 1414–1415 he became rector and in 1418 prorector of Cracow Academy.

Paweł Włodkowic represented Poland at the 1414 Council of Constance, where he delivered a thesis about the power of the Pope and the Emperor, the Tractatus de potestate papae et imperatoris respectu infidelium. In it he drew the thesis that pagan and Christian nations could coexist in peace and criticized the Teutonic Order for its wars of conquest of native non-Christian peoples in Prussia and Lithuania. Due to his influence, in 1421 the Pope sent Antionio Zeno to investigate the Teutonic Order and its activities.