Jan Ostroróg (1436–1501) was a Polish political writer,

voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

and adviser to the Polish kings

Casimir IV Jagiellon Casimir IV (Casimir Andrew Jagiellon; ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 until his death in 1492. He was one of the most active Polish-Lithuanian rulers; under ...

and

John I Albert John I Albert (; 27 December 1459 – 17 June 1501) was King of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of Roy ...

. Ostroróg came from the old Polish nobility of the

Ostroróg Ostroróg is a town in Szamotuły County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 1,962 inhabitants (2010). History Ostroróg was first mentioned in 1383. It was granted town rights before 1412. There was a hospital in the town from 1472. Th ...

. He studied law at the universities of Erfurt and Bologna. He was a proponent of strong central authority of the monarchy, calling for reforms within the Roman Catholic Church and the law (he promoted equality of all classes before the law). In his work ''Memoriał o urządzeniu Rzeczypospolitej'', written around 1475, he advocated fundamental reforms of the state, as well as the

separation of state and church The separation of church and state is a philosophical and jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular stat ...

and the introduction of universal

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

. His marriage to the Ratibor princess Helene, the daughter of

Wenceslaus II, Duke of Opava-Ratibor Wenceslaus II, Duke of Opava-Ratibor (also known as ''Wenceslaus I of Ratibor and Krnov''; ; – 29 October 1456) was a member of the Opavian branch of the Přemyslid dynasty. He was Duke of Ratibor and Kronov jointly with his brother Nicholas ...

, a direct descendant of

Ottokar II of Bohemia Ottokar II (; , in Městec Králové, Bohemia – 26 August 1278, in Dürnkrut, Austria, Dürnkrut, Lower Austria), the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until his death in 1278 ...

, produced the sons Wacław and Stanisław Ostroróg.

References

*"Grodzisk Wielkopolski" - Paweł Anders, Wydawnictwo WBP, Poznań 1995, {{DEFAULTSORT:Ostrorog, Jan 1436 births 1501 deaths

Jan Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...

15th-century Polish writers