Studia nad Machiavellim w Polsce od XVI do XX wieku
Studies on Machiavelli in Poland From the 16th to the 20th Century

Summary/Abstract: The reception of Niccolò Machiavelli’s political thought in Poland dates back to the 16th century and has taken on diverse forms from the outset. Through the influence of Polish students educated at Western European universities, as well as Italian intellectuals associated with Queen Bona’s court, Machiavelli’s ideas gradually entered the Polish cultural sphere. In the 17th and 18th centuries, they were met with both approval and criticism. During the 19th century, under the conditions of the partitions, interest in the Florentine thinker’s legacy significantly increased—authors such as Ludwik Wolski and Antoni Sozański saw in his concepts a possible response to the threats facing the state. In the 20th century, reflection on his work focused, among other things, on the notion of virtù, explored in various ideological contexts. A major contribution to the development of research on Machiavelli’s reception in Poland was made by intellectuals such as Henryk Barycz and Jan Malarczyk, who emphasized the enduring relevance of his doctrine within the framework of Polish political thought.

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