The futility of the decrees of the synod of 1542 becomes still more
apparent in the light of the stand of the Polish nobility at the Diet
of Cracow the following year. Open aggressiveness and sympathy with
the Reformation is here in evidence. The nobility demanded of the king
at this Diet and secured (1) the retention within the country for
purposes of defense against foreign aggression of the annates paid
to the Pope, and (2) the revocation of the unconstitutional edict of
1534, reaffirmed in 1540, forbidding Polish citizens to study, or to
educate their children abroad in universities infected with heresy. In
compliance with the urgent request of the senators and the deputies
the king agreed to send an embassy to the Pope with a petition, which
was more a notification than a request, that the annates be allowed
to be retained in the country; and should the Pope refuse to agree to
that, he was to be at once notified that the annates would not be
allowed to be given or exported from the country any more.[103] As
to the second point, the edicts forbidding Polish citizens to visit
certain places abroad were abrogated, and they were again given full
liberty to visit foreign countries for any purpose whatever, provided
they were not accompanied by a military retinue, or went to engage
in war. But, returning, they were not permitted to import heretical
books, or to disseminate among the common people doctrines not accepted
by the Roman Catholic Church. Whoever should be found guilty of this
offense, was to be prosecuted according to the laws of the kingdom
against heretics.[104] This measure reveals a recognition on the part
of the king of the impossibility of restraining anyone from personally
accepting the new teaching, particularly any of the nobility. The only
thing it seeks to guard against is the public dissemination of the new
teaching among the common people.
These significant gains stimulated the adherents to the Reformation
and its sympathizers to greater and more open activity. The new
movement, as has already been noted, had penetrated even into the royal
court, and had found followers among those nearest to the king. The
environment of the Crown Prince had been strongly saturated with the
new ideas, and every effort was made to win the young prince over to
the new cause. Two of his preachers began openly to denounce the abuses
of the church. They were John Koźmiński, known also as Cosminius, and
Lawrence Prasznicki, called also Prasnicius and Discordia. The latter
became very well known among the Protestants later on.[105] Their first
public attacks on the church and demands for reform were naturally of a
general character, and that enabled them to continue their activity at
court for some time.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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