The Constitution was the dawn of a better future. After 3 May 1791, there was time for supplementary laws to be passed, institutions to get to work, and for a new kind of politics to bed down during the last year of the Great Sejm. On the whole, the indications are very promising. On the…
Hugo Kołłątaj was a towering figure of the Polish Enlightenment: a statesman, political writer and philosopher, as well as a promoter of science and education. He was a spokesman for socio-economic and political changes and a co-creator of the Constitution of 3rd May 1791. He was born in Derkały Wielkie in Wołyń on 1 April…
Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Society of Jesus in 1773, which forced changes in the organisation of education in the Commonwealth since it was precisely the Society that was primarily responsible for education at the primary and secondary level in the country. The establishment of the Commission of National Education (Komisja Edukacji Narodowej, KEN) was…
The passing of the Government Act was possible because an understanding had been reached between members of the enlightened opposition and the King, Stanisław August Poniatowski. by Piotr Ugniewski The turning point had been a long discussion between the leader of that opposition, Ignacy Potocki, and the monarch, at the Royal Castle, on 4 December…
