Paweł Włodkowic was a distinguished scholar, jurist and rector of the Krakow Academy who defended Poland and native non-Christian tribes against the Teutonic Knights and their policies of conquest.
Background
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.
Career
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 Krakow, 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 (Treatise on the Power of the Pope and the Emperor Respecting Infidels).
Due to his influence, in 1421 the Pope sent Antionio Zeno to investigate the Teutonic Order and its activities. In 1420 Paweł Włodkowic represented Poland at a conference between Poland and the Teutonic Order held in Wrocław under the aegis of Sigismund of Luxemburg.
As early as the beginning of the 15th century, along with Stanisław of Skarbimierz, Włodkowic strongly supported the idea of conciliarism and pioneered the notion of peaceful coexistence among nations – a forerunner of modern theories of human rights.
After 1424 he retired from public life to Kłodawa, where he died in 1435.