Spór o dziedzictwo Jana Ostroroga. Polemika Michała Bobrzyńskiego z Henrykiem Lisickim ………. 93

The text presents a polemic between two conservative publicists associated with the Stańczyk circle: Michał Bobrzyński and Henryk Lisicki. The dispute began with Lisicki’s critical review of Bobrzyński’s book, Jan Ostroróg: Studyum z literatury politycznej XV wieku (Jan Ostroróg: A Study of Fifteenth- Century Political Literature), published in „Przegląd Powszechny”. While not questioning Bobrzyński’s historical expertise, the author of the review disagreed with the positive assessment of Ostroróg’s reform plan aimed at strengthening state power. The author saw the plan as an unjustified violation of legitimate rights and an attack on the independence of the Catholic Church. The author concluded that the subsequent implementation of such projects had tragic consequences for the Christian world. In his response, which appeared in „Przegląd Polski”, Bobrzyński considered the review to be an attack on his views on current political issues disguised as a discussion of historical matters. Therefore, Bobrzyński accused Lisicki of taking a doctrinaire approach to the issue of state power (hence the title of the text, New Doctrine), pointing out that, by criticizing the „omnipotence” of the state, he meant the institutions of the modern state. He accuses his opponent of displaying a Sarmatian aversion to the so-called „absolutum dominium,” which he says ruined the First Republic and condemned it to disappear from Europe through the actions of stronger neighbors. He concludes that such attitudes continue to harm the Polish cause. The authors’ polemic focuses on the scope of state authority, Poles’ attitudes towards it, the relationship between the state and the church, the relationship between religious morality and state interests, and the influence of history on practical politics. Finally, the article attempts to fit the presented views into the framework of traditionalist conservatism.