Editing Scipione Piattoli

{{Short description|Italian Catholic priest (1749–1809)}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name  = Scipione Piattoli
| image       = Scipione Piattoli.PNG
| alt         = Scipione Piattoli
| caption     = Portrait by [[Marcello Bacciarelli]]
| birth_name  =
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1749|11|10|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Florence]], [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany]]
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|1809|04|12|1739|11|10|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Altenburg]], [[Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg]], Rhine Confederation
| nationality = Italian
| other_names = Urban
| known_for   = Co-drafting the [[Constitution of 3&nbsp;May 1791]]
| occupation  = {{Flatlist|
* Priest
* educator
* writer
* political activist
}}
}}

'''Scipione Piattoli''' ({{IPA|it|ʃiˈpjoːne ˈpjattoli}}; 10 November 1749 – 12 April 1809) was an Italian [[Catholic priest]]—a [[Piarist]]—an educator, writer, and political activist, and a major figure of the [[Enlightenment in Poland]]. After ten years as a professor at the [[University of Modena]] in Italy, he emigrated to the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], where he became associated with several [[magnate]] families—the [[Potocki]]s, [[Lubomirski]]s, and [[Czartoryski]]s. He was a member of Duchess [[Dorothea von Medem]]'s court in [[Courland]] (Lithuania) and of King [[Stanisław August Poniatowski]]'s court.

Piattoli was politically active in [[Warsaw]] during and after the [[Four-Year Sejm]] (1788–1792). He served as intermediary between the reformist [[Patriotic Party]] and King Stanisław August Poniatowski, and as an aide to the King (1789–1793). He is best remembered for his participation in drafting the [[Constitution of 3 May 1791]], a milestone in the history of Polish political legislation. He was an organizer of the 1794 [[Kościuszko Insurrection]] against Russian influence, which was the last armed struggle held under the banners of the Commonwealth. After the [[Third Partition of Poland]] (1795), Piattoli was interned by the Austrians for several years, together with another Polish activist of the Constitution movement, [[Hugo Kołłątaj]]. Freed in 1800, he worked several years with Polish and Russian statesman Prince [[Adam Jerzy Czartoryski]] in the service of [[Tsardom of Russia|Russia]], before retiring to Courland.

Piattoli was an inspiration to [[Leo Tolstoy]], who based the figure of Abbé Morio in ''[[War and Peace]]'' (1869) on him. He is also one of the figures immortalized in [[Jan Matejko]]'s 1891 painting, ''[[Constitution of 3 May 1791 (painting)|Constitution of 3 May 1791]].'' In his 1980 ten-page entry on Piattoli in the ''[[Polish Biographical Dictionary]]'', historian [[Emanuel Rostworowski]] notes that, "despite two Italian monographs (by A.D. Ancon and G. Bozzolato)", Piattoli still awaits a definitive biography.

==Early life==
Scipione Piattoli was born in [[Florence]] on 10 November 1749 to a family of painters (father, [[Gaetano Piattoli]]; mother, [[Anna Bacherini Piattoli]]; brother, [[Giuseppe Piattoli]]).<ref name=psb818/>

In 1763 he joined the [[Piarist]] order, taking the name Urban.<ref name=psb818/> Some historians have questioned whether he ever took [[Holy Orders]]; in any case he was known for a rather secular lifestyle.<ref name=psb818/><ref name="Głębocki2006"/> He taught [[rhetoric]] in Piarist schools in [[Massa, Tuscany|Massa]] and [[Correggio, Emilia-Romagna|Corregio]], and got his [[doctorate]] from the [[University of Florence]].<ref name=psb818/> From 1772 to 1782 he was a professor at the [[University of Modena]], teaching [[religious history]] and [[Greek language|Greek]].<ref name=WIEM/> Soon he became involved in political activism, and in 1774 he published (anonymously) a brochure titled ''Saggio intorno al luogo del seppellire'', which focused on the issue of hygiene and burials near churches.<ref name=psb818/> Also in 1774 he received permission to leave the Piarists, and resumed using the name Scipione.<ref name=psb818/> He would, however, keep and use the title of "the priest" (''l'abbé'') for most of his life.<ref name=psb818/> By the turn of the decade, Piattoli found himself in a faction that was losing in the politics of Modena, and decided to move, giving up his professorship in 1782.<ref name=psb818/>

Piattoli arrived in the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] that year, as a tutor for the sons of [[Piotr Potocki]]<!--Piotr Franciszek Potocki?-->, a member of the magnate [[Potocki family]].<ref name=psb818/> It was said in a contemporary account that his entire material wealth at that time was composed of a "sizable library".<ref name=psb818/> Piattoli ended his service with the [[Potocki]] family around 1784 due to personal disagreements with [[Pelagia Potocka]] and [[Maria Radziwiłł]].<ref name=psb819/> In the meantime, he became associated with the [[Lubomirski]] family—[[Elżbieta Czartoryska (1736–1816)|Izabela Lubomirska]] in particular—and through them befriended [[Stanisław Kostka Potocki]] and [[Grzegorz Piramowicz]].<ref name=psb819/> Through Potocki and Piramowicz he became a member of the [[Society for Elementary Books]] in 1784.<ref name=psb819/> In the Society he was tasked with writing a textbook on the [[history of science]].<ref name=psb819/> Around that time he was also active in Warsaw [[freemasonry]].<ref name=psb819/>

Piattoli traveled through Europe in the retinue of the Lubomirski family, including Izabela, and as a tutor of young [[Henryk Lubomirski]].<ref name=psb819/> During that time he developed extensive contacts at various European courts in [[Courland]]<!--([[Karlsbad]])?-->, Austria ([[Vienna]]), Italy ([[Turin]]) and France ([[Paris]]).<ref name=WIEM/><ref name=psb819/> During his three-year stay in the Lubomirskis' Parisian residence, he was in touch with many important men of the [[Age of Enlightenment]].<ref name=psb819/> He met—often through another Florentinian, [[Filippo Mazzei]]—[[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], the [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Marquis de Lafayette]], [[Luigi Landriani]], [[Girolamo Lucchesini]], and the [[Marquis de Condorcet]].<ref name=psb819/> He also corresponded with [[J. G. Herder]].<ref name=psb819/> In Poland, he developed close contacts with [[Ignacy Potocki]] and [[Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz]]a.<ref name=psb819/> From 1787 he also tutored [[Adam Jerzy Czartoryski]], later an important politician in the [[Russian Empire]], on whom Piattoli would retain significant influence.<ref name=psb819/><ref name="Riasanovsky1970"/>

==Reformer and constitution drafter==
[[File:Konstytucja 3 Maja.jpg|thumb|475px|''[[Constitution of 3 May 1791 (painting)|Constitution of 3 May 1791]]'', a 19th-century painting by [[Jan Matejko]]. Piattoli is one of many historical characters featured on this canvas. See [[:File:Konstytucja 3 Maja guide.jpg|here]] for a detailed legend.]]
Piattoli developed contacts with notable figures on the Polish political scene, initially from the group opposed to the royal faction.<ref name=psb819/> By the end of his stay in Paris, he likely became a supporter of reforms in France and Poland, and begun taking his first serious steps in political activism, through the involvement in the [[Quattuowirat]], a group of magnates planning a (never realized) [[confederation|confederacy]].<ref name=psb819/> He became a foreign member of the [[Société des Amis des Noirs]].<ref name=psb819/>

Through his freemason contacts with [[Pierre Maurice Glayre]], Piattoli won the confidence of Poland's King [[Stanisław August Poniatowski]], becoming his agent in Paris and, by the end of 1789, his [[private secretary]] and librarian, although without any official title.<ref name="encyklopedia"/><ref name=psb820/> Acting as a sort of cultural aide, Piattoli, who had strong ties to the reformist and often anti-royal opposition, became an important link between the reformers—[[Ignacy Potocki]] in particular—and the king.<ref name=psb820/><ref name=psb821/> In the words of a Swedish diplomat, L. Engstrom, he was "like a tireless spring", constantly mediating between the two factions.<ref name=psb821/>

Due to his association with the reformers, in conservative Rome he became infamous as a staunch supporter of revolutionary ideals and was accused of "democratism".<ref name=psb820/> [[Holy See|Vatican]] diplomats criticized the king for hiring such a "revolutionary", but the king defended Piattoli quite vividly.<ref name=psb820/> In any case, many such claims were exaggerations or rumours spread by his political enemies: according to one such rumour, Piattoli was alleged to incite crowds in France to kill the king.<ref name=psb820/><ref name="Butterwick2012"/> In reality, Piattoli supported the ''[[Monarchiens]]'' of the [[French Revolution]]'s early stages, but more in the direction of peaceful transformation into a constitutional republic than the [[regicide|regicidal]] excesses.<ref name=psb820/>

Between 1790 and 1792, Piattoli was sent on several sensitive [[diplomatic mission]]s for the king to [[Berlin]] and other places.<ref name="encyklopedia"/><ref name=psb822/><ref name=psb823/> He was involved in the negotiations of the [[Polish-Prussian alliance]].<ref name=psb822/> He collaborated with Ignacy Potocki, helping draft many texts connected with Potocki's work in the [[Sejm]], the [[legislature]] of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.<ref name="encyklopedia"/><ref name=psb821/> He was also an active supporter of Poniatowski's plan for a [[hereditary succession]].<ref name=psb821/>
Piattoli, as Poniatowski's secretary and a resident of the [[Royal Castle, Warsaw|Royal Castle]] in [[Warsaw]], has been credited with winning the King over to the idea of [[social reform]]s and with playing a part in the drafting of the [[Constitution of 3 May 1791]].<ref name="constitutions"/> The exact nature of Piattoli's role in regard to the Constitution remains uncertain; modern historians disagree to what degree he was an executor, a mediator, or an initiator.<ref name=psb822/><ref name="constitutions"/> He played a role in convincing the King to collaborate with the leaders of the [[Patriotic Party]] on drafting a constitution. He might have prepared or expanded drafts of the document, based on discussions among the principal authors, including the King, [[Hugo Kołłątaj]] (another politically active Roman Catholic priest) and Ignacy Potocki.<ref name="constitutions"/><ref name=Bauer125/> At a minimum, he seems to have helped catalyze the process.<ref name="constitutions"/> Historian [[Emanuel Rostworowski]] describes him as a vital secretary-editor, who certainly participated in related discussions and influenced both Potocki and the king, and calls Piattoli's quarters in the Royal Palace a "creche" of the constitution.<ref name=psb821/><ref name=psb822/> Piattoli was, finally, involved in the final preparations for the vote that took place during the Sejm session on 3 May.<ref name=psb822/>

Later that month he became a founder of the [[Zgromadzenie Przyjaciół Konstytucji Rządowej|Friends of the Constitution]].<ref name=psb822/> He was active in various political causes and worked closely with other key figures in Poland such as Hugo Kołłątaj.<ref name=psb822/> He became a trusted adviser to [[Dorothea von Medem]], Duchess of Courland.<ref name=psb822/> He supported reforms to improve the status of the [[Medieval bourgeoisie|burgher]]s and [[Polish Jews|Jews]].<ref name=psb822/>

==Final years==
During the [[War in Defence of the Constitution]] in 1792, Piattoli found himself on another diplomatic mission to [[Dresden]], where he stayed after the Commonwealth's defeat at the hands of [[Imperial Russia]] resulted in the [[Second Partition of Poland]].<ref name=psb823/> In Dresden and nearby [[Leipzig]], Piattoli was active in the circles of Polish patriotic emigres, who included Potocki and Kolłątaj.<ref name=psb823/><ref name=psb824/> In 1793 he officially parted ways with Poniatowski, receiving a letter in which he was discharged from his service.<ref name=psb823/> In 1794 he was involved in the preparations for the [[Kościuszko Insurrection]] against Russian influence, and in negotiations with the newly republican France, in which Polish reformists proposed an alliance with France, promising to turn Poland into a second republic in Europe.<ref name=psb824/><ref name=psb825/> At the same time, he was involved in much more conservative negotiations with Russians.<ref name=psb824/><ref name=psb825/>

In July 1794 he and several other activists were exiled from Leipzig, and Piattoli was soon arrested by the Austrian authorities.<ref name=psb825/> After the failure of the Kościuszko Insurrection later in 1794, many prisoners were set free, but Piattoli was kept imprisoned, together with Kołłątaj, as the Russian authorities insisted that the two were "extremely dangerous".<ref name=psb825/> Hence, even after the final [[Partitions of Poland|Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] in 1795, Piattoli was kept interned in [[Prague]] by the [[Austrian Empire]] authorities until 1800, despite requests for his release from Poniatowski and even [[Napoleon Bonaparte]].<ref name=WIEM/><ref name=psb825/> His release in 1800 seems to have been the result of efforts of the [[Czartoryski]] family and Duchess Dorothea.<ref name=psb825/>

After his release he returned to Dorothea's [[Courland]] court, where he served as a tutor for her daughter.<ref name=psb825/> Around 1803 he began cooperating with [[Adam Jerzy Czartoryski]], who was now working for the Russian authorities.<ref name=psb825/> Around that time, he and Czartoryski authored a plan for a [[Europe]]an [[Federation|federal]] organization of states intended to prevent [[armed conflict]]s and to maintain [[perpetual peace]].<ref name="encyklopedia"/><ref name=psb825/><ref name="FeuerMiller2008"/><ref name=psb826/> Piattoli, through Czartoryski, briefly worked in the diplomatic service and administration of the Russians, too.<ref name=WIEM/><ref name="encyklopedia"/><ref name=psb826/> Like Czartoryski, Piattoli tried to push for a more lenient and friendly attitude towards Poland at the Russian court, but with little success.<ref name=psb826/>

In 1807 Scipione Piattoli returned to Courland.<ref name=psb827/> There he finally settled, abandoned the priesthood, and married one of the ladies of the court.<ref name=WIEM/><ref name="encyklopedia"/><ref name=psb827/> In his final years in Courland he was involved with Courland's educational system, and hoped to pursue some scientific studies, a lifelong dream for which he never found enough time.<ref name=psb827/> He died of a lung infection in [[Altenburg]] on 12 April 1809.<ref name=psb827/> He was buried in a park in [[Löbichau]].<ref name=psb827/>

==Remembrance==
Piattoli was an inspiration to [[Leo Tolstoy]], who based the figure of the Abbé Morio in ''[[War and Peace]]'' (1869) on him.<ref name="FeuerMiller2008"/><ref name=psb827/> He is also one of the figures immortalized in [[Jan Matejko]]'s 1891 painting, ''[[Constitution of 3 May 1791 (painting)|Constitution of 3 May 1791]]''.<ref name="biul"/> In his 1980 ten-page entry on Piattoli in the ''[[Polish Biographical Dictionary]]'', historian [[Emanuel Rostworowski]] notes that, "despite two Italian monographs (by A.D. Ancon and G. Bozzolato)", Piattoli still awaits a definitive biography.<ref name=psb827/>

==See also==
* [[Italy–Poland relations]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2|refs=

<ref name=Bauer125>{{cite book|author=Krzysztof Bauer|title=Uchwalenie i obrona Konstytucji 3 Maja|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WLNGAAAAIAAJ|access-date=2 January 2012|year=1991|publisher=Wydawnictwa Szkolne i Pedagogiczne|isbn=978-83-02-04615-5|page=125}}</ref>

<ref name="biul">{{cite book|author1=Państwowy Instytut Sztuki (Poland)|author2=Politechnika Warszawska. Zakład Architektury Polskiej|author3=Stowarzyszenie Historyków Sztuki|title=Biuletyn historii sztuki|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SZWfAAAAMAAJ|access-date=14 August 2011|year=1985|page=260}}</ref>

<ref name="Butterwick2012">{{cite book|author=Richard Butterwick|title=The Polish Revolution and the Catholic Church, 1788-1792: A Political History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TlQQdbfi_v0C|access-date=2 January 2012|date=1 February 2012|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-925033-2|page=279}}</ref>

<ref name="constitutions">{{cite book|author=Joseph Kasparek|author-link=Józef Kasparek|title=The constitutions of Poland and of the United States: kinships and genealogy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z41iXwAACAAJ|access-date=3 January 2012|date=June 1980|publisher=American Institute of Polish Culture|location=Miami|isbn=978-1-881284-09-3|page=31}}</ref>

<ref name="encyklopedia">"Piattoli, Scipione," ''Encyklopedia powszechna [[Polish Scientific Publishers PWN|PWN]]'' ([[Polish Scientific Publishers PWN|PWN]] Universal Encyclopedia), vol. 3, Warsaw, [[Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe]], 1975, p. 505.</ref>

<ref name="FeuerMiller2008">{{cite book|author1=Kathryn B. Feuer|author2=Robin Feuer Miller|author3=Donna Tussing Orwin|title=Tolstoy and the Genesis of War and Peace|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xf7umXHGDPcC&pg=PA243|access-date=2 January 2012|date=January 2008|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-7447-7|page=243}}</ref>

<ref name="Głębocki2006">{{cite book|author=Henryk Głębocki|title=Kresy imperium: szkice i materiały do dziejów polityki Rosji wobec jej peryferii, XVIII-XXI wiek|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VAgXAQAAIAAJ|access-date=2 January 2012|date=January 2006|publisher=Wyd. Arcana|isbn=978-83-89243-63-8|page=97|quote=Niejasne jest jednak, czy w ogóle posiadał święcenia kapłańskie, z pewnością pędził jednak świecki tryb życia.}}</ref>

<ref name="psb818">Emanuel Rostworowski, ''Piattoli Scipione'', Polski Słownik Biograficzny, Tom XXV, Zakład Narodowy Imenia Ossolińskich I Wydawnictwo Polskieh Akademii Nauk, 1980, {{ISBN|83-04-00148-9}}, p. 818</ref>

<ref name="psb819">Emanuel Rostworowski, ''Piattoli Scipione'', Polski Słownik Biograficzny, Tom XXV, Zakład Narodowy Imenia Ossolińskich I Wydawnictwo Polskieh Akademii Nauk, 1980, {{ISBN|83-04-00148-9}}, p. 819</ref>

<ref name="psb820">Emanuel Rostworowski, ''Piattoli Scipione'', Polski Słownik Biograficzny, Tom XXV, Zakład Narodowy Imenia Ossolińskich I Wydawnictwo Polskieh Akademii Nauk, 1980, {{ISBN|83-04-00148-9}}, p. 820</ref>

<ref name="psb821">Emanuel Rostworowski, ''Piattoli Scipione'', Polski Słownik Biograficzny, Tom XXV, Zakład Narodowy Imenia Ossolińskich I Wydawnictwo Polskieh Akademii Nauk, 1980, {{ISBN|83-04-00148-9}}, p. 821</ref>

<ref name="psb822">Emanuel Rostworowski, ''Piattoli Scipione'', Polski Słownik Biograficzny, Tom XXV, Zakład Narodowy Imenia Ossolińskich I Wydawnictwo Polskieh Akademii Nauk, 1980, {{ISBN|83-04-00148-9}}, p. 822</ref>

<ref name="psb823">Emanuel Rostworowski, ''Piattoli Scipione'', Polski Słownik Biograficzny, Tom XXV, Zakład Narodowy Imenia Ossolińskich I Wydawnictwo Polskieh Akademii Nauk, 1980, {{ISBN|83-04-00148-9}}, p. 823</ref>

<ref name="psb824">Emanuel Rostworowski, ''Piattoli Scipione'', Polski Słownik Biograficzny, Tom XXV, Zakład Narodowy Imenia Ossolińskich I Wydawnictwo Polskieh Akademii Nauk, 1980, {{ISBN|83-04-00148-9}}, p. 824</ref>

<ref name="psb825">Emanuel Rostworowski, ''Piattoli Scipione'', Polski Słownik Biograficzny, Tom XXV, Zakład Narodowy Imenia Ossolińskich I Wydawnictwo Polskieh Akademii Nauk, 1980, {{ISBN|83-04-00148-9}}, p. 825</ref>

<ref name="psb826">Emanuel Rostworowski, ''Piattoli Scipione'', Polski Słownik Biograficzny, Tom XXV, Zakład Narodowy Imenia Ossolińskich I Wydawnictwo Polskieh Akademii Nauk, 1980, {{ISBN|83-04-00148-9}}, p. 826</ref>

<ref name="psb827">Emanuel Rostworowski, ''Piattoli Scipione'', Polski Słownik Biograficzny, Tom XXV, Zakład Narodowy Imenia Ossolińskich I Wydawnictwo Polskieh Akademii Nauk, 1980, {{ISBN|83-04-00148-9}}, p. 827</ref>
<ref name="Riasanovsky1970">{{cite book|author=Nicholas V. Riasanovsky |authorlink=Nicholas V. Riasanovsky|title=California slavic studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XBJZVNYM_NUC&pg=PA24|access-date=2 January 2012|date=1 January 1970|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-09043-9|page=24}}</ref>

<ref name="WIEM">{{in lang|pl}} [http://portalwiedzy.onet.pl/63855,,,,piattoli_scipione,haslo.html Piattoli Scipione], [[Encyklopedia WIEM]]. Accessed on 2 January 2012.</ref>
}}

==Further reading==
* Bozzolato G., ''Polonia e Russia alla fine del XVIII secolo – Un avvanturerio ornarato: Scipione Piattoli'', Padova 1964

==External links==
* [http://www.wilanow-palac.pl/piattoli_scipione_1749_1809.html Piattoli Scipione (1749–1809)], based on the ''[[Polish Biographical Dictionary|Polski Słownik Biograficzny]]'' entry (abridged) {{in lang|pl}}. Muzeum Pałac w Wilanowie.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Piattoli, Scipione}}
[[Category:1749 births]]
[[Category:1809 deaths]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia]]
[[Category:Grand Duchy of Tuscany people]]
[[Category:Clergy from Florence]]
[[Category:Italian emigrants to Poland]]
[[Category:Italian Freemasons]]
[[Category:Piarists]]
[[Category:University of Florence alumni]]