Introduction

    Laelius Socinus is considered to be the founder of the Antitrinitarian intellectual movement and Faustus Socinus the main theoretician of the established Unitarian (Socinian) church in Poland. They belong, respectively, to the first and the second generations of Italian reformers.[i] Faustus Socinus was among the second generation of Italian religious refugees that, in contrast to the first generation, was represented by individuals isolated from the rest of the Italian emigrants in search of a place to live and to express their religious convictions. They found such a place in Poland and in Transylvania. He was successful in finding a supportive group and gaining recognition. However, he refused to be considered a heresiarch or a leader of the group; rather, he thought of himself as a teacher of a method of inquiry for understanding the Scripture.