Dénes Dienes: History of the Reformed Church Collég in Sárospatak (Sárospatak, 2013)
FLOURISHING AND SCATTERING THE REFORMED COLLEGE IN THE 17TH CENTURY - School life
THE REFORMED CHURCH COLLEGE IN THE 17TH CENTURY 26 Student signatures (1664-1665) sent away and any wine purchased in and from the pub was confiscated. The students became upset and felt that their rights had been violated. They seized their weapons, charged out of the school and clashed with the armed guards. In the ensuing skirmish, a student called István Kaposi was shot by the local lieutenant. After this unfortunate incident the leadership of the Zemplén Church County, together with the dean, held a meeting in June 1618 and established disciplinary regulations. The pastors at Patak received stronger custody rights over the College; students were forbidden to bear arms in the town or to participate in armed vigilantism. (Bearing arms and gun ownership were generally allowed for reasons of self-defense.) Strict punishment was to be meted out to those who participated in acts of arbitrary aggression, such as students bundling a fellow student into a blanket and tossing him up in the air while spinning. There was an old tradition of indulging in a huge dinner when sending students off at the end of their studies. However, these open invitation dinners often ended in drunkenness so the new regulations forbade such celebrations; only a small circle of close friends were to be invited. Severe punishment was also in the offing for those who cursed or used swear words. These latter ones were most likely the most general student misdemeanours, although the widespread nature of cursing in other groupings of society was well-illustrated in the church attendance records. At the top rung of the school’s administration we find the rector primarius. His immediate coworker was the conrector. It was by invitation from the dean of the Zemplén Church County, the pastors of Patak and the patrons that these positions were filled. This same body served in a supervisory role in cases of disciplinary action involving the rector or conrector. Those filling these two positions had to be adherents to the Helvetic Confession of faith and could only serve in the school after having completed university studies abroad. When hired, they had to agree -by signing - to respect the school’s regulations. In accordance with the regulations, it was their task to teach theology, philosophy, Greek, Hebrew, poetry, rhetorics and logic. (Poetry and rhetorics, in practice, were taught by assistant teachers.) Assistant teachers were called collaborators, but they were also referred to as publicus preaceptor. They were chosen from the best students by the rector and conrector. They supervised and taught pupils who studied basic subjects; sometimes they taught classes at the secondary school as well (poetry, rhetorics), as the rector or conrector saw fit. A paedagogus or privatus praeceptor was a person who taught younger students and gave private lessons. With the rector’s or conrector’s approval they could take on a few students whose parents paid for their services. As the term suggests, they helped their students to improve their standing or prepare for the exams. There was also a cantor (organist) who was an older student and not an employee of the city when the regulations were reformulated. In addition to his regular duties at the church, he gave lessons in singing for the students twice a month. The students could be classified according to their chosen curriculum, this giving three groups. Those enrolled in basic education were referred to as children (boys) of the regulations, those in secondary education were called adolescents and the older students were called studiosi. Those of the last group were either togatus (meaning theology student with a uniform) or non togatus (meaning student not in the theology program). On the basis of contemporary sources, the
