Dénes Dienes: History of the Reformed Church Collég in Sárospatak (Sárospatak, 2013)
THE SCHOOL IN ITS “OLD NEST” AGAIN HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE BETWEEN1703 AND 1777 - Laying the foundations for growth
HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE BETWEEN 1703 AND 1777 68 time. He studied in Marosvásárhely until 1729 and then went to the Netherlands to continue his studies. In Marosvásárhely he studied under Szathmári Paksi, so it is not a coincidence that he ended up in Patak. The third teaching position was established in 1743 and István Bányai Szabó was selected to fill the position. He had studied for one year in Pozsony and for twelve years in Sárospatak before he went to the Netherlands. In 1744, Mihály Szathmári Paksi passed away and his son - also called Mihály - thereupon assumed his father’s position, thus ensuring the continued presence of three teachers. The curriculum remained unchanged but now the teaching load could be shared by three teachers so the structure of the program in the higher classes could be significantly better organized and became more effective. The theological and philosophical content continued to reflect the influence of Descartes and Coccejus. The teacher István Bányai brought something new to the curriculum in introducing Latin writers in a degree relative to their significance in the history of literature. The Jesuits filed complaints about the school several times, these sparking an investigation by the Zemplén county authorities whose conclusions now serve as a fortunate source of information. The document provides an insight into the nature of the curriculum and to the number of students enrolled. The students enrolled at the lower levels in 1765 were grouped into six classes. Mihály Szathmári Paksi’s dissertation on the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper • 1st or so-called ‘alphabet’ class: one hundred forty students, all of the Helvetic Confession. Their teacher was József Árvái, a tógátus student. They studied the basics of Latin on the basis of a textbook by Christoph Cellarius (+1707), German linguist, this meaning that this textbook had replaced the use of Comenius’ Vestibulum. • 2nd or ‘rudiments’ class’: one hundred fifty-seven students, all of the Helvetic Confession. Their teacher was Pál Sebő, a tógátus student. They studied the conjugation of Latin nouns and verbs on the basis of the Cellarius’ textbook and Gergely Molnár’s textbook on grammar. Joachim Langius’ (+1744) book was used for conversation exercises. • 3rd or ‘grammatics’ class: one hundred ninety-four students, all of the Helvetic Confession. Their teacher was Pál Benyó, a tógátus student. Latin grammar was taught from Molnár’s textbook and conversation was taught on the basis of excerpts from Sebastian Castellion’s (+1563) book. • 4th or ‘syntaxers’ class: two hundred three students, all of the Helvetic Confession except for two Lutherans. Their teacher was István Pap, a tógátus student. Latin was taught from Molnár’s textbook. The practice exercises were most certainly taken from Roman historian Cornelius Nepos’ (+ BC 25) ‘De viriis illustribus’. • 5th or ‘poetics’ class: sixty-six students, all of the Helvetic Confession except for one Lutheran. Their teacher was Zsigmond Kecskeméti, a tógátus student. Poetry was taught on the basis of Molnár’s textbook and the works of Ovid and Virgil as well as other classics. • 6th or ‘rhetoric’ class: one hundred ten students, all of the Helvetic Confession except for one Lutheran. Their teacher was Mihály Szabó, tógátus student. The textbook used was that of Hieronymus Freierus (+1747), 18th century author: ‘Oratoria in tabulas compendiarias redacta et ad
