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

looked back on their time at Patak were often generous with their criticism of what they had endured in their studies. Ferenc Kazinczy was so much enamoured by the classics poets that he wanted to repeat taking the ‘poetica class but he complained that the teaching of national history did not even enter the teachers’ minds. György Bessenyei expressed similar feelings: “Because they force on us ancient classic authors all the time we hear nothing about the rest of the world. The history of the Bible and church, Greece and Rome are still taught but there is no mention of Hungarian history. ” However, when they reflected upon the practical education or the spirit of the College, they both spoke very highly of it: “And yet, in Patak, despite all the shortcomings, they educated young men even back then! [...jBecause Patak had a library with twenty thousand volumes, and books could be lent out to students to take to their rooms" as Kazinczy remembered. Bessenyei complimented his old school: “My clear moral standards are the results of your excllent education; my gratitude is endless. [...] My quiet satisfaction in life harks back to those years I spent there as a student. Those sweet memories cannot be wiped out of my heart until my life’s final hour.”

The tension-filled and charged atmosphere which was manifest at the time when the College returned to its home in Sárospatak was followed by four decades of calm and thoughtfully planned building. Despite the shortcomings of these years, they became the firm foundation of the following era which gave rise to successful reforms.

The Bema-row of the College in Sárospatak in 1772 - Gravure by Lajos Imre (1981)

Famous head lay officers

Ábrahám Vay (1697 - 8 March 1762, Alsózsolca): head lay officer of the church district and of the college.

His father was László Vay, a confident devotee of Ferenc Rákóczi II, his mother was Countess Borbála Teleky. His first wife was Borbála Gyulaffy and his second wife was Countess Anna Wass. Among his children, Joseph and Miklós excelled in their public careers, being patrons and promulgators of the national economy and of Hungarian culture.- In keeping with the traditions of the family, a student from the College in Sárospatak was employed as his personal instructor. He played a remarkably active role in the life of the Reformed Church: from 1735 on, he was the head lay officer the Cistibiscan church district and, from 1750 until 1761, he was the head lay officer of the College of Sárospatak; as the defender and patron of the Protestant denominations, he crusaded for the resolving of religious grievances, the organization of the Protestant military chaplain ministry, the training of Slovakian native-speaking Protestant pastors and for the developing of the College of Sárospatak; with the aim of modernizing education, he organized the acquisition of physical science instruments and equipment between 1756 and 1761 and with this made a significant contribution to the establishment of the later-established College museum.

György Király Szathmáry (1703 - 26 August 1785, Hangács): economics specialist, head lay officer of the church district. He makes his appearance on the stage of political public life as the representative of Borsod county in 1729. He served again as a representative in parliament in 1741,1751 and in 1765. He served as head lay officer of the Cistibiscan church district from 1762. In this quality he provided significant financial support to the establishment of new college buildings in Sárospatak (Bema sor, built in 1771/72, houses school museum at present). He arranged for the up-grading of the equipment and instruments used in the teaching of the physical sciences and physics. Through his translations, he is considered to have been instmmental in establishing the foundations of the redaction of economics in the Hungarian language. He compiled the history of the College of Sárospatak in Latin, a work which remains untouched in its original manuscript form. (Sárospatak Great Library).

Publications: Angliai méhes kert. Translated from German, extended with an independent chapter, (Eger, 1759; second edition, Eger, 1768; third edition, Eger, 1781.); A barmokról Ausztriában tett rendelések. Translated from German, with own notes. (Vienna, 1753.).