Draskóczy István - Varga Júlia - Zsidi Vilmos (szerk.): Universitas - Historia. tanulmányok a 70 éves Szögi László tiszteletére - Magyar Levéltárosok Egyesülete kiadványai 15. (Budapest, 2018)
Oktatástörténet - 2. 19-20. század - Sigmirean, Cornel: Katolikus hálózat - Erdélyi román diákok az európai egyetemeken
Cornel Sigmirean: The Catholic Network — Romanian Students from Transylvania at European Universities very small. Belonging to the Orthodox religion, the Romanians did not profit as the German or Hungarian ethnics from the facilities offered by the religious affiliation to Catholicism, Calvinism, Lutheranism or Unitarianism in order to attend European universities. The openness toward European schools and universities was achieved during almost the entire 18th century following the Catholic network. The religious union and the Romanians’ access to education At the instauration of the Austrian rule in Transylvania in 1688, the province had from a religious point of view a strong Protestant character11. It was due to the fact that for over eight decades the political power had been held by the Calvin princes. The Protestant Church comprised the Calvinists and Unitarians of Hungarian origin and the Lutherans, mostly of German ethnicity. The Roman-Catholic Church, omnipotent until the 16th century, was only an accepted religion, whose entire freedom was guaranteed by law. In exchange, the Orthodox religion shared by the Romanians had only the status of tolerated religion that was not acknowledged among the accepted religions. In this context, Transylvania’s inclusion under the Catholic Austria’s rule represents the beginning of a new chapter for the Greek-Catholic Church from Transylvania. The Court of Vienna decided to modify the confessional situation in Transylvania. In 1761, the imperia counselor Bonié expressed the dictum specific to the Baroque epoch, namely the people’s as well as the State’s happiness is better promoted when the entire people belongs to the same religion as the ruled2. Since the provincial nobility of Reformed and Unitarian religion as well as the Lutheran Saxons were not willing to give up their religion, Vienna turned to the Orthodox Romanians, who were tolerated and absent from the political life. From the perspective of the Court of Vienna, drawing the Romanians to the Church of Rome would contribute to the strengthening of Catholicism, “which represented one of the imperial authority’s pillars”13. The religious union also fitted into the Oriental projects of the Church of Rome, namely the expansion of Catholicism toward the East, to the Polish territories, to the Balkans and Russia14. In 1699, through certain documents, the De Propaganda Fide Congregation entrusted the missionaries in the Christian East and the Jesuits who arrived in Transylvania at the same time with the Austrian 11 Päclpan, Z.: Istoria Bisericii Romane Unite op. cit. 83. 12 Mathias Bemath: Habsburgii §i inceputurile formárii napunii románé. Cluj 1994. 74. 13 Keith Hitchiny. Promisiunile socio-politice ale unei posibile incheieri a Unirii. In: Unirea románkor transilväneni cu Biserica Roméi, vol. I. De la inceputuri páná in anul 1701. 141. 14 I. Tóth Zoltán: Primul secol al nafionalismului románesc ardelean 1697-1792. Bucu- re?ti 2001. 19. 401
