Acta Papensia 2005 - A Pápai Református Gyűjtemények Közleményei 5. évfolyam (Pápa, 2005)
1-2. szám - Műhely - Köblös József–Kránitz Zsolt: „Mindenkor az országban harmadiknak tartatott..."?
Műhely SUMMARY IÚZSEF KÖBLÖS - ZSOLT KRÁNITZ „II has always been considered as the third one...” The structure of the Pápa Reformed College until the middle of the 18th Century The Pápa Reformed College that had been operated by the Pápa Reformed Church was declared to be the central school of the Transdanubian Reformed Church District in 1797. It was in 1801 that a long-awaited resolution concerning the equality of the Pápa College with the old Debrecen and Sárospatak Colleges was passed by the four Hungarian Reformed church districts. However, it is a question how the Pápa College worked before 1797 and what educational level was provided by the College? According to some authors the College was one of the second-rate schools of the country, while others argue that it had always represented the three-stage classic college structure, i. e. it had provided the primary, the grammar and the academic educational level. Some scholars state that Pápa was a so called particula of the Sárospatak or Debrecen College, (i. e. its constitution, curriculum and teachers depended on these colleges), while others say it was totally independent, what is more, it had its own net of particulae, i. e. there were schools submitted to it. The study tries to answer the questions examining all the available sources. Its results can be summarized as follows: 1. From the Reformation on until its first closing in 1752, the Pápa College provided the elements of theological education and also logic, which -was seen as an introductory level to philosophy. 2. The Pápa School also provided the congregational schools of the Transdanubian Reformed Church District with rectors. The school had its own net of particulae. 3. But the philosophical and theological education proved to be insufficient for the graduates to become pastors in the district and they had to continue their studies in Sárospatak or Debrecen. Many of them attended foreign universities too. It was an unwritten requirement for the pastors and rectors in Pápa to attend universities in foreign countries. 4. The Pápa school was part of the group of the so called not complete colleges in the system of national education during the first half of the 18lh Century, which means that the elementary and grammar levels were directly followed by theology and a systematic study of philosophy was left out. Logic, as the lower level of philosophy, was taught as an introduction to theology. Both logic and theology were instructed by the rector himself. 5. During the 1630s and 1640s a completion of studies in Pápa and at a foreign academy proved to be sufficient to qualify as rectors of the Pápa College. But in the next more than 100 years periods varied during which either Debrecen or Sárospatak provided full education to finish their studies. The rules and the curriculum of the Pápa College mostly follow those of the Debrecen College order. As a consequence, the Pápa College served by no means as a paricula of any of the Colleges, but during this more than 100 years it was considered as a second-rate school. Far from the reformed centers in the middle and in the east, the Pápa College showed the characters of its location on the fringe. Due to its geographical situation, long before it was legally declared to be the leading school, it had been trying to keep together the schools of the Transdanubian District and serve as a mother/central school. While doing so the school itself was finding ways to survive. It was even closed in the second half of the 18th Century providing only a reduced level of education in the little village of Adásztevel. So the statement from the very end of the 18lh Century according to which „it has always been considered as the third one..." is not correct. At that time they were only longing for it, but a few years later they managed to reach their goal. 204 Acta Papensia V (2005) 1-2.
