Dénes Dienes: History of the Reformed Church Collég in Sárospatak (Sárospatak, 2013)
Dénes Dienes: THE PROTESTANT SCHOOL IN THE 16TH CENTURY - In the Spirit of Melanchthon 1558-1576
IN THE SPIRIT OF MELANCHTHON 1558-1576 li The teachings of Philipp Melanchthon (1497-1560), the outstanding humanist educator in Wittenberg, exercised an extraordinary influence on the Hungarian Protestant intellectuals of the 16th century. Melanchthon’s grasp of sciences and achievements in philology, moreover, his disposition for establishing schools and management, became the directive and dominant resolve for numerous Hungarian reformers. He corresponded regularly not only with his students but also with several influential Hungarian politicians - one among these being Péter Perényi. He maintained friendly relations with many of his students and his counsel played a significant role in shaping their careers. The first concretely identified teacher of the school in Sárospatak, Pál Thúri Farkas (+1571), was a pupil of Melanchthon, having enrolled in the University of Wittenberg in 1555. His hometown schoolteacher in Mezőtúr had been István Kis Szegedi, the Hungarian reformer characterized by his contemporaries as being “the most knowledgeable” among them. It is certain that Thúri was already an advocate of the Helvetic (Swiss) branch of the Reformation when he became a teacher in Tolna after his return from Wittenberg in 1557. Evidence of this is apparent in his elegiac couplet written in Latin about Calvin’s Institutio, it being later translated into Hungarian by Albert Molnár Szenei: Melanchthon Praeter Apostolicas, post Christi tempora, chartas Huic peperere libro saecula nulla parem. In the wake of the anointed books of the great apostles, A better book has never yet been written by anyone. “Since the ascension of Christ, no age has produced a book of equal worth, apart for the writings of the apostles”. (John Mackenzie: Memoirs of the life and writings of John Calvin) This occupied market town (under Turkish occupation) had a school of a very high level at this time and is evidence of Thúri’s preparedness that he was able to teach there. It was here that he wrote his famous letter about life during the Turkish occupation, which even today serves as a significant source for research (idea Christianorum Hungarorum). He arrived in Sárospatak in 1558 and for three years worked here as a teacher. He then became a pastor in Sajószentpéter in 1561 but, because of his theological convictions of the Helvetic type, he was forced to leave this church district region in 1564. Following the death of Gábor Perényi, he returned to Abaújszántó in 1569. Thúri was indeed well-versed in the biblical languages (Hebrew and Greek), and, consequently, also in theology. Evidence of his excellent rhetorical abilities can be presumed to be the reason for his having been bestowed with the honorary name “second Cicero” while in Tolna. His coming to Patak is indicative of the fact that the local school had been accorded a place within the ranks of the Protestant-humanist schools of the major market towns. His son, György Thúri, an excellent poet writing in Latin, was able to know his father only on the basis of his writings, given that the father did not live long enough to witness the birth of his son.
