Dénes Dienes: History of the Reformed Church Collég in Sárospatak (Sárospatak, 2013)
SPIRIT AND MOOD - Connections through Peregrination
119 unethical conduct and consequent resignation of the two professors shed light on the conflicting interests and the intersecting areas of authority of the senior and the teachers. Surely, both these teachers who were struggling with financial difficulties would have acted differently had the administering of loans been the responsibility of someone other than themselves. Mention must also be made of two other equally important positions, that of the bibliothecarius who was responsible for the daily operation of the library and that of the oeconomus who was responsible for ensuring that things were run as prescribed, an example of this being the challenging task of getting the students into and out of bed at the scheduled hour. Students who were in the position of primarius assisted the senior with administrative matters. A parish assistant was responsible for the condition of the classrooms and monitored the heating; the apparitor served as the messenger and the two individuals with the position of vigil had nightwatch duties. The curator also had important responsibilities in supervising the students, the student pubkeeper, the granary manager and the two cellists (cellar keepers) Nine people worked on the heating and cleaning (purgans) - their work was also essential to the life of the College. Students gained practical knowledge by participating in different tasks around the College and in this their ethical education had more application. Usually, they were more reliable and more honest than workers hired on a daily basis. Moreover, this possibility was of assistance to the poorer students in ensuring their needs and also proved to be an asset in fortifying the student government. However, student work also had its drawbacks. The lack of qualified and highly skilled adult workers dampened production and according to the Litteraria Deputatio report, this practice also hindered the students’ academic progress. In 1796, a new position called provisori was introduced, mainly for financial reasons, but apart from this and despite all the challenges, students managed to remain important players in agricultural and financial matters until the end of the Reform Era. The desire to replace the senior with a permanent administrator was already given voice in 1806 but, after lengthy discussions, the vote went against this practical and financially advantageous modification. During the discussion pertaining to challenges faced in some of the major construction projects, rector-professor István Nyiry exclaimed: “I find it very difficult to get the gentlemen in the position of senior to agree with us when it comes to financial management matters which do not touch upon them”. CONNECTIONS THROUGH PEREGRINATION The connections and relations which the Reformed Church College in Sárospatak maintained with institutions and individuals abroad underwent significant change during the period being discussed. By the second half of the 18th century, the traditional destinations for peregrination had slowly faded away and new, stronger ones developed. England and the Netherlands lost their dominance as receiving countries, and then - to a smaller extent - so did Switzerland. It was the German Protestant universities which became the more popular choice for students from Sárospatak. Leyden, Franeker and Utrecht, which were popular in previous centuries, were ever-increasingly passed over in favour of Göttingen,
