Dénes Dienes: History of the Reformed Church Collég in Sárospatak (Sárospatak, 2013)
FLOURISHING AND SCATTERING THE REFORMED COLLEGE IN THE 17TH CENTURY - School life
THE REFORMED CHURCH COLLEGE IN THE 17TH CENTURY 30 Péter Károlyi’s Greek Grammar Book to participate while at other times a few students sufficed to lead the singing, something which was their responsibility. Once a month public debates in matters of either philosophy or theology were organized in the presence of the entire coetus. With a teacher chairing the occasion, a respondens student expressed and defended an appropriately selected academic tenet. The opponens students had to then formulate arguments and enter into debate. The first opponent was granted one hour to state his case while the following ones had only thirty minutes each. These debates and public discourse provided excellent training for the students to learn which behaviour was not appropriate to the seriousness of the occasion - it often happened that debaters were late, used offensive language or made the listeners laugh with their comments. The rules mandated harsh financial punishments for offenders, whether it be for being unprepared or for not having taken the matter sufficiently seriously. These debates lasted throughout the entire morning, after which the respondent invited his colleagues for a meal, which again, was well-defined by the regulations: "... these meab should be humble; the respondent can only offer three servings of food and two bottles of wine. It is advisable that the meal be concluded within two hours.” In addition to the public debates, private debates were also organized by the collatio, which consisted of a small number of students organized into a group according to their studies and also according to their pace of learning. Each of these groups had nine members, one member being elected to function as group leader. There were several such groups within the College. The regulations refer to these groups with certain reservations, apparently because they often organized smaller dinners for themselves and these sometimes proved disruptive for community life. Their role, however, proved to be very important because the students spent the long gaps between lectures with their study group. Examinations were held twice a year: in the spring (in May) and in the fall (in October). These examinations were open to the public. Often the school patrons and supporters attended these and this made for a festive occasion. School life had pleasant aspects, also. Sufficient time was set aside every week for games in order to refresh the body and soul. Not every sport was allowed; wrestling, archery or any other potentially harmful activity was prohibited but most ball games and group games were allowed. Most likely students back then also looked forward to longer breaks during the school year. There were five such recesses, these being for Easter, Pentecost, Christmas, harvest and the grape harvest. These recesses extended from the tenth day preceding the actual holyday to the seventh day following it; the recesses for harvests extended for an entire month. Although under the supervision of teachers, within the school’s walls the cives scholae (school’s citizens) inhabited their own republic with their chosen leaders. The town authorities had no influence over the students, it was only the leadership of the school which did. If there arose an issue of importance, the leaders of the Zemplén Church county or the patron lord of the land were summoned. The president of the coetus was the senior; his main responsibility was to oversee the financial management of the College and the student body. He was to preside at the hearings of those who had breached the regulations. The praebitor was his chief assistant, keeping inventory of the food supplies, managing
