Dénes Dienes: History of the Reformed Church Collég in Sárospatak (Sárospatak, 2013)
FLOURISHING AND SCATTERING THE REFORMED COLLEGE IN THE 17TH CENTURY - The Puritan debate arena - breach and renewal in 1638 - 1649
35 than perfect in the school in Patak. Some sources, provide evidence of some nobles not having a liking for organized education within the framework of a school. János Kecskeméti Alexis has already been quoted in this context but even more reliable is the Transylvanian nobleman Miklós Bethlen’s personal experience. Several of his peers abandoned their studies and left the school halfway or a third of the way through and he distressingly mentioned this as a general practice: the children of noblemen “abandon school when they are most receptive to learning judgement”. He lamented on the antipathy of the nobility towards scholarship and academics. Despite all the problems associated with the integration and educating of students of noble order, the program in Patak proved to be successful. Between 1627 and 1671 these students constituted forty percent of the student body. The third element of the reform involved the developing of the library. It is a well-known fact that György Rákóczi was an avid collector of books and in this also is to be seen his motivational role. The first known catalogue of the College’s books was compiled in 1623, it including three hundred twenty-eight works. The catalogue of 1635 lists seven hundred fourteen volumes, the collection having more than doubled. In 1638 the students requested that a suitable library room be built to accommodate these books: “The students are requesting the lord prefect to have a store built for the book-library collection”. Amid the books, Greek and Roman classics, tomes from church fathers, Bibles and dictionaries could be found as well as works from the leading theologians of the Helvetian conviction, these being dominant in number. The nature of the book collection reflects the dominance of a Heidelberg background Reformed orthodoxy which indicates that, in the 1630s, Sárospatak no longer wanted to educate poets and orators but preachers and those versed in defending the faith in open debate. THE PURITAN DEBATE ARENA - BREACH AND RENEWAL IN 1638 - 1649 Puritanism first appeared in the 1630s in England and came to Hungary with ever-growing momentum with returning Hungarian students who had studied in the Netherlands and in England. In essence, Puritanism was a reinterpretation of the theology espoused by John Calvin with an emphasized focus on practical Christianity and the matter of grace. In the final decade of the 16th century, a practical pursuit began to unfold in England which emphasized the purity of Christian life at both the personal and public levels such that both church and state are to rest on the theological foundations outlined by Calvin. Forced to leave their country because of their principles, many Puritans chose the Netherlands to be their new home. Among them was Amesius Wilhelmus (William Ames, 1576-1633), who played a tremendous role in shaping Dutch thinking and - through the students studying there - Hungarian Reformed theological thinking, also. Amesius developed Calvin’s theology further (the great Reformer’s thoughts on faith, church and practical everyday life) with the help of influences gleaned from Petrus Ramus (1515-1572). Ramus was a martyred philosopher, one of the victims of the St. Bartholomew massacre in 1572. Ramus’ entire work The first book catalogue
