Dénes Dienes: History of the Reformed Church Collég in Sárospatak (Sárospatak, 2013)
THE SCHOOL IN ITS “OLD NEST” AGAIN HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE BETWEEN1703 AND 1777 - Laying the foundations for growth
being taken seriously by all parties, a few weeks after the disruption was settled, the students who had been expelled were all reinstated. For two years Csécsi directed the College by himself but he was not satisfied. He was upset when the patrons tried to evaluate his work; but he was furious when only a few patrons showed up for the public examinations. And as it can happen, the fire in the students’ hearts for their professor no longer burned as warmly as in the past; many of them criticized him. Csécsi often complained that he was overburdened and the patrons also realized that one professor was not enough if quality education was the goal. After much searching, the leadership decided on Gergely Nagymihályi Szomoló who had just returned from the Netherlands. He was appointed by election as the second teacher on 30 January 1719. There is little question that the pastors and lay patrons committed a tactical error in consulting neither Csécsi nor the students before they appointed the new teacher. Szomoló was thus treated with general antipathy. Csécsi neglected to appear for Szomló’s introductory speech. Within a few months, the familiar tension of the erstwhile Füleki-Csécsi atmosphere returned and the students were once again split into two camps. The only difference from the previous episode was that Nagymihályi had just as many supporters as Csécsi. Gergely Szomoló was born in Mezőnagymihály, studied in Miskolc and attended the College-in-exile in Kassa. He signed the school’s regulations in Sárospatak on 13 November 1704. He studied under János Csécsi Sr., István Simándi and András Füleki. He must have known Csécsi Jr. given that they had attended the same school. He became a teacher in Miskolc in 1713 and went to Utrecht and Franeker in 1716 to study. He returned home in 1718 with a letter of recommendation from Campengius Vitringa. In Franeker he had been a member of the same circle as János Csécsi himself. Their intense feud lasted nearly fifteen years, but it was not fuelled by their academic differences. The two teachers mutually accused each other of abusing power, of being disrespectful, disregarding the school’s regulations and even with embezzlement. It often happened that the divided youth provoked clashes, mutually hindered the other teacher’s lectures, threw stones at night at the other teacher’s house and sometimes at the teachers themselves and circulated derisive poems about the teachers. The disciplinary hearings and actions proved entirely ineffective as the teachers either did not mete out or else defused the penalties which were awarded to their trusted students. In an attempt to quell the situation, the pastors and noble patrons sought to limit the autonomy of the College. The managing of financial matters was no longer the responsibility of the senior but given to a newly appointed officer (‘provisor’). The general supervisory rights 65 Professor János Csécsi Jr.
