Századok – 2004
Tanulmányok - Ladányi Andor: Az egyházak és a felsőoktatás a dualizmus korában I/3
38 LADÁNYI ANDOR In the same period the idea of establishing a Protestant, or Calvinist, university also emerged, by developing the departments of theology, law and arts of the Calvinist College of Debrecen into a university. Yet, as the necessary financial conditions likewise failed, a state university was established at Debrecen, and the abovementioned departments of the Calvinist college were abolished. The Calvinist Church tried of course to safeguard its interests and secure its influence in the new institution. Its efforts were partly successful, especially as regards the activity of the Faculty of Theology and the transference of most of the professors of the College to the University. Throughout the period the faculties of theology were the subject of long debates. Their result was the establishment of a single Faculty of Calvinist Theology at the University of Debrecen alongside the already existing Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Budapest. The University of Kolozsvár had no faculty of theology, nor did a Faculty of Lutheran Theology at the University of Pressburg. Another problem was the role of the Churches, and especially that of the monastic orders in the instruction of secondary school teachers. The problem eas finally settled in the 1880s. Finally the study addresses the problem of the Ecclesiastical Academies of Law. The Academies of Law, of varying intellectual niveau, constituted a special aspect of the Hungarian higher education. They gradually lost their previous importance and became increasingly anachronistic. The government accordingly tried to increase the scientific level of the Academies and at the same time to limit their number. (In the early 1870s 6 state-run and 8 ecclesiastical academies functioned in Hungary.) The Churches protested against the measures of the government and insisted on maintaining their institutions. Consequently, the problem of the Academies of Law remained unsolved in this period.
