Dénes Dienes: History of the Reformed Church Collég in Sárospatak (Sárospatak, 2013)
János Ugrai: „THE PERIOD OF NATIONAL ADVANCEMENT” 1777-1849 - The school-forging law professor - Sándor Kövy
97 the follow-up to a decision of the church district to establish a department for the teaching of home law, the person selected to fill the chair, Dániel Dobay, the mayor of the city of Kassa, having declined at several turns the offer, the invitation was extended to Kövy on the recommendation of the Vays. Sándor Kövy accepted the offer and moved to the town on the banks of the Bodrog River, delivering his inaugural lecture on 15 November 1793, in which he made a case for the expedience and necessity of national law. He soon emerged from among his peers in Patak in his initiating of significant modifications in the curriculum and subject content as well as in his pushing for innovations in methodology. It is well worth noting that, in addition to his editing and writing of new schoolbooks, he placed great emphasis on the practical training of future lawyers. Initially, this consisted of his regularly singling out a theory or statute which had been mentioned in either his lectures or private lessons and expounding on its significance in everyday practice. To the point of even interrupting his lectures, he would directly ask his audience whether they understood what had been said and whether they were able to apply it in a practical way. He himself often provided examples to illustrate the theoretical details but expected the same of his audience. When teaching and explaining dry, legal passages and the consequences of codified legal standards, he illustrated the background of the material with case studies and actual lawsuits. A significant innovation of the Pánczél county and Royal High Court At Kövy’s urging and with his assistance, the students created an imagined organization having a theoretically autonomous legal entity. This organization functioned from 1813 to 1822 and, much like a veritable county, it had its own seal and funds and it regularly held general meetings where proper minutes were recorded. The law students elected officers to direct the county whose bureaucratic structure was modelled upon that of a veritably existing county. Thus, in addition to selecting a governor and assistant governors, they agreed on the person of the town clerk, the deputy clerk, the tax-collectors, the archivist, the chief medical officer, the county head prosecutor, the public security commissioner, the jury, etc., by regular election. Their teacher, the de facto leader of the association, Sándor Kövy was accorded the post of permanent honorary governor. Within this context, the students studying to be legal professionals were able to become acquainted with everyday legal practice, they were able to organize discussion leading to the formulating of statutes which they could try to implement. At the general meetings they were able to discuss matters of every nature and degree. All issues falling under the legal jurisdiction of the county (e.g. flood protection, murder case, procedural regulations) were discussed accordingly. Due to the diverse offices and associated aspects represented, these issues and tasks had to be resolved by continuously taking into account conflicting elements and interests and each officer was obligated to advance and defend his own aims. This association of the imagined county soon moved beyond the administrative and practical resolution of bureaucratic matters. In time, it launched discourse in politically-hued questions of more signifcant import such as the collection of taxes or the legality and scale of obligatory military service. At this point, however, this activity became contentious for the central government. Ultimately, and apparently by Mettemich’s direct orders, but if not, then at least by the pressure exerted by the imperial governing council, the student organization was banned at the church district level. It was due to the legacy of both the Pánczél county organization and of Kövy himself, that shortly after Kövy’s death, in the somewhat freer political atmosphere of the Age of Reforms, the association was ressurrected in the beginning of the 1830s, this time bearing the name of Nándor Royal High Court. Among the founders and outspoken student members of the newer formation was Bertalan Szemere, the future outstanding politician and member of the government of1848.
