The Collegium Nobilium was a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

foundation in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

between 1752 and 1777. It was intended to provide an élite education for the sons of

Magnates of Poland and Lithuania The magnates of Poland and Lithuania (, ) were an aristocracy of Polish-Lithuanian identity, Polish-Lithuanian nobility (''szlachta'') that existed in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and, from the 1569 Union o ...

, and other leading

Szlachta The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

families, likely to run the country or represent it abroad. It is sometimes confused with another longer established educational institution with the

same name ''Same Name'' is an American reality television series in which an average person swaps lives with a celebrity of the same first and last name. It premiered on July 24, 2011 on CBS. The series received low ratings, and CBS pulled it after four-ep ...

, run by the

Piarists The Piarists (), officially named the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools (), abbreviated SchP, is a religious order of clerics regular of the Catholic Church founded in 1617 by Spanish priest Joseph Calasanz ...

order in the capital.

History

The Society of Jesus had an educational presence in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

going back to the 16th-century, at

Collegium Hosianum The Collegium Hosianum was the Jesuit collegium founded in 1565, 1566 by Polish Cardinal Stanislaus Hosius in Braunsberg (Braniewo), Kingdom of Poland. The town was then part of the Polish Prince-Bishopric of Warmia under rule of Cardinal Hos ...

(1568). With the

Polish Enlightenment The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment in Poland were developed later than in Western Europe, as the Polish bourgeoisie was weaker, and szlachta (nobility) culture (Sarmatism) together with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth political system (Gol ...

and a changing political environment, the order had seen the urgency of preparing youth for the future and planned a school in the capital since 1737, but did not possess the funds to bring it to fruition. Not until the intervention of Jan Ciecierski SJ (1721–1760) with Maciej Grabowski, Crown Treasurer, did a sufficient legacy become available, with his death in 1750. In 1752 the school opened first in the Winkler building in the Old town with 24 pupils. When the college moved in 1754-5 to bigger premises in the

Kotowski Palace The Kotowski Palace () was a 17th-century palace in Warsaw, Poland. It served as the main cloister building for the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. History The palace was built some time between 1682 and 1684 for Adam Kotowski, the r ...

, in the

New Town New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** New (Paul McCartney song), "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * New (EP), ''New'' (EP), ...

, it was able to accommodate an annual roll of 60. Under the skilled management of rector, Karol Wyrwicz SJ, (1760–1777) and the patronage of king

Stanisław August Poniatowski Stanisław II August (born Stanisław Antoni Poniatowski; 17 January 1732 – 12 February 1798), known also by his regnal Latin name Stanislaus II Augustus, and as Stanisław August Poniatowski (), was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuani ...

, the teaching programme continued four years beyond the

suppression of the Society of Jesus The suppression of the Society of Jesus was the removal of all members of the Jesuits from most of Western Europe and their respective colonies beginning in 1759 along with the abolition of the order by the Holy See in 1773; the papacy acceded ...

, until 1777, when its funding was abruptly diverted and it closed its doors.

Character of the college

Initially staffing was mainly drawn on the Lithuanian province of the order, where the teachers were highly educated. With the shutting down of Jesuit schools across Europe in 1763, Lithuania and Poland benefited from many refugee schoolmasters. There were notably, 26 Frenchmen, of whom four came to the college in Warsaw. Others came from German and Italian lands, and all had a tradition of disciplined learning. They included: *

John Baptist Albertrandi John Baptist Albertrandi (; 7 December 1731 – 10 August 1808) was a Polish Jesuit, bishop and historian of Italian extraction, born in Warsaw. Biography He entered the novitiate of the Society of Jesus, 14 August 1748, and left the Soc ...

SJ * François Bessat SJ * Franciszek Bieńkowski SJ *

Franciszek Bohomolec Franciszek Bohomolec, S.J., Bogoria Coat of Arms (29 January 1720 – 24 April 1784), writing pseudonymously as: ''Daniel Bobinson, Dzisiejkiewicz, F. B., F. B. S. J., Galantecki, J. U. P. Z., Jeden Zakonnik S. J., Jeden Zakonnik Societati ...

SJ * Andrzej Bromirski SJ * Joseph Courrière SJ * Franz Katenbring SJ * Franciszek Kniażewicz SJ * Stefan Łuskina SJ *

Ignacy Nagurczewski Ignacy Nagurczewski (22 March 1725 – 26 January 1811) was a Polish writer, translator, educator, and Jesuit. He is known for translating Homer's ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'' into Polish. He was a lecturer at the prestigious '' Collegium Nobi ...

SJ *

Adam Naruszewicz Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam si ...

SJ * Kazimierz Naruszewicz SJ * Józef Olędzki SJ * Franciszek Paprocki SJ * Alexandre Rostand SJ * Stanisław Szadurski SJ * Jan Szczepan Wulfers SJ * . The emphasis in Warsaw was to step up a gear from the usual Jesuit programme. French and German were taught by native speakers. Subjects ranged from elocution in various tongues, logic, rhetoric and philosophy to the sciences, history, geography, and extraordinary subjects, such as drawing, architecture and theatre. This amounted to

hothousing Hothousing is a form of education for children, involving intense study of a topic in order to stimulate the child's mind. The goal is to take normal or bright children and boost them to a level of intellectual functioning above the norm. Advocates ...

the students from aristocratic and noble houses such as: the Radziwiłł, Łubieński,

Ossoliński The House of Ossoliński (plural: Ossolińscy) was a Polish aristocratic family from the Lesser Poland region. Because Polish adjectives have different forms for the genders, Ossolińska is the form for a female family member. History The Ossoli ...

Tyszkiewicz Tyszkiewicz is the name of the Tyszkiewicz family, a Polish–Lithuanian magnate noble family of Ruthenian origin. The Lithuanian equivalent is Tiškevičius; it is frequently transliterated from Russian and Belarusian as Tyshkevich. Other people ...

Chłapowski Chłapowski (; feminine: Chłapowska; plural: Chłapowscy) is a Polish surname Polish names have two main elements: the given name, and the surname. The usage of personal names in Poland is generally governed by civil law (legal system), civil ...

, Ożarowski, Rzewuski and Ogiński families. According to the contemporary Jesuit historian, Ludwik Piechnik, writing in 1971:

Alumni

Among its notable alumni were: *

Feliks Łubieński Feliks Walezjusz Władysław Łubieński (born 22 November 1758 Minoga near Olkusz, died 2 October 1848 Guzów) was a Polish politician, jurist, Minister of Justice in the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, starosta of Nakieł, a member of the Friend ...

, the justice minister who introduced the

Napoleonic Code The Napoleonic Code (), officially the Civil Code of the French (; simply referred to as ), is the French civil code established during the French Consulate in 1804 and still in force in France, although heavily and frequently amended since i ...

into the

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw (; ; ), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a First French Empire, French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars. It initially comprised the ethnical ...

. *

Józef Maksymilian Ossoliński Count Józef Kajetan Piotr Maksymilian Ossoliński known as Józef Maksymilian Ossoliński (1748 – 17 March 1826) was a Polish nobleman, landowner, politician, novelist, poet, historian and researcher into literature, historian, translator, ...

, a leading figure of the Enlightenment,

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionary, dictionaries. * The ...

and founder of the Ossolinski Institute in

Lwów Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

. *

Ignacy Działyński Ignacy Erazm Działyński (1754–1797) was a Polish nobleman ( szlachcic) of Ogończyk coat of arms and a military officer, known for his participation in the Warsaw Uprising of 1794. Biography Born in 1754 in Konarzewo near Poznań, he wa ...

(1754–1797) military officer, participant in the Warsaw Uprising of 1794. * a poet, politician and Polish ambassador to the Court of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. * Ignacy Tański (1761 – 1805) an

official An official is someone who holds an office (function or Mandate (politics), mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual Office, working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (eithe ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

and freemason.

References

Bibliography

* Encyklopedia wiedzy o jezuitach na ziemiach Polski i Litwy, 1564–1995, opracował Ludwik Grzebień, Kraków 2004, p. 721. (in Polish)

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jesuit Collegium Nobilium 1752 establishments in Europe 1777 disestablishments in Europe

Defunct schools in Poland Educational institutions established in 1752 Collegium Nobilium (Jesuit), Warsaw Collegium Nobilium (Jesuit), Warsaw Universities and colleges in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Educational institutions disestablished in the 1770s Religious buildings and structures in Warsaw Catholic universities and colleges in Poland 1770s disestablishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 1750s establishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Defunct universities and colleges in Poland