The Jesuit College in Poznań () was a university founded by members of the

Jesuit Order The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 by ...

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It survived from 1572 to 1773 in what was then 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 ...

History

The college and its library were founded in 1572 by Bishop . Załęski, S. (1905). ''Jezuici w Polsce''. Vol 4. Issue 1. Portugal: Drukiem i nakładem, drukarni ludowej. p. 109 – via

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...

.Sjökvist, P. (2024). ''Looted Libraries, Looted Books: The Swedish Case''. Netherlands: Brill. p. 29. . According to historians Stanisław Załęski and

Albert Pollard Albert Frederick Pollard (16 December 1869 – 3 August 1948) was a British historian who specialised in the Tudor period. He was one of the founders of the Historical Association in 1906. Life and career Pollard was born in Ryde on the ...

, the Order experienced notable early success in Poznań, and this was due in part to Bishop Konarski's ability to generate financial and social support from the local community. The city provided buildings for the college, and over 100 individuals donated books to the college in the first decades. Other individuals associated with the founding include Fr. Wujek and several Jesuit priests. In its early years, the college also managed to attract lecturers from Scotland, including James Bosgrave and William Ogilvie. The founding of the college in Poznań caused controversy with the

Kraków Academy The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

, which considered itself to be dominant over other educational institutions.Poli, Roberto, ed. (2023). ''In Itinere: European Cities and the Birth of Modern Scientific Philosophy''. Germany: Brill. p. 162. . The Kraków Academy managed to close a Jesuit college in Kraków and stall the elevation of the college in Poznań to university status. Zygmunt III nadaje Kolegium Jezuickiemu w Poznaniu uprawnienia Akademii

Zygmunt III nadaje Kolegium Jezuickiemu w Poznaniu uprawnienia Akademii

The college was eventually elevated to the status of a university in the 17th century by King Sigismund Vasa. In 1655, during the

Deluge A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood. The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the biblical book of Genesis. Deluge or Le Déluge may also refer to: History *Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-L ...

, the Swedish army entered Poznań and confiscated the contents of the library at the college. The volumes were transferred to the library at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

through

Claes Rålamb Claes Rålamb (8 May 1622 – 14 March 1698) was a Sweden, Swedish politician, statesman. In 1660 he was appointed Governor of Uppland County and in 1664 he served in the Privy Council of Sweden, Privy Council. Between 1673 and 1678, he serve ...

. By 1700, the college also operated a

printing house In publishing, printers are both companies providing printing services and individuals who directly operate printing presses. Origins of printing The history of printers in publishing in Western Europe dates back to the mid-15th century wit ...

. In 1773, the

National Education Commission The Commission of National Education (, KEN, ) was the central educational authority in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, created by the Sejm and King Stanisław August Poniatowski, Stanisław II August on October 14, 1773. Because of its ...

shut down both the Jesuit college and the neighboring

Lubrański Academy The Lubrański Academy ( Polish: ''Akademia Lubrańskiego''; Latin: ''Collegium Lubranscianum'') was a university college that was established in 1518 in Poznań by Bishop Jan Lubrański. It was the first school with university aspirations in Pozn ...

. By the 1780s, the National Education Commission restructured the Jesuit college into a high school. Several of the Jesuit buildings are used in the modern period to house the local government.''Berlitz Pocket Guide Poland'' (Travel Guide EBook). (2019). United Kingdom: Apa Publications. .

Notable rectors

Jakub Wujek Jakub Wujek (1541 – 27 April 1597) was a Polish Jesuit, religious writer, Doctor of Theology, Vice-Chancellor of the Vilnius Academy and translator of the Bible into Polish. He is well-known for his translation of the Bible into Polish: the ...

, creator of the Wujek Bible *

Kasper Drużbicki Kasper Drużbicki or Gaspar Druzbicius (born probably in Drużbice in Ziemia Sieradzka in Poland, 1589; entered the Society of Jesus, 20 August 1609; died at Poznań, 2 April 1662) was a Polish Jesuit and ascetic writer. Life A nobleman (Nał� ...

* Mateusz Bembus * Wojciech Bystrzonowski

Notable students

Bernard of Wąbrzeźno Bernard of Wąbrzeźno (, , born Błażej Pęcharek, ; 3 February 1575 – 2 June 1603) was a Catholic priest and a Benedictine monk from the Benedictine Abbey in Lubiń, Poland. He has been named as a candidate for beatification several time ...

Augustyn Kordecki Abbot Augustyn Kordecki (born Klemens Kordecki Ślepowron coat of arms; November 16, 1603 – March 20, 1673) was a prior of the Jasna Góra Monastery, Poland. He was curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure ...

References

{{reflist Religious buildings and structures in Poznań Former universities and colleges of Jesuits Catholic universities and colleges in Poland 1770s disestablishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Defunct universities and colleges in Poland Universities and colleges in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 1572 establishments in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth 1773 disestablishments in Europe Educational institutions established in the 1570s Educational institutions disestablished in the 1770s

History

Notable rectors

Notable students

See also

References