The first Jesuits were called to Warmia by its cardinal Hosius, in order to counter the widespread Protestant movement in Prussia and elsewhere in Central and eastern Europe. The Jesuits arrived 2 November 1564. They were strongly opposed by the largely Protestant Prussian burghers and caused a religious split in the country. Despite difficult material conditions throughout the 16th century, they quickly founded many educational establishments: gymnasium (1565), convictus nobilium - school for Polish szlachta (1565), Diocesan Seminary (1567), Papal Seminary (1578) and dormitory for poor students (1582). The 16th century foundation was designed for 20 Jesuits, but the number soon approached 80, which resulted in problems with the finances of the schools and suitable number of school-rooms.
The Collegium was opened in a former Fransciscan friary. Renovation of the buildings was possible by funds given by Bishopric of Warmia. The Collegium was located in the western part of the building, convictus in the northern, and in the eastern part was located a school. In the first years the gymnasium was not very big due to lack of classrooms. There were five standard "classes" (courses) in it, of which the lowest was "infirma", and the highest was "rhetoric". To the initial problems of the schools were added boycotting by the Protestants and some fights between German and Polish students.
The Collegium in Braniewo distinguished itself from the other Jesuit schools in Poland and all of Europe with a specific curriculum: from 1566 there were taught German language, mathematics, singing and dialectic apart from standard subjects. After opening of the Diocesan and Papal Seminary some theological courses were introduced, and in 1592 also philosophical courses, which was a sign of the high reputation of the school. The school was elite and the number of students was not high, fluctuating from 130 to 300. The Collegium had an international character; besides local Germans, students came from all over Europe, with the majority of Poles, since the 1580s Swedes and Ruthenians added by Antonius Possevinus.
The Collegium was temporally closed in 1626 due to war of Poland with Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus (Polish-Swedish War (1625–1629)), and reopened in 1637. In 1646 Matthaeus Montanus (Matthias Bergh), a canon of Warmia, funded a new, large schoolhouse. In the years 1665-1668 the school was closed again due to destructive Swedish invasion in Prussia and Poland, Swedish Deluge.
In the 18th century in the Collegium humanities, theology, mathematics and Greek and Hebrew languages were taught. In 1701 and later Polish Jesuits applied to Rome for changing the Collegium into full university, but without success. In 1743 they bought from the city of Braunsberg a location for a new schoolhouse, which was built in the next years.
At the time of the Partitions of Poland the prince-bishopric of Warmia with Braunsberg became a part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1772, and in 1773 the Society of Jesus was suppressed. The Prussian government turned the closed Collegium in 1780 into Gymnasium Academicum, from 1818 called Lyceum Hosianum, which in 1912 became a State Academy.
In 1945 Braunsberg returned to Poland and to its Polish name Braniewo. Of the Collegium, only the ground floor walls and one of the baroque portals were still standing. The rest of the complex was reconstructed between 1960 and 1973, however. A secondary school was reinstated. The right-side corner tower, left over from before the wartime destruction is known as the "Pfaffenturm" (loosely, "priest tower") and recalls the position of the former Franciscan monastery. Today it also comprises the assembly hall of the secondary school. The moat section to the south was known as the "Pflaumengrund" (loosely, "plumb orchard"). A small open-air arena has been installed, surrounded by the moat's remaining water.
Incomes
Fixed incomes of the Ermland Jesuits came from their real estates, which aggregated in 1603 700 zlotys, in 1622 2,540 zlotys, in 1651 3,530 zlotys, in 1681 2,263 zlotys, in 1730 3,102 zlotys, in 1764 5,680 złotys. To the Jesuits belonged (in different periods) villages: Stary Dwór (Althof), Bleishöfen, Kiszpork (Christburg), Daszkowo, Dębiniec, Ławice (Hansdorf), Hiplau, Hirsfelde, Julianowo (Julienshöhe), Klajzak, Krosno (Krossen), Łabuchy (Labuch), Nowa Cerkiew (Neukirchen), Petlików, Rothflies, Ruciana Góra, Sanków, Turznice, Wangory i Wronie.
Papal Seminary
Papal Seminary (Papal Alumnate) was established officially on 15 March 1581. Its founder was Antonius Possevinus. The Papal seminary served as school for the youths from Protestant countries, who after graduating went back to their countries and encouraged their recatholization. Many alumni after graduating came first to Wilno to study philosophy and theology in Jesuit University of Wilno. In the 16th century the number of alumni fluctuated from 23 to 40. In 1586 the Swedish College was established as an autonomous part of the Papal Seminary.
John Drews, rector of the Papal seminary at the end of the 17th century, built a new building with fancy garden and fountains.
Diocesan Seminary
Diocesan Seminary served as a seminary for the Bishopric of Warmia. It was funded by Stanislaus Hosius in 1567 and opened on 25 November 1567. In the 16th century it had from 17 to 24 alumni. Diocesan seminary was directed by a rector of the collegium and by a prefect (lat. praefectus), called later a regens, who was responsible for its students. The Seminary was located in the building of the Priestly Fraternity.
Novitiate
The novitiate of the Polish Province of Society of Jesus was opened in Braunsberg in 1568. The first person who entered the novitiate was Michał Chałkowski, whose examination took place in Braunsberg on 15 June 1569. In the years 1569-1575 126 people applied for admission to the Polish Province of Jesuits, mainly Polish nobles. The first master of novices was Robert Abercromby. The novitiate was located at first in the building of the collegium, then in the old building of the convictus. In 1586 the novitate was moved from Braniewo to Kraków.
Notable teachers
Memorial plaques to notable people associated with the collegium
Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski (1595–1640), Polish poet, one of Europe's most prominent Latin poet of the 17th century, renowned theoretician of poetics[4]
Jan Mikołaj Smogulecki (1610–1656), Polish missionary, explorer, mathematician, astronomer and sinologist, credited with introducing logarithms to China[5]
Patrick Gordon (1635–1699), Polish, Swedish and Russian military officer of Scottish origin
Marcin Załuski (1700–1765), Polish priest, Jesuit, auxiliary Bishop of Płock
Gabriel Podoski (1719–1777), Archbishop of Gniezno and Primate of Poland[6]
Warmia is both a historical and an ethnographic region in northern Poland, forming part of historical Prussia. Its historic capitals were Frombork and Lidzbark Warmiński and the largest city is Olsztyn.
Robert Abercromby, whose surname was also spelled as Abrecromby and Abercrombie, and was known by such pseudonyms as Robert Sandiesoun and Sanders Robertson, was a Scottish Jesuit missionary.
Frombork is a town in northern Poland, situated on the Vistula Lagoon in Braniewo County, within Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. As of December 2021, it has a population of 2,260.
Maximilian Kaller was Roman Catholic Bishop of Ermland in East Prussia from 1930 to 1947. However, de facto expelled from mid-August 1945, he was a special bishop for the homeland-expellees until his death.
Braniewo, is a town in northern Poland, in Warmia, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, with a population of 16,907 as of June 2021. It is the capital of Braniewo County.
Lidzbark Warmiński, often shortened to Lidzbark, is a historical town located within the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It is the capital of Lidzbark County.
Marcin Kromer was Prince-Bishop of Warmia (Ermland), a Polish cartographer, diplomat and historian in the Kingdom of Poland and later in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was a personal secretary to two Kings of Poland, Sigismund I the Old and Sigismund II Augustus.
The Malbork Voivodeship, after Partitions of Poland also referred to as the Malbork Land, was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Kingdom of Poland from 1454/1466 until the Partitions of Poland in 1772–1795. Its capital was at Malbork.
Stanislaus Hosius was a Polish Roman Catholic cardinal. From 1551 he was the Prince-Bishop of the Bishopric of Warmia in Royal Prussia, and from 1558, he served as the papal legate to the Holy Roman Emperor's Imperial Court in Vienna, Austria. From 1566 he was also the papal legate to Poland.
Lucas Watzenrode the Younger was Prince-Bishop of Warmia (Ermland) and patron to his nephew, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.
Tolkmicko is a town in northern Poland, on the Vistula Lagoon, about 20 km northeast of Elbląg. It is located in Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in Elbląg County. Its population is 2,766 (2004).
Mikołaj Szyszkowski (1590–1643) of Clan Ostoja was a Prince-bishop of Warmia from 1633 until his death in 1643.
Andrew Báthory was the Cardinal-deacon of Sant'Adriano al Foro from 1584 to 1599, Prince-Bishop of Warmia from 1589 to 1599, and Prince of Transylvania in 1599. His father was a brother of Stephen Báthory, who ruled the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1575. He was the childless Stephen Báthory's favorite nephew. He went to Poland at his uncle's invitation in 1578 and studied at the Jesuit college in Pułtusk. He became canon in the Chapter of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Warmia in 1581, and provost of the Monastery of Miechów in 1583.
Jakub Wejher, was a member of the Polish line of the Weyher family, a Count of the Holy Roman Empire and member of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth szlachta (nobility). His coat of arms was Wejher. Wejher was the Castellan of Puck and Voivode of Malbork (Marienburg) from 1643–1657, the Castellan of Chmielno, and the Starost of Człuchów, Kiszporek, Bychów and Brzechowo. He is remembered as a pious and tolerant magnate and an experienced military leader.
Andreas Thiel was a Bishop of Ermland in East Prussia from 1885–1908.
Augustinus Bludau was a Bishop of Ermland in East Prussia from 1909–1930.
Walerian Protasewicz was bishop of Lutsk (1549–1555) and Vilnius (1555–1579). Born to a family of petty Ruthenian nobles (szlachta), Protasewicz worked as a scribe, notary, and secretary at the chancellery of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania until his appointment of bishop. He was politically active and was one of the lead Lithuanian negotiators for the Union of Lublin in 1569. He neglected religious matters and allowed the Reformation to spread. In the last decade of his life, he invited the Jesuits to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and funded the Jesuit college in Vilnius. He obtained papal and royal privileges to convert the college into Vilnius University in 1579. He donated his personal library to what became the Vilnius University Library. The university soon became a spiritual and cultural center of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as well as the major center of the Counter-Reformation.
Nicolaus Olai Campanius (1593–1624), also known as Nolandus, was a Swedish Catholic convert and Rector of a school in Enköping.
The Prince-Bishopric of Warmia was a semi-independent ecclesiastical state, ruled by the incumbent ordinary of the Warmia see and comprising one third of the then diocesan area. The Warmia see was a Prussian diocese under the jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of Riga that was a protectorate of the Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights (1243–1464) and a protectorate and part of the Kingdom of Poland—later part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1464–1772), confirmed by the Peace of Thorn in 1466. The other two thirds of the diocese were under the secular rule of the Teutonic Knights until 1525 and Ducal Prussia thereafter, both entities also being a protectorate and part of Poland from 1466.
References
↑ "Laterna Marcin". Encyklopedia PWN (in Polish). Retrieved 11 July 2020.
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