The Jesuits as the body of teachers and the body of students in the Russian empire 1773–1820 - ANDRZEJ BIEŚ (Autor) (2018)
10.17460/PHO_2018.3_4.11
https://pho.znp.edu.pl/strona-4/przeglad-historyczno-oswiatowy-3-4-2018
Oryginalny artykuł naukowy
The educational activity of the Jesuit order was, according to the majority of historians, one of the main reasons for its unexpected survival, despite the dissolution by the Pope, within the borders of the Russian Empire. Initially, the Jesuit “body of teachers” consisted of only 45 monks performing duties, i.a. of tutors, teachers, lecturers, prefects, regents, and rectors in 6 schools and 8 other educational institutions called boarding schools, seminars and dormitories. Some members of the Order belonged to the “body of students” and got prepared for the future job as teachers, and studied philosophy and theology under the guidance of the older confreres. Within more than 40 years when the Order functioned within the borders of the Russian state, both “bodies” developed and grew stronger, and the Jesuits smoothly moved from the group of students to the group of teachers. Thanks to partially preserved archives of the monastic personal documentation in Rome and Cracow – handwritten or printed – in the form of personal and annual catalogs (catalogus brevis), obituaries, as well as official and private correspondence, at present it is possible to determine, i.a. changes in the number of surveyed groups in particular years, social and national origin of their members, education, average age, career path, requirements for adepts, and the criteria for the selection of responsible managerial positions. Moreover, the reference made herein to the metaphor of the body makes it possible to show the differences and, at the same time, complementarity with the roles and functions provided for in the regulations of the Jesuit Ratio studiorum of 1599. Especially in the case of broadly understood school staff, paying attention to the complementarity of tasks performed in the educational process, which was naturally subjected to the “learning body” makes it possible to capture and show the integrity of this process taking place in different dimensions of school reality. The end of fruitful activities of the Society of Jesus in terms of education and training within the borders of the Russian state was the expulsion of the Jesuits by Tsar Alexander I only six years after the canonical restoration of the Order by Pope Pius VII all over the world.
Keywords: pedagogika