Collegium Hosianum

Buildings of the Collegium Hosianum

The Collegium Hosianum and Lyceum Hosianum were the Jesuit collegium in Royal Prussia, founded in 1565, 1566 by Cardinal Stanislaus Hosius in Braunsberg, Warmia, Prussia (since 1945 Braniewo, Poland). In 1566 an education seminary for local Diocese priest was established. At this Lyceum Hosianum the Jesuits, educated at the Jesuit college, were to teach.

The Collegium Hosianum was one of the biggest Jesuit schools and one of the most important centres of Counter-Reformation in Europe and was particularly established to educated Catholic clergy of different countries.

The first Jesuits were called to Ermland/Warmia by its Prince-Bishop 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 lasting all the XVI 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 XVI-th century foundation was designed for 20 Jesuits, but the number of them approached to 80, what 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 Archbishopric 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 wchich the lowest was "infirma", and the highest was "rhetoric". To the initial problems of the schools joined boycotting by the protestants and some fights between German and Polish students.

The Collegium in Braunsberg (now Braniewo) distuingished 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 Diocesal 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 elitary and the number of students was not high, fluctuating from 130 to 300. The Collegium has an international character - students came from all the Europe, with the majority of Poles and local Germans.

The Collegium was temporaly closed in 1626 due to war of Poland with Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus (Polish-Swedish War (1625–1629)), and reopened in 1637. In 1646 Maciej Montanus, a canon of Warmia, built 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 XVIII century in the collegium were taught humanities, theology, mathematics and Greek and Hebrew languages. 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. Prussian goverment turned the collegium in 1780 into Gymnasium Academicum, from 1818 called Lyceum Hosianum, which in 1912 became a State Academy.

In 1945 Braunsberg was taken by Soviet Army and Polish administration, who called it Braniewo.

External link

• Lyceum Hosianum Anniversary,Prof. Jos. Bender Braunsberg, 1868
• Books on Lyceum Hosianum