Inter arma silent Musae?: Struggle and survival of the Jesuit College under the Swedish military occupation of Olomouc (1642-1650)

• Authors: Andrea Trenta

Title variants

CS

Inter arma silent Musae?: Boj a přežití jezuitské koleje během vojenského obsazení Olomouce Švédy (1642-1650)

• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

As the adage goes, there is little space for arts and education in times of war. Education facilities suffer material damage, classes are disrupted, and the lives of pupils and teachers are endangered; despite the difficulties, educational activities must somehow continue. The Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) severely impaired educational and cultural activities; namely, the Catholic education system of the Society of Jesus, the most developed in Europe through a network of hundreds of colleges and universities, found itself in an extreme emergency. The College of Olomouc is a telling example of the Jesuits’ ability to cope with adversities produced by prolonged and brutal conflicts, surviving numerous struggles during the eight-year occupation of the city by the Swedish army (1642–1650). Under the leadership of Rector Johannes Schönberger, the Jesuits established a modus vivendi with the occupiers, continuing their educational and pastoral mission for over one year despite the tense atmosphere surrounding the confessionally divided city. The excessive taxes levied by the Swedish commander Georg Paykull eventually forced the Jesuits to leave Olomouc (October 1643). Only one confrere, the renowned preacher Georg Pelinga, remained for offering spiritual relief to citizens and soldiers alike and overseeing the excellent library. Alas, the precious books were confiscated in the fall 1645, concurrently with the abandonment of Olomouc by the last Jesuit. However, even when it was forcefully relocated outside the city walls, the College continued its mission, as in the case of the Pontifical seminary (seminarium pontificium) erected by Gregory XIII in 1578. Through a comprehensive review of the existing literature on the topic and the analysis of several primary and secondary sources, this article aims to investigate further the dynamics and protagonists of this crucial episode in the history of this pivotal Central-European educational hub.

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Institute of History, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Folia historica Bohemica
• Year: 2023
• Volume: 38
• Issue: 1-2
• Pages: 47-79
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Andrea Trenta

• Historický ústav AV ČR, v. v. i., Prosecká 809/76, 190 00 Praha 9, Czech Republic