Intelektuálna a vzdelanostná úroveň uhorských augustiniánov v stredoveku
The Intellectual and Educational Level of Hungarian Augustinians in the Middle Ages

Summary/Abstract: This study deals with the training and education of Augustinians in the Middle Ages. It is divided into two thematic units. In the first one, we deal with the general medieval system of education in the Order of Hermits of St. Augustine. Especially, its high quality was the basis for the high intellectual level of medieval Augustinians. That was reflected also in the Hungarian level, which is our second circle of interest. Also in Hungary, very soon after its establishment, the Order has created its educational institutions, which dealt with the religious formation and education of clerics.However, the best students were leaving for university studies abroad. With the major universities, the Augustinians had established their houses, while the religious house at the University of Paris held a prominent place. Hungarian students, especially in the second half of the 14th century, were leaving to study abroad in large numbers. These positive tendencies have weakened during the 15th century, but at its conclusion, we once more meet with Hungarian students at foreign universities.The intellectual and educational level of Hungarian Augustinians in the Middle Ages The issue of education in medieval religious communities is an issue that contributes to the development of the knowledge of the intellectual level of medieval society. Augustinians also participated in the development of medieval society to the extent that today we find it hard to objectively assess. The reason for this is a lack of written records, mainly from the medieval Kingdom of Hungary. In general, the education of Augustinians in the Middle Ages was at a very high level and was based on Holy Scripture and on the Sentences of Peter Lombard. Education started in monastic schools, continued at the provincial schools – studium provinciale and peaked at universities. The centre of university studies was Paris, where some time after the year 1259, the education of religious believers began. According to the Paris model, the Studium Generale was also implemented at other universities, such as Bologna, Padua, Rome and elsewhere. Only the best students could attend university studies, for example, in Paris, only one student from each province.The first attempt to establish a training centre in the Kingdom of Hungary was a monastic school in the city of Esztergom, which was probably founded shortly after 1290. But there are also reports about schools or lecturers in Pécs and, around the mid-14th century, also in Vác, Jágr, Buda and Sárospatak. Basically, there is no information about the fact that provincial study existed in Esztergom. We are finding out about the special position of the local school from the beginning of the 16th century, when in 1512, Augustine from Vicenza came to Esztergom as student regent (magister regens). In general, study in foreign universities opened the door to reaching a higher ecclesiastical authority. This also applied with the Augustinians.In the second half of the 14th century, interest in study abroad probably peaked, where we know that each year there were about three to four students from the Kingdom of Hungary. They mainly attended universities in Italy, but we have also reports about study at universities in Central and Western Europe. The graduates acquired various titles and were often entrusted to educate the Augustinians in Hungary, as lecturers (lectors). Many, with the title lector, eventually also became provincial priors.In the 15th century, reports on students at foreign universities gradually ceased, which is probably caused by a change in the practice of registering the records within the archives of the General Prior. An impact on that, however, can also have been the tension between the Hungarian provinces and the religious centre. Between the years 1451 and 1459, in the records of the General Prior, Julian of Salem, there is a report of only one Hungarian student! In 1455, it was Martin of the Kingdom of Hungary, who studied in Bologna. The cause of this decline, however, is also the fact that the number of believers in the monasteries was gradually decreasing. These negative tendencies were partially mitigated in the late 15th century, when once again there began to emerge direct and indirect reports of students at foreign universities. Some even received the highest theological education, Sacrae Theologiae Doctor – for example, Bartholomew of Turda. The majority of these Hungarian Augustinian students have already only been studying at the papal court in Rome.

• Details
• Contents