Jesuits’ Education in the Lithuanian Province—Between Tradition and Change: A Contribution to Jesuit Prosopography in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

• Published in: Studia Paedagogica Ignatiana Vol. 22; no. 4; pp. 19 - 48
• Main Author: Andrea Mariani
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Ignatianum University Press 01.01.2020
• Subjects: historia edukacji; kazuistyka; matematyka; prozopografia; seminaria nauczycielskie; wielkie księstwo litewskie
• ISSN: 2450-5358; 2450-5366
• DOI: 10.12775/SPI.2019.4.001

The present paper deals with the education of Jesuits in the Lithuanian Province and its influence on the religious vows made by the end of their religious formation. The research investigates changes that occurred in the structure of Jesuit personnel in regard to the education they received before and after their entry to the Jesuit Order. The main research source consists of personal catalogues from the Roman Archive of the Society of Jesus, to which the methods of statistical analysis and prosopography have been applied. The paper focuses on the following issues: (1) the general number of Jesuit personnel in the province, (2) the studies they completed before and (3) after their entry to the religious order, (4) the number of the professed of four vows and spiritual coadjutors, and (5) the influence of the school reform on Jesuit education, with particular regard to the mathematical sciences. The analysed sources indicate a gradual unification of the educational process, which consisted of a three-year philosophical course and a four-year theological course. Owing to the implementation of this model, the number of Jesuits professed of four vows increased and the number of spiritual coadjutors diminished.