The History of the Jesuit Post in Opava in Cieszyn Silesia in the Years 1625–1773

Wrocławski Przegląd Teologiczny 28 (2020) 1, 315–329 Wrocław Theological Review Zdzisław Lec Faculty of Theology in University of Szczecin, Poland ORCID: 0000-0002-4839-6476 The History of the Jesuit Post in Opava in Cieszyn Silesia in the Years 1625–1773 Dzieje placówki jezuickiej w Opawie na Śląsku Cieszyńskim w latach 1625–1773 Abstr act: Until the dissolution in 1773, the Jesuits in Silesia were involved in the intense re-Catholicised activity. Their institutions had the rank of colleagues, residences and missions. The largest establishments – the Jesuit colleges – were founded in the following Silesian cities: Głogów, Legnica, Nysa, Opava, Opole, Świdnica, Wrocław, Żagań, and Kłodzko. Nevertheless, one of the most critical Jesuit institutions in this area – the college in Opava – has not been monographed. Therefore, the article aims to bring closer its fate, as well as to lead other researchers to Latin, Czech and German sources concerning the college. Its history is rich. The Jesuits were appointed to Opava by Prince Charles I Liechtenstein in 1625. Five years later, they established a college. In 1635, Charles Eusebius Liechtenstein, son and successor of Charles I, donated the Jemetice estate to the Jesuits in Opava. In 1642 the institution acquired the rank of a college. There was a boarding school of St Ignatius for students from the impoverished nobility and four Marian sodalities for townsmen, young craftsmen and Czechs. The Jesuits built a new church of St George and a college building in Opava. After the dissolution in 1773, their property was taken over by the state school fund. Keywords: Jesuits, Silesia, Opava, college, gymnasium, boarding school, Marian sodality Abstrakt: Do kasaty w 1773 roku jezuici na Śląsku prowadzili ożywioną działalność rekatolizacyjną. Ich placówki miały rangę kolegów, rezydencji oraz misji. Największe z nich – kolegia założyli w miastach śląskich: Głogowie, Legnicy, Nysie, Opawie, Opolu, Świdnicy, Wrocławiu i Żaganiu czy Kłodzku. Mimo to jedna z ważniejszych placówek jezuickich w tym rejonie – kolegium w Opawie – nie doczekała się monografii. Stąd celem niniejszego artykułu jest przybliżenie jej losów, a także naprowadzenie innych badaczy na łacińskie, czeskie i niemieckie źródła dotyczące kolegium. Jego dzieje są bowiem bogate. Do Opawy w 1625 roku jezuitów powołał książę Karol I Liechtenstein. DOI: 10.34839/wpt.2020.28.1.315-329 © Papieski Wydział Teologiczny we Wrocławiu 316 Zdzisław Lec Pięć lat później utworzyli kolegium. W 1635 roku Karol Euzebiusz Liechtenstein, syn i następca Karola I, podarował opawskim jezuitom majątek ziemski Jemetice. W 1642 roku placówka osiągnęła rangę kolegium. Działał przy nim konwikt św. Ignacego przeznaczony dla uczniów z ubogiej szlachty oraz cztery sodalicje mariańskie dla mieszczan, młodych rzemieślników oraz Czechów. Jezuici wybudowali w Opawie nowy kościół św. Jerzego oraz gmach kolegium. Po kasacie w 1773 roku ich majątek przejął państwowy fundusz szkolny. Słowa kluczowe: jezuici, Śląsk, Opava, kolegium, gimnazjum, konwikt, sodalicja mariańska Introduction T he Jesuits’ history and activities in Silesia and Kłodzko County until the dissolution have already been quite well recognized. Both German, Czech and Polish researchers wrote about them. Bernhard Duhr, Herman Hoffmann, Alois Kroess, Anna Fechtnerová, Joannes Schmidl, Józef Kiedos and Zdzisław Lec belong to the most deserving. However, one of the most significant Jesuit institutions in Silesia, namely the Jesuit College in Opava, has not yet received a relevant monograph. Therefore, this article sets itself the primary task of presenting the history of the Jesuits in Opava. The second goal is to encourage researchers with knowledge of Latin, German and Czech to address this interesting research problem thoroughly and comprehensively. Colleges, residences and Jesuit missionary station in Silesia until the dissolution Silesia was the European province where the Evangelical reform quickly found the right conditions for development. It took root in cities that not only supported the widespread Lutheranism there but also gave refuge to other evangelical, more or less radical, communities. Politically, in the years 1526–1741, Silesia was under the rule of the imperial Habsburg dynasty,1 but it was only during the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) that they began a decisive 1 The list of rulers from the Habsburg dynasty (1526–1790) during the time of the Society of Jesus in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia is as follows: Ferdinand I (1526–1564); Maximilian II (1564–1576); Rudolph II (1576–1611); Matthew (1611–1619); Ferdinand II (1619–1637); Ferdinand III (1637–1657); Leopold I (1657–1705); Joseph I (1705–1711); Charles VI (1711– 1740); Maria Theresa (1740–1780); Joseph II (1780–1790). See: Z. Lec, Jezuici w Kłodzku (1597–1776): katalog osób i urzędów, materiały źródłowe, literatura, Szczecin 2013, p. 35. The History of the Jesuit Post in Opava in Cieszyn Silesia… 317 re-Catholicisation of Silesia, mainly using the Jesuits.2 That is why the Jesuits conducted a lively activity in the whole Silesia until 1740. Then, until the dissolution in 1773, they had to reckon with a very repressive – especially for them, but also for all Catholics – religious policy of Frederick II of Prussia (ruling in the years 1740–1786).3 The Jesuit institutions had the rank of colleges, residences and missionary stations. The rectors directed the colleges, and they were under the supervision of the provincials. We are interested in the provincials of the Czech Province,4 to which the Jesuit post in Opava and the associated residence in Cieszyn belonged throughout its existence, and the Silesian Province,5 to which the other Silesian posts of the Order in question belonged since 1755. The colleges that always had a salary, usually in the form of a foundation, usually ran a junior high school with a boarding school for young people studying. Other monks of the college were engaged in pastoral work, some of them carried out apostolic activities among prisoners, the sick and dissenters. Jesuits set up the most important institutions – colleges – in larger cities. They were established 2 3 4 5 Z. Lec, Jezuici w Legnicy (1689–1776), Wrocław 2001, p. 269. J. Huber, Der Jesuiten-Orden nach seiner Verfassung und Doctrin, Wirksamkeit und Geschichte, Berlin 1873, pp. 53–55, 78–79; S. Załęski, Jezuici w Polsce, vol. 1, part 1, Lviv 1900, pp. 89–96; H. Hoffmann, Die Jesuiten in Oppeln, Breslau 1934, pp. 15–16; J. Poplatek, Studia z dziejów jezuickiego teatru szkolnego w Polsce, Wrocław 1957, pp. 6–9; L. Grzebień, Organizacja bibliotek jezuickich w Polsce od XVI do XVIII wieku, „Archiwa, Biblioteki i Muzea Kościelne” vol. 30 (1975), pp. 239–241; Encyklopedia wiedzy o jezuitach na ziemiach Polski i Litwy 1564–1995, developed by L. Grzebień et al., Krakow 2004, pp. 291, 427, 568–569. The following fathers were provincials of the Czech province since 1623, i.e. from (...truncated)