Kształtowanie etosu młodzieży magnackiej w obcych krajach (XVI-XVII w.)

Abstract

Using the definition of ethos formulated severaI decades ago by the Polish socioIogist Maria Ossowska, the author attempts to show vaIues, customs, norms as well as patterns of conduct characteristic of oId Polish magnate youth during their educationaI trips abroad. At first, educationaI views heId by this social class that were contained in pedagogicaI instructions are presented and then, impIementation there of during the youth's foreign trips. The study depicts the content of discussions pursued under the guidance of professors at both Protestant and Catholic universities. It is characteristic that young magnates most often discussed philosophical (including ethical), political, legal (less often), mathematical, or theological issues. They never deliberated on medicine. Most often, such discussions took place at Protestant universities in Strasbourg, Altdorf, Basel and Leiden, and at Catholic ones - in Ingolstad, Leuven and Wiirzburg, among others. Another characteristic feature of educational trips undertaken by magnate youth was great effort put by their parents, tutors or mentors to build prestige, which was to be provided by, among others, traveling with a retinue, establishing contacts in aristocratic spheres, and promoting the past of their own family. AlI this consumed considerable expenses, which sometimes led to indebtedness of magnate estates. It should also be emphasized that religious and knightly education was treated with due care. This proves that the main purpose of foreign trips pursued by magnate youth was to provide them with a system of values which could allow them to maintain their position in the elites of power in the country and help them hold important offices.