Confessional Polemics in Funeral Homilies: Five Funeral Sermons by the Controversial Preacher Georg Scherer from 1583–1603

Radmila Pavlíčková

Of the extensive literary work of the Jesuit and the controversial preacher Georg Scherer (1540–1605), a collection of five funeral sermons delivered and printed in 1583–1603 has up to now escaped attention. The first thing that marks the set as exceptional is the “earliness” of its origin, for it dates from the early period of Roman Catholic funeral homilies of which only a few examples are known. A second point is that they represent one of the most extensive sets from the pen of one author known from this period. Thirdly, like Scherer’s polemical works, the funeral sermons reached a wide public and were repeatedly published, often in translation, sometimes as independent publications, sometimes as part of larger compendiums and collections. Fourthly, two of the funeral sermons, by the standards of Catholic funeral homilies, contain abundant graphic detail. Finally, two of the sermons were delivered over members of the Habsburg line (Archduke Ernest in 1585 and the Emperor’s widow Maria in 1603) and are closely connected with Scherer’s career as a Viennese court preacher.
This study first assesses the set of five funeral sermons in their connection with Scherer’s other literary work, and puts them in the context of the development of Catholic funeral homilies. It then analyses each sermon from the point of view of its themes, of key importance for the celebration of the deceased individual, and devotes especial attention to the varied and variously intense confessional argumentation (references to the confessional identity of the deceased, to passages of the catechism, to theological polemics – for example, about purgatory – and to celebrations of conversion to Roman Catholicism). The presence of explicit statements and arguments of a confessional colouring is certainly connected with the general nature of Scherer’s religious polemical literature; it is at the same time, however, connected with the confessionally distinctive expression of funera homiletics in the last decades of the sixteenth and first decades of the seventeenth century.

 

The Schools of the Unitas Fratrum in Bohemia and Moravia as the Subject of Interest for the Studies of the Nobility in the Period before the Battle of the White Mountain

Martin Holý

This paper is an attempt, on the basis of an analysis of different kinds of sources (diplomatic, personal, literary and so on), to comprehend the role of the Bohemian Brethren schools in the upbringing and education of the upper classes of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Margravate of Moravia and, to a lesser extent, of the foreign nobility. After a general introduction, in which the author establishes the growing interest of domestic aristocracy about this denominationally specific type of school in Bohemia and Moravia in the context of the inner development of the Brethren schools, he tracks specific educational institutes of the Unitas Fratrum for which there are records of students from the aristocracy during the sixteenth and first decade of the seventeenth century. Other issues are also dealt with: the content of the study in the schools, the reasons for the choice of a specific school, the composition in terms of the nationality, language, society and confession of the noble pupils, and so on. Last but not least, the study aims to answer the question of how the education of the domestic nobility in the schools of the Unitas Fratrum contributed towards their denominational orientation. In the conclusion of the contribution the author points out some possibilities for further research into this issue.

 

Textbooks at the Academy of Bremen at the Beginning of the 17th Century: New Evidence from the Bohemian Brethren Archives in Mladá Boleslav

Markéta Růčková

Even though after 1555 there was religious freedom within the Holy Roman Empire, such liberties could not be enjoyed by the Reformed higher aristocracy in instances when they wanted to found a university. This could only be done once an ‘Emperor’s Prerogative’ was granted. The question for the Reformed higher aristocracy was how to ensure that the academic level of education in their own institutions was similar to universities. The solution was found in the creation of a system of regional academies (so called gymnasium illustre). The model for such academies is considered to be the Strasbourg Academy, which was further refined in the Herborn Academy. The Herborn Academy inspired the rise of other educational centres, one of which was the gymnasium illustre in Bremen, which was reorganized in 1610 by Matthias Martinius, the school’s most significant rector. The Bremen Academy had two parts, the pedagogeum and the gymnasium illustre. The teaching at the pedagogeum followed established teaching syllabuses, which, unfortunately, are not available to us from Rector Martinius’s period. However, there are certain references to the content of the teaching materials and textbooks used at that time, which can be found in correspondence and the accounting records of the academy’s students, the priests-to-be of the Unity of Brethren, who due to the lack of suitable educational centres in the Czech lands, studied at foreign schools. From the accounting records of Daniel Němčanský, who studied at the Bremen Academy at this time, we know of several books that were used. The listing of these books is located at the end of this work.

 

Christian Ambrosius Cochlevius – a Polish Disciple of Jan Amos Comenius

Mariola Jarczykowa

The paper presents Christian Ambroży Kochlewski (1627–1647), a student of the educationalist Jan Amos Comenius, to whom the teacher dedicated his work Regulae vitae, in 1645. Christian and his cousin were sent to a school in Elbląg to study under the tutelage of the well-known teacher. This was prevented by some regulations of the school and town council, but after the intervention of Ambroży’s father – who had met Comenius and admired his work – the boys were allowed to become his students. The crowning achievement of the teaching and learning process was a work in which Comenius presents his views on life and gives some important advice and rules for a young man to follow. These concerned studying, travelling and leading an honest and noble life. Sadly, the young student died at the age of twenty. After his death a funeral sermon and a paper full of praise were written to commemorate the young and very promising nobleman. They were printed, and the text has been preserved and kept in the Wrocław University Library. The author of the sermon, Michał Matysewicz, who was the rector of the school in Kiejdany, described Christian as an intelligent, pious young man with great interest in studying. The text includes not only the tomb inscription and the epitaph for Christian, but also the epitaph for his father Piotr Kochlewski.

 

Prophecy, Alchemy and Strategies of Dissident Communication: A 1630 Letter from the Bohemian Chiliast Paul Felgenhauer (1593–c. 1677) to the Leipzig Physician Arnold Kerner

Leigh T. I. Penman

This article concerns a short but significant letter of April 1630 from the Bohemian prophet, alchemist and theosopher Paul Felgenhauer (1593–c. 1677) to the Leipzig alchemist and physician Arnold Kerner. The letter is presented in transcription, with an annotated English translation. It is prefaced by an introduction incorporating a new biographical account of Felgenhauer, which draws on overlooked or unknown manuscript material preserved in Germany and England. The letter itself shines a rare light on a variety of different areas of interest concerning Felgenhauer’s life and activities in the years prior to 1630. These areas include his immediate contacts and associates (such as with the Silesian prophet Christoph Kotter), interest and undertakings in alchemical experimentation, publishing and bibliographical activities, methods of communication, his circle of wider contacts and the nature and extent of broader interpersonal and epistolary networks in which he participated. However, it also illuminates tangential issues, such as the scale of social and informational economy in a heterodox correspondence network, the intricacies of dissident book production in the United Provinces, the history of trade in Leipzig, the role of commercial agents in facilitating contact between dissident personalities throughout the Holy Roman Empire, and the postal history of Bremen.

 

Cartesian Common Sense?

Petr Glombíček

The paper considers the question of what role the notion of common sense plays in Descartes’ philosophy. What I’d like to draw attention to is not the Aristotelian concept of koiné aisthésis or the sceptical method applied in Meditations, but Descartes’ usage of the concept of good sense (le bon sens or bona mens) as we can find it e.g. at the beginning of Descartes’ first published work, Discourse on the method. The paper presents an overview of occurences of the term in Descartes’ works since the remains of his youthful writing, known under the title Studium bonae mentis to the preface to the French edition of the Principles. The paper states some reasons for interpreting Cartesian mind in the vein of this le bon sens. Distinguishing between mens and anima, we can come to an interpretation of Descartes’ writings on first philosophy more as writings in logical semantics. And in the end possible source of the concept is located in Seneca’s writings.