XVIII amžiaus studijos / The Eighteenth Century Studies

The attitude of the nobility towards the role of education in the public and private life of the Polish-Lithuanian state is very broad and methodologically difficult, considering the sources of this issue and their representativeness. Therefore, this article is only an attempt to indicate the most important elements of this entire broad issue, i.e. to show an “outline of the problem”, which requires further studies and, above all, expanding the source base. The article will only address the issues of the functioning of the model of the “good citizen”, as well as the issue of the approach to education in the public careers of citizens and its perception by all citizens. In this last area, the regional assembly laudas with instructions for members of parliament and the correspondence of the nobility are helpful. Of course, this is not an analysis of the entire source material, but only its exemplum. The research results clearly show the nobles’ concern for education in a broad sense. Noble families took care of the education of their descendants and loved ones, but also of those who were supposed to help them in public life and at home. They also supported schools economically and financed the education of poor nobles, at least that part of them who asked for such support. The general high costs of education also indicate the demand for educational services; the lack of teaching staff, the high prices of their services, are an expression of the needs of the “market”, which indicates the interest of citizens in it. The institutional efforts of the nobles also attest to the accuracy of this judgment, as can be seen in the eulogies of the regional assemblies and in the undertakings of the Commission of National Education. Of no small importance in this approach to the issue of education was the conviction of all the nobles about the need for education: it is the path to a career and to achieving various practical goals. I have not found in the sources – also in the extensive private correspondence – a single mention contradicting this general positive attitude of the nobles towards education.

The article examines public punishments applied by the Vilnius Castle Court in the second half of the 18th century. The aim is to identify the types of punishments applied by this court and the grounds for applying them, as well as to answer the question of whether we can speak of any innovations in the field of applying punishments that have appeared in judicial practice. The practice of the Vilnius Castle Court is compared with the practice of the courts of Krakow and Kaunas Castles of the same period. It is stated that, in principle, throughout the entire period, the Vilnius Castle Court mainly applied traditional punishments, established in the Third Statute of Lithuania and other state laws. However, in the 9th decade of the 18th century, the need for a prison where not only nobles, but also persons of other classes could serve their sentences of imprisonment was already quite clearly evident.

The article discusses how the changes enshrined in the Constitution of May 3, 1791 were depicted in art. The main attention is focused on the drawing by Franciszek Smuglewicz (1745–1807), currently stored in the National Museum in Warsaw, which has not yet come to the attention of art historians. The article analyzes the iconography of the drawing and presents the context of its creation. It puts forward the hypothesis that Smuglewicz depicted the apotheosis of the Constitution of May 3 in the work and examines the means by which the artist revealed the most important features of the “gentle” revolution.

This research is devoted to the biography of Vilnius canon Mikołaj Tyszkiewicz (died 1796) and its problematic aspects. The representative of an aristocratic family did not rise above the ecclesiastical positions of canon of Vilnius and Samogitia, prelate and dean of Samogitia, throughout his life. He also stayed away from political events, although he sometimes participated in them. Using chapter documents, letters, and court cases, the article reveals not only the main features of the biography of this Vilnius canon but also shows his aspirations to rise higher in the clergy hierarchy and the circumstances that hindered the possible rise of the person up the career ladder. The article also reveals his financial and economic activities, the state of the canon‘s ecclesiastical and secular possessions, and the vicissitudes of his relations with neighbors and other contemporaries.

In 1776, the dioceses of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth celebrated a six-month Great Jubilee, also known as the Summer of Mercy, Holy Year, Year of Grace or Days of Salvation. This major church holiday, held every 25 years, served to strengthen the religious devotion of the faithful, including deepening their understanding of the essence of sin and the sacrament of penance and reconciliation. This was achieved through recommended devotional practices: individual and communal prayers, jubilee pilgrimages, visiting four churches, sacramental confession, receiving Holy Communion, and sometimes even confirmation. An important element of penitential traditions was the performance of works of mercy. Special graces associated with the Jubilee guaranteed the granting of plenary indulgence. Some bishops, motivated by concern for the faithful and diocesan clergy, inspired the publication of special anniversary materials, which significantly facilitated participation in acts of religious worship. Among the occasional printed matter, anniversary booklets, complex religious publications derived from Roman and local traditions, played a special role. They served as a kind of information book (guide) and collection of prayers. This article presents an analysis of the Jubilee Book, commissioned by Ignacy Jakub Massalski, the administrator of the Vilnius diocese, from the perspective of the genre in the form of a collection. Drawing on Maria Wojtak’s now classic but still inspiring theory of the genre in the form of a collection, the features of the Vilnius publication that demonstrate its genre status are detailed. Elements documenting the uniqueness of the print are also identified.

The Sapieha family played an important role in the political, cultural and economic history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, but also of the entire Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Jesuit Kazimierz Kognowicki, who lived with them at the end of the 18th century, decided to write the history of the Sapieha family and devoted six volumes to its members, which he entitled ‘The Lives of the Sapiehas and Letters Written to them by Monarchs, Princes and Various Rulers’. The contents of ‘The Lives of the Sapiehas’ can be analysed in many ways. The article focuses on the educational value of the work, and the values it conveys, related to the behavioural patterns of each nobleman. The image of the ideal nobleman-landlord created in the literature of that time highlighted values such as courage, bravery and merit in the field of domestic and foreign policy. In addition to these qualities, the magnate, a member of the ruling class, had to be a good administrator of land, characterised by modesty, generosity, and love for his subjects. On the other hand, the accumulation of huge land holdings and positions in one person’s hands was considered shameful. In addition, every nobleman had to be an example of the skilful organisation of economic life and a God-fearing founder of churches. The article shows that, in his work, Kognowicki attributed all the ideal features to the Sapiehas, while keeping silent about what did not fit the ideal.

The article aims to evaluate the dissemination of ideas and practices of visual education at the Radziwiłł court. The main focus is on the text “Summary of a New Method”, written by the governor of Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł “Rybenko’s” children, which emphasizes the importance of demonstrative and graphic methods in children‘s education. The article explores the origins of the author’s ideas, their connection with the educational thought of the Enlightenment, and the realities of the M. K. Radziwił “Rybenko’s” court. Based on correspondence between family members and their officials, as well as other archival sources, the article examines how visual education was applied in the noble court.

The aim of this article is to present the views contained in the letters of ex-Jesuit priest Remigiusz Kossakowski – a foreign correspondent of the Commission of National Education for school and elementary books in the years 1774–1780, who stayed in Paris, on the level of science, education, and books published in France, and on Paris as a destination for educational trips of young people from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The ex-Jesuit priest Remigiusz Kossakowski, in his letters to the Vilnius astronomer, professor of the Vilnius Academy Marcin Poczobut-Odlanicki, described the community of French scholars, especially members of the Royal Academy of Sciences. Kossakowski established personal contacts with many of them, including the leading representatives. In the letters addressed to Poczobut, he presented his opinions on their works. Kossakowski warned against the dangers that threaten young people coming to Paris for studies. The correspondence contains many reflections on Paris as a destination for educational trips of young noblemen from abroad. Was Paris really perceived by the Doctor of Liberal Arts and philosophy Kossakowski as the “City of Lights” and the cultural capital of Europe?