The Jesuit College in Poznań () was a university founded by members of the Jesuit Order in Poznań, Poland. It survived from 1572 to 1773 in what was then the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

History The college and its library were founded in 1572 by Bishop .Załęski, S. (1905). Jezuici w Polsce. Vol 4. Issue 1. Portugal: Drukiem i nakładem, drukarni ludowej. p. 109 – via Google Books.Sjökvist, P. (2024). Looted Libraries, Looted Books: The Swedish Case. Netherlands: Brill. p. 29. . According to historians Stanisław Załęski and Albert Pollard, the Order experienced notable early success in Poznań, and this was due in part to Bishop Konarski's ability to generate financial and social support from the local community. The city provided buildings for the college, and over 100 individuals donated books to the college in the first decades. Other individuals associated with the founding include Fr. Wujek and several Jesuit priests.Szulakowska, U. (2019). Renaissance and Baroque Art and Culture in the Eastern Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1506-1696). United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 97. . In its early years, the college also managed to attract lecturers from Scotland, including James Bosgrave and William Ogilvie.Bajer, P. P. (2012). Scots in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 16th to 18th Centuries: The Formation and Disappearance of an Ethnic Group. Netherlands: Brill. p. 162. .

The founding of the college in Poznań caused controversy with the Kraków Academy, which considered itself to be dominant over other educational institutions.Poli, Roberto, ed. (2023). In Itinere: European Cities and the Birth of Modern Scientific Philosophy. Germany: Brill. p. 162. .Stolarski, P. (2016). Friars on the Frontier: Catholic Renewal and the Dominican Order in Southeastern Poland, 1594–1648. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis. p. 29. . The Kraków Academy managed to close a Jesuit college in Kraków and stall the elevation of the college in Poznań to university status.

The college was eventually elevated to the status of a university in the 17th century by King Sigismund Vasa. In 1655, during the Deluge, the Swedish army entered Poznań and confiscated the contents of the library at the college. The volumes were transferred to the library at Uppsala University through Claes Rålamb. By 1700, the college also operated a printing house.Hoepel, I. (2019). Emblems and Impact Volume II: Von Zentrum und Peripherie der Emblematik. United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 881. .

In 1773, the National Education Commission shut down both the Jesuit college and the neighboring Lubrański Academy.Tilse, M. (2011). Transnationalism in the Prussian East: From National Conflict to Synthesis, 1871-1914. United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 46. . By the 1780s, the National Education Commission restructured the Jesuit college into a high school.Alvis, R. E. (2005). Religion and the rise of nationalism: a profile of an East-Central European city. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. p. 25. . Several of the Jesuit buildings are used in the modern period to house the local government.Berlitz Pocket Guide Poland (Travel Guide EBook). (2019). United Kingdom: Apa Publications. .

Notable rectors Arthur Faunt Jakub Wujek, creator of the Wujek Bible Kasper Drużbicki Mateusz Bembus Wojciech Bystrzonowski

Notable students Bernard of Wąbrzeźno Augustyn Kordecki

See also

List of Jesuit sites Jesuit College in Polotsk Jesuit College in Khyriv

References