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The Musical Culture of the Jesuits in Silesia and the Kłodzko County (1581–1776)

by Tomasz Jeż (Author)
©2019 Monographs X, 516 Pages

Summary

This book studies the Jesuit culture in Silesia and Kłodzko (Glatz) County by focusing on its musical works and traditions. The strategies adopted by the Jesuits achieved notable results in the artistic traditions they cultivated, first of all a creative redefinition of musical culture itself, at various levels of its organization. While allowing music to exert influence on human activity, the Jesuits had to accept that its impact would depend on the peculiarities of local possibilities and conditions. This is why they analysed the qualities of music and its culture-forming potential in such detail and precisely defined its norms and modes of functioning. The impact of music can be observed in the transformations that the cultivation of musical culture brought about in the model of the Order itself, as well as in individuals, communities, and the time and space that defined them.

Table Of Contents

  • Cover
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • About the author(s)/editor(s)
  • About the book
  • This eBook can be cited
  • Table of Contents
  • PROLOGUS – Subject, scope and organisation of the book
  • 1. TRADITIO – Sources and historical context
  • 1.1. The current state of research
  • 1.2. Description of sources and their relevance to the subject
  • 1.2.1. Legal documents
  • 1.2.2. Catalogues of individuals and personalia
  • 1.2.3. Historical sources
  • 1.2.4. Music-related sources
  • 1.2.5. Songbooks, liturgical books, theatrical materials
  • 1.3. The Jesuits in Silesia and Kłodzko County – a historical overview
  • 1.3.1. Beginnings of the Jesuit mission in Silesia
  • 1.3.2. Kłodzko (Glatz)
  • 1.3.3. Nysa (Neisse)
  • 1.3.4. Głogów (Glogau)
  • 1.3.5. Zagan (Sagan) and Otyń (Wartenberg)
  • 1.3.6. Opava (Troppau) and Cieszyn (Těšín, Teschen)
  • 1.3.7. Wrocław (Breslau) and Brzeg (Brieg)
  • 1.3.8. Świdnica (Schweidnitz) and the Duchy of Świdnica-Jawor (Herzogtum Schweidnitz-Jauer)
  • 1.3.9. Opole (Oppeln) and the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz (Herzogtum Oppeln und Ratibor)
  • 1.3.10. Legnica (Liegnitz)
  • 2. USUS – Musical practices in Jesuit circles
  • 2.1. Liturgical music in Tridentine discourse
  • 2.1.1. Proposals for reform of musical practices in Protestant circles
  • 2.1.2. Proposals for reform of musical practices in Catholic circles
  • 2.1.3. Humanist-inspired reflections on liturgical music
  • 2.2. The Jesuits and music – discourse on music at the time of Ignatius Loyola
  • 2.2.1. Origins and profile of the Society of Jesus
  • 2.2.2. Ignatius Loyola’s and Peter Faber’s views on music
  • 2.2.3. First regulations on musical practices in early Jesuit statutes
  • 2.2.4. The debate with other European centres over liturgical music
  • 2.3. The debate over music in the First five decades of Jesuit activity
  • 2.3.1. Regulations concerning musical practices at the Roman headquarters
  • 2.3.2. Music in the discourse of West European assistances
  • 2.3.3. Usus musicae in the German provinces
  • 2.3.4. Changes in musical practices in the Austrian province
  • 2.4. Musical practices in Jesuit circles in the seventeenth century
  • 2.4.1. Musical practices in selected seventeenth-century European centres
  • 2.4.2. Customaries from Kłodzko
  • 2.4.3. Music in seventeenth-century Jesuit centres – phenomena, genres and authors
  • 3. CATECHESIS – Music in Jesuit pastoral work
  • 3.1. Music in the liturgy
  • 3.1.1. Music in the liturgical year
  • 3.1.2. Music for specific occasions
  • 3.1.3. Music accompanying major ceremonies
  • 3.2. Music in paraliturgical practices
  • 3.2.1. Praesepia and sepolcri
  • 3.2.2. Church services in the liturgical year
  • 3.2.3. Music in the Marian cult
  • 3.2.4. Processions and pilgrimages
  • 3.3. Music in religious instruction
  • 3.3.1. Teaching of the catechism
  • 3.3.2. Issues of repertoire and language
  • 3.3.3. Preaching and occasional pastoral work
  • 3.4. Jesuit sodalities
  • 3.4.1. Music in the life of the sodalities
  • 3.4.2. Role of the sodalities in promoting liturgical music and song repertoires
  • 3.4.3. Meditationes quadragesimales
  • 3.5. The music of Jesuit missions
  • 3.5.1. Regional missions: among the local folk, in the army, and re-Catholicising activities
  • 3.5.2. Missions beyond Silesia
  • 4. SCHOLA − Music in Jesuit educational institutions
  • 4.1. Music at Jesuit collegia and universities
  • 4.1.1. Music in the syllabuses of Jesuit collegia
  • 4.1.2. Participation of collegia students in musical performances during church celebrations
  • 4.1.3. Music during school ceremonies
  • 4.1.4. Elements of music theory in Jesuit syllabuses
  • 4.2. Music in Jesuit drama
  • 4.2.1. Jesuit school drama in Silesia
  • 4.2.2. Plays staged by the gymnasia
  • 4.2.3. Plays presented by the sodalities
  • 4.2.4. The poetics of Jesuit drama
  • 4.2.5. Melodrama sacrum
  • 4.3. The music of Jesuit seminaries and convicti
  • 4.3.1. Music in the seminarian syllabuses
  • 4.3.2. Music at Jesuit convicti
  • 4.3.3. The musical life of Silesian convicti
  • 5. CANTUS − Musical practices and repertoires
  • 5.1. Jesuit musical practices
  • 5.1.1. Jesuits – praefecti musicae
  • 5.1.2. Jesuit composers
  • 5.1.3. Organ builders and organists
  • 5.2. Jesuit musical repertoires
  • 5.2.1. The repertoire originating within Jesuit circles
  • 5.2.2. The repertoire adopted by Jesuit music institutions
  • 5.2.3. The repertoire of vernacular songs
  • 6. SOCIETAS − Social functions of music
  • 7. FONTES − Sources and materials
  • 7.1. List of abbreviations
  • 7.1.1. Common abbreviations
  • 7.1.2. Archive sigla
  • 7.1.3. Library sigla
  • 7.1.4. Sigla of frequently quoted periodicals
  • 7.2. Manuscripts
  • 7.2.1. Archive materials
  • 7.2.2. Libretti of theatrical plays in manuscript sources
  • 7.3. Music-related sources
  • 7.3.1. Jesuit musical compositions
  • 7.3.2. Music-related sources of Jesuit provenance from the Kłodzko collection
  • 7.4. Early prints
  • 7.4.1. Hymnals (sigla after DKL)
  • 7.4.2. Music prints (sigla after RISM)
  • 7.4.3. Libretti of theatrical plays and oratorios
  • 7.4.4. Summaries (periochai) of theatrical plays
  • 7.4.5. The meditationes quadragesimales
  • 7.4.6. Other early prints
  • 7.5. Catalogues, lexicons, dictionaries
  • 7.6. Bibliography
  • 7.7. Index of place names and institutions
  • 7.8. Index of persons
  • Series index

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PROLOGUS – Subject, scope and organisation of the book

Jesuit artistic practice occupies a special place among artistic phenomena in the Baroque era. The influence of the Society of Jesus on the post-Tridentine art is evident in the frequent association or even identification of that art with the activity of the Jesuits. The notion of “Jesuit style” has recently been discarded as methodologically imprecise1, but this objection does not apply to the term “Jesuit art”, which describes the context, origins and circumstances in which the products of that art arose. The stimulating and culture-forming influence of the Jesuits on artistic traditions of that period can hardly be overestimated. The sheer verve and mastery of form evident in the architecture, painting and sculpture produced in Jesuit centres continue to command respect, not only of the average observer but also of historians of culture who have access to a much broader artistic heritage of Jesuit provenience, transmitted in literary, theatrical and musical sources.

Paradoxically, the great wealth of Jesuit rhetorical arts was, for a long time, only rarely explored by scholars; ideological prejudice led them to see art as conventional, academic, and devoid of original qualities. Publications by historians of literature, theatre and music2 leave us in no doubt that these stereotypes do a disservice to Jesuit culture. Lack of objectivity has also impeded our understanding of modern European culture, one of the key components of which is the Jesuit tradition. Jesuit art of that period was inspired by humanist ideals and its disciplines drew on the universal language of rhetoric which was held to exercise influence over an audience3. In the Ignatian system of values4, all human activity should serve to glorify God, hence the Jesuit motto, ad maiorem Dei gloriam. Art ought to pursue this goal through the moulding of personality integral to which is the spiritual, intellectual and mental development that prepares individuals for mature participation in the socio-religious life of their communities5.

The Jesuits’ positive understanding of the role of art is evident both in the theory and in artistic practice related to pastoral care and education. This approach ← 1 | 2 → contributed to an unprecedented flourishing of many different disciplines of art, including music, which were viewed as universal tools for social action and communication6. The practice of music, which combines words and emotions into one coherent message, proved to be an important vehicle in the Jesuits’ civilizing undertaking. This was a project that called for a fundamental reform of religious life, which entailed the establishment of educational institutions. The same project was also responsible for the creation of new forms of social, political and religious self-identification, expressed in the language of art. The various manifestations of arts were meant to have an impact not only within the Jesuit environment – by shaping the identity of a given individual or milieu – but also in the outside world. The latter type of influence was related to the idea of propaganda fidei, which was especially important in areas affected by political and religious-confessional conflicts. Works of art created under such conditions naturally became a bone of contention in religious-political disputes, as well as a topic of aesthetic dispute in their own right.

The subject of this book is Jesuit culture in Silesia and Kłodzko (Glatz) County. Drawing from historical sources, I have chosen everyday phenomena that accompanied music-making in Jesuit circles. I consider musical works, the circumstances of their creation, the activities of institutions involved in organising music performances, as well as the problem of reception of this music by the audiences for which it was intended. By viewing the material in a broad context, I hope to highlight the ideational message7 of the topic as a whole, including its functioning and transmission of systems of signification, that is, the values passed down by tradition that both resulted from and shaped human behaviour8. The aim of this research is to reconstruct historical models of behaviour and thinking, as transmitted in Jesuit writings and encoded in the aesthetic-ideological content of musical works.

The geographical scope of this study is defined by the historical borders of Silesia: the duchies or Herzogtümer of Brzeg (Brieg), Cieszyn (Těšín, Teschen), Głogów (Glogau), Legnica (Liegnitz), Nysa (Neisse), Oleśnica (Oels), Opava and Krnov (Troppau and Jägerndorf), Opole and Racibórz (Oppeln und Ratibor), Pszczyna (Pless), Świdnica and Jawor (Schweidnitz und Jauer), Wołów (Wohlau), Wrocław (Breslau), Ziębice (Münsterberg) and Żagań (Sagan), as well as the Kłodzko County (Grafschaft Glatz). This entire area was part of the Jesuit ← 2 | 3 → Austrian province until 1623 and then part of the Czech province of the Society of Jesus for the next one hundred and thirty-three years. After annexation of Silesia and Kłodzko County by the Prussians, an independent Province of Silesia, subordinate to the German Assistancy, was formed out of this territory in 1754. The chronological scope of the present study has been determined by the period of Jesuit activity in the area defined above: from the arrival of the first Jesuit missionaries in Wrocław in 1581 until the implementation in Silesia of Pope Clement XIV’s decree, Dominus ac Redemptor (1776) that brought about the suppression of the Society of Jesus9.

Due to the international nature of the topic, geographical and temporal boundaries will sometimes stray from those defined above. Flexibility of approach with respect to geographical boundaries is justified by the fact that the musical culture of Silesia cannot be separated from the traditions cultivated throughout the Austrian, and then the Czech, Jesuit provinces. The dynamism and activity, and the tireless peregrinations so characteristic of the Jesuits, make it pointless trying to distinguish purely local phenomena in terms of musical culture within the above-defined boundaries. The system was made even more entropic through the free flow of ideas and cultural commodities between the various milieux within the Congregation, and across state borders too. These difficulties can be overcome, however, by taking cognisance of the historical context and locating the study of Jesuit artistic culture within the relevant organisational stratum, be it at the regional, provincial or assistancy level. This approach, with due adjustment of perspective for the level under discussion, draws the material into sharper focus and provides a more rounded and nuanced picture of the past.

If discussion of culture were restricted to music alone, this approach could lead to a skewed sense of history distorting the integrated nature of a tradition that finds expression in many interrelated artistic disciplines. It would also serve to isolate the music from its historical context and function. Taking account of the socio-religious context of musical performances, the study concerns itself not so much with the musical works, per se, as with the musical culture in its natural, social environment. This includes intellectual and spiritual traditions, as well as the liturgical aspects of musical performances which take place in a space that constitutes an integral part of church or city. With the aim of providing a synoptic perspective, the study takes a holistic view of artistic disciplines by drawing on the precepts of artes rhetoricae. ← 3 | 4 →

The book presents the current state of research on these subjects, describes the different collections of historical sources and proposes ways they may be used. The spatial-temporal framework defined above necessitates that a brief outline be given of the history of the Society of Jesus in Silesia and Kłodzko County. It was the fascinating history of that region, enmeshed in politico-religious conflicts that bring to mind the paradigm of the “clash of cultures”, which attracted me to this subject. The ideas that competed with one another in Silesian culture derived from Protestant and Catholic traditions; they were grounded in the humanist foundations common to modern Europe. What distinguished the two discourses from one another was both the external, syntactical level of the rhetoric and the artists’ choice of ideas and manner of presentation of their works of art.

To properly understand the place of music in Jesuit culture, one must look at the issue of music as a part of liturgy. Jesuit writings of the period contributed greatly to the debate about the place of music in European spirituality during the process of reform. Paradoxically, this debate highlighted many affinities between Catholic and Protestant authors. With the passing years, however, Catholic culture came to adopt a diametrically different style of church music, and this drew sharp criticism from Protestant writers. This intriguing transformation in the way of thinking about musical art led to the development in the early eighteenth century of a new social function for music.

The principal manifestations of Jesuit presence in musical culture were associated, first and foremost, with pastoral care, where music served to encourage the faithful to participate. In addition to attracting people, music also played an aesthetic role adding splendour to church ceremonies. It conveyed in emblematic fashion the contents and values represented by the religious and secular authorities. Jesuit pastoral care was addressed, inter alia, to sodalities that played a key role in the dissemination of secular songs. Those layman communities took part in musical and dramatic performances, and, in turn, stimulated artistic patronage. The topic of pastoral care also involves folk and overseas missions, undertaken, amongst others, by Silesian Jesuits.

Teaching was also understood to be a part of the pastoral care10. Schools founded by the Jesuits played a key role in the formation of a new order of culture. In the next chapter, we look at the models of education that were developed in educational institutions for both clergy and laymen. The focus is primarily on Jesuit convicti that were modelled on the Roman Collegium Germanicum. One of the artistic phenomena that combined didactic purpose with music was Jesuit ← 4 | 5 → school drama; it melded verbal persuasion, acting, sets, costumes and music into an organic whole.

The Jesuits’ direct involvement in musical practices is the subject of the following chapters of this book, which presents the results of studies dedicated to the reconstruction of the biographies of Jesuit praefecti musicae. I focus on the lives of those figures whose career involvement in music was more than average: those who became the leaders of music ensembles, composers or song writers. Attention is also devoted to the repertoire that has come down to us and that which is only known indirectly from other sources. As a consequence of the suppression of the Society of Jesus, the majority of Jesuit music collections were destroyed or otherwise lost. This repertoire has to be reconstructed on the basis of sources drawn from different provenances.

The final section of the book deals with the social functions of music in Jesuit circles. Since those functions were universal, the conclusions drawn are also relevant to a broader geographical canvas. By analysing the deep meanings of culture, its hierarchy of values and the models of behaviour expressed in art, I essay answers to questions concerning the role of music in social identification, affirmation and confrontation. Music was linked to the processes of confessionalisation and universalisation. It made reference to the good order of social relations and to approved models of behaviour. It made an impact by transforming time and social space. The study presented here of the transformation of the paradigm of modern culture leads to the hypothesis that those transformations prefigured to a certain extent the re-evaluations that took place in musical culture during the Age of Enlightenment.

The present book is the result of several years studying Jesuit writings and musical traditions in Silesia and Kłodzko County, conducted at the Institute of Musicology, University of Warsaw. The Institute has steadfastly supported my archival, source-related and bibliographical research in archives and libraries in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Italy. I am indebted to the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP), which financed my year at ARSI in 2007–2008 with funds from the “Kolumb” scholarship programme. I would like to express my gratitude to the curators of archives in Brno, Cracow, Prague, Rome, Vienna and Wrocław as well as to library personnel in Katowice, Kłodzko, Prague, Rome, Świdnica, Vienna, Warsaw, and Wrocław who afforded me expert advice and graciously made available to me all the material necessary for my work. I owe particularly warm thanks to the scholars who have guided my work: Anna Fechtnerová, Barbara Przybyszewska-Jarmińska, Janice B. Stockigt, Elżbieta Zwolińska, Sławomira Żerańska-Kominek, Alina Żórawska-Witkowska, ← 5 | 6 → Jan Linka, Vladimír Maňas, Remigiusz Pośpiech, Czesław Salamon, Jiří Sehnal and Ryszard Wieczorek. They inspired me to work on this subject and supported me in various stages of my work. My thanks to Weronika Sygowska-Pietrzyk and Paweł Pietrzyk from Wydawnictwo Naukowe “Sub Lupa” for overseeing the publication of the Polish-language edition of this book.


1 Cf. O’MalleyI; PfeifferJ (explanation of bibliographical symbols in Section 7.4).

2 CulleyJ; SzarotaJ; StarnawskiP.

3 BauerJ.

4 LoyolaE [1], p. 4.

5 SchnitzlerT, p. 283.

6 WittwerM, p. 77.

7 GoodenoughC, pp. 76–80.

8 KroeberI, p. 388.

9 HoffmannJB.

10 Cf. InglotZ, p. 86.

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1. TRADITIO – Sources and historical context

1.1. The current state of research

The literature that constitutes the point of departure for my study is extremely rich1 and constantly expanding, which attests to the growing interest in the history of the Society of Jesus and its impact on the spiritual, intellectual and artistic culture of the period. Many publications have been devoted to Jesuit activity in the Mediterranean, and in Central European and overseas missions. These latter two areas of activity were linked after the Council of Trent by a common missionary practice that recognised the special status musical culture enjoyed as a vehicle for re-Catholicising and evangelising.

A prime source of information for the study of the past and impact of specific individuals, can be found in biographical guides such as Carlos Sommervogel’s encylopaedia2, which encompasses the written historical heritage of the Jesuits. It has been supplemented by catalogues of the members of the Society of Jesus, listed according to the date of their taking vows and the date of their death3, and by lists of Jesuits active in specific provinces4 or centres5. In this category, one also finds publications dedicated to particular Jesuit milieux, catalogues of superiors6, of Jesuit writers7, scholars8 and missionaries9, of artists10, musicians and orchestral leaders in Jesuit collegia and convicti11. Another point of departure for this research has been historical monographs dedicated to the activity of Jesuits in different European countries12, particularly in Silesia13. In this latter category, ← 7 | 8 → mention should be made of the works of Johann Miller14 and Johann Schmidl15, which were written before the suppression of the Jesuits, and to the more recent books on this subject16 by Bernhard Duhr17. For the territory covered in this study, the publications of Hermann Hoffmann, author of about a dozen works on the history of Jesuit presence in the cities of Silesia18, as well as those by Zdzisław Lec, which sum up the present-day state of research on this subject19. The bibliography also includes historical studies dedicated to the complex national and confessional social mosaic of historical Silesia20.

The essential material for the study of Jesuit music can be found in the legal and constitutional acts which governed the functioning of the Society of Jesus across the various domains of its mission21. Separate source groups can be identified for the various fields typical of Jesuit cultural activity: pastoral care, teaching and the arts. At the time, these fields were closely interrelated and gelled as a coherent structure in terms of social impact. For organisation reasons, however, in this study these three aspects of Jesuit activity are discussed in separate chapters under systematic categories that correspond to respective source groupings.

Jesuit pastoral activity was addressed to both individuals and social groups22. Jesuit formation took place in school sodalities and laymen’s fraternities23. Existing studies concerning the functioning of these communities in Silesia24, Bohemia, Moravia25 and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth26 have made it possible to pursue further research into theatrical27 and musical28 genres and into the forms that these groups cultivated. The best-known area of the brotherhoods’ activities were the songs they propagated and sang during congregational ← 8 | 9 → meetings and church celebrations29. Research into this area does not have to be conducted ab ovo, thanks to the numerous publications available on Czech, German, Silesian and Polish song repertoires30.

Overseas missions were characterised by a specific type of Jesuit pastoral activity. In part this was a reflection of the Society’s universalist outlook and modus operandi; at the same time, however, the order strove to accommodate its practices to “the times, places and persons” in accordance with its Constitutions31. Music proved to be an effective medium of evangelisation and acculturation in Jesuit missions from Chile to the Philippines32. The efficacy of music was also understood by the Jesuits from Silesia and the Czech province who participated in overseas missions33. Best documented of these is the mission in Paraguay that was led by the Silesian Jesuit, Florian Paucke34. A number of missionaries from Silesia were also active at the courts of the Emperors of China35.

Many publications have been devoted to the educational activities of the Jesuits36. These include the famous Jesuit constitution Ratio studiorum37 that defined the educational system. Of interest too are works dedicated to the Jesuit collegia in Silesia, and especially the one in Wrocław38. Important for the present study are publications analysing the activities of the convicti39, not only in Silesia and Kłodzko County40, but also in the Roman Collegium Germanicum41 that provided a model for the structure of convicti. These institutions, crucial to the formation of a modern musical culture, have been the subject of studies by Czech42 and Polish scholars, notably Jerzy Kochanowicz43. ← 9 | 10 →

Jesuit school drama is a fascinating area of research taken up by cultural historians44. It sustains undiminished fascination with the “multimedia” quality of its message that fuses the various rhetorical arts into a whole45. The bibliography on the subject also takes account of publications on Jesuit drama in Italy46, Poland47 and the German-speaking countries48, which boast the largest number of extant sources available for musicological study49. Documentation work has already started with respect to Silesian sources of Jesuit drama50; other studies have been concerned with the musical aspects of spectacles51. Jesuits were also active in other fields of artistic endeavour: architecture, sculpture and painting. Among the numerous text dedicated to Jesuit contributions in these areas, mention should be made of those that interpret the ideas behind Jesuit art, its rhetorical character and cultural function. These topics have already been studied with respect to the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth52, and Silesia53. Studying the topics discussed by art historians can facilitate research into music and visual arts54, since both conveyed a consistent message, fashioned by means of the same rhetorical tools.

The music practised in Jesuit circles has also been the subject of musicological studies by Max Wittwer55 and by authors whose focus was on musical life at Jesuit centres in Rome56. This tradition was soon being disseminated throughout Habsburg domains: Lower Austria and Carniola57, Hungary58 and the countries of the Bohemian Crown59 which embraced the Silesian duchies60. The dissemination ← 10 | 11 → of Jesuit music was facilitated by the pro-Roman policies of the Polish Vasa dynasty and by the Italianate character of their court orchestra61. For these reasons, Jesuits played a crucial role in the musical culture of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth62 and rapidly gained recognition in the field of composition as well63. A similar process was at work in the countries of the Bohemian Crown, where it yielded fruit in the form of a rich repertoire of songs and liturgical music64. Monographs dedicated to composers active in different European centres65 constitute another subgroup of sources important for the study of Jesuit culture66.

1.2. Description of sources and their relevance to the subject

From the very beginning, the Society of Jesus took great care to record its own history and it created an unprecedented system to document it. The dictum: scriptis tradere et fideliter conservare67 was put into practice, and, thanks to it, the study of Jesuit artistic traditions has been greatly facilitated. The principle of copying and archiving in three different places (place of origin, provincial capital, and Rome) contributed to the preservation of many archival sources. Many original collections of local Jesuit centres in Silesia have been dispersed and, as a consequence, any study of this subject has to also involve research at the ARSI in Rome, in addition to relevant sources currently found in Vienna, Prague and Wrocław.

Many important documents have been published as part of the series Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu. These include the writings of the first Jesuit generals68, as well as critical editions of their letters69. The vast majority of the collections, however, have not been published. Since music has a marked presence in virtually all aspects of the Society’s work, a comprehensive picture of Jesuit musical culture must draw on the greatest number of sources possible. ← 11 | 12 → Archival research is often facilitated by the existence of guides70 that systematically describe the various classes of Jesuit sources71.

1.2.1. Legal documents

The first group of sources are legal acts which determined the functioning of the Society’s institutions. They define the norms established by the General Congregations (Congregationes) of the Society of Jesus for each province. The regulations deal with music in the liturgy and the practice of individual Jesuit centres. Most significant are the earliest acts of the congregations for the Austrian72 and Czech73 provinces, which record successive stages of the debate over Jesuit musical practices in Central European countries. They also contain specific rulings that distinguished local practice from universally accepted principles. For the sake of comparison, material from the same acts referring to the neighbouring provinces of the German Assistancy has also been employed.

The Jesuit General’s orders (Ordinationes Generalium), which define the ways in which the above-mentioned principles are to be implemented and interpreted in the individual centres, comprise a largely discrete subset of legal regulations. Letters addressed to rectors of the collegia include many comments on musical practices, as well as instructions obliging the provincial authorities to maintain a prescribed model of that practice74. As a result of these directives, the musical practices of Jesuit houses were codified in the form of Consuetudines or books of customs for each province. In addition to books of this type for the Czech, High German and Polish provinces75, of particular interest are the Consuetudines from Kłodzko76. Visiting inspectors were put in charge of ensuring that internal discipline of house agreed with prescribed norms; the inspectors’ reports77 also reflect ← 12 | 13 → on musical practices. The letters and regulations of the Society’s authorities78, as well as their letters from the corpus of Opera Nostrorum79 are of less assistance in this area. There is also a separate group of documents relating to missions: applications for missionary posts80, and the General’s replies to those applications81, as well as the documentation of the movement (transfer) of Jesuit missionaries82 and their letters from overseas83.

1.2.2. Catalogues of individuals and personalia

A biographic database of Jesuit houses can be reconstructed on the basis of house catalogues, which are admirably systematic and comprehensive. The data contained in those catalogues make it possible to reconstruct the life of each and every Jesuit, from his novitiate to his death. Catalogues of novices for the Czech province, compiled mostly in Brno84, list personal qualities, education, linguistic skills, and sometimes also musical qualifications. With the passage of time, candidates preparing to take their Jesuit vows found themselves being questioned ever more frequently about their musical skills.

The Jesuits also collected personal data on students educated in their collegia, convicti and seminaries. Some of those students later became members of the Society of Jesus themselves, and confirmed their previously recognised musical talents. The catalogues in question85 make it possible to reconstruct the dynamics of the development of those institutions, and their geographical scope and influence. The documentation of vows taken by the professi (Professio quatuor votorum)86, spiritual coadjutors (Coadiutores Spirituales) and temporal coadjutors (Coadiutores Temporales – many of whom were artists or organ builders)87, ← 13 | 14 → as well as lists of Society members for each assistancy88, provides the researcher with information pertinent to the biographies of individual Jesuits.

An important source of information about the Jesuits are the so-called Catalogi triennales, compiled every three years, which contain anagraphic data for the given province organised according to centre or house89. These catalogues supply three levels of information. The main part is the Catalogus primus, containing personal data, the date of entering the Jesuit order, of taking vows, and of roles held up to that point. The Catalogus secundus includes an assessment of the given member’s professional, intellectual, moral and psychological qualifications. The Catalogus tertius describes the property of the different religious houses. On the basis of this information, one can identify the involvement of specific Jesuits in musical practices.

The post of praefectus chori was customarily held for three years as part of a teacher’s placement at a college, though there were Jesuits who performed this function for a longer period. The latter is especially true of those Jesuits who demonstrated well-above-average musical ability, which was recorded in the Catalogus secundus in the form of comments such as scit musica, callet musicam, etc. Their musical qualifications and practical experience in this area (e.g. musicam vocalem et in fidibus), even when recognised by their superiors, did not necessarily result in appointments to musical posts. Such decisions were taken by superiors who not only assessed the person’s qualifications (talentum ad ministeria), but, most importantly, his personal qualities (ingenium, iudicium, prudentia, experientia rerum, naturalis complexio). In the Society of Jesus, administration of human potential was based on Aristotle’s theory of the temperaments, and musical functions were usually entrusted to Jesuits with a melancholic temperament.

The second type of personnel catalogues are the annual brief catalogues (Catalogus brevis, Catalogus annuus), which list members of a given religious house along with the roles assigned to each90. These data make it possible to study the development of a given collegium as well as of the convictus founded for this collegium. The musical functions performed by Jesuits were not always recorded, since according to the constitution, professed Jesuits (professi quatuor votorum) were not permitted to be actively involved in musical activities91. This did not affect secular brethren and Jesuits who did not take final vows. Printed versions ← 14 | 15 → of these catalogues (published for the Czech province from 1710 onward)92 confirm, however, that the functions of praefectus musicae or praefectus chori were understood as performed conjointly (officia intelliguntur adiuncta) with the (usually listed) function of subregens of the convictus.

The last group of biographical data consists of documents prepared after a Jesuit’s death: chronological lists of the deceased together with lists of members who were dismissed from, or who chose to leave the Society93, in addition to obituaries94. These latter eulogies take the form customary for that period and tell us more about their authors’ world outlook and values than specific facts about the life of the deceased. Some of the obituaries, however, do include the less common information concerning the life and activity of a given Jesuit, his involvement in promoting new forms of piety or his active religious life. Some also mention the deceased’s work in the field of music. These records can be extremely valuable.

1.2.3. Historical sources

Another class of archival sources consists of various chronicles, the largest group of which are the so-called Litterae annuae95 – reports that sum up the annual work of the given Jesuit house and its members, under the following rubrics: number of personnel, church feasts in the year; forms of pastoral activity; promotion of secular piety; work of sodalities and schools; and the economic position of the house. The chronicles also contain statistical data which enable one to infer the dynamics of development of specific institutions, such as the convicti. Even though the presentation is largely schematic and standardised, these documents are – from an historical point of view – quite informative96. They provide insight into Jesuit practice, seen from the perspective of the order’s goals and values. From these reports one may also glean information about musical life in a given centre as it is associated with paraliturgical practice, theatrical spectacles, and music foundations.

For most Jesuit centres, more detailed chronicles (Historiae domus) describing the key events of the year have also been preserved. Such historiae exist for ← 15 | 16 → Cieszyn97, Głogów98, Kłodzko99, Legnica100, Wrocław101 and Żagań102. They were usually compiled by an historian of the house, but sometimes also by rectors of Jesuit collegia103 or the regentes of Jesuit seminaries104. These sources much more frequently mention musical events, and provide detailed descriptions of some celebrations. Accounts of canonisation ceremonies abound in information about the accompanying music, and these were included as appendices in the Litterae annuae. The historical documents of Jesuit colleges are complemented by various types of archival material kept in the provincial capitals105, as well as by documents collected by the provincial procurator who supervised the collegia under his jurisdiction106.

Fundationes are documents of the legal and financial foundations of Jesuit institutions. They reflect the history of financial principles and record the changes in legal status of individual collegia and convicti. While the collegia records107 are of limited relevance, quite important to this study are the foundational acts of the convicti, which regulated the work of those institutions in the Austrian province108. They served as models for similar institutions founded in the territories of the Bohemian crown, where they played a major role in cultural development and religious practice. It was for this reason that the (practically tested) models for the functioning of those institutions included so many details109. These models were implemented by means of instructions compiled for the convicti in Chomutov (Komotau), Olomouc (Olmütz), Opava, and Prague110. The same ← 16 | 17 → principles applied to the convicti set up in Silesia, as can be seen in acts that apply both to the whole province111 and to individual houses of Nysa, Wrocław and Kłodzko112. In order to distinguish universal from local elements in those documents, they need to be compared with analogous acts for the foundation of convicti in Italy113 and France114, as well as the High German, Upper- and Lower-Rhine115, Polish and Lithuanian116 provinces of the Jesuit order.

The presence of the Jesuits in Silesia and Kłodzko County is also documented in real estate inventories, library collections, and the property of the collegia and churches. Unfortunately, this last type of sources has been preserved only fragmentarily, and only for the cities of Kłodzko and Wrocław117.

Archival documents concerning the financial situation of the Breslau collegium shortly before its dissolution118 add to our knowledge about institutions administered by the Jesuit order. Inventories of goods and chattels belonging to Silesian Jesuit houses (sheet music, and musical instruments used in musical performances at the convicti) have not been preserved. Some information can be gleaned, however, from the acts of the sodalities of Kłodzko119, Świdnica120 and Wrocław121. The albums of both these fraternities contain lists of goods and chattels, such as religious books, songbooks and music prints.

1.2.4. Music-related sources

The vast majority of Jesuit musical repertoire perished during the suppression of the Society of Jesus in Silesia. It was preserved only in those places where the Jesuits administered the parish church, as in Kłodzko, where part of the historical collection has survived to our time122. A few musical sources have also been preserved in the collection of the Oppersdorff family of ← 17 | 18 → Głogówek (Oberglogau)123. Wherever churches functioned as administrative units of the Jesuit order, the books that belonged to those churches were sent after the suppression to secular libraries; the music in manuscript was lost. One exception is the music collection of the Jesuits from Otyń (Wartenberg), which was rediscovered in Poznań124. Libraries, however, existed in all collegia, churches and convicti. They were supported by various foundations and maintained by librarians whose names have been preserved to our time125.

While a full reconstruction of Jesuit musical sources is no longer possible today, traces of the tradition can be found in libraries belonging to geographically-related centres and in the collections of other religious orders, into which copies of original manuscripts found their way. My guidebook to researching these sources was the list of approximately 170 Jesuit musicians active in the area, compiled on the basis of biographical studies. This list facilitated locating and identifying more than seventy compositions of Jesuits active in Silesia. In the collections of Kłodzko and Březnice (Bresnitz)126, also of Jesuit provenance, there are virtually no works by Jesuit authors, nor has it been possible to find original Jesuit material in collections from Braniewo (Braunsberg)127, Święta Lipka (Heiligelinde)128 and Trnava (Tyrnau)129, which show affinities only with respect to repertoire commonly copied in other circles as well130. Original Jesuit repertoire has been preserved, however, in Jesuit collections from Brno131, Český Krumlov (Böhmisch Krumau)132, and Uherské Hradiště (Ungarisch Hradisch)133. In other Silesian collections investigated traces of Jesuit repertoire were found in the inventories of Wrocław’s Cathedral of St John the Baptist134 and in the collection of the Library of the University of Warsaw135, where the large collection of Wrocław’s former Königliches Akademisches Institut für Kirchenmusik is now kept. This latter collection brings together sources of music from different religious orders that were dissolved in ← 18 | 19 → Silesia – mostly Cistercian but also music of Jesuit provenance. This collection also includes music from Benedictine, and Franciscan Observant and Conventual sources, in addition to those of the Knights Hospitallers of Saint John, the Canons Regular, the Capuchins, the Poor Clares, the Knights Crosier of the Red Star, and the Premonstratensians. All these works of different origins demonstrate some similarities with respect to type of repertoire, as also do the Cistercian collections of Krzeszów (Grüssau)136 and those of the Knights of the Cross from Nysa137. That Jesuit repertoire also crossed confessional boundaries can been observed in copies found in Protestant church collections in Wrocław138 and Legnica139. A specific subset of musical sources comprises compositions adopted in Jesuit circles and copied by Jesuit copyists; to these compositions can be added contrafacta of operatic arias inspired by Jesuit religious texts140.

The repertoire preserved throughout territory of the Jesuit Czech province demonstrates the supra-regional significance of the Silesian Jesuits’ musical traditions. The same repertoire can also be found in the collections of geographically not-so-distant churches in Cracow141, Prague142, Kroměříž (Kremsier)143, Kežmarok (Käsmark), Spišské Podhradie (Kirchdrauf)144, and Grodzisk Wielkopolski145; it found its way into these collection thanks to the Cistercians. It was the religious orders that played the key role in disseminating the repertoire146, as can be seen clearly in the collections of the Benedictines from Broumov (Braunau) and Břevnov (Breunau)147, the Cistercians from Obra148, the Hospitallers of Saint John of God from Kuks (Kukus)149, the Cistercians of Osek (Ossegg)150, the Premonstratensians of Strahov and Želiv (Seelau)151, and ← 19 | 20 → the Ursulines of Kutná Hora (Kuttenberg). No Jesuit sources were found during research in centres located north-east of Silesia: Gniezno Cathedral152, as well as monasteries of the Dominicans in Gidle153, the Oratorians in Gostyń154, and the Paulines of Jasna Góra155.

1.2.5. Songbooks, liturgical books, theatrical materials

Another distinct group of sources is composed of songbooks transmitting vernacular repertoire. The close relationship between the songs from Jesuit Silesia and the repertoire of German-speaking areas is a consequence of the predominance of Germans in the population of Silesia during this period. It was only in Cieszyn, Opava, Opole and Tarnowskie Góry (Tarnowitz) that German dominance gave way to Polish, Moravian or Czech minorities. A neutral point of reference for Silesian Jesuit songs were local traditions, initially monopolised by the Reformation but already revived in Catholic circles by the early seventeenth century. Noteworthy in this context are the songs by Johannes Scheffler156, Bartholomeus Christelius157 and Veit Scheffer158, as well as the local editions by Johann Schubart’s publishing house in Nysa159, Johann Dilatus’ in Kłodzko160, and the Jesuits’ printing houses in Opava161 and Wrocław162.

To meet the needs of fraternities in those places, prayer books modelled on the post-Tridentine Liturgy of the Hours were printed163. While the original models were meant for the clergy, the Silesian editions were adapted for the needs of laymen. Surviving prayer books of this type164 contain the so-called officium parvum, made up of a varied repertory of songs and hymns. The non-specific character of those publications can be seen in the homogeneity of the contents, ← 20 | 21 → present too in analogous German, Czech and Polish publications165. On the initiative of Jesuit sodalities, excerpts of the more dramatically represented teachings from the Catechism were also printed166, as were, most importantly for our purposes, synopses of theatrical plays staged by students from the Jesuit gymnasia.

The latter sources, known as periochai (περιοχαί), comprise title, date and particulars of staging the play, plus a summary of the libretto. They make it possible to reconstruct the spectacles which also included purely musical components: choruses, interludes, dances, as well as instrumental music in the scenae mutae. From the territory of Silesia I have accumulated five hundred such summaries of spectacles staged by the collegia of Kłodzko, Głogów, Legnica, Nysa, Opava, Opole, Świdnica, Wrocław and Żagań167. More information concerning this theatrical tradition can be found in copies of libretti from Kłodzko168, Świdnica169 and Wrocław170. A comparative analysis of these sources for Jesuit school drama makes it possible occasionally to reconstruct the musical components, even when notated music is absent in the sources.

1.3. The Jesuits in Silesia and Kłodzko County – a historical overview

The Jesuits of Silesia and Kłodzko County took a pragmatic view of art; they viewed it not so much as a “Counter-Reformation propaganda weapon”171 as a tool in their order’s pastoral mission. And the principal mission of the Society of Jesus was “salvation and perfection of souls”172; all other activities were secondary to this main goal. It is this historical perspective that informs the following study ← 21 | 22 → of the Jesuits and their musical culture. Social, political and religious considerations shaped that artistic scene. Art was meant to be efficacious. It was supposed to exert influence over those areas. The character of the Jesuits’ active engagement in the arts was underpinned by theoretical tenets. We now turn to a consideration of the historical circumstances surrounding the appearance of the Jesuits in various Silesian centres.

1.3.1. Beginnings of the Jesuit mission in Silesia

By the mid-sixteenth century, Silesia had already been infiltrated by the Reformation movement to the extent that the Bishop of Wrocław, Balthasar von Promnitz, and Ignatius Loyola173 recognised the fact and voiced the need for the region to be re-Catholicised. Responding to this call, the first Silesians went to Rome to study in the Roman Collegium Germanicum174; their stay there was the beginning of the process of Catholic revival in the region175. Efforts to involve the Jesuits in the task were not immediately successful, despite requests directed to their General by the next Bishop of Wrocław, Kaspar von Logau. In the end, it was Martin Gerstmann who, having embraced the Tridentine reforms, took the decision to move the diocesan seminary to Nysa and in 1581, at his invitation, the first Jesuits arrived in Wrocław. Their mission soon bore fruit. The Jesuits preached sermons at the Cathedral of St John the Baptist and the Church of Saints James and Vincent in Wrocław; they heard confessions and observed the city’s bourgeois population with a view to assessing musical skills and talents176. Gerstmann’s positive opinion meant that the mission was prolonged; it also resulted in invitation to the Jesuits from other Wrocław churches and from Głogów. All this notwithstanding, no permanent residency was established in Wrocław, for reason of a shortage of funds. On the other hand, the Protestant City Council effectively thwarted the bishop’s repeated attempts.

More reforms were introduced by Bishop Andreas Jerin, a Collegium Germanicum graduate and a natural supporter of the Society of Jesus. Influenced by his Roman preceptors, he brought new blood into the Wrocław cathedral chapter, ← 22 | 23 → implemented the post-Tridentine reforms, and made efforts to expand the Jesuit mission in Silesia177. Nonetheless, despite the funds he managed to raise for the establishment of a collegium in Wrocław, he did not receive permission from General Claudio Acquaviva to set up such a college, neither in Wrocław, Głogów, nor in Nysa178. This did not stop the Jesuits from conducting their pastoral work, which was customarily associated with musical performances. In 1591 they started their first popular missions179, a forty-hour church service in 1593180, and, a year later, a pilgrimage to Trzebnica (Trebnitz)181. The worsening religious conflict in that town infiltrated the cathedral chapter and led to the interruption of the Jesuits’ mission in September 1595.

1.3.2. Kłodzko (Glatz)

Efforts at founding a Jesuit collegium in Kłodzko182 proved more effective, and it was that institution that in the early seventeenth century became the first bastion in the re-Catholicisation of Silesia183. This strategically situated town acted as an intermediary in the exchange of cultural goods between Bohemia and Silesia. It was also crucial to the development of Jesuit artistic traditions in Silesia. The close ties that the Kłodzko County maintained with the Silesian duchies, confirmed by that county’s inclusion within the Silesian province of the Society of Jesus in 1754, accounts for its inclusion in this study which covers the artistic culture of both these areas.

As early as the 1550s, the Comptroller (Pfandinhaber) of Kłodzko county and the Catholic Duke of Bavaria, Ernst Wittelsbach184, were seeking to have the Jesuits establish themselves in Kłodzko, but it did not come to pass until Christoph Kirmesser, the last Prior (praepositus) of the Canons Regular of St Augustine and the parish priest at the Church of the Assumption (taken away from the Protestants); in 1593, he put his parish under Jesuit administration185. Thanks to skilful diplomatic manoeuvring in Rome, Clement VIII quickly agreed to assign ← 23 | 24 → the parish church of Kłodzko to the Jesuits. This transfer was officially confirmed on 9th March 1595. On 20th September 1597, the Jesuits opened their collegium in Kłodzko, which soon greeted its first students from Wrocław.

When the governor of Opava, Heinrich Log Freiherr von Logau und Olbersdorf, became the starost (Landeshauptmann) of Kłodzko County, the Jesuits led their first Corpus Christi procession through the streets of that town. They also organised weekly Sunday teaching of the Catechism186, which was accompanied by the singing of songs in German. Undaunted by acts of violence committed by representatives of the Protestant majority in Kłodzko187, the Jesuits began to build a school. The convictus of St Aloysius Gonzaga, a foundation of Charles of Austria, Prince-Bishop of Wrocław (and Jesuit alumnus) opened its doors in 1614. It was intended as a boarding school for young men from neighbouring Silesia188. The development of both institutions was interrupted in 1618 by the decree expelling the Jesuits from these territories under the Bohemian Crown. The Jesuits of Kłodzko fled to Nysa leaving their Kłodzko church and newly erected collegium at the mercy of soldiers. They destroyed nearly all the furnishings and Jesuit property, burnt the organ and the library, and profaned the church crypt189.

When Kłodzko was recaptured by the Emperor’s army in 1622, starost Philipp Rudolph von Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn, re-Catholicised the county and dismissed the church and school’s Protestant administration190. The Jesuits resumed their work in Kłodzko and became involved in the re-Catholicising campaign with obligatory sermons for Protestants and soldier-assisted confessions191. Their mission was interrupted by yet another upsurge in the Thirty Years’ War, and by the plague. In the 1640s, the house of third probation took place in this Jesuit house for the first time192; that period also saw the building of a new altar193 and organ in the church by Adam Tille194. The Jesuits of Kłodzko also renewed their work ← 24 | 25 → in Bystrzyca Kłodzka (Habelschwerdt)195, Nowa Ruda (Neurode)196 and Vidnava (Weidenau)197 – with such intensity that the Silesian Protestants soon nicknamed the whole Kłodzko county, nidus papistarum198. The construction of the new college building, designed by Carlo Lurago, began in 1654. The ceremony of consecrating the foundation stone was attended by Goswin Nickel, General of the Society of Jesus199. Late in the same century, a convictus housing up to seventy students was erected after the design of Andrea Carove200. More architectural investment and interior design innovations in the church were connected with the employment of Christoph Tausch and Michael Klahr (der Ältere)201; this was made possible thanks to funding from a foundation which maintained the college with income from the estate in Ścinawka Górka (Obersteine), as well as from the fish ponds and brewery in Szalejów (Oberschwedeldorf).

The flourishing of the Kłodzko collegium came to an end with the Prussian annexation and the war reparations imposed by Heinrich August de la Motte Fouqué, Governor of Kłodzko. The Jesuit college in Kłodzko now became part of the Society’s Silesian province, but it never regained its former glory. After the Silesian wars that ravaged the Kłodzko County, it had regained the same number of students as it had had in the mid-seventeenth century. Clement XIV’s breve de suppressione ordinis Societatis Jesu, signed on 21st July 1773, came into force here on 21st February 1776, when the parish church was secularised, and the collegium became part of the Prussian Royal Institute for Education (Königlisches Schulen-Institut). The convictus, however, continued to operate for a few more years.

1.3.3. Nysa (Neisse)

Nysa202 was a centre of particular importance to the Jesuit missions in Silesia. It was the place where the bishops of Wrocław resided and where the diocesan seminary had been operating since 1575. It had been the rector of that seminary, Friedrich Staphylus, who first requested the Jesuit order to send representatives to ← 25 | 26 → Silesia as members of the seminary’s personnel. This request had been supported by Bishop Andreas Jerin, who also sought support for this idea from Michele Lauretano, rector of the Collegium Germanicum203. The plans were carried through, however, by Bishop Charles of Austria, who invited two Jesuits to Kłodzko in December 1608 and who, despite a serious conflict with the City Council, set up a regular missionary station there and in Racibórz (Ratibor) in 1610204.

When the Bohemian Revolt of the estates broke out, Bishop Charles fled from Silesia, but he pledged that, should the Divine Providence permit him to return to Nysa, he would found a collegium and a Jesuit university there205. During the period of his absence from Silesia he spent some time in Warsaw and then in Innsbruck; these sojourns led to his reorganising his music ensemble206. He employed a number of eminent Italian musicians, such as Antonio Cifra of the Collegium Germanicum207. On his return to Nysa, the bishop kept his pledge and duly established the Collegium Carolinum208 in that town. Funding amounting to 91,000 Rhenish thalers made possible the establishment of a gymnasium, as well as more advanced courses in philosophy and theology – the germ of the future university. The bishop also donated to the Jesuits the former church and monastery of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre209 as well as houses bordering the Salzmarkt in Nysa. The latter site was then used to build the new seat of the Carolinum college.

Equally well disposed toward the Jesuits from Nysa was Prince-Bishop Charles Ferdinand Vasa. During the period of his minority, the diocese was administered on his behalf by the canons of Wrocław, who supported the Jesuit residences in nearby Albrechtice (Olbersdorf), Andělska Hora (Engelsberg), and Grodków (Grottkau)210, and later, also in Dzierżoniów (Reichenbach), Świdnica and Ziębice (Münsterberg)211. The college personnel though mostly worked in Nysa. In the year 1627 the Carolinum already had 600 students in the secondary school alone212. The year 1630 saw the convictus of St Anna established thanks to the subvention from Anna Gebauer née Molhardt (a donation of 7,166 guilders). ← 26 | 27 → The college in Nysa developed dynamically up until the Thirty Years’ War, when the church, the monastery and the convictus were raided several times by plundering soldiers, and were devastated by fires and pestilence213.

After the death of King Władysław IV Vasa, the Duchy of Opole and Racibórz (Herzogtum Oppeln und Ratibor) that he had inherited as a fiefdom from his stepbrother Charles Ferdinand was bequested to the collegium in Nysa in accord with the terms of his last will. This conditional endowment of his fortune amounted to 315,301 Rhenish florins214. The sum was eventually shared among several different churches in Poland215. Still, thanks to the intervention of King John II Casimir Vasa, the college in Nysa received a bequest of 240,000 Rhenish guilders, which secured the future of this institution216. The construction of the new building for the convictus of Saint Anna began in 1656. In 1669–1689 a new college seat was built after a design by Andrea de Quadro, and in 1688–1692 – a new Church of the Assumption. Nysa was developing quickly and by the late seventeenth – early eighteenth centuries it earned the nickname of “the Silesian Rome” – and not without good reasons.

Along with an architectural revival, the Jesuits of Nysa were intensively involved in pastoral work, and the Jesuit gymnasium was thriving, particularly after its new seat had been built in 1722–1725. The activity of Nysa as a Jesuit centre was weakened by the annexation of Silesia by Prussia. A regiment of the invading army was stationed in the Nysa collegium and its finances were ruined by reparations. The year 1755 saw a revival. The newly formed Silesian province needed a house of third probation; it was established in Nysa217. The Jesuits from Nysa were also active in nearby Głubczyce (Leobschütz)218 and Bodzanów (Langendorf)219. The latter rural estate served the students of the Carolinum as the place of regular Sunday rest, and during the Silesian wars as a safe shelter.

The Jesuits also held a mission in Albrechtice220. This town between Nysa and Opava was originally the property of the protestant magnate, Johann Christoph von Wallenstein. He lost it in 1623 owing to his involvement in the ← 27 | 28 → Thirty Years’ War. The town passed into the hands of the Jesuits of Nysa221, who had organised a missionary station there. In 1650 they converted into a Jesuit residency subordinate to the collegium in Nysa. The parish Church of the Visitation222 underwent reconciliation to the Catholic faith in the same year and it, too, was entrusted to the care of the Jesuit missionaries from Nysa. It was then that the rector of the Nysa collegium made a gift to Albrechtice of the grace-bestowing miraculous statue of Our Lady of Faith (Notre-Dame-de-Foy), which soon became the magnet for pilgrimages from local towns and villages223.

1.3.4. Głogów (Glogau)

Details

Pages
X, 516
Publication Year
2019
ISBN (ePUB)
9783631709337
ISBN (MOBI)
9783631709344
ISBN (PDF)
9783653068900
ISBN (Hardcover)
9783631672815
DOI
10.3726/978-3-653-06890-0
Language
English
Publication date
2019 (January)
Keywords
History of Jesuits Music culture Silesia Education Spirituality Social studies
Published
Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Warszawa, Wien, 2019. X, 513 pp., 10 fig. b/w, 2 tables

Biographical notes

Tomasz Jeż (Author)

Tomasz Jeż studied Musicology in Warsaw, Göttingen, and Berlin, and works at the University of Warsaw. He has authored numerous books and papers concerning heuristic and spiritual contexts of music culture. His main field of interest is the music culture of Silesia and Poland between the 16th and 18th century.

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Title: The Musical Culture of the Jesuits in Silesia and the Kłodzko County (1581–1776)