The reforms of religious schools in the Russian Empire at the end of the 18th - early 19th centuries and historical destiny of Orthodox Collegia of Ukraine

Abstract

The article deals with the historical fate of Ukraine’s Orthodox Collegia against educational reforms which were developed and implemented in the Russian Empire in the second half of the 18th – early 19th centuries. Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Pereyaslav Collegia incurred on Ukrainian lands in the first third of the 18th century, represented the educational model, which had a genetic connection with the Jesuit colleges and could potentially get the status of universities. However, in the course of the reform of religious schools in 1808 Orthodox Collegium were transformed into religious seminaries, that is, class-professional school of average level. However, there are reasons to believe that Orthodox Collegia, which represented the southeast motion vector of European University, prepared the ground for the perception of the idea of a classical university in the Eastern European space.