The Development of the Collegial Network in the Lithuanian Piarist Province in the 18th Century

Abstract

This article presents the problem of the development Piarist collegia in the Lithuanian province. The Piarists arrived in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1642. Until 1662, the Polish Piarist collegia belonged to the German province because only then a separate Polish province that had been established – a part of which also included the Hungarian vice-province – was approved by Pope Alexander VII. Thirty years later (in 1692) the Hungarian collegia formed their own province. In 1696, The Order’s authorities constituted the Lithuanian vice-province, and in 1736 a separate Lithuanian province. The first Lithuanian provincial was Franciszek Torkwat Tyminski. In the second half of the 18th century, it included the following monastic houses: Lithuanian Ščučyn, Lida, Vilnius (Collegium Nobilium, in 1774 the Piarists additionally took over the Jesuit monastery – Church of St. Raphael in Šnipiškės), Lužki, Ukmergė, Raseiniai, Liubeshiv, Dąbrowica, Panevėžys, Zelwa, Vitebsk, Dubrowna. After 1795, the collegium in Mezhirichi – which was the only one from the Polish province. Unfortunately, the collapse of the November Uprising marked the end of the Piarist education.