Cathedral School of Vilnius
The Cathedral School of Vilnius was a cathedral school attached to the Vilnius Cathedral. Established in the late 14th century, it is believed to be the earliest school in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. For about a hundred years it was the only Catholic school in Vilnius (possibly due to a royal privilege prohibiting establishment of other schools).[1] The cathedral school was merged with Vilnius Academy (now Vilnius University), established by the Jesuits in 1570.
History
[edit]The exact date of its establishment is unknown, but it must be sometime between the Christianization of Lithuania in 1386 and school's first mention in written sources on 9 May 1397. It was initially a primary school, evolving into a secondary school by the first half of the 15th century.[1] Most likely the school taught trivium and quadrivium and catered to the church needs by educating the lower clergy.[2] Its first pupils were indigenous Christians that also knew the Lithuanian language.[3]
In 1522, Bishop John expanded the school to three classes and introduced courses in rhetoric, dialectics, classical literature, arithmetic, music.[2] The students studied Distichs of Cato and Ars grammatica by Aelius Donatus. In 1539, the school had twelve boys who sang in a church choir and twenty boys who served as altar boys.[1]
During its existence, the school prepared over 100 students who later pursued academic careers at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków.[1]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Čaplinskas, Antanas Rimvydas (2010). Vilniaus istorija: legendos ir tikrovė. Charibdė. p. 74. ISBN 978-9955-739-21-0.
- ^ a b Rackauskas, J.A. (Spring 1976). "Education in Lithuania Prior to the Dissolution of the Jesuit Order (1773)". Lituanus. 1 (26). ISSN 0024-5089.
- ^ "Vilniaus katedros mokykla". vle.lt. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
54°41′10″N 25°17′17″E / 54.68611°N 25.28806°E
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