Beyond the Netherlands and Germany: Some Examples of Other Destinations

Chapter 5 Beyond the Netherlands and Germany: Some Examples of Other Destinations

1 Dorpat

As discussed in the introduction, the University of Dorpat in Livonia cannot really be described as a foreign university during the research period – at least not to the same extent as the other European universities. Founded by the Swedes in 1632, it remained Swedish until 1710. However, in many ways Livonia was very different from Sweden proper. Still, Dorpat University’s Swedish students had more modest backgrounds than those travelling to “real” foreign universities, resembling more those students who only studied in Sweden proper. Therefore, Turku law students provide an interesting comparison to those studying at other European universities. The circumstances under which Sweden gained control over Livonia have their roots in the late sixteenth century and the dynastic struggles between the Swedish and Polish Vasa families.1 The Polish-Swedish War began in 1600 and lasted, with some armistices in between, until 1629, when the Truce of Altmark was signed. Dorpat had already surrendered to the Swedes in 1625, and with the Truce of Altmark most of Livonia fell under Swedish rule.2 Dorpat became the centre of Swedish administration in Livonia, and the conquerors needed to establish their position through various measures. It was essential to find and train officials, lawyers, and clergymen who were true to the Swedish administration and the Protestant faith. The goal was to train officials who were famil- iar with the local circumstances and language.3 In the spirit of Swedish educa- tional reforms of the 1620s, work began under the leadership of governor general Johan Skytte to found a university in Dorpat. Although an academic gymnasium divided into faculties was founded in 1630, this was not entitled to

1 Michael Roberts, The Early Vasas. A History of Sweden, 1523–1611 (Cambridge, Eng., 1968), pp. 250–273. 2 Roberts, The Early Vasas. A History of Sweden, 1523–1611 (Cambridge, Eng., 1968), pp. 398–404; Nils Erik Villstrand, Sveriges historia 1600–1721 (Stockholm, 2011), pp. 92–94. 3 H. Piirimäe, “The Foundation and Activities of Tartu University in 1632–1710,” in History of Tartu University 1632–1982, ed. Karl Siilivask (Tallinn, 1982), p. 19; Arvo Tering, Album Academi- cum der Universität Dorpat (Tartu) 1632–1710 (Tallinn, 1984), p. 29.

Beyond the Netherlands and Germany 197 grant degrees. In 1632, the gymnasium was converted into a university: thus was born the University of Dorpat (Academia Dorpatensis).4 The university was intended to be open not only to wealthy young men but also to peasants. This ideal was never completely realized as the social reality in Livonia, with its feudalism, greatly differed from that of Sweden proper. The peasants attending the university all came from Sweden and Finland, not from Livonia. The Livonian nobility was suspicious of the university and at any rate could not accept the idea of peasant attendance. With this negative attitude towards the University of Dorpat, the local nobility kept sending its boys to German universities.5 Between 1632 and 1656, the university functioned in Dorpat (as the so-called Academia Gustaviana), until the war with Russia forced the university to seek refuge in Reval in Swedish Estonia. In spite of some opposition, the university was opened in Reval, where it operated until 1665 under unfavourable condi- tions. Despite several attempts, the university was not re-opened in Dorpat until 1690 (as the so-called Academia Gustavo-Carolina). In 1699, the university was relocated to Pernau (present-day Pärnu in Estonia), but the Great North- ern War, which broke out in 1700, greatly affected the possibility to continue work at the university. Most of the professors had already fled to Sweden. Dur- ing the winter of 1709 and 1710, the university was still officially functioning, but teaching had practically ceased. The capitulation of Estonia and Livonia in 1710 finally put an end to the Academia Gustavo-Carolina. It took almost a century until the university was re-opened, this time as an essentially German university.6 By the end of its first year, eighty-four students had enrolled at the university. After that, between thirty and fifty students usually enrolled every year, but in addition some studied without matriculating. H. Piirimäe estimates that around 100 students attended the university annually. Nearly half of the students in the period 1632 to 1656 came from Sweden, with a good ten per cent

4 Piirimäe, “The Foundation,” pp. 22–24. 5 Piirimäe, “The Foundation,” pp. 24 and 30; Tering, Album Academicum, pp. 61–70. A similar clash with the reality of Livonian society could be seen with the establishment of the Dorpat Court of Appeal, which turned out somewhat different from its model, the Svea Court of Ap- peal. Sweden was not able to transfer these institutions exactly as they were to the feudal society of Livonia with its peasantry tied to the land. See Heikki Pihlajamäki, “Courts of Ap- peal as Legal Transfers: The Svea and Dorpat Courts Compared,” in The Svea Court of Appeal in the Early Modern Period: Historical Reinterpretations and New Perspectives, ed. Mia Korpiola (Stockholm, 2014), pp. 228 and 256. 6 Piirimäe, “The Foundation,” pp. 32–38, 44–45, and 48–51; Marju Luts, “‘Eine Universität für Unser Reich, und insbesondere für die Provinzen Liv- Ehst- und Kurland’: Die Aufgaben der Juristenfakultät zu Dorpat in der ersten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts,” Zeitschrift der Savigny- Stiftung für Rechtsgeschichte, Germanistische Abteilung 117 (2000), p. 608.