Open Political Science, 2019; 2: 153–173 Research Article Andrea Mariani*1 The contribution of the Society of Jesus to the political culture of Lithuanian elites https://doi.org/10.1515/openps-2019-0015 received July 18, 2019; accepted November 25, 2019. 1 Abstract: The paper deals with the role played by the Jesuit in the political formation of the Lithuanian elite during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The author analyzes the influence of the Jesuit school system on the political culture of the nobility through rhetoric, theatre and public examinations. In particular, it shows the elements of continuity, such as the unquestioned value of classical literature and Humanistic formation. These contributed to shape the political ethos of Polish-Lithuanian elites, based on consensus and active participation in public life. The changes introduced as a result of the reform of Jesuit school system did not alter the traditional understanding of education, but rather answered to the need for better qualified civil servants in an age of modernization of the Polish-Lithuanian state. Keywords: Society of Jesus, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, education, seventeenth century, eighteenth century 1 Introduction In the last decades researchers from Western Europe and the United States have explored the relationship between Jesuits and politics. Regarding this issue, two historiographic trends can be distinguished: one focuses on the contribution of the Jesuit Fathers to the development of Early-Modern political thought2, the other – on their political activity in the age of Counterreformation3. Since the nineteenth century Polish historiography has attempted to assess whether the influence of the Jesuit Order contributed to the decline of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a process which eventually led to its partition by the neighbouring powers of Austria, Prussia and Russia. In such context, the political activity of the Polish Jesuits represented both an object of interest and a source of controversy4. On the one hand, authors Such as Władysław Smoleński argued that the influence of Jesuit confessors on the monarchy was detrimental to the Polish- Lithuanian reason of state5. On the other, the apologists of the Jesuit Order such as Fr Stanisław Załęski SJ sought to prove that the interest of the Polish-Lithuanian state coincided with that of the Catholic Church6. Despite this 1 Andrea Mariani is a doctoral researcher affiliated with Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. Currently he is working on the project “Inwentarze kolegiów jezuickich w Nieświeżu i Nowogródku – opracowanie i edycja źródłowa”, financed by the National Centre for Science (Narodowe Centrum Nauki) (grant n. 2015/19/D/HS3/00597). 2 H. Höpfl, Jesuit Political Thought: the Society of Jesus and the State, c. 1540-1630 (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 2008); H.E. Braun, Juan de Mariana and Early Modern Spanish Political Thought (London, Taylor and Francis 2016). 3 R. Bireley, Religion and Politics in the Age of the Counterreformation: Emperor Ferdinand II, William Lamormaini, S.J., and the Formati- on of Imperial Policy (Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press 2011); idem, The Jesuits and the Thirty Years War: Kings, Courts, and Confessors (New York, Cambridge University Press 2008); idem, Maximilian von Bayern, Adam Contzen S.J. und die Gegenreformation in Deutschland 1624-1635 (Göttingen, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht 1975). 4 A. Siwek, “Spory o jezuitów w polskiej historiografii 1795-1918”, Studia Historyczne, vol. 34, No. 4, 1991: 561-565. 5 These historians often borrowed arguments from early-modern anti-Jesuit literature. See J. Tazbir (ed.) Literatura antyjezuicka w Polsce 1578-1625: antologia (Warszawa, Ludowa Współdzielnia Wydawnicza 1963). 6 Compared to his adversaries, Załęski used a wide source basis, often of Jesuit provenance. However, due to the apologetic purpose of this work, Załęski’s attempt to understand the point of view of the Jesuit Fathers is not free from biases. See S. Załęski, Jezuici w Polsce, vols. 1-3 (Lwów, Druk. Ludowa 1900-1902), vol. 4 (Kraków, Druk. W. Anczyca 1904). *Corresponding author: Andrea Mariani, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, E-mail: [email protected] Open Access. © 2019 Andrea Mariani, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License. 154 Andrea Mariani controversy, the alleged political role of the Polish-Lithuanian Jesuits has only recently become an object of deeper research. Besides a synthesis by Stanisław Obirek7, works have appeared on Jesuit court chaplains and on some key figures active in the first decades of the history of the Jesuit Order in Poland-Lithuania8. However, almost no researcher has ever attempted to analyze the relationship between Jesuits and politics against the background of political culture and practice in Poland-Lithuania9. The purpose of this article is to outline the contribution of the Jesuit Fathers to the development of the political culture of the elites in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. According to Gabriel Almond’s and Sidney Verba’s definition, political culture is a set of attitudes towards a specific political system and its institutions10. In other words, this notion does not represent the reality of the political system itself, but how people view it and act within its framework. Since in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth wealthy nobility was responsible for the political direction of the state, attention should focus on this very social class, which can be considered an elite11. Therefore, the paper deals with the formation of political attitudes among the nobles rather than the alleged influence of the Jesuits on a specific political agenda or decision-making. Due to its limited size, this work mainly relies on historiography and edited sources, while manuscripts simply exemplify analyzed phenomena. The choice of sources focuses on what was most peculiar to the Jesuits: their educational role. In this field, they played a prominent role for the entire duration of their activity in the Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth (1564-1773). Until the half of the seventeenth century, as the Piarists settled in Poland, the Jesuits practically had the monopoly of secondary education. Thus, to analyze the contribution of the Order of St. Ignatius Loyola to the political education of the nobility, one should mainly use sources related to its school teaching, such as textbooks, panegyrics, theatre plays, and course notes. Although indirectly these texts also influenced adults, they were primarily addressed to young nobles. Instead, other sources like sermons may be excluded from the scope of research, as they were neither typical for the Jesuit Order, nor exclusively addressed to young noblemen12. The Jesuit Order was a highly centralized religious congregation, with a government structure that was based on the model of Spanish absolute monarchy. Thus, the present research attempts to assess to what extent the Jesuits adapted themselves to the completely different social and cultural milieu of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In this vast central-European state the power of the monarch was limited by a strong nobility (Pol. szlachta). This social group not only enjoyed greater social and economic privileges than in Western Europe, but also exercised a great influence 7 S. Obirek, Wizja państwa w nauczaniu jezuitów polskich w latach 1564-1668 The Vision of the State in the Teaching of the Polish Jesuits in 1564-1668 (Kraków, WAM 1995); idem, Jezuici na dworach Batorego i Wazów 1580-1668. Wpływ kapelanów dworskich na postawy panujących i politykę państwa (Kraków, WAM 1996). 8 See D. Quirini-Popławska (ed.), Antonio Possevino SJ (1533-1611): życie i dzieło na tle epoki (Kraków, Ignatianum – WAM 2012); S. Cieślak, Marcin Laterna SJ (1552-1598): działacz kontrreformacyjny (Kraków, WAM 2003); A. Bruździński, “Czy ksiądz Piotr Skarga wdawał się w politykę? Wokół sporu o polityczne zaangażowanie ks. Piotra Skargi SI”, Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Litteraria Polonica, vol. 21, 2013: 43-66. 9 Jesuit authors are mentioned in many works concerning Polish-Lithuanian political culture. See A. Grześkowiak-Krwawicz, Regina libertas: wolność w myśli politycznej XVIII wieku (Gdańsk, Słowo obraz terytoria 2006); eadem, Dyskurs polityczny Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narodów. Pojęcia i idee (Toruń, Wydawnictwo UMK 2018); D. Pietrzyk-Reeves, Ład rzeczypospolitej: Polska myśl polityczna XVI wieku a klasyczna tra- dycja republikańska (Kraków, Księgarnia Akademicka 2012). Less attention has been paid to the Jesuits in syntheses dedicated to the foreing public. See J. Lukowski, Disorderly liberty: the political culture of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the eighteenth century (London – New York, Continuum 2012). 10 G.A. Almond, S. Verba, The Civic Culture. Political attitudes and democracy in five nations (Princeton, Princeton University Press 1963): 13. This definition has been adopted by Polish sociologists, politologists and historians as well. See J.J. Wiatr, Socjologia polityki (Warszawa, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar 1999): 189-190; E. Opaliński, Kultura polityczna szlachty polskiej w latach 1587-1651: system parlamentarne a społeczeństwo obywatelskie (Warszawa, Wydawnictwo Sejmowe 1995): 5. 11 The Polish-Lithuanian nobility was divided de facto – but not de iure – in two categories: the gentry or szlachta and the aristocracy or ma- gnateria. On the criteria of the appurtenance to the latter,