DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.25050#0034
number of students averaged a hundred; at the peak of the Uni-
versity’s development in the late fifteenth century it reached as
much as five hundred. Only a few of them went through the
whole programme and received a degree. But even brief contacts
with the school provided some level of education, so desirable in
state administration and the judiciary.
Not long after the restoration of the University, the Cracow
scholarly community had an opportunity to present their achieve-
ments and views in an international forum. During the Council of
Constance in 1415, Pawel Wlodkowic defended the interests of the
Polish state in its dispute with the Teutonic Order, employing the
doctrine which maintained the natural right of all peoples to
sovereignty and denounced forcible conversion of pagans. The
syllabus of the liberal arts department was based on traditional
scholastics, but ancient texts were also used. The faculties of
theology and canon law were deeply engaged in discussing the
chief debating points in the era: the Marian Dogmas and the
relation between the Pope and the Council. John of Kanti (Jan
Kanty), later saint and patron of the Academy, was a theology
professor. The flames of religious debate were fanned by Hussite
ideas arriving from Bohemia, which found supporters among the
faculty. With the passing of years, the Cracow University became
an important centre of exact sciences, astronomy and astrology
(then treated very seriously, as a science based on calculations).
Nicolas Copernicus, the future pride of the Academy, studied
there for a time.
The preeminent Polish scholar of the fifteenth century, Jan
Dlugosz, was active outside the university as a cathedral canon,
tutor of King Casimir Jagiellon’s sons, and finally as archbishop
of Lvov. His historical writings, including The History of Poland,
ate an invaluable source, indispensable for studying the Polish
Middle Ages. His perfect Latin reveals the influence of the philo-
logical achievements of Italian Humanism. By the end of the
century, the Cracovian humanism gained a modern character,
mostly due to the Tuscan Filippo Buonaccorsi, known as Calli-
31
versity’s development in the late fifteenth century it reached as
much as five hundred. Only a few of them went through the
whole programme and received a degree. But even brief contacts
with the school provided some level of education, so desirable in
state administration and the judiciary.
Not long after the restoration of the University, the Cracow
scholarly community had an opportunity to present their achieve-
ments and views in an international forum. During the Council of
Constance in 1415, Pawel Wlodkowic defended the interests of the
Polish state in its dispute with the Teutonic Order, employing the
doctrine which maintained the natural right of all peoples to
sovereignty and denounced forcible conversion of pagans. The
syllabus of the liberal arts department was based on traditional
scholastics, but ancient texts were also used. The faculties of
theology and canon law were deeply engaged in discussing the
chief debating points in the era: the Marian Dogmas and the
relation between the Pope and the Council. John of Kanti (Jan
Kanty), later saint and patron of the Academy, was a theology
professor. The flames of religious debate were fanned by Hussite
ideas arriving from Bohemia, which found supporters among the
faculty. With the passing of years, the Cracow University became
an important centre of exact sciences, astronomy and astrology
(then treated very seriously, as a science based on calculations).
Nicolas Copernicus, the future pride of the Academy, studied
there for a time.
The preeminent Polish scholar of the fifteenth century, Jan
Dlugosz, was active outside the university as a cathedral canon,
tutor of King Casimir Jagiellon’s sons, and finally as archbishop
of Lvov. His historical writings, including The History of Poland,
ate an invaluable source, indispensable for studying the Polish
Middle Ages. His perfect Latin reveals the influence of the philo-
logical achievements of Italian Humanism. By the end of the
century, the Cracovian humanism gained a modern character,
mostly due to the Tuscan Filippo Buonaccorsi, known as Calli-
31