“Patavium virum me fecit” – Padova come luogo di formazione delle antiche élite polacche

Abstract

: Using the Atti della Nazione Polacca at the University of Padua as a main source, the author describes the role that this university played in the education of students from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the 16 th to 18 th centuries. According to the author’s research, this role was crucial in the 16 th century, when a significant part of Polish elites included a stay at this university in their curriculum. In the 17 th century, the number of students from Poland-Lithuania studying in Padua decreased slowly but continuously, and in the 18 th century, the number was marginal. In the period under discussion, the social structure of this group significantly changed: students looking to acquire knowledge that was necessary for their future professional career were gradually replaced by young men of aristocratic and noble families, for whom a visit in Padua, be it long or short, was only a stage in their educational European Grand Tour . According to the author, this can be explained by intellectual changes in Polish-Lithuanian society: a general and rather superficial education was gradually preferred to university-based and professionally-provided knowledge. A study of selected travel diaries supplemented and confirmed the results of the presented statistical analysis. All Polish travellers visiting Padua in the 16 th and 17 th centuries described the University and considered it as the most important institution of the city; meetings with compatriot students were also often mentioned. Later on, the University was no longer the obvious subject of the descriptions and 18 th -century travellers often did not even mention it at all. Nevertheless, there is still available evidence that the Polish presence in Padua, although reduced, was visible and important for the city.