Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum
Encyclopedia
The Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum or simply Collegium Germanicum is a German-speaking
seminary
for Roman Catholic priests in Rome
, founded in 1552. Since 1580 its full name has been Pontificium Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum de Urbe.
with the bull
Dum sollicita. Cardinal Giovanni Morone
and Saint Ignatius Loyola were instrumental in its establishment, and Saint Ignatius formally opened it on 28 October. The direction of the college was given to the Jesuits
.After the Collegio Capranica, this is the oldest college in Rome. The initiative towards its foundation was taken by Cardinal Giovanni Morone
and Ignatius Loyola. Pope Julius III
approved of the idea and promised his aid, but for a long time the college to struggle against financial difficulties. The first students were received in November 1552.
The administration was confided to a committee of six cardinal protectors, who decided that the collegians should wear a red cassock, in consequence of which they have since been popularly known as the gamberi cotti (boiled lobsters). During the first year the higher courses were given in the college itself; but in the autumn of 1553 St. Ignatius succeeded in establishing the schools of philosophy and theology in the Collegio Romano of his Society. He also drew up the first rules for the college, which served as models for similar institutions. During the pontificate of Paul IV the financial conditions became such that the students had to be distributed among the various colleges of the Society in Italy. To place the institution on a firmer basis it was decided to admit paying boarders regardless their nationality, and without the obligation of embracing the ecclesiastical state; German clerics to the number of 20 or more were received free and formed a separate body. In a short time 200 boarding students, all belonging to the flower of European nobility, were received. This state of affairs lasted till 1573. Under Pius V, who had placed 20 of his nephews in the college, there was some idea of suppressing the camerata of the poveri tedeschi. Gregory XIII, however, may be considered the real founder of the college. He transferred the secular department to the Seminario Romano, and endowed the college with the Abbey of S. Saba all' Aventino and all its possessions, both on the Via Portuense and on the Lake of Bracciano; moreover he incorporated with it the Abbeys of Fonte Avellana in the Marches, S. Cristina, and Lodiveccio in Lombardy. The new rector P. Lauretano, drew up another set of regulations.
The college had already changed its location five times. In 1574 Gregory XIII assigned it the Palace of S. Apollinare and in 1575 gave it charge of the services in the adjoining church. The splendour and majesty of the functions as well as the music executed by the students under the Spaniard Tomas Luis de Victoria
, and his successor Annibale Stabile
and other celebrated masters (Annibale Orgas
, Lorenzo Ratti
, Giacomo Carissimi
, Ottavio Pittoni, and others) constantly drew large crowds to the church. Too much attention indeed was given to music under P. Lauretano, so that regulations had to be made at various times to prevent the studies from suffering. The courses were still given in the Collegio Roman; but when Bellarmine terminated his lectures on controversy, a chair for this important branch of learning was established in the Collegio Germanico and somewhat later a chair of canon law. As a special mark of his favour, Gregory XIII ordered that each year on the Feast of All Saints a student of the college should deliver a panegyric in presence of the pope. Meanwhile in 1578 the Collegio Ungherese had been founded through the efforts of another Jesuit, Stephan Szántó
, who obtained for it the church and convent of S. Stefano Rotondo on the Caelian Hill, and of S. Stefanino behind the Basilica of St. Peter, the former belonging to the Hungarian Pauline monks, and the latter to the Hungarian pilgrims' hospice. In 1580 Pope Gregory XIII
merged it with the Collegium Hungaricum ("Hungarian College"), founded in 1578, since when it has been called the Pontificium Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum de Urbe, or the Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum for short. The students generally numbered about 100, sometimes, however, there were but 54, at other times as many as 150. During the seventeenth century several changes occurred, in particular the new form of oath exacted from all the students of foreign colleges. Mention must be made of the work of P. Galeno, the business manager who succeeded in consolidating the finances of the college so as to raise the revenue to 25,000 scudi per annum. A country residence was acquired at Parioli. In the eighteenth century the college became gradually more aristocratic. Benedict XIV performed the ceremony of laying the cornerstone of the new church of S. Apollinare in 1742, on the completion of which a new Palace of S. Apollinare was erected. At the suppression of the Society (1773) the direction was entrusted to secular priests; lectures were delivered in the college itself, and the professors were Dominicans. Discipline and studies declined rapidly. Moreover, Joseph II sequestrated the property situated in Lombardy and forbade his subjects to attend the college. The buildings, however, were increased by the addition of the palace opposite to S. Agostino.
After Emperor Joseph II
in 1781 forbade all students of his realm to study in Rome, and the city was shortly afterwards occupied by French
troops, the college was obliged to close in 1798. It was reopened under Pope Pius VII
in 1818, and reorganised by Pope Leo XII
, who strengthened its connection to the Jesuits and gave it the form which it still has today.
On the proclamation of the Roman Republic the property of the foreign national colleges was declared escheated to the Government and was sold for an absurdly small sum. On that occasion the library and the precious archives of sacred music were scattered. Pius VII restored whatever remained unsold and ordered the rest to be repurchased as far as possible. In the first years the revenues were employed to pay off the debts contracted in this repurchase. In 1824 the palace of S. Apollinare as well as the villa at Parioli was reunited to the Seminario Romano. The first students were received in 1818 and lived in the professed house
of the Jesuits at the Gesu, and there the college remained till 1851. From that time the administration was entrusted to the general of the Jesuits, who appointed the rector and other fathers in charge of the college. In 1845 the estate of S. Pastore near Zagarolo was acquired. In 1851 the residence was transferred to the Palazzo Borromeo in the Via del Seminario where it remained till 1886. In 1873 when the Collegio Romano was taken away from the Jesuits, the Collegio Germanico found a home in the Gregorian University. In 1886 owing to the necessity of having more extensive quarters, the Collegio Germanico was transferred to the Hotel Costanzi in the Via S. Nicola da Tolentino. The college receives German students from the old German Empire and from Hungary; places are free, but there are some students who pay (cf. Steinhuber, "Geschichte des Collegium Germanicum-Hungaricum in Rom", Freiburg, 1896; Hettinger, "Aus Welt und Kirche," I, Freiburg, 1897).
During World War I
the members of the college had to move to share the premises of the Collegium Canisianum
in Innsbruck
from 1915 to 1919.
, improvement of theological training and the education of priests loyal to Rome were the principal aims. "From the territories, endangered in faith, of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation" were to be trained "fearless warriors for the faith" (quotations from the founding bull). After the fall of the Iron Curtain
in 1989 it was possible to restore the original internationalism of the college.
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
for Roman Catholic priests in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, founded in 1552. Since 1580 its full name has been Pontificium Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum de Urbe.
History
The Collegium Germanicum was established on 31 August 1552 by Pope Julius IIIPope Julius III
Pope Julius III , born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was Pope from 7 February 1550 to 1555....
with the bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
Dum sollicita. Cardinal Giovanni Morone
Giovanni Morone
Giovanni Morone was an Italian cardinal. He was named Bishop of Modena in 1529 and was created Cardinal in 1542 by Pope Paul III...
and Saint Ignatius Loyola were instrumental in its establishment, and Saint Ignatius formally opened it on 28 October. The direction of the college was given to the Jesuits
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
.After the Collegio Capranica, this is the oldest college in Rome. The initiative towards its foundation was taken by Cardinal Giovanni Morone
Giovanni Morone
Giovanni Morone was an Italian cardinal. He was named Bishop of Modena in 1529 and was created Cardinal in 1542 by Pope Paul III...
and Ignatius Loyola. Pope Julius III
Pope Julius III
Pope Julius III , born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was Pope from 7 February 1550 to 1555....
approved of the idea and promised his aid, but for a long time the college to struggle against financial difficulties. The first students were received in November 1552.
The administration was confided to a committee of six cardinal protectors, who decided that the collegians should wear a red cassock, in consequence of which they have since been popularly known as the gamberi cotti (boiled lobsters). During the first year the higher courses were given in the college itself; but in the autumn of 1553 St. Ignatius succeeded in establishing the schools of philosophy and theology in the Collegio Romano of his Society. He also drew up the first rules for the college, which served as models for similar institutions. During the pontificate of Paul IV the financial conditions became such that the students had to be distributed among the various colleges of the Society in Italy. To place the institution on a firmer basis it was decided to admit paying boarders regardless their nationality, and without the obligation of embracing the ecclesiastical state; German clerics to the number of 20 or more were received free and formed a separate body. In a short time 200 boarding students, all belonging to the flower of European nobility, were received. This state of affairs lasted till 1573. Under Pius V, who had placed 20 of his nephews in the college, there was some idea of suppressing the camerata of the poveri tedeschi. Gregory XIII, however, may be considered the real founder of the college. He transferred the secular department to the Seminario Romano, and endowed the college with the Abbey of S. Saba all' Aventino and all its possessions, both on the Via Portuense and on the Lake of Bracciano; moreover he incorporated with it the Abbeys of Fonte Avellana in the Marches, S. Cristina, and Lodiveccio in Lombardy. The new rector P. Lauretano, drew up another set of regulations.
The college had already changed its location five times. In 1574 Gregory XIII assigned it the Palace of S. Apollinare and in 1575 gave it charge of the services in the adjoining church. The splendour and majesty of the functions as well as the music executed by the students under the Spaniard Tomas Luis de Victoria
Tomás Luis de Victoria
Tomás Luis de Victoria, sometimes Italianised as da Vittoria , was the most famous composer of the 16th century in Spain, and one of the most important composers of the Counter-Reformation, along with Giovanni da Palestrina and Orlando di Lasso. Victoria was not only a composer, but also an...
, and his successor Annibale Stabile
Annibale Stabile
Annibale Stabile was an Italian composer of the Renaissance. He was a member of the Roman School of composition, and probably was a pupil of Palestrina. He was active mainly at Rome but moved briefly to Kraków, Poland at the end of his life.-Life:Records of his early life are inexact, but he was...
and other celebrated masters (Annibale Orgas
Annibale Orgas
Annibale Orgas was an Italian composer. He was first a boy soprano at the Collegium Germanicum, then 1607-1610 trained to be a deacon at the Seminario Romano...
, Lorenzo Ratti
Lorenzo Ratti
Lorenzo Ratti was an Italian baroque composer. He was predecessor of Carissimi at the Collegium Germanicum. He composed six Gospel Dialogues for the oratory. He was a teacher of Benevoli.-Works, editions and recordings:* Missa Zacharia a 16...
, Giacomo Carissimi
Giacomo Carissimi
Giacomo Carissimi was an Italian composer, one of the most celebrated masters of the early Baroque, or, more accurately, the Roman School of music.-Biography:...
, Ottavio Pittoni, and others) constantly drew large crowds to the church. Too much attention indeed was given to music under P. Lauretano, so that regulations had to be made at various times to prevent the studies from suffering. The courses were still given in the Collegio Roman; but when Bellarmine terminated his lectures on controversy, a chair for this important branch of learning was established in the Collegio Germanico and somewhat later a chair of canon law. As a special mark of his favour, Gregory XIII ordered that each year on the Feast of All Saints a student of the college should deliver a panegyric in presence of the pope. Meanwhile in 1578 the Collegio Ungherese had been founded through the efforts of another Jesuit, Stephan Szántó
Stephan Szántó
Stephan Szántó was a Hungarian Jesuit.-Life:On finishing his studies in Vienna, he attached himself to the Diocese of Raab, and in 1560 was sent by his bishop to the German College at Rome...
, who obtained for it the church and convent of S. Stefano Rotondo on the Caelian Hill, and of S. Stefanino behind the Basilica of St. Peter, the former belonging to the Hungarian Pauline monks, and the latter to the Hungarian pilgrims' hospice. In 1580 Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII , born Ugo Boncompagni, was Pope from 1572 to 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake for the Gregorian calendar, which remains the internationally-accepted civil calendar to this date.-Youth:He was born the son of Cristoforo Boncompagni and wife Angela...
merged it with the Collegium Hungaricum ("Hungarian College"), founded in 1578, since when it has been called the Pontificium Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum de Urbe, or the Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum for short. The students generally numbered about 100, sometimes, however, there were but 54, at other times as many as 150. During the seventeenth century several changes occurred, in particular the new form of oath exacted from all the students of foreign colleges. Mention must be made of the work of P. Galeno, the business manager who succeeded in consolidating the finances of the college so as to raise the revenue to 25,000 scudi per annum. A country residence was acquired at Parioli. In the eighteenth century the college became gradually more aristocratic. Benedict XIV performed the ceremony of laying the cornerstone of the new church of S. Apollinare in 1742, on the completion of which a new Palace of S. Apollinare was erected. At the suppression of the Society (1773) the direction was entrusted to secular priests; lectures were delivered in the college itself, and the professors were Dominicans. Discipline and studies declined rapidly. Moreover, Joseph II sequestrated the property situated in Lombardy and forbade his subjects to attend the college. The buildings, however, were increased by the addition of the palace opposite to S. Agostino.
After Emperor Joseph II
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
in 1781 forbade all students of his realm to study in Rome, and the city was shortly afterwards occupied by French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
troops, the college was obliged to close in 1798. It was reopened under Pope Pius VII
Pope Pius VII
Pope Pius VII , born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was a monk, theologian and bishop, who reigned as Pope from 14 March 1800 to 20 August 1823.-Early life:...
in 1818, and reorganised by Pope Leo XII
Pope Leo XII
Pope Leo XII , born Annibale Francesco Clemente Melchiore Girolamo Nicola Sermattei della Genga, was Pope from 1823 to 1829.-Life:...
, who strengthened its connection to the Jesuits and gave it the form which it still has today.
On the proclamation of the Roman Republic the property of the foreign national colleges was declared escheated to the Government and was sold for an absurdly small sum. On that occasion the library and the precious archives of sacred music were scattered. Pius VII restored whatever remained unsold and ordered the rest to be repurchased as far as possible. In the first years the revenues were employed to pay off the debts contracted in this repurchase. In 1824 the palace of S. Apollinare as well as the villa at Parioli was reunited to the Seminario Romano. The first students were received in 1818 and lived in the professed house
Professed house
In the Society of Jesus, a professed house was a residence where - in a spirit of radical poverty - no member had a stable income. The Jesuit priests who lived there, all of whom have professed the fourth vow, undertake their spiritual and pastoral ministry completely for free. With no revenues,...
of the Jesuits at the Gesu, and there the college remained till 1851. From that time the administration was entrusted to the general of the Jesuits, who appointed the rector and other fathers in charge of the college. In 1845 the estate of S. Pastore near Zagarolo was acquired. In 1851 the residence was transferred to the Palazzo Borromeo in the Via del Seminario where it remained till 1886. In 1873 when the Collegio Romano was taken away from the Jesuits, the Collegio Germanico found a home in the Gregorian University. In 1886 owing to the necessity of having more extensive quarters, the Collegio Germanico was transferred to the Hotel Costanzi in the Via S. Nicola da Tolentino. The college receives German students from the old German Empire and from Hungary; places are free, but there are some students who pay (cf. Steinhuber, "Geschichte des Collegium Germanicum-Hungaricum in Rom", Freiburg, 1896; Hettinger, "Aus Welt und Kirche," I, Freiburg, 1897).
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
the members of the college had to move to share the premises of the Collegium Canisianum
Collegium Canisianum
The Collegium Canisianum or simply Canisianum in Innsbruck, Austria, is an international priests' seminary of the Roman Catholic church run by the Jesuits.-History:...
in Innsbruck
Innsbruck
- Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus...
from 1915 to 1919.
Teaching
At its foundation the defence against the ReformationProtestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
, improvement of theological training and the education of priests loyal to Rome were the principal aims. "From the territories, endangered in faith, of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation" were to be trained "fearless warriors for the faith" (quotations from the founding bull). After the fall of the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
in 1989 it was possible to restore the original internationalism of the college.
Known students
- Marcin DuninMarcin DuninMarcin Dunin Sulgostowski of Łabędź coat of arms was archbishop of Poznań and Gniezno, primate of Poland....
- Béla H. BánáthyBéla H. BánáthyBéla Heinrich Bánáthy was a Hungarian linguist, systems scientist and a professor at San Jose State University and UC Berkeley. Bánáthy was the founder of the White Stag Leadership Development Program whose leadership model was adopted across the United States...
- Marko KrizinMarko KrizinMarko Krizin or Marko Križevčanin is the third canonized Croatian saint of the Roman Catholic Church, priest, martyr of Košice, professor of theology, missionary....
- John GibbonsJohn Gibbons (Jesuit)John Gibbons was an English Jesuit theologian and controversialist.-Life:Gibbons was born in 1544, at or near Wells, Somerset.The Jesuit Richard Gibbons was his younger brother....
- Karl-August von ReisachKarl-August von ReisachKarl-August von Reisach was a German Catholic theologian and Cardinal .-Education:...
- Johann Michael RaichJohann Michael RaichJohann Michael Raich was a Catholic theologian.Raich pursued his gymnasial studies under the Benedictines at St. Stephen's at Augsburg, and studied philosophy and theology at the Collegium Germanicum at Rome . On 29 May 1858, he was ordained priest at the same place...
- Bela Tonković
- Karl Lehmann
- Hans KüngHans KüngHans Küng is a Swiss Catholic priest, theologian, and prolific author. Since 1995 he has been President of the Foundation for a Global Ethic . Küng is "a Catholic priest in good standing", but the Vatican has rescinded his authority to teach Catholic theology...
- Blessed Theodore RomzhaTheodore RomzhaBlessed Theodore Romzha was bishop of the Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Mukacheve from 1944 to 1947. Assassinated by Stalin's NKVD, he was beatified as a martyr by Pope John Paul II on June 27, 2001.-Early life:...
, Bishop of Mukachevo, Martyr under Joseph StalinJoseph StalinJoseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
.
See also
- Pontifical Gregorian UniversityPontifical Gregorian UniversityThe Pontifical Gregorian University is a pontifical university located in Rome, Italy.Heir of the Roman College founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola over 460 years ago, the Gregorian University was the first university founded by the Jesuits...
, formerly Collegium Romanum - University of Olomouc, by which Collegium Nordicum was established in 1578
External links
Official website Brief description at www.kath.de Peter Walter: Die Gründungen des Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum: Etappen der Kollegsgeschichte- This article is a translation of the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia