Academiae voluntas mihi potior est… Letters by the Livonian Humanist and Lawyer David Hilchen to the Professors of the Academy of Zamość 1603–1609

Abstract

Academiae voluntas mihi potior est… Letters by the Livonian humanist and lawyer David Hilchen to the professors of the Academy of Zamość1603–1609 This paper is an annotated edition of 44 letters written by humanist lawyer David Hilchen from Livonia (1561–1610) to the professors of the Academy of Zamość, and a response by poet Szymon Szymonowic to Hilchen. A preliminary analysis of these letters, all from 1603–1609, reveals a dichotomy in Hilchen’s portrayal of the academic environment designed by Jan Zamoyski. In the first decade of its activities (almost until the death of Jan Zamoyski in 1605) it is depicted by Hilchen as a mental locus amoenus, a place for beautiful minds. It should be noted that this expression served a purpose of denoting a specific concept rather than being used as an amplificatio. Zamoyski's death brought on the academy’s decline, which was then depicted by Hilchen using motifs characteristic of the locus desperatus: the loss of light and warmth, the rise of calumny, and the deterioration of the quality of education. Yet according to Hilchen’s letters, despite external political and partly religious pressures, even stronger friendships and greater loyalty developed between the members of the academy. In shaping and describing this strategy of humanist friendship against desperation and calumny in everyday situations, Hilchen referenced inter alia the experiences of his previous correspondent, Justus Lipsius, as expressed in Lipsius’ letters, his treatise De Constantia and his speech De Calumnia. Not being an academic sensu stricto himself, Hilchen therefore stood up for its humanist and academic ideals.