In Search of a Partner or How the School of Olyka Became a Branch of Zamoyskyi Academy

Abstract

This article analyzes the circumstances of creation of the seminary in Olyka in the context of intentions of the people involved in its organisation. It presents the state of church education in Lutsk from the late 16 th century to the 1630s and the reasons of founding the seminary exactly in the private town of Olyka rather than in Lutsk. From this perspective, special attention is paid to the Jesuit presence in Lutsk, especially to the activity of Jesuit College. In addition, the article considers a legal status of the College of Olyka functioning and the type of its organisation. The article focuses on the “double” status of the institution and how later this allowed the College of Olyka to adapt to the lack of the teaching staff. Special attention is focused on the causes and circumstances of incorporation of the College of Olyka as an academic campus within the Zamoyskyi Academy in 1637. According to the funding statute of 1638, the article presents the nature of the interaction between the College of Olyka and Zamoyskyi Academy, which was kept at least up to the end of the 1670s but was refined according to visitation acts.