Lutheran theological education in Eperjes

Abstract

The representatives of the counts, barons, magnates, counties and free royal towns of Upper Hungary publicly declared the foundation of the Lutheran College in Kassa (Košice) on 18 November, 1665. For a number of reasons, the free royal town of Eperjes (Prešov) was chosen for its location, as it offered the best conditions for the future institution in many respects. Of the six free royal towns in Upper Hungary, Kassa and Eperjes had strong, modern fortifications, but Eperjes was the one where only the Lutheran Church was active. Given the ethnic structure of the town, prospective students could easily learn German, Slovak, or Hungarian. It was also not irrelevant that the town council strongly supported the establishment of the college, and was prepared not only to offer it a suitable site, but also to finance a significant part of the expenditure. The college was governed by a body made up of the Lutheran nobility and leading citizens of Eperjes, as well as citizens of the mining towns and the towns of the Szepesség. It was very important that the school offered theological education in addition to the secondary school curriculum, thus ensuring the possibility of training Hungarian Lutheran pastors for centuries.