School and Extracurricular Life in the 16th–18th Centuries

Abstract

The printed texts that describe students' behaviour both in school and outside of it often regulate such behaviour, resting on purely theoretical foundations. However, they raise questions—without explicitly stating what reality is—that prompt us to imagine what these pieces of advice aim to protect the youth from, if they adhere to them. In this study, we have based our analysis on two printed works: Thesaurus sanitatis inaestimabilis: Quomodo facili methodo plurimos vitae dies integer et incolumnis conservari possit (1691); and Dies vitae adolescentis studiosi (1718). Personal documents, starting from the instructions of parents or patrons sending their children on study trips, are much more concrete. They detail what the youth should avoid, what the accompanying tutor should pay attention to, and what is expressly prohibited (ranging from not visiting educational institutions of other denominations, avoiding infested bedding and prostitutes who spread disease, to refraining from excessive alcohol consumption). Unfortunately, very few diaries have survived in which students candidly wrote about how they behaved without supervision. At present, we have only analysed one such document: Album recreationis (1578). However, a rare source from the 17th century has also survived—a so-called sin catalogue. Although it is recorded as notes by a nobleman, there is no doubt that our students committed similar sins too.