The Tyniec “Games”

On One Manuscript by Ignacy Skrocki SJ (1799–1851)

Abstract

The article concerns the manuscript “Opisanie przyjacielowi zabaw swoich i współmieszkańców Collegii Theologici Tynecensis Societatis Jesu. Anno 1828 mense 1 O[cto]bris” (Description to a friend of his own and his fellow residents’ games at the Collegia Theologica…) by Ignacy Skrocki SJ (1799–1851), written during the “Tyniec episode in the history of the Jesuits,” already described in scholarly detail by Ludwik Grzebień SJ and Stanisław Cieślak SJ. Skrocki’s manuscript, considered as an example of the material heritage and achievements of the Jesuits, also provides important knowledge about the intangible heritage of the Jesuits: their teaching practices, the scope and content of their teachings and their compliance with the Ratio studiorum, the importance of the local and supra-local religious community united by shared values. The analysis and interpretation of Skrocki’s poetic work also offers his brief description of the activities and personalities of individual Jesuits who were co-creators of the Tyniec college at the time, as well as the roles and functions they performed. The titular “games” refer primarily to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, dogmatic theology and canon law, in addition to aspects of everyday life and other duties subject to Jesuit regulations. The artistic qualities of Opisanie... are highlighted, as well as its research potential in relation to the network of Jesuit communities and the connections between them in the 19th century, on top of the importance of the Jesuit heritage (including the centuries-old heritage of Jesuit pedagogy). The connections between Opisanie... and Enlightenment literature have been pointed out, in particular with the so-called occasional poetry of the (monastic) community.