Book collections of philosophy and theology lecturers in the library of Lviv Bernardines (mid-18th c.).

Abstract

The system of highest order studies – the so called studium generale – firstly was developing at large universities (Paris, Oxford), but later studium generale separated from them and acted at the largest monasteries. The education system of the observants reached its full flowering in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the early 17th century a competition system was introduced for lecturers’ appointment in the order’s education centers. Philosophy and theology study was the highest level in the system of monastic orders’ religious education. In the Lviv monastery of the Bernardine order these disciplines were studied within general studies. The article analyses the quantitative and thematic content of lecturers’ collections of general studies, which were functioning in St. Andrii Monastery in Lviv. All books are classified according to several thematic categories. The main tendencies of the lecturers’ libraries formation are defined. The analysis is performed on the basis of a manuscript inventory from the library, which dates back to 1747,