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or at the school. 34 Indeed, Schacht returned to Košice sometime between 1563 and 1566,
when his name is mentioned in the town protocols. 35 In 1568 he took his burgher’s oath. 36
Martinus Schacht was employed at the local church as cantor and at the urban school as a
teacher; in 1572 and 1573 was still living in Košice. 37 His case is a good example of the town’s
investment in the so-called professional development of its employees, by way of giving them
the possibility to improve their knowledge and prestige at one of the reputed universities of the
time.
Another student, Gedeon Adami, worked at the local church before receiving fi nancial
support from the town council to study in Wrocław, as confi rmed by an entry in the town protocols.
38 He sent a letter from Wrocław in March 1575 asking the town council to confer a stipend
on him so that he could continue his studies at the University in Leipzig. 39 Unfortunately, it is
not known if this student went to the University of Leipzig or another institution after graduating
from the school in Wrocław. In 1579, Adami was already in Košice, where he married and
received burgher’s rights. 40 Related to this category is also the case of Caspar Pilcius, born in
Spišské Podhradie, who studied in Košice and in Prešov. In 1573, before going to Wittenberg,
Pilcius was a schoolteacher in Košice. 41 In 1574 he left for Wittenberg from where he sent his
only letter preserved in the Košice town archives, addressed to Thomas Hilarius (Fröhlich),
priest in the town, which is a very detailed description of his travel to the university and of the
fi rst days after his arrival in Wittenberg. 42
Sometimes it occurred that peregrinating scholars, who happened to be in Košice for
different purposes or just on their way between two locations, learning that the town council
sometimes lent a hand of support to travelling scholars, would address a letter to it with the
hope of receiving some kind of assistance. One letter of this kind has been found in the letter
collection. As in many other cases, unfortunately it is not clear what kind of response the town
council gave in this or similar cases. The letter itself does not provide us with any detailed information
either. It is not known if the author, Christophorus Zymermann, applied for fi nancial
help or a job in the town. All we know is that he was coming from Olomouc in Moravia and that
his way lead him through Košice. 43
Amounts of money offered by the urban council to the students
The importance of funding amounts is that it helps explain the situation of students from
Košice within the students’ community and university society of the time. However, clarifyng
the issues related to fi nancing students only becomes really valuable when balanced against
34
AMK H I, no. 2446/142.
35
AMK H III/2, MAC 14, folio 3v.: die 8 Februarii 1566 Martino Schochot cantori promisit senatus mutuo dare
fl or. 25. [et dedit - written by another person]
36
Martinus Schacht sive Schochott ex oppido Mosocz comitatus Thuroczien., nunc cantor scholae et templi istius
civitatis, productis ex exhibitis nataliciis literis per Senatum approbatis, ius civile conferitus est feria sexta
proxima ante festum Thomae Apostoli quae fuit dies XVII mensis Decembris 1568.
Source: AMK, H III/2, pur. 5, folio 475v.
37
AMK, H III/2 PUR 8, folio 181r and 196r. See also AMK H III/2, MAC 17, folio 10 r.
38
AMK H III/2, MAC 17, folio 43r: Gedeoni Adami studioso, cuius p[ate]r. hic fuit concionator Germanicis senatus
donat in subsidium studiorum pro hac vero fl . 10 (1573, 31 Martii).
39
AMK H I, no. 3285/98.
40
“Gedeon Adami, natus Cibinii, receptus est in consortium iuris et libertatis civilis, die 10 mensis iulii [1579].”
AMK H III/2 pur.5, folio 486r. See also AMK H III/2, PUR 7, folio 141v.
41
AMK H III/2, MAC 17, folio 45r: Casparus Pülcz hungaricum collaboratorem senatus installavit in schola die
am 23 Tag Aprilis 1573.
42
AMK H I, no. 3219/111.
43
AMK H I, no. 4268/46, letter sent in May 1591 from Košice.
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