Abstract

This paper is an attempt, on the basis of an analysis of different kinds of sources, to comprehend the role of the Bohemian Brethren schools in the upbringing and education of the upper classes of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Margravate of Moravia and, to a lesser extent, of the foreign nobility. After a general introduction, in which the author establishes the growing interest of domestic aristocracy about this denominationally specific type of school in Bohemia and Moravia in the context of the inner development of the Brethren schools, he tracks specific educational institutes of the Unitas Fratrum for which there are records of students from the aristocracy during the sixteenth and first decade of the seventeenth century. Other issues are also dealt with: the content of the study in the schools, the reasons for the choice of a specific school, the composition in terms of the nationality, language, society and confession of the noble pupils, and so on. Last but not least, the study aims to answer the question of how the education of the domestic nobility in the schools of the Unitas Fratrum contributed towards their denominational orientation. In the conclusion of the contribution the author points out some possibilities for further research into this issue.