Apáczai Csere János

The scholarly literature on Protestant education agrees that the delimitation of the main principles of the public educational system of the reformed congregations is strongly related to the name of Philipp Melanchton. The “preceptor of Germany”, as he came to be known, considered that the aim of education is to assume personal responsibility. Defining the purpose of reformed education in Transylvania was postponed to the 17th and 18th centuries, when the public educational system searched for its own rationales. The current study presents a short historical overview of this period.

This study on Dr. Isaac Basire discusses two letters written by him during the final and most tragic days of the history of Transylvania. Both letters are dated to the final period of the younger Prince George Rákóczi’s reign. Basire was a true-born royalist, one of the nearest „best men” of King Charles I, who was beheaded by the Puritans. That was the reason why he had to leave England, his wife and 5 children for 15 years. His correspondence was edited and partially translated by an English theologian, W. N. Darnell.