King Jan III Sobieski’s father Jakub was an orator, writer and diplomat who held the highest ranking offices in the Commonwealth. Thanks to his own father who carefully planned his education, Jakub graduates from the most prestigious schools both at home and abroad and completes his education with foreign travels.
Already at home Jakub is taught to read and write in, as well as to understand the rudiments of, Latin. He is accompanied by tutors who, in line with his father’s will, take care of the young boy’s intellectual development as well as the shaping of his character. Jakub’s father, Marek Sobieski intends to get his son well prepared for a political career. Consequently, he is cautious in selecting the best school and curriculum for the future leader and castellan of Cracow. Already in his youth, or more specifically in his childhood, Jakub is admitted to the Zamojski Academy (which enrols boys from the age of six). In the first 5 years of classes inferiores (lower classes), which resemble a primary school, the student joins his peers in learning the rules of spelling, grammar and stylistics. He also gets acquainted with rhetoric, indispensable in his future public activity. It is hard to believe from today’s perspective that the eight-year-old boy covered the literary canon of works by authors such as Aristotle, Plato, Demosthenes and naturally Cicero, the unrivalled orator and writer. Probably, Jakub dedicated most of his time at the Academy to the study of Greek and Latin, in line with the lower classes curriculum as well as his father’s will.
The following stage of instruction is conducted in the classes superiors, where works by Cicero and Aristotle are read and discussed. In addition to that, Jakub Sobieski practices the art of pronunciation, based on the best ancient models. He graduates from the Zamojski Academy, ranked as one of the best schools in the contemporary Europe, thus acquiring a sound education in liberal arts.
The successive stage of his schooling takes Jakub to the Jagiellonian University where in the course of two years he complements the knowledge and skills gained in Zamość. Marek Sobieski’s instructions on his son’s education include also comments on foreign studies. A young man willing to embark on a public career ought to complete his schooling with education obtained in foreign countries. Hardly a teenager, Jakub Sobieski is sent to the Collège Royal in Paris where he is tutored by renowned teachers. Moreover, he studies French, Spanish and Italian, travels through Europe and gets acquainted with various political, legal and military issues. A few years later he return to the Commonwealth as one of the best educated Polish magnates. Until the end of his days will he continue to improve the skills obtained in the course of his studies. In an instruction written years later for his own sons and concerning their education Jakub will write, “should I have a spare moment, I won’t part with my book”. The obtained knowledge, the awareness its usefulness in life and finally the gained experience, all help Jakub Sobieski to plan the education of his own sons (Marek and Jan) with equal care as his father did before. In Sobieski’s times the canon of a young man’s sound education, necessary for a responsible fulfilment of civic duties and a good service in public offices, was composed of a good command of classical languages, above all Latin, the ability to read and discuss works of ancient writers, above all Cicero, a good command of the mother tongue and foreign languages and last but not least, experience gained in the course of foreign travels. Significantly enough, the most frequently read and discussed author was Marcus Tullius Cicero.
Cicero, a man from the provinces (homo novus), with no aristocratic background, thanks to his education attained the highest honours in the Roman Republic. Consequently, he understood perfectly well the significance of education which he considered one’s pride and a lifetime treasure. As a politician, philosopher, orator and the best-known Roman writer, he sends his son Mark to study in Athens where, following a three-stage instruction obligatory in Rome, he leaves the boy in the custody of philosophers. In his letters and the treatise De officis (On duties) addressed to his son, Cicero encourages him to learn new things, explains the benefits of studying philosophy and from acquiring knowledge at large. Refinement and knowledge coupled with virtues and good traits of one’s character are indispensable when holding public offices and managing the state. In his praise of liberal arts presented in the speech In Defense of Archias Cicero observes that, “Haec studia adulescentiam acuunt, senectutem oblectant, secundas res ornant, adversis perfugium ac solacium praebent, delectant domi, non impediunt foris, pernoctant nobiscum, peregrinantur, rusticantur” [“such studies shape us in adolescence, comfort us in senility, are an ornament in happiness, a shelter and solace in misery, are a joy at home and no obstacle when away from it, they sleep with us, travel with us and accompany us in the countryside”] – Pro Archia 7,16).
Having completed his education, Jakub Sobieski becomes a true expert on Cicero. After all, he knows the writer’s works inside out, some of them he translated and discussed as a student of the Zamojski Academy. When raising his sons and planning their education, he makes frequent references to the famous Roman philosopher, as exemplified by the following quote: „Nauka wszędzie człowieka zdobi i na wojnie i u dworu i doma i w Rzeczypospolitej. Widzimy to, ze ludzie więcej sobie ważą chudego pachołka uczonego, aniżeli pana wielkiego a błazna, co go sobie palcem ukazują” [“Man is graced by science in all places, at war and at court, at home and in the Commonwealth. People show more respect to a learned impoverished nobleman than a foolish grand lord, whom they point with their fingers”].
