“Universitas Iadertina” the cradle of higher education in Croatia (1396.-1807.)

Obrazovanjem je u srednjem vijeku vladala Crkva čiji su redovi u obrazovnom kontekstu bili usmjereni na produkciju činovničkog, vladarskog i kleričkog kadra. No, geopolitičke prilike i religijski sukobi, kao i razni kulturni pokreti poput renesanse, približavaju obrazovanje svim slojevima društva što je vidljivo u radu brojnih obrazovnih ustanova. Na hrvatskom tlu izniman primjer predstavlja Generalno učilište dominikanskog reda u Zadru, Universitas Iadertina. Početkom trinaestog stoljeća sveti Dominik osniva Red propovjednika, poznatiji po nazivu dominikanski red, koji na području kontinentalne Hrvatske i duž jadranske obale osniva prve samostane, a usporedno s njima i obrazovne ustanove. Pravila dominikanskog reda nalagala su da svaka provincija mora imati jedan samostan u kojem djeluje generalno učilište. Osposobljavanjem tri doktora znanosti, dobivanjem suglasnosti poglavara reda, te pape Bonifacija IX., Dalmatinska provincija ispunila je sve uvjete za otvaranje generalnog učilišta. Godine 1396., poglavar dominikanskog reda, donosi odredbu da se asignira Generalno učilište u Zadru. Učilište je bilo ustrojeno je kao zajednica studenata i profesora, a kurikularni ustroj bio je organiziran u tri stupnja: gramatički, materjalni i formalni. Sam proces postizanja ovih naslova bio je složen i dugotrajan zbog ograničenog broja bakalaureatskih i doktorskih naslova. U radu se prikazuju povijesne prilike koje su 1396. godine dovele do osnutka najstarijeg sveučilišta na hrvatskom tlu, Universitas Iadetina, kao i kontinuiteta njegovog rada kroz povijesne epohe srednjeg i novog vijeka, sve do njegovog ukidanja u vrijeme francuske uprave 1807. godine.In the Middle Ages, education was ruled by the Church, whose orders were in the educational context focused on the production of clerical, ruling and clerical staff. However, geopolitical circumstances and religious conflicts, as well as various cultural movements such as the Renaissance, brought education closer to all layers of society, which is visible in the work of numerous educational institutions. On Croatian soil, an exceptional example is represented by the General College of the Dominican Order in Zadar, Universitas Iadertina. At the beginning of the thirteenth century, Saint Dominic founded the Order of Preachers, better known as the Dominican Order, which founded the first monasteries on the territory of continental Croatia and along the Adriatic coast, and parallel with them, educational institutions. The rules of the Dominican Order dictated that each province must have one monastery in which the general college operated. By training three doctors of science, obtaining the approval of the head of the order, and Pope Boniface IX, the Dalmatian province fulfilled all the conditions for opening a general college. In 1396, the head of the Dominican Order brought a provision to allocate the General University in Zadar. The college was organized as a community of students and professors, and the curriculum was organized at three levels: grammatical, material and formal. The very process of obtaining these degrees was complex and time-consuming due to the limited number of bachelor and doctoral degrees. The paper describes the historical circumstances that led to the foundation of the oldest university on Croatian soil in 1396. Universitas Iadetina, as well as the continuity of its work through the historical epochs of the Middle and Modern Ages, until its abolition at the time of the French administration in 1807