Zagraniczne podróże edukacyjne przedstawicieli elit społecznych Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narodów i ich specyfi ka w XVIII wieku

ENThe article addresses the issue related to the specifi city of foreign educational trips of representatives of the social elites of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 18th century. The most important information about the research conducted on this issue in Polish historiography of the 20th and 21st centuries was provided. The consequence of the scientific reflection related to educational tours was an attempt to categorize them and show the most important features of this phenomenon. Cultural transfer through this type of activity was of great importance for the formation of social elites; it also determined the maintenance of strong ties with West European countries strongly associated with the tradition of Eastern Europe. It will not be an exaggeration to say that educational trips in Western Europe were held by the most prominent Old Polish politicians. The reflection devoted to educational tours allows us to capture several important conditions defi ning the role and signifi cance of this phenomenon in broadly understood Old Polish culture. They served to transfer competences within the elites or to satisfy aspirations to enter this type of group. They also constituted a model of upbringing, which allowed to maintain a certain high position, and a such they were also its symbol.In the 18th century, educational tours became a specifi c standard among the magnates and wealthy nobility; their character was infl uenced by the phenomena related to socio-cultural changes taking place in contemporary Europe and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. As an example illustrating the specifi c nature of educational travels of the elites, the author chose an account of Józef Jerzy Hylzen of 1752–1754 from his travels to the Habsburg Monarchy, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, including the young magnate’s stay in Paris. The main features of the education model were presented, consisting in the renouncement of academic education for the benefi t of optional classes carried out in the form of private lessons in such fi elds as natural sciences, fencing and architecture. Th e similarity of this type of education model to models described in other Polish diaries depicting tours around Europe in the 18th century was underlined.