Collège Saint-Stanislas is a mixed

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

secondary school in

Mons Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. ...

, Belgium. It was founded in 1851 by the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

. It is located on Rue des Dominicains in the centre of Mons. Despite some disruption during the two world wars, the college has continued to have classes over the entire course of its history.

History

After the restoration of the Society of Jesus and the

independence of Belgium The Belgian Revolution (, ) was the conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. ...

the Jesuits came to Mons in 1840 and worked on what is now Rue de Fétis. In 1845, they bought the old hotel of the Val de Beaulieu. They converted it into a school, added some temporary buildings, built a chapel and opened the school on 7 October 1851. From 1851 to 1879 more nearby buildings were bought and added to the school. On 8 November 1893, a fire destroyed some of the buildings in the area. After a week of repair work, classes resumed. Reconstruction work was done in the summer of 1894. In 1906, the neighbouring Rouwez Hotel was purchased, adding more space to the school.Couvent des Dominicains, Hôtel particulier Duval de Beaulieu
53053-INV-0812-02, from Inventaire du patrimoine immobilier culturel, Wallonie Patrimoine AWaP, retrieved 5 November 2022 During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

the school buildings were requisitioned at various times by the two sides. It mostly was used as a hospital by German and French forces. At the end of the war, it was a barracks for Canadian and New Zealand soldiers. Nevertheless, teaching continued in some form in other buildings of the school.Emission du 30/07/09 : St. Stanislas, un collège à travers les siècles
from TéléMB.be, 30 July 2009, retrieved 5 November 2022 During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and the

German invasion of Belgium German invasion of Belgium may refer to: * German invasion of Belgium (1914) during World War I *German invasion of Belgium (1940) The invasion of Belgium or Belgian campaign (10–28 May 1940), often referred to within Belgium as the 18 Days' ...

in 1940, the college welcomed refugees and when the city was bombarded, the Jesuit community lived in the cellar, said

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different element ...

in the basement, but the buildings survived and were not damaged. While the city was occupied by German forces, classes continued and were fully subscribed during term time. The college was used by the occupying forces during the summer months of 1940 and the Christmas break of 1941. After the war, from 1947 to 1950, the school was renovated, and again from 1966 to 1967. In 1971, female teachers began working at the school and in 1979 the school became mixed. The buildings on Rue des Dominicains and the church were demolished and between 1968 and 1979. Again, more renovation work was done between 2011 and 2015.Transformation et construction de batîments scolaires à Mons
Adem: Bureau d'études, retrieved 5 November 2022

References

External links

* * {{Catholic Church in Belgium Buildings and structures in Hainaut (province) Mons Secondary schools in Belgium Jesuit secondary schools in Belgium 1851 establishments in Belgium Educational institutions established in 1851

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links