P. N. ZHUKOVICH ON THE RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL STRUGGLEIN THE POLISH-LITHUANIAN COMMONWEALTHIN THE FIRST THIRD OF THE XVII CENTURY

Abstract

The article examines the most important results of P. N. Zhukovichʼs study of the confessional and political struggle in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, related to the implementation of the Brest Church Union in the first
third of the XVII century and the active resistance of the Orthodox population to it. Special attention is paid to the comparison of the scientist’s approaches and assessments with regard to the struggle against the Greek Catholic union in the early years of the 17th century and in 1609—1632. It is shown that the scientist saw and substantially reasoned the dynamics of the forms and methods of the anti-union struggle and the intensification of the extra-Sejm speeches, while the efficiency of the Sejm format of the resistance to the union decreased. The researcherʼs judgments in relation to the
place and role of the Cossacks in the movement for restoring the status of the Orthodox faith, as well as the pronounced impact of the new foreign policy problems of the Polish state on the religious and political activity of the Orthodox
nobility have been analyzed.

Ref.: 17 titles.