Szlachta wołyńska wobec spraw wyznaniowych na sejmikach i sejmach w końcu XVI i w pierwszej połowie XVII wieku

Abstract

The nobility from Volhynia in relation to religious issues inthe Polish-Lithuanian Diet and in local noble conventionsin the end of XVIth and in the first half of XVIIth century (Summary) Since 1569 Volhynia had belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and after Polish-Lithuanian Union in Lublin it was a part of the Polish Crown. There was a magnate domination in the local political elite, but Volhynian nobility ranked strong position too. Although many noblemen were clients of magnates, but majority of them kept their independent religious standpoint. Th is situation was generally accepted by Volhynian magnates, who were in majority Roman Catholics in XVIIth century. Accordingly, on this multi-confessional land, where the Orthodoxes dominated, and strong groups of Protestants, Arians and Catholics (both of rites) were too, the nobility particularly searched a religious compromise. They also aimed to confi rm (by the Diet) the Warsaw Confederation (1573), which guaranteed religious liberties to all noblemen in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. On the other hand within some decades after the Union of Brest (1596) Volhynian nobility was the most consistent with supporting of the Orthodoxes interests.