Historical overview of the political and denominational reality in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the mid-sixteenth century to the mid-seventeenth century

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: 16 amžius; 17 amžius; Kalvinistai; Katalikai; Krikščionių konfesijos; Lenkija (Lenkijos karalystė. Kingdom of Poland. Poland); Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); Liuteronai; Protestantai; Radvilos (Radziwill; Radvila family); Religinis kontekstas; Sandrauga; Stačiatikiai; 16 amžius; 17 amžius; 16-17 centuries; Calvinists; Catholics; Christian denominations; Commonwealth; Lithuania; Lutherans; Orthodoxies; Protestants; Religious context; The Grand Duchy of Lithuania; The Radvila family; The second half of 16th c. - the first half of 17th c.

ENThe latter half of the sixteenth century and the first half of the seventeenth century constitute the most interesting epoch as far as the political and religious history of the multi-ethnic and multicultural Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is concerned. The exact 100 years that separate the beginning of the reign of Sigismund II Augustus and the death of Władysław IV Vasa in 1648 constitute also the period of a rapid increase and then the ever growing decrease in the importance of Polish-Lithuanian Protestantism. Introduced in the name of the raison d'itat of a multi-faith country in 1573, confessional equality was reduced after the death of Sigismund III Vasa in 1632 to guarantee of tolerance, which over the course of forthcoming years was to become gradually more and more limited. Changes in denominational politics took place parallel to the political problems that were on the increase in the seventeenth century. After 1648 the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth entered the epoch of permanent crisis, which it never managed to leave - not until its very end in the late eighteenth century. We are at a loss with regard to the causes and ensuing results as available scholarship does not allow one to ascertain whether the changes in the religious relations were caused by the mounting internal tensions or whether the said shift aggravated the situation. [Extract, p. 19]