The Age of Church reforms (1555-1655)

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Bažnyčios istorija; Katalikų bažnyčia; Krikščionių tikėjimai; Krikščionybė; Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); Lietuvos istorija; Ortodoksija; Protestantų bažnyčia; Reformacija; Religingumas; Sentikiai; Christianity; Church history; Lithuania; Lithuanian history; Old believes; Ortodoxy; Reformation; Religiosity; Christian faiths; Catholic Church; Protestant Church.

ENThe various movements which aimed to reform the mediaeval western Church (the Reformation and Counter-Reformation) took root in Lithuania slightly later than was the case in western Europe. Nevertheless, these movements were just as intense, dynamic and dramatic in the east as they were in the west. A whole century was dominated by searches for the True Faith. Division wrent both the Western and Eastern Churches in the Grand Duchy. Catholics and Protestants parted company, as did the Uniates (Eastern Orthodox Christians who recognised the primacy of the bishop of Rome) and the Russian Orthodox. Union also took place, as between Latin-rite Catholics and Greek Orthodox in the 1596 Union of Brest, giving rise to the Uniate Church. Stories of religious polemics and personal conversions abound. In the mid-seventeenth century, when confessional divisions became more stable, Lithuania entered a new stage in settled religious life. [Extract, p. 64]