Kalwińskie budowle kościelne na terenie Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego w okresie nowożytnym

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė; Lietuvos XVI-XVII a. istorija; Evangelikai reformatai; Bažnyčios; Architektūra. Keywords: The Great Duchy of Lithuania; The Lithuanian XVI-XVII c. history; Calvinists; Churches; Architecture.

ENCalvinist Reformation in Lithuania had a completely different look than in the Crown. It lacked strong urban centres in which Lutheranism would flourish. Calvinism was mainly supported by the nobility (Mikołaj “the Red” Radziwiłł and Mikołaj “the Black” Radziwiłł), who wanted to make this confession a state religion in case of the independence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Radziwiłł’s probably wanted to subordinate Sigismund Augustus to their influence and create a strong, own state. Calvinism was an independent religion to Catholicism and Orthodoxy. Building of Reformed churches was associated with colonization of Lithuania and the construction of its economy and political development. Too strong dependence of Calvinism on the first generation of the Radziwiłł’s families leaders, caused the successive generations of families attracted by Catholicism to fight against Calvinism and effectively undermined its dominant position. Finally, at the end of the seventeenth century, this religion has lost its sense of importance. Many churches were destroyed, many people changed religion. The article is the first attempt of presenting the Reformed churches in Lithuania. It presents also a history of few churches (like main church in Vilno), furnishing of interiors (table for the Lord’s Supper, on which there was a desk for the Brest bible, the pulpit – called the cathedral – and others. Text is a kind of supplement and a summary of research on the Calvinist architecture of the Grand Duchy. [From the publication]

• Katalikų Bažnyčia ir Reformacija Žemaitijoje XVI a : esminiai raidos bruožai / Vacys Vaivada ; Klaipėdos universitetas. Baltijos regiono istorijos ir archeologijos institutas. Klaipėda : Klaipėdos universiteto leidykla, 2004. 247 p.
• Rzeczpospolita Wazów. [T.] 1, Czasy Zygmunta III i Władysława IV / Henryk Wisner. Warszawa : Wydawnictwo Neriton : 2002. 337 p.