The Origins of Cossack National Consciousness: Orthodoxy and the Cossacks in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Autor: Mariusz Robert Drozdowski 

Rok wydania: 2025

Liczba stron: 303

Oprawa: twarda 

Format: 17,5 cm x 25,0 cm

Uwaga! Książka w j. angielskim

The Zaporozhian Cossacks have long fascinated historians and readers alike, not only as a military force on the borderlands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but also as a unique social and cultural phenomenon in early moder Europe. This book examines their role in one of the most turbulent religious conflicts of the seventeenth century - the struggle between Orthodoxy, the Uniate Church, and Roman Catholicism following the Union of Brest (1596). Focusing in the period leading up to the Khmelnytsky Uprising, it explires how the Cossacks alignment withe the Orthodox Church shaped both their political actions and their emerging national consciousness. Drawing on a wide range of sources and historiographic traditions, the study investigates whether the Cossacks` defense of Orthodoxy stemmed from genuine faith or from political calculation - and how religion ultimately became central to their identity as the defenders of the Ruthenian people.

Engaging and meticulously researched, this work sheds new light on the intersection od faith, politics, and identity in one of Europe`s most dynamic borderland societies. 

Content:

Introduction /7

1. Cossackdom and Orthodoxy during the hetmancy od Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny /71

The Union of Brest and its impact on the religious consciousness of the Zaporozhian Cossacks /71

The activity of the Cossacks in support of the Orthodox Church during the hetmancy od Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachny /84

2. The Cossacks` struggle for the Restoration of the Orthodox Church`s rights and freedoms durig Commonwealth Sejms /131

The Sejm of 1623 /131

At the Sejms of 1624-1632 /142

During the convocation, election and coronation of Ladislaus IV /162

3. Anti-uniate motifs in the activities of the Cossacks /183

The Cossacks and the Kyiv Synods of 1628-1629 /183

The Kyiv Mohyla College and the Cossacks /195

Religious motivations behind Cossack rebellions in the first half of the seventeenth century /199

4. Cossack religiosity in the eyes of the Uniates and Foreigners /233

Polemical religious literature of the Uniate Church /233

The views of Uniate metropolitans and papal nuncios /238

In the eyes of travelers /254

Coonclussion /267

List of references Literature /275

Index od Names /295

Geographic index /301