The Orthodox Church and Byelorussian people
Mironowicz Antoni
Orthodox Centres and Organizations in Podlachia from the Mid-Sixteenth through the Seventeenth Century
This article traces the changes that took place in Orthodox centres and organizations in Podlachia (Podliashshia) from the middle of the sixteenth to the end of the seventeenth century. Hitherto the subject has not been studied in detail[1]. Yet it was here, in the Podlachian region, that the earliest religious organizations of the Orthodox laity came into existence in Ukrainian and Byelorussian territories as religious consciousness grew among the confessionally diverse population of the larger towns. The influence of the laity on the character of the church and on parish organization was more noticeable here than anywhere else. Previous studies have dealt with that influence in the context of patronage (ktytorstvo) and cultural activities[2]. More detailed analysis reveals complex relations between clergy and laity of the same confession, relations that strongly influenced the activities of the Orthodox church, especially after the establishment of the Uniate church in 1596.
Orthodox parishes in Podlachia constituted a rather uniform entity despite their division between eparchies and their differing proprietary status. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries they were the westernmost outposts of the Orthodox church. Shortly betore the Council of Brest the process of delineating Orthodox Podlachia's territorial borders was completed, as was the establishment of their proprietary structure. The termination date for our period of study is 1702, when the last Orthodox bishop of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Dionysii Zhabokrytsky of Lutsk, became Uniate. The close of the seventeenth century effectively put an end to the evolutionary process as Orthodox parishes became Uniate, although a number of "Greek faith" (i.e., Orthodox) centres continued to exist up to the demise of the Commonwealth at the end of the eighteenth century.
The vast literature on the Union of Brest is not free of tendentious-ness in the interpretation of historical facts. Traditional research on the union was influenced by either the researcher's religious point of view (Orthodox, Uniate, Roman Catholic) or political affinity (Polish, Russian, Ukrainian). Contemporary research on the subject now often adopts a critical approach, but studies of this kind have only just begun.
The documentary sources for this article are manuscript documents found in the libraries and archives of Poland (Warsaw, Breslau - Wroclaw, Lublin, and Bialystok), Russia (St. Petersburg, Moscow), Belarus (Mensk) and Ukraine (Kiev). Among them the most valuable document is the "Registry of Greek-Catholic Metropolitans," preserved in the State Historical Registry in St. Petersburg. Published documents, including the multi-volume editions of the Archeographic Commissions published in Vilnyus, Kiev, and St. Petersburg between 1864 and 1917, were also fully utilized[3].
Prior to the Union of Brest the Orthodox church in Podlachia had at least 146 parishes[4]. They were administratively divided between the two eparchial sees of Kiev (Podlachia was under the Vilnyus - based administrator) and Volodymyr. In Podlachia the line of division between these two sees changed periodically, according to administrative needs; eventually it came to coincide with the boundary separating the two Roman Catholic dioceses of Vilnyus and Lutsk. Administratively, Orthodox parishes in Podlachia were separated into five presbyteries located in the administrative centres. In the area of Podlachia belonging to the Kiev eparchy there were two presbyteries, located in Horadnia and Zabludov, whereas in the area belonging to the Volodymyr eparchy there were three presbyteries, located in Belsk, Brest, and Dorohychyn (Drohiczyn).
The growth of Orthodox parishes in Podlachia was determined by several factors: the extent of Ukrainian-Byelorussian settlement; the construction of new churches in towns and villages; the manufacture of sacred objects; the degree of autonomy of affiliated agencies; and the proprietary structure ot parishes, which was related to the Podlachian szlachta's tendency to group their serfs according to parish membership. The social situation of the Orthodox clergy varied according to differences in land apportionment caused by proprietary relations within each individual parish. In parishes belonging to royal estates each priest was given two volokas (33.5 hectares) of land. That land was not the Orthodox clergy's only source of income. They received a rent paid in money and in kind, they took payment for sacramental services, and they were entitled to free use of woods, rivers, and lakes in landed estates.
In the second half of the sixteenth century, the main cultural and religious centres of Podlachia were the following: the monastery of Suprasl, the town of Zabludov, the monastery of Yablochyn (Jableczna), and the towns of Belsk and Dorohychyn. The monastery of Suprasl was the second in importance (after the Kievan Caves Monastery) among monastic centres of opposition to the Union of Brest[5]. In Zabludov, in 1569, Gregory Khodkevich established the first printing press to serve the needs of the Byelorussian-Ukrainian Orthodox church[6]. The monastery of Yablochyn was an important religious centre for the Orthodox and the towns of Belsk and Dorohychyn were notable for their churches and monasteries[7].
Orthodox clergy and laity from Podlachia who were present at the Council of Brest opposed the creation of the Uniate church. Nestor Kuzmich, an archpriest from Zabludov, presided over the anti-Uniate synod, held separately. Ilarion Massalsky, the archimandrite of the Suprasl monastery, became a target for Uniate attacks after voicing his opposition to the Union of Brest: he was forced by his patron (ktytor) Heronim Khodkevich and the Uniate metropolitan Ipatii Potii to leave the monastery. The administration of the Suprasl monastery changed, and after 1609 it ceased to function as an Orthodox cultural and religious centre.
The Union of Brest changed the legal status of the Orthodox church in Podlachia and shattered its organizational structure: canonically it no longer existed. After the Union of Brest, the cultural and religious life of Orthodoxy in Podlachia became concentrated in fewer centres—namely, in the lay organizations known as confraternities and in the churches and monasteries with which they were associated. The town of Belsk (at the time its population was approximately 4,000) became the largest Orthodox centre in Podlachia. The Theophany Confraternity (after the patronal feast-day of the church in Belsk, which was under the auspices of this organization) was established by Ipatii Potii when he was eparch of Volodymyr and, presumably, still Orthodox[8]. This confraternity was one of the wealthiest in the Commonwealth. Its membership consisted primarily of turners, members of a rich and powerful trade guild. In ere were also members of other guilds—cobblers, shoemakers, tanners, butchers, and blacksmiths—and social structure within the confraternity reflected the hierarchy of the trade guilds. Members of the confraternity often held highly placed municipal offices in Belsk—one of them, Savko Hlyvko, was mayor. The confraternity was governed by a board, which in its work followed a special statute. Following the model of statues adopted in Lviv and Vilnyus, it denned the rights and duties of the membership, regulated the competence of the board members, and controlled internal relations. The statute imposed an obligation to conduct charitable, educational, and cultural activities on the confraternity's members. Accordingly, the Belsk confraternity maintained a school and a poorhouse. Every adult male who contributed to the fund and complied with the statute became a member of the confraternity. In the conflict over church buildings and property that developed following the Union of Brest, the Theophany Confraternity of Belsk became the defender of the Orthodox position. It continued its anti-Uniate work until 1645, when it finally accepted the union. Once the Theophany Confraternity accepted the Catholic faith, four of the five Orthodox churches in Belsk were taken over by the Uniates: the Nativity of the Theotokos, the Resurrection, the Trinity, and the Theophany Church itself. The other important centre for Orthodoxy in Belsk was the St. Nicholas Confraternity, which existed under the auspices of the monastery of the same name. Following the Theophany Confraternity's acceptance of the union, the St. Nicholas Confraternity, which remained Orthodox, took up charitable and educational work on behalf of the Orthodox population.
Dorohychyn, the capital of the palatinate, was second in importance among the Orthodox cultural and religious centres in Podlachia. Two monasteries existed there, the Transfiguration and the Trinity monasteries, and two confraternities, named after the Transfiguration and St. Nicholas. They performed a function similar to that of the monasteries and confraternities of Belsk. Several other monasteries were active in Orthodox religious and cultural life in seventeenth-century Podlachia: the St. Onuphrius Monastery in Yablochyn, the Dormition of the Theotokos Monastery in Zabludov, and the Transfiguration Monastery in the Narau (Narew) forest. These centres took advantage of the tolerant religious attitudes of the magnates of the Leshchynsky, Radzivill, and Massalsky families. Many of these Orthodox congregations were active up to the partition of the Commonwealth. Beside Belsk and Dorohychyn, there were two other Podlachian towns under royal patronage: Klishcheli (Kleszczele) and Melnyk (Mielnik). The Orthodox churches in these towns functioned under the protection of the laity. The St. Nicholas Confraterelite, survived until the middle of the seventeenth century.
By the beginning of the eighteenth century, the growth of the Uniate church had left only a few Orthodox monastic centres in Podlachia. A small group of Podlachian monasteries remained under the Kievan metropolitanate, which maintained an administrative centre in Slutsk. They included the St. Symeon and Nativity of Christ monasteries in Brest, the St. Nicholas Monastery in Belsk, the Trinity and Transfiguration monasteries in Dorohychyn, the St. Onuphrius Monastery in Yablochyn, and the Dormition of the Theotokos Monastery in Zabludov. These institutions, whose patrons were descendants of a long line of Orthodox townsmen, remained vital centres of the "Greek faith" in Podlachia. Two Orthodox confraternities continued to provide leadership and organization in the Podlachian Orthodox community: the St. Nicholas Confraternity in Belsk and the Transfiguration Confraternity in Dorohychyn.
The development of religious and national consciousness among the townspeople of Podlachia stimulated their participation in seventeenth-century Orthodox cultural life. The confraternities assumed patronage over the churches in royal towns because the magnates and landed gentry did not undertake these responsibilities. The strength of the Orthodox confraternities derived from the weakness of the Orthodox church hierarchs, the changes in socio-political life in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania following the introduction of Magdeburg law, and, finally, the new religious attitudes that appeared as a result of the Reformation. The religious, cultural and educational life of the Podlachian Orthodox community was influenced by the ethnic diversity of the region, which included settlements of Polish (Mazovian), Lithuanian, and Byelorussian-Ukrainian immigrants[9]. Despite this ethnic and religious diversity, Podlachia remained the westernmost outpost of Orthodoxy and Byelarussian-Ukrainian culture until the end of the seventeenth century.
[1]Podlachia was given its name by the Rus' who populated this region bordering on ethnic Polish territory. Political and ethnic borders constantly changed over the course of history, and the boundaries of Podlachia were never exactly fixed. During the Middle Ages (i.e., from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries) Podlachia included the towns of Brest, Melnyk, Dorohychyn, Surazh (Suraż), Branske (Brańsk), Belsk (Bielsk Podlaski), and Kamianets (Kamieniec). The southern border of the region northern border went somewhat north of Augustov and Rajgrod. In the east, the area reached the western outskirts of the Belavezha (Bialowieża) forest. In the west, the border followed the woods between Kossov and Miedzna and reached the river Liviets. Territorially, this article includes not only the areas of historical Podlachia, but also parts of Novahradak and the Trakai and Brest palatinates (wojewodztwa) that are within the borders of present-day Poland. Podlachia was inhabited by people of Ukrainian, Byelorussian, Lithuanian, and Mazovian origin.
[2] W. Zaikin, "Kaplanstwo panujacego," Voskresnoe chtenie, no. 6, Warsaw, 1935, pp. 69-70; W. Abraham, Początki prawa patronatu w Polsce, Lviv, 1889; Metropolitan Makarii (Bulgakov), Istoriia Russkoi Tserkvi, vol. 9 St. Petersburg, 1879, pp. 220-222; M. F. Vladimirsky-Budanov, Introduction to Arkhiv Yugo-Zapadnoi Rossii, part. 8, vol. 4 Kiev, 1907, pp. 30-54.
[3] Akty izdavaemye Vilenskoiu arkheograficheskoiu komissieiu dlia razbora drevnikh aktov v Vilne, vol. 1-30, Vilnyus, 1865-1905.
[4] Podlachian Orthodox parishes at the end of the sixteenth century (place names in Polish): Andryjanki, Augustów, Baciuty, Biała Podlaska, Bielsk Podlaski (5 parishes), Boćki, Boguszewo, Brańsk, Bukowica, Choroszcz, Chotycze, Ciechanowiec, Ciełuszki, Czarna Cerkiewna, Czyże, Dobryń, Dojlidy, Dokudów (2), Dołha, Dowspuda, Drohiczyn (5), Dubicze Cerkiewne, Fasty, Gnojno, Gródek, Gródek Wieś, Grodzisk, Gruzka (2), Hodyszewo, Hola, Hołówno, Horodyszcze, Hryniewicze Duże, Jabłeczna, Jabłoń, Jaczno, Jałówka, Janów Podlaski, Jurowlany, Kaniuki, Kijowiec, Klejniki, Kleszczele (2), Knyszyn, Kobylany, Kodeń, Kodeniec, Kolechowiec, Konstantynów, Korczew, Kornica, Koroszczyn, Kośna, Kosów Ruski, Kożany, Krasnybór, Krynki, Krześlin, Kuścin, Kuźnica, Lebiedziów, Lewkowo Stare, Lipsk, Lazów, Łoknica, Łomazy, Łosice, Łuków, Łukowice, Malesze, Miedzna, Miedzyrzec Podlaski (2), Mielnik (2), Milejczyce (2), Mokobody, Mordy, Mostowlany, Narew (2), Nosów, Nowe Berezowo, Nowy Dwor, Opole, Orla, Ostromeczyn, Ostrów, Paprotnia, Pasynki, Pawłów, Piszczac, Prochenka, Proniewicze, Puchly, Radzyń Podlaski, Rajsk, Rogacze, Rogów, Rozwadówka, Rudka, Rudno, Ryboly, Sasiny, Sawice Ruskie, Seroczyn, Siemiatycze, Skiblewo, Sławatycze, Sokołów Podlaski, Supraśl, Suraż (2), Swory, Szóstka, Telatycze, Tokary, Topilec, Topolany, Tykocin, Wasilków, Wesółka, Wirów, Wisznice, Witulin, Włodawa, Wohyń, Wołkusz, Wysokie Mazowieckie, Zabłudów, Żerczyce, Żurobice.
[5] A. Rogov, Suprasl kak odin iz tsentrov kulturnykh sviazei Belorussii s drugimi slovianskimi stranami, [in:] Slaviane v epokhu feodalizma, Moscow, 1978, pp. 321-334; A. Mironowicz, Supraśl jako ośrodek kulturalno-religijny, Leiman, 1984.
[6] V. Tumash, Herman Hryhor Khadkevich i yahonae vydavetsva, Zapisy. Byelorussian Institute of Arts and Sciences” , New York, no. 14, 1976, pp. 3-42; E. Nemirovsky, Ivan Fedorov v Belorussii, Moscow, 1979.
[7]S. Zhelezniakovich, Historia Jablochynskoho Sviato-Onufrievskoho monastyra, part. 1, „Tserkovy Viestnik”, no. 20-24 (1845), Warsaw, 1963, pp. 273-280; A. Mironowicz, Podlaskie ośrodki i organizacje prawosławne w XVI i XVII wieku, Białystok 1990, pp. 63-105; A. Mironowicz, Życie monastyczne na Podlasiu, Białystok 1998; A. Poppe, "Drohiczyn," Słownik Starożytnosci Słowiańskiej, vol. 1, Wroclaw, 1970, p. 386.
[8] Akty izdavaemye Vilenskoiu arkheograficheskoiu komissieiu, vol. 33, p. 138.
[9] There was a strong influx of settlers from Volhynia to Podlachia, who spread throughout the southern part of the region, up to the Narva river in the north.