The Union of Brest (1596) and the Formation of the Greek Catholic Church

By the end of the 16^th century the Catholic faith had been adopted by most Ukrainian nobles. The common people remained faithful to their Orthodoxy. So, it turned out that there was a religious split between upper and lower classes in Ukraine.

The Orthodox Church was in a deep crisis after the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453. (Constantinople Patriarchy was the center of Orthodoxy). It was losing its members to Catholicism which was becoming more and more prestigious and, consequently, more and more popular with upper classes. The cultural level of Orthodox priests was low. In contrast to their Catholic colleagues all of whom were monks and, hence, could totally devote themselves to the church, the majority of Orthodox priests had to take care of their families.²³ In Orthodox clergy families there was also a harmful tradition according to which priests’ sons inherited their fathers’ profession regardless of inclination. Thus, the Orthodox Church in Ukraine had a problem of getting gifted personnel. The conversion of the Ukrainian nobility into Catholicism deprived the Orthodox Church of the main part of material support as it was mostly the nobility that built churches and monasteries and supported them. In general, the Orthodox Church entered a period of intellectual and cultural stagnation. It was obvious that the Orthodox Church needed reforms.

Gradually, tension was rising between Catholic and Orthodox believers. Several high-ranking Orthodox priests decided to form a new kind of church which would include both Catholic and Orthodox elements and in such a way reconcile Catholic and Orthodox believers. They also hoped to receive equal rights with the Poles through this religious reform. The Catholic clergy and the Polish king adopted the idea of a new mixed church as they hoped that it would be an important step to the final transformation of Orthodox Church into the Catholic Church. Thus in 1596, in the town of Brest, a new so-called Union or Greek Catholic Church was formed. This event went down into Ukrainian history as Beresteiska uniia.

The new Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church²⁴ retained Orthodox religious rituals, the Julian calendar²⁵ and the Church-Slavonic language, but got under the jurisdiction of the Roman Pope and accepted Catholic dogmas. The Greek Catholic clergy retained their right to have families and were also freed of taxes as their Catholic colleagues. Greek Catholic laymen were officially equalized in rights with the Catholic ones and could occupy any state positions. However, contrary to the expectation of the leaders of the reform, most Ukrainians did not accept the new church. As a result of the reform the Ukrainian society split into three churches which did not like each other and had serious conflicts from time to time. The Greek Catholic Church was popular in Western Ukraine, the Orthodox – in Central and Eastern Ukraine, and the Catholic was dominant among the nobility.²⁶

The Greek Catholic Church found itself in a very difficult position. The Orthodox believers considered them traitors while the Catholics often refused to recognize them as equals. The Greek Catholic Church played a major role in the formation of West-Ukrainian mentality which is different from the mentality of the Orthodox Ukrainians of the East. At the same time the Greek Catholic Church, contrary to the expectation of the Polish king, became the major protector of west Ukrainians against Polonization. Thus it saved west Ukrainians from assimilation.

The religious split had also some pluses as it stimulated competition between different churches which were interested in spreading their influence. They tried to attract followers by building beautiful temples (thus developing architecture and arts), by improving curricula in schools, and by publishing books. The existence of several churches also taught Ukrainians to be tolerant.

The Cossacks

“The Cossacks are the most spectacular nation in the world” /Voltaire/

Crimean Tatars

The Tatar-Mongol armies invaded Crimea in the mid-13^th century and made the peninsula part of the Golden Horde. The Crimean Tatars separated from the Golden Horde in the 15^th century and established their own state – the Crimean Khanate – under the leadership of the Giray dynasty. At the beginning of the 13^th century the Italian city-states Genoa and Venice captured Byzantine territories in Crimea and built several fortresses on the coast.²⁷ Unable to subjugate the Italian fortresses the Tatars asked their brothers-in-faith the Ottoman Turks for help. In 1475 the Turks captured the Italian fortresses but decided to keep the peninsula under their control. Thus in 1478, the Crimean Khanate became vassal of the powerful Ottoman Empire (Turkey). That meant that the Crimean Khanate was practically independent in its internal and, often, foreign policy, but it was to help the Ottoman Turks in their wars. Southern coast of the peninsula with a chain of fortresses belonged to the Ottoman Empire.

Crimean Tatars made frequent raids into Ukrainian and Russian territories and took numerous captives (yasyr), who were later sold mostly to the Turks on slave markets. The captives were used in households (servants), agriculture, ships (rowers), and the Army (janissary). Rich captives were returned for ransom. Those captives who accepted Islam could integrate into the Crimean society as equals after 6-7 years of slave labor. The most precious part of yasyr were women who filled numerous harems in Asia.

Due to the raids the Christians made up the majority of the peninsula’s population (920,000 out of 1,120,000) in the 17^th century. The annual yasyr was from 5,000 to 55,000. Yasyr was the most important part of Crimean economy. Tatar military units were very mobile. Each warrior had 3-4 horses and he could change them in motion. Tatar detachments could cover a distance of 100 km per day.