The "brain drain" from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the second half of the 17th century

Andrej Kotljarchuk

At the time when the process of the formation of the modern ethnical cultures in Eastern Europe started, Lithuania and Belarus lost their nobility and burghers - potential elite of this movement, because they adopted Polish identity. One of the historical reasons of this process was the "brain drain" from the country in the second half of the 17th century. The brain drain from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (the GDL) happened for a number of reasons. Among them, there was the success of the Counter-Reformation and the co-operation of the Protestant nobility with Sweden. The article is the first attempt to analyze this phenomenon as a whole.



On the Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Ruthenia and Samogitia (the full official name of the state) was an independent state from the 13th century until 1569, when the federation with Poland was created. People of different nationalities inhabited the country; the majority of the population comprised East Slavs (Ruthenians) and Balts (Lithuanians and Samogitians)[1]. In addition, there were Jews, Poles, Lithuanian Tartars and Germans. The political elite consisted mostly of the Lithuanian (both Lithuanian and Samogitian) and Ruthenian nobility in an ethnical sense, although both groups were known from the 16th century as the "Lithuanians". This term had a political not ethnical meaning. According to the law (Statutes of the GDL) only Lithuanian, Ruthenian and Samogitian nobles by origin could take the state positions in the GDL [2]. Belarusian lands formed the largest part of the GDL. The official language was Ruthenian/Belarusian [3]. This means that historical Lithuania is different from present-day ethnic Republic of Lithuania and was, speaking in present-day terms, a Lithuanian-Belarusian state [4]. The Swedish scientists of the early modern period understood the multiethnic character of the Grand Lithuanian nation quite well. For example, Johan Botvidius, the bishop of Link?ping, wrote in one his work that: "Slavonic is the common language for Croatians, Bohemians, Dalmatians, Poles, Lithuanians, Muscovites, Ruthenians"[5].

In the second half of the 17th century the GDL consisted of 8 palatines and several districts. Every palatinate and district had its own assembly of the nobility.

The Lithuanian and Samogitian ethnical territory was:

- Vilnia palatinate (Vilnia, Ukmerge/Vilkamir districts)

- Troki palatinate (Troki, Kaunas, Upyt? districts)

- Samogitia as an autonomous prefecture.

The mixed Lithuanian-Ruthenian ethnical territory was:

- Vilnia palatinate (Braslau and Ashmiany districts)

- Navahradak palatinate (Navahradak and Slonim districts).

- Troki palatinate (Hrodna and Lida districts).

The Ruthenian ethnical territory was:

- Minsk palatinate (Minsk and Rechitsa districts)

- Navahradak palatinate (Vaukavysk district)

- Polatsk palatinate (Polatsk district)

- Vitsebsk palatinate (Vitsebsk and Orsha district)

- Brest palatinate (Brest and Pinsk district)

- Mstislau palatinate (Mstsislau district).

At the same time the territory of the GDL consisted of four geographical provinces: "Lithuania" (Vilnia, Troki, Navahradak and Minsk palatinates), "Samogitia", "Belarus" (Polatsk, Vitsebsk and Mstsislau palatinates) and "Polesia" (Brest palatinate). The capital Vilnius/Vilna/Vilne/Wilno/Wilda was a multicultural city [6]. For example, in 1596 in Vilnia City had 15 Orthodox Ruthenian churches, 14 Catholic churches, one Lutheran and two Calvinist churches and several synagogues [7]. Vilnia was the centre of Lithuanian, Ruthenian, Polish, Jewish and German culture in the GDL.

In 1569, the GDL and the Kingdom of Poland established a new united state - the Commonwealth of both nations, today known as a Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The bonds, which connected both states, were not so strong: Poland and the GDL had a jointly elected ruler and a common assembly (the sejm). The remaining institutions: the army, the treasury, finances, court, functioned separately to ensure independence [8]. There were also differences in official language (in the GDL was the Ruthenian in Cyrillic script), and law (the 1588 Lithuanian Statute). But the main difference was the religion of political elite. The problem was aggravated by the fact that on the eve of the unification the GDL became a Protestant country. The majority of its ruling council- "rada" was made up of Protestants. Out of 28 members: 17 were Protestants, 9- Orthodox and only 2-Catholics (both of them are bishops) [9]. At that time the nobility of the GDL had a very strong separate political identity, opposed to that of the Polish elite. One of the aims of the Union of 1569 in Lublin was the creation of united political nation, which would consist of the Polish, Grand Lithuanian, Ukrainian and German Livonian nobility.

So, the task of integration of the GDL to a Polish mostly Catholic state was the aim of the Counter-Reformation, which means Polonization via Catholization of the non-Catholic nobility. This process started after 1569. However, the non-Catholic elite during the first half of the 17th century expressed a very strong anti-Polish feeling. In 1636, Janusz Radziwi?? said in Warsaw: "I believe that there will be a time when we will throw out all Poles of the windows" [10]. It was some kind of reaction on the famous Prague defenestrating of 1618, when the Czech Protestant nobles throw out of the windows the German Catholic Habsburg governors.


Dissidents of the GDL.
Historically, Ruthenians from the 11th century belonged to the Greek-Orthodox Church and Lithuanians from the end of 14th century were Roman Catholics. So, from 15th century there were two parts of the political elite: Orthodox and Catholics [11]. The noble assembly consisted of these two parts. There was a principle in the preparing of the Lithuanian Statute 1529, 1566, which said that 50 per cent of the members of low commission had to be Catholics, 50 per cent - Orthodox. According to the law in the towns situated in the mixed zone of the GDL, for example Vilnia, Hrodna, 50 per cent of civil authorities were Catholic, and 50 per cent Orthodox.

Religious dissidents such as the Bohemians (Hieronymus of Prague) visited the GDL for the first time in 1420. From 1523 to 1546 twenty Grand Duchy young magnates listened to lectures by Martin Luther in the University of Wittenberg [12]. In 1553 the duke Mikolaj Radziwill "Niger" converted from Catholicism to Lutheranism and founded one of the first Lutheran parishes in Brest. In 1555 the second Protestant parish was founded in Zaslau by the duke Jury Olelkowicz, who converted from Orthodoxy to Calvinism. Protestantism became extremely popular among the Orthodox gentry of Belarus [13]. At the same time lots of Protestant churches were founded in Catholic Samogitia. In 1562 Simon Budny, supported by the Radziwill family, published in Niasvizh a Lutheran Catechism in Ruthenian. In 1563, a Protestant Bible was printed in Brest in Polish, sponsored by Radziwill's clan. In 1572, an Arian Bible was published in Polish, in Niasvizh. In the same time a Calvinist nobleman Vasil Ciapinski from Polatsk published the New Testament in Ruthenian. In 1653, the first Calvinist Catechism was published in Kedainiai, in the Lithuanian language; the Radziwill's family also supported this edition [14].

The Protestant Church in the GDL was formally established as a Jednota Litewska (Lithuanian Unity) in Vilnia, in 1578. It was divided into two parts: the Major Church (the Calvinists) and the Minor Church (Lithuanian Brethren or Arians). The Lithuanian Unity also supported about 15 Lutheran parishes of the GDL. The Protestant Unity consisted of 6 districts: three of them were on the present-day Lithuanian territory and three of them on the Belarusian area [15].

In 1563, under pressure from Protestant magnates, King Sigismund August signed a decree about full equality of political and other rights of the Protestant nobility with Catholic and Orthodox szlachta (nobility) [16]. In 1588, a new edition of the Statute of the GDL was adopted. Article 3, chapter 3 "About preservation of the peace and harmony of all our citizens in spite of different understanding of Christianity and of church ceremony", approved full equality and protection of all Christian faiths. The senators referred to the sad experience of religious wars in Western Europe (e.g. massacre of St. Bartholomew day in France) and guaranteed protection for all dissidents in the GDL according to the Warsaw Confederation act of 1573:

In our country there exist large difference in understanding of Christianity we want to prevent any conflicts and wars between people, which we so clearly observe in other kingdoms. Therefore, we have decided for this reason to forever keep the peace in the country and not spill the human blood in our churches [17].

In 1569, the Union of Lublin was contracted; at the same year Jesuits came from Poland to the GDL and founded a first college in Vilnia. Only on Belarusian lands Jesuits opened in 1585 the college in Polatsk, in 1586 in Niasvizh, in 1616 - Orsha, in 1623-Brest, in 1625 - Hrodna, in 1645-Minsk, in 1648-Vitsebsk. The Counter-Reformation started. The main aims were the Catholization of the non-Catholic part of the political elite. Alarmed by the mass conversion of the Orthodox nobility to Protestant denominations the Orthodox Church hierarchy opted for Union with the Roman Catholic Church and created in 1596 in Brest the new Uniate (Greek-Catholic) Church. King Sigismund III Vasa, the Jesuits and the Catholic elite supported this action. As a result, after losing bishops the Orthodox Church was outside the law. All Orthodox churches had to convert into Greek-Catholic ones. But, the Protestant and Orthodox nobility were against this action of Warsaw. At the same time they organized an alternative anti-union Greek-Orthodox church assembly in Brest, lead by an Arian nobleman named Demean Hulewicz, in a building, which belonged to the Calvinist gentry Malcher Rajski [18]. In 1599, the political alliance between Protestants and the anti-union Greek-Orthodox nobility was proclaimed in Vilnia [19]. Protestants and the Greek-Orthodox elite even tried to create a new Protestant-Orthodox Unity, but it was not so easy [20]. Any way if in the 16th century Protestants considered Orthodoxy to be idol worshiping, in the 17th century they changed this opinion absolutely and cooperated with them. From the Grand Lithuanian Protestants point of view Orthodoxy became an equal faith, which had an alternative way to the Heaven [21].

The reaction of the Catholics was as follows: the propaganda against Protestants and Orthodox started immediately after 1596-1599. It was clear to an ordinary Greek-Catholic priest that "The antichrist would come from the heretical Protestant countries." [22] Hatred towards Protestants among the Catholic nobility and townspeople led to attacks on their temples: Vilnia -1574, 1611, Polatsk-1632, and Navahradak-1638.

In 1610-1620, a considerable number of Protestant and Orthodox churches were destroyed. As a result of pro-Catholic politics of Sigismund III Vasa all members of the senate from the GDL side were Catholics in 1632 [23].

Due only to the resistance of the Protestant and Orthodox nobility it was possible to change this policy. The new king W?adis?aw IV Vasa legalized again the Greek-Orthodox Church in 1633, backed some non-Catholic magnates to senate and stopped further attacks on Protestants temples.

At that time the Protestant and Orthodox elite the last non-Catholic senators of Commonwealth became the defenders of dissidents. The Calvinists were: Janusz Radziwi?? (1612-1655), the Grand Hetman and palatine of Vilnia; Boguslaw Radziwill (1620-1669), the duke of Slutsk; Jan Sosnowski (? -1660), the castellan of Polatsk; Tomasz Kossakowski (? -1664), the castellan of Vitsebsk.

The Greek-Orthodox were: Alexander Oginski (1585-1667), the governor of Minsk and then the castellan of Troki, and his brother Samuel Oginski (1595-1657); Bohdan Statkiewicz (? -1651), the castellan of Mstsislau; and his brother Samuel Statkiewicz, the castellan of Navahradak. There were strong relations between Protestant and Orthodox magnates, particularly the Radziwill and Oginski clans [24]. The non-Catholics senators of Commonwealth supported all Protestant and Orthodox centres and even founded several new centres [25]. The Ruthenian nobles together with burghers were very active members of the Orthodox brotherhoods in Vilnia, Polatsk, Mahiliou, Slutsk and Orsha.

Belarusian Orthodox centres in the GDL during the 17th century were situated in:

- Vilnia: a monastery of the Holy Spirit, a brotherhood, school, a printing house) patronized by the Radziwill and Oginski families.

- Mahiliou: bishop's residence, an orthodox brotherhood, a school, a monastery, a printing house, supported by Oginski and Statkiewicz families.

- Orsha: an orthodox brotherhood, a school, a monastery, a printing house, supported by the Statkiewicz family.

- Slutsk: an orthodox brotherhood and a school, supported by Boguslaw Radziwill.

Lithuanian Protestant centres supported by Janusz Radziwill were situated in:

- Vilnia: a Protestant school, and the Cathedral.

- Kedainiai: a Protestant gymnasium, a printing house, and the Lutheran and Calvinist churches.

- Birzai: a Protestant school, and the Calvinist and the Lutheran churches.

The dissident centre on the Belarusian soil was Slutsk. This town belonged to Boguslaw Radziwill. It was the richest private town with a population of about 7000 inhabitants. When between 1596 and 1632 the Orthodox Church in the Commonwealth was illegal, in Slutsk there existed 14 Orthodox churches, two Calvinist churches, one Lutheran church, and Catholic only one.

Under Janusz Radziwill's palatine's rule, in metropolitan Vilnia the mayors of the City were two dissidents: a German merchant Lutheran Jacob Gibel and a Ruthenian merchant Prokop Dorofiewicz [26]. At the same time the mayor of Slutsk was the Orthodox merchant Omelian Tysziewicz and the commandant of the city was the Calvinist, Scot William Paterson [27].

The contribution of Protestant and Orthodox magnates to the development of old Lithuanian and Belarusian culture was significant. They sponsored cultural centres, patronized numerous dissident scholars and gave money for the publication of Lithuanian and Belarusian-language books. In the first half of the 17th century with mostly non-Catholic magnates support 120 Ruthenian and about 40 Lithuanian books were published. At the same time about 400 books were published in Polish. Thus, books in the Lithuanian and Ruthenian languages comprised 40 per cent of the Polish editions. So, during the first half of the 17th century there were more or less favourable conditions for the educated part of the dissidents, and there was no imminent reason for emigration. An absolutely different situation was seen in the second half of the 17th century. After all the magnates became Catholics (1667) only 20 books were printed in the Lithuanian and Belarusian languages together. From 1654 to 1691 there was no edition in Ruthenian at all. In 1687 because of the repression of the Catholic Church the last Protestant printing house in Slutsk was closed. Despite the war the amount of Polish books remained at level of 400 editions. Thus books in the Lithuanian and Belarusian languages comprised only 5 per cent of the Polish editions [28]. In 1660-1680s the Polish language rapidly did to replace the Ruthenian one from the official records [29].

From 1622 to 1710 the Commonwealth of both nations and Sweden have a common boundary line via the territory of the modern southern Latvia. If Poland has its own seaport Gda?sk/Danzig, the GDL has only one direct trade route to the Baltic and Western Europe. At that time it was through Swedish Riga. Riga was the biggest city of the Kingdom of Sweden and played an important role in the development of the Grand Duchy economy. The merchants from the GDL delivered honey, furs, animal skins, there and along the Daugava / Dzvina to Riga. Metal goods, copper, faience, the "Swedish marble" were imported from Sweden. The business of merchants and more importantly, the trade of grain from gentry's estates depended totally on the Swedish market. Thus, during the first Northern war (1600-1629) between the Commonwealth and Sweden the ruling class of the GDL signed in Baldenmuize in 1627 the separate agreement with Sweden aimed against the Polish foreign policy [30].

When in 1654 the war started between the Commonwealth and Russia, the Protestant nobility tried to establish relations with Sweden. The Grand Hetman Janusz Radziwi?? and his cousin Bogus?aw Radziwi?? supported by Protestants nobility, asked the Swedish king Charles X to help the GDL politically to break away from Poland. The Swedish Army occupied the western part of the GDL (present day Lithuania and Northwest Belarus). In October 20, 1655, the union of Kedainiai was signed, according to which the GDL broke its relations with Poland and was united with Protestant Sweden into a federal state [31]. At the same time the greatest Ruthenian magnates Samuel Statkiewicz, Jan Oginski, Samuel Oginski and Simon Oginski[32] came under Russian rule [33].

It was not by accident that the Ruthenian merchants from Vilnia ("ryska kopman av Vilna") supported the alliance of the GDL and Sweden. In July 1655 they helped to establish contact between the governor of Livonia Magnus De la Gardie and Janush Radziwill through contacts with their Riga partners [34]. Orthodox merchants provided the Swedish king Charles X with finances [35]; three of them signed the union with Sweden.

In turn, from the up nobility who signed the Kedainiai union, an absolute majority were dissidents. The Protestants were: Janush Radziwill, a Grand Hetman of the GDL; German Mikolaj Korff, a castellan of Cesis/Wenden; Eustach Kierdei, a castellan of Samogitia; Jan Merzynski, a head of the noble assembly of the Ukmerge district; Jan Despot-Zienovicz, a head of the noble assembly of the Ashmiany district; Teofil Dunin-Raecki, a head of the noble assembly of the Lida district; Jan Chrapowicki, an ambassador of the Vitsebsk district, Samuel Puciata a head of the noble assembly of the Braslau district and others [36]. In 1655-1656, out of 16 local members of the Swedish Council of the part of the Grand Duchy 11 were Protestants [37].

The Commonwealth wars with Russia and Sweden (1654-1667) became a catastrophe for the GDL. The country lost 48,4 per cent of its population. In the eastern Belarusian part this number reached 72 per cent [38]. Thousands people were violently moved to Russia. Only in Moscow in the second half of the 17th century about 15 per cent of the population was Belarusian [39]. The Russian troops seized all Cyrillic printing houses from the GDL and destroyed several Protestant religious and cultural centres.

Moreover these wars marked the end of the power of the Protestant and Orthodox elite in the GDL. The Protestants and Orthodox could be accused of collaboration with the two main enemies of Poland: Sweden and Russia. After these wars a strong anti-Protestant and anti-Orthodox propaganda campaign started. The Catholic and a Greek-Catholic Church treated the Swedish and Russian invasion as God's revenge for allowing the Protestants and Orthodox to live calmly. The image of the Grand Duchy Protestants in the Polish culture of the 17-18 centuries was that of traitors [40]. Eventually most of the Protestant and Orthodox nobility converted to Catholicism, also taking with them the parishes situated on their lands, as well as many of their subjects.

The most radical part of the Protestants, the Arians in 1658 was forced either to accept Roman Catholicism or be banished from the country [41]. The most active Arians migrated to K?nigsberg, where Boguslaw Radziwill became the Governor of East Prussia. Another part of them migrated to Amsterdam where they published together with the Polish Brethren "Bibliotheca fratrum polonorum", a monumental collection of the history of the movement. Some of them left Holland and reached America, where they founded the Unitarian Church [42]. For example, in 1659 Alexander Carolius Curtius, a former alumnus at Kedainiai Protestant gymnasium was appointed schoolmaster of the very first school at New York [43].

The last Protestant senators Jan Sosnowski and Tomasz Kossakowski died between 1660-1664. In 1667, the Orthodox senator Alexander Oginski died. He was last senator in the history of the Commonwealth who was not a Catholic. In 1669, the last Orthodox magnate Marcjan Oginski forced to convert to Catholicism. He had to choose between Roman Catholic and Greek-Catholic Church. It was an obligatory requirement of authorities and the main condition for him to continue the political career [44].

Without patrons the Protestant and Orthodox churches were subject to attacks by Catholics. For example, more than half parishes of the Calvinist Church in "Belarusian" district (Polatsk, Vitsebsk, Mahiliou, Shatsk, Halauchyn, Sakolnia, and Serwech) were destroyed in the 1670s [45]. The culmination of reprisals was the total destruction of the Calvinist cathedral in Vilnia in 1682 [46]. At the end of the 16th century in the GDL there were ca 150 Protestant parishes, in 1655-110 Protestant parishes, in 1696 - only 46 Protestant parishes [47].

From 1678 and for more than 10 years the only remaining Orthodox province in the GDL was without any bishop at all [48]. During the second half of the 17th century the Protestant and Orthodox nobility and burghers gradually attained the status of insignificant religious minority. The Counter-Reformation in the GDL was successful [49]. At the same time about 15 Calvinist students from the GDL studied in the universities of Western Europe: four persons at Leiden University; three at Marburg University; two at the University of Frankfurt am Oder; and two at the Berlin Joachimstal gymnasium. Most of them could not return [50].

Under these conditions for many non-Catholic intellectuals had only two possibilities: either to accept Catholicism or to leave the country. Many of them chose emigration. Protestants moved to the West and the Orthodox to the only Orthodox country in Europe- Russia. Some Ruthenian Protestants also chose Russia.

East Prussia - Konigsberg/Kaliningrad

A large Grand Duchy Protestant community created in the mid-17th century in Prussia existed until 1767 when religious freedom was again proclaimed in the Commonwealth and some Protestants returned historical home. All that time K?nigsberg had a Calvinist church, which belonged to the Lithuanian Unity and used Polish language as a lingua franca, and also a printing house [51]. In the second half of the 17th century the most famous members of the community were the following:

Boguslaw Radziwill, a duke of Slutsk, one of the main leaders of the Grand Duchy dissidents. He was baptised in the Lutheran church and had German, Lithuanian and Ruthenian roots. His mother was Elisabeth Sofia Hohenzollern. The Swedish King Charles X, the Great Elector of Prussia Friedrich Wilhelm and the French King Louis XIII were his relatives. But he was not even a senator of the GDL, because he was Protestant. As a result he was dissatisfied with the rule of king Ian Kazimierz Vasa and gave powerful help to the Swedes in 1655-1657. From 1659 to 1669 he served his relative the Great Elector of Friedrich Wilhelm as the Governor of East Prussia. As a result of the Radziwill policy Slutsk was the only big city of the GDL, which Russian troops, could not take during the war 1654-1667. He supported the Slutsk Protestant gymnasium founded in 1617, said to be the best gymnasium in Belarus, which existed until 1914. He collected a large library, which included a unique manuscript, the so-called "Radziwill Chronicle", one of the oldest East Slavonic chronicles. His book's collection was donated to the University of Konigsberg. He was an outstanding political figure in the history of the GDL and Prussia [52].

Samuel Przypkowski (1592-1670), a major Arians figure. He was Polish by birth. He studied in Holland (Leiden University). In 1628 in Holland he published a book in Latin "A discourse concerning the Peace and Concord of the Church", which concerned the unity between Arians, Calvinists and Lutherans. This book translated into English by John Dury, who was a minister of the English Merchants Company at Elblong. Samuel Przypkowski returned to Poland in the 1630s. After the ruin of Rakow - the Polish radical Protestant centre he moved to the GDL. He lived in the GDL from 1638 to 1659. Przypkowski collaborated with Boguslaw Radziwill, and after the banishment of Arians he had to migrate to Prussia where he became secretary to the Elector's governor. In Prussia he continued to keep contact with Arians and Dutch Protestants. There are many letters by Samuel Przypkowski sent from Konigsberg to Holland, for example to pastor John Naeranus and Jan van der Neer. He also published an apology defending Janusz Radziwill against the charge of treason during the Lesser Northern war with Sweden and later wrote an apology of Boguslaw Radziwill [53]. Przypkowski's theological work constitutes the final volume of the "Bibliotheca fratrum polonorum" published in Amsterdam [54].

Josef Naronowicz-Naron'ski (? -1678), an outstanding cartographer of Belarus, Lithuania and Prussia, an engineer and historian. He studied at the Calvinist gymnasium in Kedainiai and, possibly, in Holland. From 1644 Naronowicz-Naron'ski was in the service of Janusz Radziwill. In 1644-1653 he made plans for Radziwill's towns of Belarus and Lithuania [55]. In 1650 he wrote "The art of mathematical sciences", devoted to optics, geometry and military fortification. After Janusz Radziwill's death, Naronowicz-Naron'ski had to migrate to Prussia to Boguslaw Radziwill. In Prussia he made "The general map of East Prussia" [56]. He developed a project to connect the rivers Neman and Pregolja, which would provide the GDL with a direct trade route to Prussia and the other Baltic-sea countries. In 1665 Naronowicz-Naron'ski wrote "The art of artillery". In 1670 he wrote the history of the Commonwealth "The true story of the monarchy of Skiffs and Sarmats". Unfortunately the majority of his works have not survived. He died in Konigsberg in 1678 [57].

England-London

Samuel Boguslaw Chylinski (1631-1668). Samuel Chylinski was born in Samogitia. The son of a Calvinist pastor. In 1653, he entered Kedainiai Calvinist gymnasium. In 1654 Samuel Chylinski received a scholarship for theology studies abroad and started them at the University of Franeker.

He could not return home, because the Catholics had destroyed the Calvinist church in his native town. In 1657 he departed for London and started studies at the University of Oxford. In the same year (22, October) he started to translate the Bible into Lithuanian, using mainly the Dutch Bible. In 1659 he finished the translation. In 1660 he started to print his translation in London. In 1661 he returned to Lithuania and reported his work to the Calvinist assembly. The work was evaluated negatively and in 1662 the printing of the Bible stopped. He died in poverty in London. Today there are three remaining copies of his incomplete Bible (from the book of Genesis to Psalm 40). In 1958 the text was finally published in Poland [58].

Jan Krainski (1625-1685), a Calvinist priest and historian of the Calvinist Church of the GDL. He was the son of the Czech priest Valent Gratian - a Calvinist who had emigrated from Bohemia after the battle of White Mountain in 1620. By 1643 Krainski changed his name. He studied in Holland. From 1654 he worked as a teacher in the new Calvinist school in Zabludava (Hrodna district). From 1658 he was the personal priest of Boguslaw Radziwill. Between 1660-1666 he lived in exile in London. He got "a letter of recommendation" from Boguslaw Radziwill. In 1661 Krainski had a meeting with the English king Charles II. During the meeting Krainski made an official request to the king to allow the collecting of money in England to help the Grand Duchy Calvinist Church. As a result, Krainski received "Letters Patent" from the king and began fund raising in England and Wales [59]. In London Krainski had a conflict with the other Lithuanian Calvinist Samuel Chylinski, about the money collected by Krainski. Chylinski wanted to spend all money on printing his Bible in Lithuanian in London. After the end of the war in 1667 Krainski returned home and served as a priest in Orla (nowadays in Poland). Krainski is the author of a unique historical sketch of the Grand Duchy Calvinist Church, published in 1661 in London in English "A relation of the distressed state of the church of Christ professing the protestant religion in the Great Dukedom of Lithuania presented to the view of all compassionate Christians."[60]

Holland-Amsterdam

Florian Cricius (? - after 1660) is the most outstanding protestant philosopher in the Commonwealth during the 17th century. He was a native of Samogitia, and studied at the University of Konigsberg. Later as a victim of intolerance he moved from the GDL to Lutheran Gdan'sk. He worked in Gdan'sk as a medical doctor. However, according to the decision of the Gdan'sk Council he was banished as an Arian from the city. His life is mostly unknown. In 1657 he visited Moravian Arians in Hungary. At the same time to Amsterdam throw Courland came a lot of Grand Duchy Protestants among them Jan Starkius, who was for twenty-four years rector of the Kedainiai Protestant gymnasium. Perhaps for this reason after 1657 Florian Cricius came to Amsterdam and spent the rest of his life in this city. Here Czech Johann Amos Comenius, the main figure in Protestant intellectual's circles of Europe took care about Jan Starkius. Comenius knew many of Grand Duchy Protestants personally[61] and thus he helped them to start a new life in emigration [62]. In Amsterdam Florian Cricius wrote some works not only about philosophy but also about astronomy and the mathematical sciences [63].

Illa Kopiewicz (1651-1714), the largest publisher of Slavonic books in Western Europe, a translator, and an author of the modern version of the Cyrillic alphabet. Kopiewicz was born into a Ruthenian Calvinist noble family. In 1660, at the age of 9 he was taken into captivity by Russian troops and was taken to Moscow where he learned Russian (Moscow dialect).

After the end of war with Russia Kopiewicz returned to his homeland. However, the Catholic Church occupied his estate and property. He was accused of collaboration with Russia. In 1667 Kopiewicz migrated to Holland. He studied at the University of Amsterdam and then at the University of Copenhagen. Around 1682 he became a pastor in Amsterdam. At the same time his brother Boguslaw Kopiewicz served as the Calvinist priest in Belarusian Kojdanava [64].

A casual meeting with Russian tsar Peter the Great in Amsterdam in 1697 changed the life of Kopiewicz. As a specialist in Latin, German, Dutch, Polish, Ruthenian and especially Russian, Peter the Great asked him to organize the Russian printing house in Amsterdam and to print scientific books for Russia. Kopiewicz left the clergy and organized the publishing of Russians books in Amsterdam in the printing house of Jan Tessing, and later in his own printing houses in Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Berlin. In total, between 1698-1706, Kopiewicz prepared and issued about twenty books in Russian and Church Slavonic languages on astronomy, mathematics, military art and the art of shipbuilding. It comprised 30 per cent of all Russian books issued during that period. Kopiewicz developed a new script for his books, which was later given the name "grazhdanka". He changed the format of the Cyrillic script. The new script had simplified and clear configuration of letters and essentially differed from the ancient Church Slavonic alphabet used earlier. The alphabet was created on the basis of the fonts of Ruthenian first printer Frantsisk Skaryna. Kopiewicz's version of the script is used today by Belarus, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Russia, Serbia - Monte Negro, and Ukraine. It is interesting that Kopiewicz corresponded with Gotfrid Leibniz. During the Great Northern war Kopiewicz in 1707 accepted Russian citizenship and moved to Moscow where he served as a state translator. He died in Moscow.

Russia-Moscow

Simon Polatski (Samuel Petrowski-Sitnianovicz, 1629-1680), an outstanding Belarusian and Russian writer. He is a founder of modern Russian poetry. He belonged to one of the richest merchant family in Polatsk and was Orthodox by birth. From 1643 he studied theology in Kyiv Greek-Orthodox College, the only Orthodox high school in the Commonwealth. About 1650 he entered the Vilnia Jesuit Academy, where Polatski had to adopt Greek-Catholicism. During the Lithuanian period Polatski wrote in Ruthenian, Polish and Latin. At that time he was absolutely loyal to the Commonwealth. For instance, there has been recently discovered a poem-epitaph, belonging to Polatski in which the Russian troops are treated negatively [65]. Polatski is the author of two "Swedish poems" concerning Charles X: "The King looks for his Swedish officers" and "Despair of the Swedish king" (1657).

When the war with Russia started Polatski returned to his native town and converted to Orthodoxy again. In Polatsk he organized the solemn meetings of the Russian tsar Alexej Mikhailovich, in 1656 and 1660. In 1664 Polatski moved to Moscow where he became one of the main ideologists of the unification of all-Orthodox lands under Russia control and the teacher of Latin and Polish at the Russian secret police ("prikaz tajnykh del"). In 1667 he became the personal teacher of the children of the Russian tsar Aleksei Mikhailovich. In Russia Polatski started to write in Church Slavonic and Russian. He wrote several poems and plays for the first Russian theatre. In 1678 he organized the printing house in the Kremlin. In 1680 he created a project to found the first college in Russia "The Slavonic-Greek-Latin Academy". Actually he is one of the primary figures in Russian literature from the 17th century [66].

Jan Manuel Byaloboczky (about 1650- after 1700), a writer and translator of literature of Belarus and Russia in the late 17th century. He was born in Slutsk. After he graduated from the Slutsk Calvinist gymnasium he studied at Protestant school in Torun', then in France. He came back to the GDL around 1670 and started to serve as a priest in the Slutsk Calvinist Church. His sermons became very popular among the people. A result of this was his persecution by Jesuits. Byaloboczki had to move to Mahiliou, the centre of Orthodoxy and the residence of the only Greek-Orthodox bishop. He wanted to create a gymnasium in Mahiliou, but he was unsuccessful. From Mahiliou he had to move to Smolensk, which from 1667 belonged to Russia. But again Jesuits wrote to former Grand Duchy nobility in Russian Smolensk that they were too afraid of the priest Jan Byloboczky, because he wanted to open "a heretical school" [67].

In 1681, Jan Byloboczky had to move to Moscow and converted to Orthodoxy, and took a new name Andrei and worked at the ministry of foreign affaires (posol'skii prikaz) as an interpreter from Latin, Polish and Ruthenian languages. Later he tried to be a teacher at the first European school in Russia, so called "Slavonic-Greek-Latin Academy", which was promoted by another emigrant Simon Polatski, but unsuccessfully. In 1685 he wrote the philosophical work "A short discussion between Kindness and Truth". He also translated to Belarusian version of Church Slavonic the famous work of Thomas a Kempis "De imitatione Christi". Between 1686-1690 he lived in China as a member of the Russian diplomatic mission. He is known in Russian literature as the author of the first long religious poem "Pentateugum or five short stories on the four main things in human life" written in Ruthenian. In 1698-99, he also translated from Latin to Church Slavonic language the famous medieval philosophic, cabbalistic and alchemic book "Ars Magna" written by Raimundus Lullius [68]. He died in Moscow [69].

Simon Hutowski (? - 1685), the designer of the first Russian press for musical books. He was an Orthodox by birth. Probably Russians captured him from or he emigrated by his own will after the war 1654-1667. In Moscow, Hutowski served as the first state master of organs. He designed the first organ in Russia. Among his works was the organ in the Kremlin and in houses of "European" boyars Artamon Matveev and Nikolai Romanov. He was a participant in the Russian embassy to Iran (1662-1664). He presented there an organ as a gift of the Russian tsar Alexej Mikhailovich to Persian shah Abbas II. It was one of the first organs in Asia. In 1677 he designed the first Russian press for musical books. Two of his sons Ivan and Samuel became known masters of organ in Russia [70].

Leon Tarasewicz (1650-1710), an outstanding artist, an engraver of Belarus, Lithuania, Ukraine and Russia. He was born in the small Belarusian town of Hlusk in an Orthodox family. The master of this town was Prince Alexander-Hillary Polubinski the Grand Marshall of Lithuania. His father, the Ruthenian magnate Alexander Polubinski was a great patron of the Greek-Orthodox Church, but Alexander-Hillary Polubinski converted to Catholicism because of political reasons. However he started to take care about two young Orthodox artists Leon and his brother Alexander, who served him. Polubinski sent Tarasewicz to Augsburg to the workshop of the brothers Cilian. After study Tarasewicz comes back to the GDL and worked under Polubinski's patronage in Vilnia. Here he made a series of portraits of the Grand Duchy magnates and bishops. In 1695 Tarasewicz designed one of the last Ruthenian book in the GDL called "Sluzhebnik", which issued in Vilnia with a portrait of prince Karl Radziwill. When Alexander-Hilary Polubilski died in 1679, Tarasewicz had to leave Catholic Lithuania and moved to the Ukrainian Hetmanate and later to Russia. In 1680-1688 he worked in Kyiv. From 1688 Tarasewicz lived in Moscow where he created a number of portraits of Russian nobles, among them, the portrait of the tsarina Sofia (1688). Today there is only one copy of the portrait kept in Amsterdam, because after Peter's coming to power all copies of this portrait were destroyed. Tarasewicz died in Moscow [71].

Apart from the above mentioned persons in Moscow during the second half of the 17th century there lived several educated emigrants from Belarus: the outstanding composer and the founder of modern Russian Church singing Mikolaj Dylecki; the musicians Ian Kokla and Kazimierz Wasiliewski; the sculptor Klim Michalowicz; the organizer of the first Russian theatre Iwan Podborski; the founder of the first manufacture of a coloured tiles in Russia, Ihnat Maksimowicz and others.

Conclusion

"The brain drain" from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania during the second half of the 17th century happened for a number of reasons. Among them, there was in the first instance, the success of the Counter-Reformation and, as a consequence of this action, the political and financial crisis of the Protestant and Orthodox Churches; the absence of sponsors and influential patrons; the wars of 1654-1667. The destiny of emigrants developed in many ways. Some of them such as Simon Polatski were perfectly assimilated in their new environments; others such as Samuel Chylinski tried to keep a connection with their native land all their life. The departure a lot of outstanding people from the country was a huge loss for the local cultures of the early modern period. The Counter-Reformation finished successful. The Catholicism became the sign of loyalty to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Step by step the nobility and up-class of burghers adopted the Polish cultural and political identity. In 1696 the official language of the GDL claimed Polish. In the 18th century the Grand Duchy of Lithuania became just the Lithuanian province of the huge Polish state. From that time we can say with regards to the creation of the new Polish identity of the multiethnic Grand Duchy nobility that the formula was: "gente lituanus/ruthenus, natione polonus."[72]

From the one hand, as a result of this process most of the Lithuanian, Ruthenian and Samogitian nobility became "strange people" to the Lithuanian and Belarusian national activists of the 19th- early 20th centuries. From the other hand, the lousing of the potential elite during early modern period was one of the many reasons for the late national movements of Belarusians and Lithuanians, which developed only in the second half of the 19th century.

1. During the 19th -beginning of the 20th century two modern national projects (Belarusian and Lithuanian) created on the former soil of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Very small number of the representatives of the historical Grand Duchy gentry took part in both movements.

2. The 1588 Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Ruthenia and Samogitia (chapter 3, article 12), see: Statut Vialikaha kniastva Litouskaha 1588. Minsk. 1989, p.118. The same norm had the 1566 Statute of the GDL, see: Statut Velikogo kniazhestva Litovskogo 1566 goda. Vremennik Imperatorskogo Moskovskogo obchshestva istorii i drevnostej rossijskikh. Moskva, 1855. Kniga 23. Otdel II, p. 217-218.

3. For some present Lithuanian historians the Ruthenian or Belarusian language (the last term started to use from the 17th century) is the dead "Chancery Slavonic language". According to philologists Ruthenian language was alive and similar to popular dialects and modern literary Belarusian language. It was lingua franca for the multiethnic nobility of the GDL, native vernacular for the Ruthenian gentry, the main language of the old Belarusian literature and the GDL official language according to the 1588 Statute (chapter 4, article 1). See more: Lazutka, Stanislovas. Gudaviñius, Edvardas. 1983. Pervyi Litovskij Statut. Paleograficheskij i tekstologicheskij analiz spiskov. Volume.1. Vilnia, p. 181; Lazutka, Stanislovas. 1997. Jezyk Statutow Litewskich i Metryki Litewskiej. Lithuania, 1-2 (22-23), p. 26-33; Sviazhynski, Uladzimir. 2001. Prablema identyfikacyi aficyjnaj movy Vialikaha kniastva Litouskaha. Metriciana. Dasliedavanni i materyjaly Metryki Vialikaha kniastva Litouskaha. Volume 1. Minsk. Available from Internet: http://starbel.narod.ru/metr1/metr1_sviaz.htm

4. See more: Kraucevic, Alexander. 2000. Stvarennie Vialikaha kniastva Litouskaha. Rzeszow; the pioneering work on this subject in English: Snyder Timothy. 2003. The reconstruction of Nations. Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, 1569-1999. New Haven - London, p. 13-102.

5. Bothvidi, Johannes Gothos. 1620. Theses de qvaestione utrum Muschovitae sint Christiani. Holmiae (Stockholm), p. 3.

6. In these papers I used modern Lithuanian and Belarusian geographical names (e.g. Vilnia, not typical historical Vilna, Belarusian Vilnia, Jewish Vilne or Polish Wilno). However, I used historical surnames and names of the Grand Duchy nobility and other famous people, which are different from modern Lithuanian or Belarusian spelling. At that time the name and surname of every person known in at list in three spelling forms: Polish, Ruthenian (Cyrillic) and Latin. Here I prefer the Polish version.

7. Kotljarchuk, Andrej. 1998. Pravoslavnaja tserkov' v Velikom kniazhestve Litovskom. Vestnik Belorusskogo pravoslavnogo ekzarkhata. V.1. Minsk, p. 7-25.

8. Kiaupiene, Jurate. 1997. The Grand Duchy of Lithuania in East Central Europe or once again about the Lithuanian-Polish Union. Lithuanian Historical Studies. V. 2. Vilnius, p. 68.

9. Ivanova, Ludmila. 1997. Refarmacyjny rukh na Bielarusi. Bielaruski histaryczny czasopis. No 2., p. 58.

10. Kotlubaj, Edward. 1859. Zycie Janusza Radziwilla s. Pan'stwa Rzymskiego Xiazecia na Birzach i Dubinkach. Wilno -Witebsk, p. 49.

11. See: Varonin, Vasil. 1998. Political system of Polatsk voivodship in the first half of the 16th century. Belarusian Historical Review. V.5. Fascicle 1 (8). Minsk, p. 27-66.

12. Mallek, Jerzy. 1996. Polscy i litewscy studenci na uniwersytecie krolewieckim. Polska i jej wschodni sasiedzi od sredniowiecza po wspolczesnosc. Torun', p. 179.

13. Liedke, Marzena. 2002. Szlachta ruska Wielkiego Ksiestwa Litewskiego a Reformacja. Bialoruskie Zeszyty Historyczne. No. 18. Available from Internet: http://kamunikat.net.iig.pl/www/czasopisy/bzh/index.htm

14. For more details concerning the usage of Lithuanian language by the Lithuanian Reformation movement see: Luksaite, Inga. 1970. Apie lietuvisku reformatu knygu plitima Lietuvoje XVII a. Vilnius.

15. Luksaite, Inga. 1999. Reformacija Lietuvos Didziojoje Kunigaikstysteje ir Mazojoje Lietuvoje. Vilnius; Kriegseisen, Wojciech. 1996. Ewangelicy Polscy i Litewscy w Epoce Saskiej. Warszawa, p.100-101.

16. Monumenta Reformationis Polonicae et Lithuanicae. Wilno, 1911. No 4.

17. Statut Vialikaha kniastva Litouskaha 1588. Minsk. 1989, p.112-113.

18. "Lithuanian Metrica". Book 73, p. 508-509. The National Historical Archives of Belarus. KMF 18. Vopis 1. Sprava 73.

19. See the text in: Unia v dokumentakh. Minsk, 1997. No 106, p. 300-307.

20. Degiel, Rafal. 2000. Protestanci i Prawoslawni. Patronat wyznaniowy Radziwillow birzankich nad Cerkwia prawoslawna w ksiestwie Sluckim w XVII w. Warszawa, p. 19.

21. Ibid., p.151.

22. Weingart, Milos. 1926. Manualnik Grigorija Kujbedy z roku 1652. Bratislava, p.14.

23. Lulewicz, Henrik 1977. Sklad wyznaniowy senatorow swieckich Wielkiego Ksiestwa Litewskiego za panowania Wazow. Przeglad Historyczny. T. LXVIII, Z. 3. p. 425-445.

24. Liedke, Marzena. 2001. Suviazi Aginskich z pratestanctvam u perszaj palovie 17 st. Histaryczny Almanach. Volume 5. Hrodna, p. 105-112.

25. Wisner, Henrik. 2000. Janusz Radziwill 1612-1655. Wojewoda wilenski. Hetman wielki litewski. Warszawa.

26. Kosman, Marceli. 1978. Protestanci i Kontrreformacja. Z dziejow tolerancji w Rzeczypospolitej XVI-XVIII wieku. Wroclaw, p. 84.

27. Diegel, op. cit., p. 126; Lauda albo uchwala do obrony porzadku y ozdoby miasta Slucka przez pana JMC Patersona Wilhelma obmyslone: Przyczynek do dziejow Slucka (1654-1660 r.). Przeglad bibliograficzno-archeologiczny. 1881. V.2, p.137-149.

28. Kniha Bielarusi. Zvodny katalah. 1517-1917. Minsk, 1986; Knygos Lietuviu Kalba. T.1. 1547-1861. Vilnius, 1969; Ivanovic, Maria. 1998. XVII a. Lietuvos lenkiskos knygos. Kontrolinis sarasas. Vilnius.

29. Actually this process started immediately after the Union of Lublin. However, in the first half of the 17th century approximately 30 per cent of records of the State Archives of the GDL ("Lithuanian Metrica") were written in Ruthenian.

30. Wisner, Henrik. 2001. Rozejm w Baldenmojzie (1627). Lietuva ir jos kaimynai. Nuo normanu iki Napoleono: straipsniu rinkinys. Vilnius, p. 266-277.

31. Sapoka, Adolfas. 1990 (1938) 1655 metu Kedainiu sutartis arba svedai Lietuvoje 1655-1656 metais. Vilnius; Wasilewski, Tadeusz. 1973. Zdrada Janusza Radziwilla w 1655 r. i jej wyznaniowe motywy. Odrodzenie i Reformacja w Polsce. Volume 18. Warszawa, p.125-147; Englund, Peter. 2000. Den oovervinnerlige. Om den svenska stormaktstiden och en man i dess mitt. Stockholm, p. 200-223.

32. Orthodox Simon Ogi?ski studied in Holland; his wife T. Staakman was Dutch Protestant by birth.

33. Encyklapedyia Historyi Bielarusi. V.1. Minsk, 1993, p.33.

34. A Letter from Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie to Charles X, 22.07.1655. Riga. In: Riksarkivet. Livonica II. Generalguvernor Livland till Kungliga Majestat 1655-1656. A.2 - A.3 opp.

35. The National Historical Archives of Belarus. F.1823. V.1. D. 1. p. 466-466.

36. Konopczynski, Wladyslaw, Lepszy, Kazimierz. 1935. Akta Ugody Kiedanskiej 1655 roku. Ateneum Wilen'skie, R.10, Wilno, p. 173-224; Gronski, Paul. 1928. Le traite Lituano-Suedois de Keidany (18 aout 1655). Revue historique. V.159, p.291-304.

37. Riksarkivet. Militaria. Vol. 1304.

38. Morzy, Jozef. 1965. Kryzys demograficzny na Litwie i Bialorusi w II polowie XVII wieku. Poznan', Table 23.

39. Hryckiewicz, Valancin. 1993. Bielaruska-ruskija pierasielienni u XIV-XVIII st. Spadczyna. V.3., p. 31-38.

40. Libiszowska, Zofia. 1957. Antyszwedzka literatura propagandowa z czasow "Potopu". Polska w okresie drugiej wojny polnocnej 1655-1660. Warszawa, p.481-527

41. Prawa, Konstytucye y Przywileie Krolewstwa Polskiego, Wielkiego Xiestwo Litewskiego y wszystkich prowincyi nalezacych. Volumen Quartum (4). Ab anno 1641 ad annum 1668. 1859. St. Petersburg, p. 238-239.

42. Tazbir, Janusz. 1977. Bracia polscy na wygnaniu. Studia z dziejow emigracji arianskiej. Warszawa.

43. Eriksonas, Linas. 2000. The lost Colony of Scots: Unravelling overseas connections in a Lithuanian town. Ships, Guns and Bibles in the North Sea and the Baltic States c. 1350-c. 1700. East Lothian, p. 180.

44. Lulewicz, op. cit., p. 443

45. Kriegseisen, op. cit., p. 109.

46. Zwolski, Boleslaw. 1937. Zburzenie zboru ewangelicko-reformawanego w Wilnie w 1682. Ateneum Wilen'skie, V.XII. s. 482-514.

47. Sahanovicz, Hienadz. 2002. Narys historyi Bielarusi ad starazhytnasci da kanca XVIII st. Minsk, p. 94; Kriegseisen, op. cit., p. 100-101; Luksaite, Inga. 1999. Reformacija. Lietuvos Didziojoje Kunigaikstysteje ir Mazojoje Lietuvoje. Vilnius, p. 583-591.

48. Sahanovicz, 2002., p. 291-292.

49. Mironowicz, Antoni. 1997. Prawoslawie i unia za panowania Jana Kazimierza. Bialystok; Actually we can say that there was only one Protestant centre remains. It was Slutsk which belonged to the emigrant Boguslaw Radziwill (until 1669) and his daughter Ludwika Szarlotta Radziwill (1667-1695), who lived in Prussia and then finally her husband Karl Philipp Neuburg.

50. Lukaszewicz, Jozef. 1843. Dzieje kosciolow wyznania helweckiego w Litwie. T.2. Poznan', p.171-173.

51. Kriegseisen, op. cit., p. 107.

52. Radziwill, Boguslaw. 1979. Autobiografia. Warszawa; Jacoby, J?rg. 1959. Boguslaus Radziwill: der Statthalter des Grosseen Kurf?rsten in Ostpressen. Marburg - Lahn.

53. Przypkowski, Samuel. Apologia pro illustrissimo ac celsissimo principe Janussio duce Radivilio, Vilnae, b.r (1655?); Przypkowski, Samuel. Ca 1665. Zywot Jasnie Oswieconego Ksiazecia Imci Boguslawa Radziwilla. The National library of Poland, microfilm 3490.

54. Przipoovii, Samuelis. (Przypkowski, Samuel ). 1692. Cogitationes sacrae ad initium Evangelii Matthaei et omnes Epistolas apostolicas. Bibliotheca fratrum polonorum. Volume 10. Eleutheropoli (Amsterdam); see also: Williams, George. 1980. The Polish Brethren. Scholars Press. Part 1., 287-313. Part 2., 659-669.

55. See: Ragauskiene, Raimonda, Karvelis, Deimantas.1997. 1645 m. Juzefo Naronoviciaus-Naronskio Birzu kunigaikstystes zemelapis : Radvilu valdos istorija ir kartografija. Vilnius.

56. Szeliga, Jan. 1997. Rekopismienne mapy Prus Ksiazacych Jozefa Naronowicza-Naronskiego z drugiej polowy XVII wieku. Warszawa.

57. Lietz, Zygmunt. 1969. Naronowicz-Naronski kartograf Prus Ksiazacych. Komunikaty Mazursko-Warminskie. 1 (103).

58. Kot, Stanislaw. 1958. Geneza, tlo historyczne Biblii Litewskiej Chylin'skiego. In: Biblia Litewska Chylin'skiego. Nowy Testament. Wyd. C. Kudzinowski, J. Otrebski. Poznan'; Kavaliunaite, Gina. The Lithuanian Bible translation modelled after Dutch example. Windmill Herald, February 7, 1996.

59. Letters Patent granted by Charles the Second, the king of England, Scotland, France and Ireland to John de Kraino Krainsky, minister of Gods Word, deputy of the National Synod of the Protestants Churches in the Great Dukedom of Lithuania. 12, July 1661. London. Printed by John Bill and Christopher Barker.

60. See the last publishing in Belarusian translation: Krainski, Jan 1993. Relacyja pra harotny stan carkvy Chrystovaj szto vyznaie Pratestanckaiu relihiu u Vialikim kniastvie Litouskim. Spadczyna. No 1., p. 98-103.

61. Skutil, Jan. 1993. Jan Komensky mezi Stockholmem a Lesnem v letech 1642-1650. Acta Musei Moraviae. LXXVIII. p. 195-203.

62. A letter of Jan Comenius to Samuel Hartlib. 3 August 1657, Amsterdam. In: The Hartlib Papers Electronic Edition, Disc 2 (CD ROM). University of Sheffield. Bell and Howell, 1995. Translation from Latin to English 7/61/11A-B.

63. Wilbur, Earl. 1947. A History of Unitarianism. Socinianism and its antecedents. Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard University Press, p. 509-510.

64. Boguslaw Kopiewicz was the spiritual leader of the Ruthenian Calvinists. In 1706 he made a trip to Scotland for fund raising in the help to Protestants and finding of the scholarship at the Edinburgh University for the Grand Duchy Calvinist students.

65. Marzaliuk, Ihar. 2001. Nieviadomaja spadczyna Simiaona Polatskaha. Kraj. Mahiliou, p. 65-71.

66. See: Polotski, Simon. 1990. Virshi. Minsk.

67. Nikolaev, Nikolaj. 1998. Byl li prav v svoiom donose Pavel Negrebetskii. Belorusskii sbornik. Vypusk 1. St. Petersburg, p. 101-106.

68. Gorfunkel, Alexander. 1962. Andrei Belobotskii - poet i filosof kontsa 17- nachala 18 vekov. Trudy Otdela drevnerusskoi literatury. V. 18. Ìoscow - Leningrad.

69. Labyncau, Yury. 1997. Kapievich. Encyklapedyia Historyi Bielarusi. V.4. Minsk, p. 97-98.

70. Volman, Boris. 1953. O nachale notopechataniia v Rossii. Sovetskaia muzyka. No 5.

71. Stepovik, Dmitry.1986. Leontii Tarasewicz i ukrainske mistetstvo barokko. Kyiv.

72. Bumblauskas, Alfredas. 2002. The heritage of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: perspectives of historical consciousness. The peoples of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Vilnius, p. 24 (7-44).