The Cossacks and Religion in Early Modern Ukraine

by Plokhy, Serhii

• ISBN13: 9780199247394
• ISBN10: 0199247390
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-01-17
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The Ukrainian Cossacks, often compared in historical literature to the pirates of the Mediterranean and the frontiersmen of the American West, constituted one of the largest Cossack hosts in the European steppe borderland. They became famous as ferocious warriors, their fighting skillsdeveloped in their religious wars against the Tartars, Turks, Poles, and Russians. By and large the Cossacks were Orthodox Christians, and quite early in their history they adopted a religious ideology in their struggle against those of other faiths. Their acceptance of the Muscovite protectorate in 1654 was also influenced by their religious ideas. In this pioneering study,Serhii Plokhy examines the confessionalization of religious life in the early modern period, and shows how Cossack involvment in the religious struggle between Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicisim helped shape not only Ukrainian but also Russian and Polish cultural identities.

Author Biography

Serhii Plokhy is Associate Director, Peter Jacyk Centre, University of Alberta.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(15)
The Ukrainian Cossacks	16	(49)
The Religious Crisis	65	(35)
Warriors for the Faith	100	(45)
Order, Religion, and Nation	145	(31)
A War of Religion	176	(31)
A Hetman Sent by God	207	(29)
Hetmans and Metropolitans	236	(38)
In Search of an Orthodox Monarch	274	(60)
Conclusions	334	(11)
Bibliography	345	(46)
Index	391