Language The Ruthenian language (
Ruthenian:
ру́скаꙗ мо́ва, русинська мова) was an
exonymic linguonym for a closely related group of
East Slavic linguistic
varieties, particularly those spoken from the 15th to 18th centuries in the
East Slavic regions of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. By the end of the 18th century, they gradually diverged into regional variants, which subsequently developed into the modern
Belarusian (
White Ruthenian),
Ukrainian (
Ruthenian), and
Rusyn (
Carpathian Ruthenian) languages.
Religions With the
conversion of Vladimir the Great began a long history of the dominance of Eastern Orthodoxy in
Ruthenia. The Rus' accepted Christianity in its
Byzantine form at the same time as the Poles accepted it in its
Latin form, Lithuanians largely remained
pagan to the late
Middle Ages before their nobility embraced the Latin form upon the
political union with the Poles. The eastward expansion of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had been facilitated by amicable treaties and inter-marriages of the nobility when faced with the external threat of the
Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'. By the end of the 12th century,
Europe was generally divided into two large areas:
Western Europe with dominance of Catholicism, and
Eastern Europe with Orthodox and Byzantine influences. The border between them was roughly marked by the
Bug River. This placed the area now known as
Belarus in a unique position where these two influences mixed and interfered. The first Latin Church diocese in White Ruthenia was established in
Turaŭ between 1008 and 1013. Catholicism was a traditionally dominant religion of Belarusian
nobility (the
szlachta) and of a large part of the population of western and northwestern parts of Belarus. Before the 14th century, the
Eastern Orthodox Church was dominant in White Ruthenia. The
Union of Krewo in 1385 broke this monopoly and made
Catholicism the religion of the ruling class.
Jogaila, then ruler of the Grand
Duchy of Lithuania, ordered the whole population of Lithuania to convert to Catholicism. One and a half years after the Union of Krewo, the (Vilnius) episcopate was created which received a lot of land from the Lithuanian dukes. By the mid-16th century Catholicism became strong in Lithuania and bordering with it north-west parts of White Ruthenia, but the Orthodox church was still dominant. In the 14th century, Emperor
Andronikos II Palaiologos sanctioned the creation of two additional metropolitan sees: the
Metropolis of Halych (1303) and the
Metropolis of Lithuania (1317). Metropolitan Roman (1355–1362) of Lithuania and Metropolitan
Alexius of Kiev both claimed the see. Both metropolitans travelled to Constantinople to make their appeals in person. In 1356, their cases were heard by a Patriarchal Synod. The
Holy Synod confirmed that Alexis was the Metropolitan of Kiev while Roman was also confirmed in his see at Novogorodek. In 1361, the two sees were formally divided. Shortly afterwards, in the winter of 1361/62, Roman died. From 1362 to 1371, the vacant see of Lithuania–Halych was administered by Alexius. By that point, the Lithuanian metropolis was effectively dissolved. Following the signing of the
Council of Florence, Metropolitan
Isidore of Kiev returned to Moscow in 1441 as a Ruthenian cardinal. He was arrested by the
Grand Duke of Moscow and accused of
apostasy. The Grand Duke deposed Isidore and in 1448 installed own candidate as Metropolitan of Kyiv —
Jonah. This was carried out without the approval of Patriarch
Gregory III of Constantinople. When Isidore died in 1458, he was succeeded as metropolitan in the Patriarchate of Constantinople by
Gregory the Bulgarian. Gregory's canonical territory was the western part of the traditional
Kievan Rus' lands — the states of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the
Kingdom of Poland. The
episcopal seat was in the city of
Navahrudak which is today located in
Belarus. It was later moved to
Vilnius — the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. A
parallel succession to the title ensued between Moscow and Vilnius. The Metropolitans of Kiev are the predecessors of the
Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus' that was formed in the 16th century. The Ruthenian Uniate Church was created in 1595–1596 by those clergy of the
Eastern Orthodox churches who subscribed to the
Union of Brest. In the process, they switched their allegiances
and jurisdiction from the
Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople to the
Holy See. It had a single metropolitan territory — the
Metropolis of Kiev, Galicia and all Ruthenia. The formation of the church led to a high degree of confrontation among Ruthenians, such as the murder of the
hierarch Josaphat Kuntsevych in 1623. Opponents of the union called church members "
Uniates", although Catholic documents no longer use the term due to its perceived negative overtones. In 1620, these dissenters erected their own metropolis — the "
Metropolis of Kyev, Galicia and all Ruthenia". In the 16th century, a crisis began in Christianity: the
Protestant Reformation began in Catholicism and a period of
heresy began in an Orthodox area. From the mid-16th century
Protestant ideas began spreading in the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The first Protestant Church in Belarus was created in Brest by
Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł. Protestantism did not survive due to the
Counter-Reformation in Poland. Both the Catholic Church in the Commonwealth and the Ruthenian Church underwent a period of decay. The Ruthenian Church was the church of a people without statehood. The Poles considered the Ruthenians a conquered people. Over time, the Lithuanian military and political ascendancy did away with the Ruthenian autonomies. The disadvantageous political status of the Ruthenian people also affected the status of their church and undermined her capacity for reform and renewal. Furthermore, they could not expect support from the Mother Church in Constantinople or from their co-religionists in Moscow. Thus, the Ruthenian church was in a weaker position than the Catholic Church in the Commonwealth. Until 1666, when
Patriarch Nikon was deposed by
the tsar, the
Russian Orthodox Church had been independent of the State. In 1721, the first Russian Emperor,
Peter I, abolished completely the patriarchate and effectively made the church a department of the government, ruled by the
Most Holy Synod composed of senior bishops and lay bureaucrats appointed by the emperor himself. Over time, Imperial Russia would style itself a protector and patron of all Orthodox Christians, especially those within the Ottoman Empire. Domination of
tsarist-ruled Ukraine by the
Russian Empire (from 1721) eventually led to the decline of
Uniate Catholicism (officially founded in 1596) in the Ukrainian lands under Tsarist control.
Music and Dance Musical scores titled "
Baletto Ruteno" or "
Horea Rutenia", meaning Ruthenian
Ballet can be found in European collections during the
Lithuanian and
Polish rule of Ruthenia, such as the
Gdańsk lute tablature of 1640.
Symbols File:Flag of the Cossack Hetmanate.svg|Flag of the
Cossack Hetmanate used since the 17th century File:Coat of arms of Ruthenia 1480.jpg|Coat of arms of the
Kingdom of Ruthenia (
Galicia-Volhynia) featuring the
Ruthenian lion (1480) File:Coat of Arms of Ruthenian Voivodeship from Stematographia (1701).jpg|Coat of Arms of
Ruthenian Voivodeship from Stematographia (1701) File:Karta pocztowa wydawnictwa Salonu Malarzy Polskich w Krakowie.jpg|Coat of arms for the proposed
Pol.–Lith.–Ruth. Commonwealth, which never came into being. It consisted of the
Polish White Eagle, the
Lithuanian Pahonia and the
Ruthenian
Archangel Michael (19th century) File:POL COA Jełowicki knazi.png|Coat of arms of the
Jełowicki noble family File:Herb Sapiehów.PNG|Coat of arms of the
Sapieha noble family File:POL COA Ostrogski I.png|Coat of arms of the
Ostrogski noble family File:Herb Ogińskich.PNG|Coat of arms of the
Ogiński noble family File:POL COA Gozdawa III.svg|Coat of arms of the
Pac noble family File:POL COA Chodkiewicz.svg|Coat of arms of the
Chodkiewicz noble family File:POL COA Radziwiłł II.svg|Coat of arms of the
Radziwiłł noble family File:Alex K Danylo Apostol.svg|Coat of arms of the
Doroshenko noble family File:Alex K Myhailo Hanenko.svg|Coat of arms of the
Khanenko noble family File:Alex K Pavlo Teteria.svg|Coat of arms of the
Teteria noble family File:Alex K Pavlo Polubotok.svg|Coat of arms of the
Polubotok noble family File:Alex K Ivan Vygovskyi.svg|Coat of arms of the
Vyhovsky noble family == Notable Ruthenians ==