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The article addresses the topic of the 17th century cultural history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with a focus on the peculiarities of administration of one of the largest Protestant communities (Kėdainiai). It highlights the features of Protestantism in Kėdainiai estate and the place of the Radziwiłł family in the process of administration of the church; it also analyses the role of Kėdainiai in the general – Unitas (Lith. Vieneta) – administration system and reconstructs the activities of the principal administrative body of Kėdainiai Church – seniors’ sessions. The chronological limits of the research cover the period 1614–1695 when Kėdainiai belonged to the Protestant Radziwiłł family line (from Krzysztof II Radziwiłł to Ludwika Karolina Radziwiłł). The research sources comprise the material of the Evangelical Reformed Synod of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Kėdainiai estate and the Radziwiłł Archive in Warsaw.
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A limited archaeological research was occasioned by an ongoing restoration project of the “Scaune” church. For a better management of the intrusive intervention, a non-invasive investigation of the nave and the narthex was first carried out. Data resulted from the electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) was subsequently verified. The results of the archaeological research consisted in identifying three crypts and a cemetery in use before the present-day church, and in new data on the foundations of the church built in 1705.
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The stone palace in Hereşti, erected around 1641-1644 by the great boyars Udrişte and Cazan Năsturel is considered to be the only monument of Romanian civic architecture from the era to have been built, both on the inside and on the outside, of finished hewn stone. The originality of the building is also given by the use of space and architectural forms. The decoration on the pediments of the two portals as well as the coat of arms of the great scholar Udrişte Năsturel, which is lost today, but which once completed the pediment ornamentation on the western facade of the building, find stylistic analogies in the works of the famous sculptor from Sibiu, Elias Nicolai, the same artist that made the tombstones of Voivode Matei Basarab (1632-1654) and his family.
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The article discusses the problem of localization of the Smolensk and Starodub sejmiks-in-exile of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) in the period 1667–1794. Based not only on the Constitutions of the Seimas of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but also on the systematic use of documents of the Sejmiks-in-exile, were analyzed the ends of the 17th century projects for the establishment of the Smolensk Voivodeship ofce and premises for the activities of the sejmiks in the territory of Vilnius Lower Castle, were localized places of the 18th century sessions of the sejmiks (Bernardine Church and Monastery in Vilnius, Carmelite Monastery in Vilnius, parish churches in Alytus and Žiežmariai, etc.) and were determined places of non-traditional activity (in the Palace of the Supreme Tribunal of the GDL). Te research used descriptive and comparative research methods, taking into account the theoretical discourse used in archeology of law and local research.
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This article is the first work on the archeology of the Muezersky Trinity Monastery in the western White Sea region. The monastery was founded by monk Cassian from the Solovetsky Monastery in the second half of the XVI century on an island in Lake Mui. This is the only place in the White Sea Karelia that preserved a fine jewel of church architecture of the XVII century – the Church of Saint Nicholas. In 2019, the first archaeological works were carried out on the territory of the monastery. The main task was to identify elements of the ancient cultural and economic landscape of the monastery. The archaeological studies were expected to clarify the boundaries of the monument, locate the main monastery’s buildings and facilities, evaluate their condition, and outline a strategy for future work. Most of the monastery’s objects described in historical documents were identified, including the burned-down Holy Trinity Church of the XVI century, a stone wall, an ice storage, the remnants of monastery cells, a stone cross and a cemetery. The obtained new information expands our knowledge of the late medieval monasteries in Karelia.
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The article deals with a notable episode in the Russian-Persian relations in the XVII century regarding the history of a money loan given by the Persian Shah Abbas I to the Russian Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich Romanov. Research into Iranian and Russian historiography, as well as the analysis of the sources preserved among the files of the Posolsky Prikaz (the Ambassadorial Bureau) from fund 77 of the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts enables to investigate the history and circumstances of this loan. It is established that out of all the embassies sent by the Russian Tsar to Shah Abbas in order to receive money, only the 1616 mission led by F. I. Levontiev achieved partial success. Shah Abbas sent 7000 rubles in silver ingots to the Russian Tsar. The author dismisses the existing concept that regards this money as a simple gift, but interprets it, judging by the texts of the studied sources, as a loan that was given amid the refusal of many other countries to help the Russian Tsar.
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This article presents the pedigree of the Łoknicki noble family of the Nieczuja coat of arms in the 16th–17th centuries. Attention was paid to marriages in the circles of middle nobility living in the border areas of Podlasie neighbouring with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
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The paper analyzes and publishes two previously unknown reports (1622) of the Archbishop of Bar, Marino Bizzi, one of the most prominent representatives of Balkan missionary prelates before 1622. From these documents, it can be seen that Bizzi was predominantly a representative of the old missionary concept, which placed hopes in the conversion of Eastern Christians. In these plans he had the support of the Congregation of the Council.
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On the basis of historical sources and historiography,the life path and circumstances related to the death of Marc’Antonio Borisi (c. 1570-1620), the nobleman of Bar and Koper, the Grand Dragoman in the Venetian embassy of Constantinople, are reconsidered. The interdisciplinary approach to the research and particularly the comparative method shed light on the work, significance and reputation of this polyglot in the diplomatic world of the Ottoman capital, Venice and Europe.
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Introduction. The goal of the paper is to analyze the phenomenon of the French Enlightenment as a dialectical unity of didactic practice and philosophical theory: a philosophical and pedagogical practice in which the theoretical aspect is inseparable from the practical one.Materials and Methods. The author uses the historical-perspective method, based on the universal principle of historicism, as well as methods of textual and contextual analysis and general methods of hermeneutic research.Results. Having reviewed and analyzed scholarly literature and critical works the author proposes the idea of the inextricable unity of didactic practice and the philosophical theory of Enlightenment. It is shown that this unity was the basis of philosophical and pedagogical practice aimed at transforming the man and the human mind. The discourse of the Enlightenment itself is inseparable from the practice of its transmission.Conclusions. The author developed and substantiated the approach to studying the philosophy of the French Enlightenment as a philosophical and pedagogical practice, implemented in the context of the philosophical project of transforming the human mind through changing the conditions of human existence.
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The article presents the story of the death of Carlo and Giovanni Carafa, leading figures at the papal court, condemned to death by Pius IV, in 1561. Article analyses three unpublished texts (from the 16th and 17th century) that reconstruct the facts, focusing on their different perspectives and functions.
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The article provides an account of the Potocki brothers’: Jan, Jakub, and — to a lesser extent — Stefan’s participation in military actions lead by the Commonwealth of Poland against Russia, especially during the Siege of Smolensk. As regalists, the Potockis were amongst the closest advisors of King Sigismund III and could impact his decisions. The brothers’ actions, however, opposed the activities undertaken by Hetman Stanisław Żółkiewski (also a regalist). Based on the extensive correspondence between Jakub Zadzik and Wawrzyniec Gembicki, exchanged at a royal military camp, some misconceptions have been dispelled and new, previously unknown facts established that show the influence of the said relationships on the war in question.
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Diplomacy is one of the ways of carrying out foreign policy. It is implemented during negotiations of a given country’s envoys with representatives of other countries. The manner of receiving envoys (foreign diplomats) and proceeding with negotiations is specified by diplomatic etiquette. The article describes how those relationships were effectuated in the second half of the 17th century between Poland and Russia. Diplomatic missions are described from the moment of receiving indispensable documents and plenipotentiary powers, through traveling to Moscow under supervision of the pristavs (Russian pristavy), to the conclusion of mission. The description of envoys’ stay in Moscow includes details of accommodation, organizing audiences, feasts, entering into treaties, adherence to rules of appropriate behaviour in the tsar’s presence and keeping proper forms of address. Also, a peculiar way of carrying out lengthy negotiations by king and country’s envoys and commissaries is presented.
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Noblemen’s assemblies that took place during the expeditions of the noble mass levy (Polish pospolite ruszenie) should in fact fall under the category of dietine (sejmik), and not congress or rally. Included in that group ought to be only those dietines that proceeded during the mass levy excursions. As opposed to other dietines, whose participants traditionally gathered in churches, castles, or town halls, the expeditionary dietines took place “in the field,” that is, under the open sky. The expeditionary dietines were carried out at each stage of mass levy expeditions and the noblemen gathered in a camp to partake in them. Especially important for this kind of dietines was the year 1672, when the Crown’s final mass levy expedition of the 17th century was undertaken. From the moment of popisy (a show of levies’ military force), which mostly took place in August, up until the return from the main military camp near Lublin during the first half of November 1672, the noblemen many a time assembled in expeditionary dietines. Subsequent expeditionary dietines were called over the period of interregnum of the years 1696—1697, when electoral mass levy gathered.
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Since the beginning of the 17th century the gens Potocki enjoyed their growing significance in the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth. It translated into ever more frequent taking and holding by them state offices and functions, including the ones of MPs. What could now be estimated is that during the reign of John III Sobieski as many as ten Potockis held a seat in Sejm. The most experienced among them was Stefan Potocki, who served four terms. The remainder of the mentioned representatives include persons who served a few terms. Overall, the Potockis held the office of MP 27 times. However, their activity as MPs was not too impressive, which is corroborated by few and far between mentions about them in parliamentary minutes. More active seem to have been the senators originating from the gens Potocki, namely brothers Jędrzej and Feliks, yet the said activity might have stemmed from the King’s expectations. They partook in pre Sejm dietines and relatively frequently were present during Sejm sessions. Their senate advisory speeches (Polish wota senatorskie) did not consist of hot air rhetoric, but included helpful comments on state of the commonwealth. It may seem, however, that both for MPs and for senators coming from the family Potocki the military service was paramount, and the political activity merely complemented it.
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In his work Prince Mihai Viteazul (1593-1601) - Soldier of Christ and Defender of the European Christendom, the author presents the mentioned Romanian ruler as a Christ’s soldier and defender of Christendom. Mihai Viteazul was the prince under whose rule the First Union of All Romanians took place in 1600; his acts of bravery in the face of great powers of the time such as the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Poland, the Tatar Khanate, or the principalities of Transylvania, brought him the title of the greatest military and diplomatic strategist in Eastern Europe. But for all these qualities and achievements, many other leaders of the time hated him and wanted him removed, because they could not accept an Orthodox „Vlach” as the leader and defender of Christianity; that is why they hastened his death by assassination on August 9/19, 1601, on the Turda Plains. And they were not pagans, but so-called Christians.
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The article considers circumstances contributing to the readership success of the Polish translation of The Goffredo… The author advances a thesis that the narrative poem in question met the expectations of Polish audience having been previously kindled not so much by Andrzej Kochanowski’s translation of The Aeneid, but rather by Polonized versions of mediaeval chivalric romances (Historja o cesarzu Otonie, Historia o Magielonie, Historia wdzięczna […] o Meluzynie). They gave the Polish readers their first chance to acquaint themselves with high chivalric culture, adventures of valiant knights, and their love affairs. After their publications in the 1560s, it was not until a half of century later that readers had a chance to enjoy a piece of literary work with a similar theme, that is The Goffredo… The success of the latter book was partly due to the precedence of particular literary pieces.
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