LITERATURE: POLEMICAL LITERATURE, SMOTRYTSKY HERASYM, POTII IPATII, VYSHENSKY IVAN, SMOTRYTSKY MELETII, MOHYLA PETRO

 II. THE POLEMICAL LITERATURE OF THE 16TH TO 18TH CENTURIES 

The Cossack period, or the Middle period of Ukrainian literature, began in the 16th century. It was a historical time of great unrest and political upheaval which culminated in the Cossack-Polish War of 1648-54, and of religious strife between the Uniates and the Orthodox, which centered around the Church Union of Berestia in 1596. Yet this period is also noted in Ukraine for its vibrant and varied cultural activity. One important mode of literary culture that arose as a consequence of religious controversy over the Church Union of Berestia was a rich polemical literature written in Old Ukrainian and in Old Polish, rarely in Church Slavonic. The stormy religious and political polemics were initiated by the Polish Jesuits Piotr Skarga and Benedykt Herbest, who harshly criticized the institutional and spiritual 'vices' of the Orthodox church. In response the Orthodox published two treatises by Herasym Smotrytsky of the Ostrih Academy which were followed by a multitude of works by various authors; these works varied in size and form from short, sharply worded 'epistles' to long scholarly exposes. From a literary point of view, the most important place in the polemical literature of the period is occupied by a brilliant stylist and maximalist defender of Orthodoxy and Eastern asceticism, Ivan Vyshensky... Learn more about the Ukrainian polemical literature of the 16th to 18th centuries by visiting the following entries:

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POLEMICAL LITERATURE. Publicistic and literary writings on religious and church issues and on national politics. In Ukraine and Belarus polemical literature dates back to the religious denominational struggles of the 16th and 17th centuries, especially those in conjunction with the 1596 Church Union of Berestia, but also those that were part of the general European processes of the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation. Initiatially the leading role in the polemics on the side of the Orthodox was assumed by writers associated with the Ostrih Academy, including Prince Kostiantyn Vasyl Ostrozky himself. Along with the Ostrih polemicists, Ivan Vyshensky, the most outstanding publicist in Ukrainian literature, stepped into the fray against the Catholics. The leading Uniate polemicist was Ipatii Potii. Meletii Smotrytsky first directed his polemics against the the Uniates but then changed his allegiance, and figured prominently as the author of several treatises against the Orthodox. Polemical works were also written by the Orthodox metropolitan of Kyiv Petro Mohyla...

Polemical literature

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ART: MOSAIC, SAINT SOPHIA CATHEDRAL, BYZANTINE ART, SAINT MICHAEL'S GOLDEN-DOMED MONASTERY

 II. THE BYZANTINE ART OF MOSAIC IN UKRAINE

In the 8th-9th century, the second Golden Age of Byzantine art began. During this period Kyivan Rus' actively entered the orbit of Byzantine culture and in 988 adopted Christianity through Byzantium. In fact, Byzantine influence on Ukrainian territory began much earlier and was concentrated on the northern shores of the Black Sea, in such cities as Kerch and Chersonese Taurica. The earliest Kyivan churches built in the Byzantine style (such as the Church of the Tithes) did not survive the continual invasions of nomadic hordes. However, the Saint Sophia Cathedral, begun in 1037, has been preserved in relatively good condition. It represents a masterpiece of the art and architecture of Ukraine and Europe. According to the Rus' chronicles, Prince Volodymyr the Great imported the first architects and artists from Chersonese, and these together with the artists of Constantinople were the first creators of Kyivan mosaics and frescos... Learn more about the legacy of Byzantine art in Ukraine, and in particular the Byzantine art of mosaic, by visiting the following entries:

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MOSAIC. A method of wall and floor decoration in which small pieces of cut stone, glass (tesserae), and, occasionally, ceramic or other imperishable materials are set into plaster, cement, or waterproof mastic. The earliest existing examples of mosaics in Ukraine are fragments from the floor of a domestic bath found at the site of the Greek colony of Chersonese Taurica (ca 3rd-2nd century BC). Made of various colored pebbles, the floor depicts two nude figures and decorative motifs. Mosaic was used to decorate various Rus' churches and palaces in the 10th to 12th centuries, including the Church of the Tithes (989-96), the Saint Sophia Cathedral (1037 to the late 1040s), the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyivan Cave Monastery (1078), and Saint Michael's Church (1108-13) of the Saint Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery...

Mosaic

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CULTURE: LAW, CUSTOMARY LAW, RUSKAIA PRAVDA, LITHUANIAN-RUTHENIAN LAW, CODE OF LAWS

 II. THE HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF UKRAINIAN LAW AND LEGAL TRADITION

Before states were formed, communities on Ukrainian territory were governed by customary law. The history of Ukrainian law is divided into periods according to the distinctive states that arose in Ukraine. In the Princely era (9th-14th centuries) the main sources of law were customary law, agreements such as international treaties, compacts among princes, contracts between princes and the people, princely decrees, viche decisions, and Byzantine law. The most original legal monument of the period is Ruskaia Pravda, which includes the principal norms of substantive and procedural law. The medieval Kyivan Rus' state declined, but its law continued to function. In the 14th to 15th centuries it was known as Rus' law in Ukrainian territories under Polish rule. Gradually, it was replaced by public as well as private Polish law. At the same time (14th-17th centuries) Lithuanian-Ruthenian law developed in Ukrainian territories within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The laws compiled in the Lithuanian Register and the Lithuanian Statute remained in force within the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and, to some extent, in the Hetman state. The law of the Cossack period was based on the Hetman's treaties and legislative acts, the Lithuanian Statute, compilations of customary law and Germanic law, and court decisions. The autonomous Hetman state had its own law systematized in the Code of Laws of 1743. With the abolition of Ukrainian autonomy at the end of the 18th century, Russian law, first public and then civil, was introduced in Russian-ruled territories. In Western Ukraine, Austrian law was introduced in 1772-5... Learn more about the historical evolution of Ukrainian law by visiting the following entries:

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LAW. The set of compulsory rules governing relations among individuals as well as institutions in a given society. Being part of the national culture, the law is influenced by the beliefs of a society and is inextricably involved in its social, political, and economic development. The term for law, pravo, originally meant 'judgment' or 'trial.' The original legal tradition developed on Ukrainian lands came to an end in the 18th century, when foreign Russian law was introduced in Russian-ruled territories. In Western Ukraine, Austrian law was introduced in 1772-5. Except for state and political laws, the laws of the former regimes remained in force during the brief period of Ukraine's struggle for independence (1917-20). Ukrainian legislators and jurists did not have time to construct an independent system of law. During the Soviet period legal norms were determined not only by the constitution and the laws or decrees of the government, but also by the Communist Party program and the current Party line. Thus, law was an instrument of politics. Attempts to de-politicize law and bring it closer to European standards have been made in independent Ukraine since 1991...

Law

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PEOPLE: NOBILITY, COSSACKS, CLERGY, BURGHERS, PEASANTS

 II. FROM NOBLES TO PEASANTS: HISTORICAL ESTATES OF UKRAINIAN SOCIETY

Having originated in the medieval period, the historical estates of Ukrainian society survived in various forms until the mid-19th century. Each of these autonomous and closed social groups enjoyed certain rights or privileges and fulfilled various duties. Membership in a given estate was hereditary, and mobility from one estate to another was difficult. Only the admission to the clerical estate, which was purely functional, was open. The principal estates were the aristocracy (nobility), the clergy, the burghers, and the peasantry. The estate system on Ukrainian territories (most clearly defined in the Lithuanian-Ruthenian state of the 13th to 16th centuries) was radically changed in the mid 17th century as a result of the Cossack-Polish War led by Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky. The Cossacks, who arose out of peasant warriors, became a new social force that, on the one hand, liberated itself from various economic, political, and religious restrictions and, on the other, strove to consolidate its economic and political gains by forming a new estate. In the 19th century, the peasants played a major role in the regeneration of the Ukrainian nation, when the Ukrainian literary language was reconstructed on the basis of the peasant vernacular, and the traditions of village life were mined for the components of a national culture... Learn more about the historical estates of Ukrainian society by visiting the following entries:

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NOBILITY. The privileged and titled elite class of society. The concept of a noble class is largely a European one that developed out of the feudal experience. In Eastern Europe the nobility as a social elite with inherent rights established itself most strongly in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In Ukraine, after the Princely era, the existence of a distinctive elite class of native nobles was largely pre-empted by the country's domination first by Poland and then by the Russian Empire (which prompted the considerable assimilation of Ukraine's upper class by foreign aristocracies). The notable exceptions to that long-standing state of affairs could be found in the Lithuanian-Ruthenian state, where Orthodox Ukrainian nobles constituted a distinctive subgroup of the aristocracy, and in the Hetman state, where the Cossack starshyna was developing into a noble class. Regardless of the nobility's assimilation, individual noblemen emerged at various times as key figures in the defence of Ukrainian social, religious, and political rights...

Nobility

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LAND: CARPATHIAN, GORGANY, SYNEVYR

 II. NATURAL TREASURES OF THE UKRAINIAN CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS

The Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains constitute one of the most important and unique ecoregions in Europe. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) recognized the Carpathians as a natural treasure of global importance and included it in its "Global 200" list of the most significant ecosystems on our planet. The rich and unique flora and fauna of the region is being preserved within a network of national parks and nature preserves established with the specific aim of protecting the biological and landscape diversity of the Ukrainian Carpathians. Because two-thirds of Ukraine?s territory lies within the steppe and forest-steppe zones, characterized by lowland landscapes and steppe flora and fauna, the Carpathian Mountains have a particular significance for Ukraine and are considered part of the national heritage. While protected areas occupy about 4 percent of Ukraine?s entire territory, in the Ukrainian Carpathians they occupy 8 percent, and in Transcarpathia oblast over 13 percent. Learn more about the natural treasures of the Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains by visiting the following entries:

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CARPATHIAN PROTECTED AREAS. The first Carpathian protected areas were established in the early 20th century. Several forest reserves were set up in Transcarpathia: the Stuzhytsia beech-forest reserve (est 1908), the Tykhyi fir-forest reserve (est 1908), and the Pip Ivan spruce-forest reserve (est 1912). In 1913, in accordance with Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytsky?s decree, the Kniazh-Dvir yew-forest reserve was established on the territory of today?s Ivano-Frankivsk oblast. The current network of Carpathian protected areas consists of several types of parks and reserves: the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve; the Gorgany Nature Reserve; the Carpathian National Park, Synevyr National Nature Park, Uzhanskyi National Nature Park, Vyzhnytsia National Park, Skole Beskyd National Park, and Hutsulshchyna National Park; and the Sian Regional Landscape Park, Zacharovanyi Krai Landscape Park. The largest and most interesting among them from the nature-conservation point of view is the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve...

Carpathian Protected Areas

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HISTORY: THE CIMMERIANS, SCYTHIANS, AND SARMATIANS

  II. THE IRON AGE IN UKRAINE: THE CIMMERIANS, SCYTHIANS, AND SARMATIANS

The oldest known Iron-Age settlers in the Ukrainian territories were the nomadic Cimmerians who settled there around 10th century BC. In the 8th century BC, the territories of today's Ukraine came under the control of the Scythians, tribes of nomadic horsemen who founded an empire that stretched from the Danube River in the west to the Ural Mountains in the east. The Scythians were divided into several major tribal groups. Agrarian Scythian groups lived in what is now Poltava region and between the Boh River and the Dnieper River. The lower Boh River region near Olbia was inhabited by Hellenized Scythians, known as Callipidae; the central Dniester River region was home to the Alazones; and north of them were the Aroteres. The kingdom was dominated by the Royal Scythians, a small but bellicose minority in the lower Dnieper River region and the Crimea that had established a system of dynastic succession. The Scythians reached their apex in the 4th century BC under King Ateas, who united all the tribal factions under his rule. Subsequently they began a period of decline brought about by constant attacks by the Sarmatians. The Scythians were forced to abandon the steppe to their rivals and re-established themselves in the 2nd century BC in Scythia Minor, with their capital in Neapolis in the Crimea. The onslaught of the Ostrogoths in the 3rd century AD and the Huns in the 4th century broke the power of the Scythians and Sarmatians, who subsequently disappeared as ethnic entities and assimilated into other cultures. They were largely forgotten, but interest in them was revived as a result of some spectacular finds of Scythian gold treasures in the burial mounds in Ukraine and the Kuban, starting from 1763... Learn more about the times of the Scythians and Sarmatians on the Ukrainian territory by visiting the following entries:

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CIMMERIANS. Oldest settlers of southern Ukraine, mentioned by Homer (ca 8th century BC) and by Herodotus in his History (5th century BC). Their origin is unknown, but the majority of scholars consider them to be Indo-Europeans. In linguistic terms, on the evidence of the recorded names of their leaders--Tygdamme (in Herodotus, Lygdamis) and his son Sandakhsatra--they are considered members of Iranian tribes. According to Herodotus, the Cimmerians were driven from the steppes by the Scythians in the 7th century BC: some of them settled on the southern shore of the Black Sea (in the Crimea they were known as Taurians), while others waged a campaign in Asia Minor, taking Sardis, the capital of Lydia, in 652 BC. This marked the Cimmerians' apex of power: subsequently they declined and became extinct. Although their culture has been little studied as yet, some scholars believe that the numerous settlements and burial mounds in southern Ukraine dating from the late second and early first milleniums BC are archeological remains of the Cimmerian age...

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HISTORY

 I. THE TRYPILIAN CULTURE AND THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD AND COPPER AGE IN UKRAINE

Perhaps the most sophisticated culture of the early Neolithic Period in Europe, the Tripilian culture existed on Ukrainian territories for over three millennia. During the 6th millennium BC, Trypilian tribes began settling in low-lying riverbank areas and on plateaus in the Dnieper River and Boh River basins. They were, most probably, primitive agricultural and cattle-raising tribes that migrated to Ukraine from the Near East and from the Balkans and Danubian regions. Scholars have identified three periods in the development of this culture--early (5400-3500 BC), middle (3500-2750 BC), and late (2750-2250 BC). The differentiation of periods is characterized by an increase in population and the geographic spread of the culture as well as by changes in settlement patterns, the economy, and the spiritual life of the people. (A detailed discussion of the Tripilian culture can be found, among others, in volume 1 of Mykhailo Hrushevsky's fundamental History of Ukraine-Rus'.) As a result of incursions by other cultures (particularly the Pit-Grave culture) into Ukrainian territory during the Copper Age in the mid-3rd to early 2nd millennium BC, many characteristic Trypilian traits changed, were absorbed by other tribes, or disappeared.

  

Neolithic Period. The closing phase of the Stone Age, lasting in Ukraine from ca 5000 to 2500 BC.

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LAND

 II. THE LANDSCAPES AND PEOPLE OF THE UKRAINIAN CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS

The Ukrainian Carpathians are mountains of medium height with rock of low resistance. Gentle and broad ridges and parallel valleys contrast with the deeply incised (up to 1,000 m) transverse valleys with steep slopes. Only the highest parts of the Carpathians--mainly the Hutsul Alps and Chornohora--display a high-mountain landscape. The Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains are known for its beautiful landscapes and unique flora and fauna. Because of the abundance of mineral springs, a healthy climate, and natural beauty, they are the main resort and recreation area in Ukraine after the Crimea. At the same time, they represent an ethnographic region rich in history and cultural heritage and include such subregions as the Hutsul region, Boiko region, Lemko region, as well as parts of Bukovyna and Transcarpathia. 

                                  

Carpathian Mountains (Карпати; Karpaty). (Map: Eastern Carpathians.) Folded, young mountains of medium elevation, stretching in an arc about 1,500 km long (with a chord of almost 500 km)

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PEOPLE

  UKRAINIANS AND THE UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE

The oldest recorded names used for the Ukrainians are Rusyny, Rusychi, and Rusy (from Rus'). In the 10th to 12th centuries those names applied only to the Slavic inhabitants of what is today the national and ethnic territory of Ukraine, but later a similar designation was adopted by the proto-Russian inhabitants of the northeastern principalities of Kyivan Rus'. The modern name Ukraintsi (Ukrainians) is derived from Ukraina (Ukraine), a name first documented in 1187. Until the 19th century the Ukrainians, with few exceptions, lived on their aboriginal lands. In the last few decades of the 19th century Ukrainians under Russian rule began a massive emigration to the Asian regions of the empire, and their counterparts under Austro-Hungarian rule emigrated to the New World. Today approximately one-quarter of all Ukrainians in the world live outside of Ukraine. Geographically, the Ukrainian language is classified with Russian and Belarusian as an East Slavic language. Actually, like Slovak, it occupies a central position: it borders on some West Slavic languages, and it once bordered on Bulgarian, a South Slavic language.

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CULTURE

  I. THE HISTORY AND CULTURAL LEGACY OF THE KYIVAN CAVE MONASTERY

The Kyivan Cave Monastery is not only one of the most interesting architectural ensembles in Eastern Europe, but it is one of the most important spiritual and cultural centres in the history of the Ukrainian people. Founded by Saint Anthony of the Caves in the mid-11th century, the monastery soon became the largest religious and cultural center in Kyivan Rus'. Foreign works were translated there, and books were transcribed and illuminated. Architecture and religious art (icons, mosaics, frescoes) developed in the monastery. In 1615 Archimandrite Yelysei Pletenetsky established the first printing press in Kyiv at the Kyivan Cave Monastery Press, which became an important center of publishing in Ukraine. Archimandrite (later Metropolitan) Petro Mohyla restored and embellished the monastery. Today the monastery complex is rich in important architectural monuments.

                     

Kyivan Cave Monastery ( Kyievo-Pecherska Lavra). (Photo: Kyivan Cave Monastery.) An Orthodox monastery in Kyiv. It was founded by Saint Anthony of the Caves in the mid-11th century near the villageof Berestove in a cave that the future metropolitan of Kyiv, Ilarion (see Metropolitan Ilarion), had excavated and lived in until 1051.

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