Widziane z plebanii Świat i ludzie w diariuszach dwóch duchownych ewangelickich z Rzeczypospolitej przełomu XVII i XVIII wieku
Seen from the Clergy House. The World and the People in the Diaries of two Evangelical Clergymen from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the Turn of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries

Summary/Abstract: In the research on the deteriorating relations between the Evangelical-Reformed (Calvinist) minority and the Catholic majority of the Polish-Lithuanian Common- wealth in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the problems of mutual perception of the representatives of these denominations, as well as the evaluation of the realities of life in an increasingly Catholic state by the representatives of the Evangelical minor- ity have been investigated the least. Based on two diaries by Evangelical-Reformed clergymen, Gabriel Dyjakiewicz and Jan Krzysztof Kraiński, who were active in Podla- sie and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at the turn of the eighteenth century, the author attempts to present the image of the world as perceived and presented on the pages of these two egodocuments. After analysing the diary entries, it cannot be concluded that their authors found themselves in a social and communicative vacuum, although both of them noticed the progressive isolation of Evangelical circles. According to the records, it also appears that interfaith relations in the everyday life were not as bad as contemporary historical studies suggest. Both authors had a positive attitude towards the state, felt to be its citizens and patriots, combining a strong Evangelical religious identity with a sense of community with the society of the predominantly Catholic Polish Nobles’ Republic. Neither of the diaries reflects on the civilisational and cultural differences between the society of the north-eastern lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the world of Protestant Europe, known to both authors from their university studies.

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