“He May Be Evangelical, Yet a True Patron by Descent”: The Right of Patronage in the Religious Changes in Red Ruthenia in the 16th and 17th Centuries

Abstract

The article addresses the impact of the right of patronage on the situation of Catholic churches and parishes at the time when Protestantism appeared on the Polish-Ruthenian borderland (Red Ruthenia). The right of patronage was the most important limitation of the power exercised by a diocesan bishop in the administration of Catholic parishes in the modern period. The rights of a patron were most often held by the owner of the estates from which the original property of the benefice had been derived. Thereby, the relationship of the parish as an ecclesiastical benefice with the noble estate was consolidated. The patronage over most parishes in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth belonged to laymen – mainly nobility. The right of patronage consisted of a number of obligations and privileges. The most important one was the right of presentation (“ius praesentationis”). An entitlement similar to the right of patronage developed in the Orthodox Church in the form of ktetorship. The conviction of the nobility about their right to manage parish churches and their property played an important role in the development of Protestantism in Red Ruthenia. The position of the Catholic Church in this area was weak, as the diocesan and parish organizations were established only in the fifteenth century as a result of the eastward expansion of the Piast state, and then consolidated with the conclusion of the Polish-Lithuanian Union in Lublin in 1569. In the second half of the sixteenth century, the vast majority of the inhabitants of this area were Ruthenians, and the number of Orthodox parishes was several times greater than the number of Catholic parishes. According to the Gottfried Schramm, “in no other part of the country did Protestantism gain so much influence”. In order to demonstrate the changes in the functioning of the right of patronage in Catholic parishes in Red Ruthenia, caused by the emergence of Protestantism, two case studies with a wealth of historical sources were selected: Lipie and Bończa. In the case of Lipie, Protestants took over the Catholic church and its glebe, which were subsequently regained by a Catholic bishop at the beginning of the seventeenth century. In the case of Bończa, the property owners established a Protestant parish, which was then taken over by the Catholic bishop of Chełm. This did not equate the dissolution of the Evangelical congregation, because the owners of Bończa built a new Evangelical church, which functioned until the beginning of the eighteenth century in parallel with the Catholic parish. The analysis of sources and the reconstruction of the course of events indicates that changes in the functioning of patronage should be placed in the context of the entirety of social and religious relations, and above all the relations between laymen and clergy, and between the state and religious denominations. The right of presentation in the Latin church and the influence of the patron on the choice of the minister in an Evangelical congregation stemmed from different sources. The takeover of the church by Protestants meant the liquidation of the ecclesiastical benefice, and thus also the right of patronage, as a form of agreement between the bishop and the owner of the property, and the introduction of a different manner of securing the upkeep of the churches and ministers serving in them. Protestant structures were more decentralized and democratic, which made the churches completely dependent on seigneurial power without being subject to restrictions imposed by a bishop or the right of patronage. Organizational strengthening of Protestantism in Red Ruthenia in the second half of the sixteenth century collided with the conservatism of some noblemen attached to their seigneurial rights, additionally liberated from the power of Catholic bishops. Strong legal pressure from diocesan authorities and the support of the Catholic Church by secular authorities led to a change in the attitude of the nobility and consent to the restoration of Catholic parishes. It is difficult to determine the significance of the patron’s religious affiliation in this process. However, it is clearly visible that a temporary loss of power over parishes by diocesan authorities contributed to the organizational consolidation of the Catholic Church after regaining this power and led to progressive limitation of the influence of laymen on church institutions.