O przemówieniu Grzegorza Cambłaka na soborze w Konstancji

Abstract

Several sources report Gregory Tsamblak’s journey to the Council of Constance. His journey to the Council was arranged by the Grand Duke Alexander Vytautas. Before the trip to Constance, the Synod of Ruthenian Bishops in Navahrudak elected Tsamblak as Metropolitan. The synod deposed Metropolitan Photios, who remained mostly in Moscow, ignoring the Lithuanian and Polish bishoprics. The bishops gathered in Navarhudak accused Photios of stealing Church treasures from Kyiv. In many historical summaries of the Kyivan Metropolitanate written in the seveteenth and eighteenth centuries, the information about the Council of Navarudak was repeated. The story of the Synod and the deposition of Metropolitan Photius became one of the cornerstones for establishing the autocephaly of the Kievan Metropolitanate. Gregory Tsamblak, upon his arrival in Constance, proclaimed in his speech the intention of Church union. There are two versions of his speech that have survived to this day: Ruthenian and Latin. The article examines both in a comparative approach. The Latin version of Tsamblak’s speech was included into the documents of the Council. The Ruthenian version is contained in the manuscript that belonged to St. Josaphat Kuntsevich. In his speech, Metropolitan Gregory Tsamblak not only called for union, but also proposed that a special session be held to resolve the contradictions between Catholics and Orthodox. The chronicle of Ulrich Richenthal records the visit of the Ruthenian delegation to the Council. Two letters by Metropolitan Photius of Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Russia have survived in the manuscript. In the first letter, the metropolitan criticised the election of Gregory Tsamblak in Navahrudak. In the second, written in the 1420s, he asked for the re-recognition of his authority in the Metropolitanate of Kyiv. The source documents on the Council of Constance preserved the information about Tsamblak’s speech delivered at the Council in 1415. He called for the Church union, and holding a special session to resolve the contradictions between Catholics and Orthodox. Tsamblak’s speech is also known from the Ruthenian manuscript of the 16th century, and his visit to the Council is recorded in Ulrich Richenthal’s chronicle. The information about Navahrudak’s Council was repeated in many historical synopsises of the Kyivian Metropolitanate made in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.