Iaroslav
Isaievych: VOLUNTARY BROTHERHOOD: CONFRATERNITIES OF LAYMEN IN EARLY
MODERN
UKRAINE
Published in February 2006
xxxii, 324 pp, illustrations
Price: $29.95 (paper), $49.95 (cloth)
The study of the
confraternity movement in early modern
Ukraine is
vital for our understanding of the unique place Ukrainian culture
and society have occupied between Eastern and Western Christianity.
Ukraine
andBelarus were the only countries where Orthodox lay
confraternities cameinto being. Their activities coincided with a
period of crucial socialand cultural change. Although structurally
similar to their western European counterparts, the Eastern-rite
confraternities developed their unique features. They introduced a
spirit of competition between the two Ruthenian churches--the
Orthodox and the Uniate--and contributed to an increase in the pace
of Ruthenian socio-cultural growth. The schools attached to the
Orthodox confraternities in several larger cities disseminated
European humanist ideas and introduced generally accessible
post-humanist education, while the confraternity presses promoted
the development of scholarship and literature.
"Voluntary
Brotherhood" is an
English-language version of the study, which was first published in
Kyiv in 1966, and since then became a classic work on Ukrainian
cultural history. It is also a thoroughly revised and updated
version of the original. The author has not only deleted terminology
Soviet censors imposed before the book could be published in Kyiv,
but has also broadened the scope of his analysis by utilizing a
comparative approach and taking into account the scholarly
literature on the subject published in the past four decades.
Iaroslav
Isaievych is director of the
Institute of
Ukrainian Studies (Lviv) of
the National Academy of Sciences of
Ukraine. He is
a leading authority on Ukrainian cultural history, particularly of
the early modern period, and the author and editor of many
publications in Ukrainian, Polish, and Belarusian history. He made a
particular contribution to the study of the history of printing and
book publishing in
Ukraine.
Orders can be
placed online at: http://www.utoronto.ca/cius/publications/ books/
isaievychbrotherhood.htm an by: e-mail:
cius@ualberta.ca.
telephone: (780) 492-2973 between 8:30 am and 4:30 pm (MST). fax:
(780) 492-4967Mail: CIUS Press, 450 Athabasca Hall,
University of
Alberta,
Edmonton,
AB,
Canada
T6G 2E8.
