Authors

Discussion

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that the most significant tool for integrating the Orthodox Slavic world into the cultural realm of the European Enlightenment is the Latin language, considered as a holistic institutional phenomenon. Not only did the scholastic tradition of the Middle Ages thrive in Latin, but all the civilizational breakthroughs of Early Modern Europe were also expressed through this language (Helander 2012). Methodologically, this research interprets original texts from the 17th century and analyzes the fundamental changes in the education of the East Slavic population during the 17th century, considering the broader European cultural and historical context.

By the 17th century, a community of educated individuals had formed in Catholic and Protestant Europe, later termed res publica litterarum. This community united all cultural and administrative institutions, with Latin serving as its substrate and main mediator (Hass & Ramminger 2010). Unlike the rest of Europe, the East Slavic population had not been incorporated into the Latin educational system, resulting in an great demand for Latin literacy, as evidenced by contemporary accounts.In the territory of modern Ukraine, which was significantly part of the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania, social and cultural challenges emerged from all administrative, educational, and religious institutions, which primarily operated in Latin. These challenges were accepted and became the foundation for vibrant cultural activities. The Latin language, as a formative model of education, became a crucial tool for cultural competition and the pursuit of legal equality. Efforts to bridge the civilizational gap were largely embodied by P. Mogila, the archimandrite of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Mogila reportedly vowed to lift the seal of ignoramuses from the Orthodox population and established an Orthodox college in 1632, with instruction in Latin based on the European model (Mokroborodova, Pekkanen 1994).With the transition of significant Ukrainian territories under the protection of the Tsar of Moscow in the mid-17th century, Ukrainian secular and religious figures, trained in the  'Latin' Orthodox model, introduced a new intellectual traditions to Moscow Rus, which was embraced by its leading intellectuals. The Slavo-Greek Academy (1686), which later became the Slavo-Greek-Latin Academy, opened access to theological and subsequently scientific rationalist thought for Moscow Rus through its introduction of Latin ars ratiocinandi.

Literature

Hass T.A. & Ramminger, J. (Eds.) (2010). Latin and the Vernaculars in Early Modern Europe. Renaissanceforum, 6.

Helander H. (2012). The Roles of Latin in Early Modern Europe. L’annuaire du Collège de France, 111, 2012, p. 885-887.

Mokroborodova L. & Pekkanen T. (1994). Lingua Latina in historia Russiae. Vox Latina. T.30, p.553-567.