Communities and their temples : Orthodox, Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic: religious delimitations in the historical topography of Słuck

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Istorijos, konfesijų topografija; Katalikai; Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė (LDK; Grand Duchy of Lithuania; GDL); Miesto erdvė; Protestantai; Radvilos (Radziwill; Radvila family); Religiniai ir konfesiniai skirtingumai; Sluckas, XVI-XVIII a.; Stačiatikiai; Žydai; Catholics; Historical, confessional topography; Jews; Orthodox; Protestants; Religious and confessional diversity; Slutsk, 16-18 cent.; Urban space.

ENThe article analyses the religious topography of Słuck (today, Sluck in Belarus). Słuck was an important hub of Orthodoxy and Protestantism in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania; moreover, 38 per cent of its population was Jewish. Detailed analysis of legal documents and urban inventories showed that there were areas within the town bounds which were reserved for the Christian communities active there. The spatial balance was upset in the former half of the eighteenth century, with Catholic orders brought into the town. The Jews were the only group that was legally barred from choosing a place to reside. The municipal authorities endeavoured to restrict the Jewish settlement to one street. Members of Jewish fi nancial elite were the only ones to succeed in crossing the legal boundaries and settle down at the ‘Christian’ streets of Słuck. [From the publication]

• Kėdainių katalikų parapija XVII a.: parama ir konfliktai / Vaida Kamuntavičienė. Istorija. 2018, Nr. 109, p. 28-47.
• Kith, kin, and neighbors : communities and confessions in Seventeenth-century Wilno / David Frick. Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2013. XXIV, 529 p.
• Money, power, and influence in eighteenth-century Lithuania : the Jews on the Radziwiłł estates / Adam Teller. Stanford (Calif.) : Stanford University Press, 2016. XVI, 310 p.