WESTERN EUROPEAN IDEALS OF CHIVALRY IN THE SPIRITUAL AND POLITICAL CULTURE OF THE UKRAINIAN COSSACKS AS A FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENT OF DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRACY IN UKRAINE

Ескіз недоступний
Дата
2025
Назва журналу
Номер ISSN
Назва тому
Видавець
Modern engineering and innovative technologies
Анотація
The Ukrainian Cossacks not only became an important military and political phenomenon, but also formed a unique culture and psychology that combined both local traditions and European influences. One of the key external factors that influenced the formation of the culture of the Cossacks was Western European chivalry. Contacts with chivalric traditions took place through numerous interactions, including military alliances, cultural exchange, and the participation of Cossacks in European wars. As a result, the Cossacks adopted a number of features that shaped their self-perception, ideology and lifestyle, which became the foundation for the development of a democratic political regime in Ukraine. The authors of the article emphasize that the Cossacks borrowed a number of military tactics and customs from Western European chivalry. Among them: the use of heavy cavalry, characteristic of Polish hussars and French knightly detachments, heraldic symbols – coats of arms, banners reminiscent of Western European traditions, the development of fencing and horse fighting, which was combined with Eastern methods of war. The authors also note that, like European chivalry, the Cossacks developed their own code of honor, which contained: loyalty to brotherhood, defense of faith and readiness for self-sacrifice. Just as the European crusader knights defended Christianity, so the Cossacks positioned themselves as defenders of the Orthodox faith from the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate. They also equally patronized monasteries and churches and used biblical motifs in rhetoric.
Опис
Thе Zaporozhian Sich had analogies with the spiritual knightly and monastic orders of Western Europe of the XII-XIV centuries. The Sich combined with them the religiosity and asceticism of the Cossack brotherhood, collective ownership of land, the cult of the Virgin Mary, the veneration of Saints Michael and George the Victorious (St. George). These Western European late knightly influences were probably not direct, but rather indirect. The spiritual knightly and monastic orders were not only a model for the Zaporozhian Cossacks to follow. Sich chivalry developed old knightly traditions and created its own. Contacts with chivalric traditions occurred through numerous interactions: military alliances, cultural exchange, and the participation of Cossacks in European wars. As a result, the Cossacks adopted a number of traits that shaped their self-perception, ideology, and lifestyle. For decades, Russian propaganda has tried to present the Cossacks as the «Russian world», ignoring their European features and democratic principles. However, historical facts testify to the close connection of the Cossacks with the European military and political tradition: the Cossacks served in the armies of European states (the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, France, Austria), and used the military traditions of Western chivalry.
Ключові слова
Бібліографічний опис