Editing History of Lithuania (section)

===Religion===
[[File:Kryštap Radzivił. Крыштап Радзівіл (W. Delff, 1639) (2).jpg|thumb|195px|[[Hetman]] Kristupas II Radvila ([[Krzysztof Radziwiłł]], 1585–1640), a Lithuanian [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] and an accomplished military commander]]
The predominantly [[East Slavs|East Slavic]] population of the Grand Duchy was mostly [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]], and much of the Lithuanian state's nobility also remained Orthodox. Unlike the common people of the Lithuanian realm, at about the time of the [[Union of Lublin]] in 1569 large portions of the nobility converted to [[Western Christianity]]. Following the [[Protestant Reformation]] movement, many noble families converted to [[Calvinism]] in the 1550s and 1560s, and typically a generation later, conforming to the [[Counter-Reformation]] trends in the Commonwealth, to [[Roman Catholicism]].<ref name="Snyder 22">Snyder (2003), p. 22</ref> The Protestant and Orthodox presence must have been very strong, because according to an undoubtedly exaggerated early 17th-century source, "merely one in a thousand remained a Catholic" in Lithuania at that time.<ref name="Urban 30">{{in lang|pl}} [[Wacław Urban]], ''Epizod reformacyjny'' (The Reformation episode), p.30. Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza, Kraków 1988, {{ISBN|83-03-02501-5}}.</ref>{{efn|This tiny fraction of Catholics in the early 17th century Grand Duchy is given by [[Kasper Cichocki]] (1545–1616), a Catholic parish priest near [[Sandomierz]], who wrote on the subject of the extent of the heresies in the Commonwealth. According to Wacław Urban, Calvinism and Eastern Orthodoxy predominated, and were followed by Catholicism and the [[Polish Brethren]], with [[Lutheranism]] being numerically the least significant of the Christian denominations in Lithuania.<ref name="Urban 30"/>}} In the early Commonwealth, [[toleration|religious toleration]] was the norm and was officially enacted by the [[Warsaw Confederation]] in 1573.<ref name="Snyder 23">Snyder (2003), p. 23</ref>

By 1750, nominal Catholics comprised about 80% of the Commonwealth's population, the vast majority of the noble citizenry, and the entire legislature. In the east, there were also the Eastern Orthodox Church adherents. However, Catholics in the Grand Duchy itself were split. Under half were [[Latin Church]] with strong allegiance to Rome, worshiping according to the [[Roman Rite]]. The others (mostly non-noble Ruthenians) followed the [[Byzantine Rite]]. They were the so-called [[Ruthenian Uniate Church|Uniates]], whose church was established at the [[Union of Brest]] in 1596, and they acknowledged only nominal obedience to Rome. At first the advantage went to the advancing Catholic Church pushing back a retreating Eastern Orthodox Church. However, after the first partition of the Commonwealth in 1772, the Orthodox had the support of the government and gained the upper hand. The [[Russian Orthodox Church]] paid special attention to the Uniates (who had once been Orthodox), and tried to bring them back. The contest was political and spiritual, utilizing missionaries, schools, and pressure exerted by powerful nobles and landlords. By 1800, over 2 million of the Uniates had become Orthodox, and another 1.6 million by 1839.<ref>Richard Butterwick, "How Catholic Was the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Later Eighteenth Century?," ''Central Europe'' (2010) 8#2 pp. 123–145.</ref><ref>Kenneth Scott Latourette, ''Christianity in a Revolutionary Age'' (1959) 2:466–67</ref>