Editing Belarus (section)

===Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth===
{{Further|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth}}
[[File:GDL Map, 15cent.png|thumb|A map of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] in the 15th century prior to its union with the [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Kingdom of Poland]]. Belarus was fully within its borders.]]

On 2 February 1386, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the [[Kingdom of Poland (1025–1385)|Kingdom of Poland]] were joined in a [[personal union]] through a [[Union of Krewo|marriage of their rulers]].<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Jones|editor-first=Michael|last=Rowell|first=S.C.|contribution=Baltic Europe|title=The New Cambridge Medieval History (Vol. 6)|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2005|page=710|isbn=0-521-36290-3}}</ref> This union set in motion the developments that eventually resulted in the formation of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], created in 1569 by the [[Union of Lublin]].<ref name=Lukowski>{{cite book |last1=Lukowski |first1=Jerzy |author-link1=Jerzy Lukowski |last2=Zawadzki |first2=Hubert |title=A Concise History of Poland |edition=1st |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-521-55917-1 |pages=63–64}}</ref><ref name=Riasanovsky>{{cite book |last=Riasanovsky |first=Nicholas V. |title=A History of Russia |year=1999 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-512179-7 |edition=6th |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KRjcXHliMpcC&pg=PA137}}</ref>

In the years following the union, the process of gradual [[Polonization]] of both Lithuanians and Ruthenians gained steady momentum. In culture and social life, both the [[Polish language]] and [[Catholicism]] became dominant, and in 1696, Polish replaced Ruthenian as the official language, with Ruthenian being banned from administrative use.<ref>[http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/Profile.aspx?LangID=103&menu=00 "Belarusian": UCLA Language Materials Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222171418/http://www.lmp.ucla.edu/Profile.aspx?LangID=103&menu=00 |date=22 December 2015 }}, ucla.edu; accessed 4 March 2016.</ref> However, the Ruthenian peasants continued to speak their native language. Also, the [[Belarusian Byzantine Catholic Church]] was formed by the Poles to bring Orthodox Christians into the [[Holy See|See of Rome]]. The Belarusian church entered into a full [[Koinonia|communion]] with the [[Latin Church]] through the [[Union of Brest]] in 1595, while keeping its Byzantine [[liturgy]] in the [[Church Slavonic]] language.