Ivan Vyshenskyi
Encyclopedia
Ivan Vyshenskyi - Ukrainian orthodox monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

 and religious philosopher. He is considered to be an important polemicist of the time.

Biography

Not much is known about the life of Vyshenskyi. It is considered established that he spent part of his youth in Lutsk
Lutsk
Lutsk is a city located by the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of the surrounding Lutskyi Raion within the oblast...

 and was connected with scholars from the Ostroh Academy
Ostroh Academy
National University "Ostroh Academy" is a Ukrainian self-governed research university that was re-opened in 1994 by the Presidential Decree of April 12, 1994...

. Within the years 1576–1580 he traveled to Mount Athos
Mount Athos
Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...

 in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, which was the center of orthodox monk culture. He stayed there until his death, with the exception of a short visit to Ukraine between 1604 and 1606 when he quarreled with members of the Lviv brotherhood.

Work

In his writings, Vyshenskyi opposed Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....

 and the uniate church. He sent messages arguing his position from Mount Athos. Vyshenskyi was especially polemic in his communications with Piotr Skarga
Piotr Skarga
Piotr Skarga was a Polish Jesuit, preacher, hagiographer, polemicist, and leading figure of the Counter-reformation in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was called the "Polish Bossuet" due to his oratorical abilities.He was born February 2, 1536 in Grójec, to a family of lesser landless gentry...

, who supported church union. His arguments were based on opposition to the church hierarchy of Catholicism and to Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...

 asceticism. Vyshenskyi wrote not in the common Church Slavonic language, but in the Ruthenian language
Ruthenian language
Ruthenian, or Old Ruthenian , is a term used for the varieties of Eastern Slavonic spoken in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later in the East Slavic territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth....

, an older form of Ukrainian.

External links

  • Ivan Vyshensky in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine
    Encyclopedia of Ukraine
    The Encyclopedia of Ukraine is an English language, free, online encyclopedia covering wide range of issueson Ukraine, including its history, people, geography, economy, culture etc....

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