Between the First and the Third Rome: the Cult of Marian Images in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

The article focuses on various aspects of the cult of the images of Mary in the multi-ethnic and multi-confessional society of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, populated by Catholics of the Roman rite as well as—since the Union of Brest of 1596—of the Byzantine rite, Orthodox faithful, as well as Protestants of various denominations. A special emphasis has been placed on the role of references to Rome, Constantinople, Moscow, as well as to Kiev in early modern writings on (among others) Our Lady of Snow in the Dominican church in Cracow (a copy of the image of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome), Our Lady of Częstochowa and Trakai, as well as images of the Virgin related to Smolensk and, finally, Our Lady of Chełm. In conclusion, several more general issues are raised, such as the impact of the alleged Western or Eastern pedigree of a given image on its worship among the adherents to particular denominations, and the ambiguity of the functions of Marian shrines. On the one hand, they were often involved in controversies and even military conflicts and thus regarded as markers of confessional or political identity, while on the other hand many of these shrines gathered local communities over confessional and political divisions, also served as an integrative factor.