Церковні братства в громадсько-політичному та етноконфесійному житті XVI–XVII ст. у світлі української історіографії

The purpose of this article is to investigate features of lightning in the works of Ukrainian researchers of the XIX- at the beginning XXI cc. of participation of Orthodox church fraternities, which existed on the territory of Ukraine, in ethno-confessional and socio-political life of the Commonwealth, their activities for the benefit of preservation of national and religious identity. Research methodology: the work is based on general scientific principles of historism, comprehensiveness, systemetic and etc. Various general scientific methods in particular analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction, comparison, systemization were used in the work. Special-historical methods such as historical-comparative, historical-typilogical, historical-chronological and others were applied. Scientific novelty of the research is that the special review of domestic historiography of participation of church fraternities in processes of ethno-confessional and socio-political life on Ukrainian lands during XVI-XVII cc. were carried on in the modern domestic science for the first time. Conclusions: The considered scientific achievement of Ukrainian researchers testifies great interest of researches of the XIX- at the beginning XXI cc. to the problems of participation of Orthodox church fraternities, which existed on the territory of Ukraine, in ethno-confessional and socio-political life of the XVI-XVII cc. Significant influence on the interpretation of scientists in various processes of domestic policy, national and religious life of the Commonwealth carried out the ideological beliefs of individual scholars. For example, such were ideas of muscoviteism, through the prism of which a lot of Galician researchers investigated history. Especially noticeable are the influences of political conditions that have imposed on researches certain historiographical patterns. In particular such approaches should be noted in the works of historians who worked under the pressure of the Soviet totalitarian system.