Legal aspects of school and religious education in Ukraine Early Modern times

Abstract

The scientific article is devoted to the study of the transformation of the legal foundations of the functioning of the school network in Ukraine in the conditions of socio-cultural changes of the XVI–XVIII century. The purpose of the article is the historical and legal analysis of the mechanisms of regulation of school and religious education in Ukraine during the XVI–XVIII century. The results of the study proved that the Early Modern period became a period of formation of a unique legal polycentrism, where the educational sphere developed at the intersection of several jurisdictions: state, municipal, corporate and canonical. It has been proven that the lack of a single state standard in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth contributed to the emergence of an extensive network of educational institutions with a high level of internal autonomy. The legal instruments that ensured the activity of educational institutions were systematized: foundation acts, statutes and monarchical privileges. Based on the analysis of the conflicts surrounding the Lavra School in Kyiv and Ivan Filipovych's printing house in Lviv, the practical use of lawsuits as a means of protecting the rights of educational corporations is revealed. The specifics of the Cossack model of education in the Hetman region were determined, where the legal status of institutions was based on Hetman universals and norms of customary law. It is analyzed how the territorial division of Ukraine after 1667 caused a legal discrepancy in the regulation of the educational sphere. It was established that the centralization of the Russian Empire in the 18th century. led to the gradual displacement of local traditions through secularization and unification. The conclusions emphasize that despite imperial pressure, the legal experience of the early modern period, in particular the tradition of corporate self-government and judicial protection of the rights and privileges of the Ukrainian community – laid the foundation for the formation of the modern Ukrainian educational and legal tradition and became the basis for modern reforms of the following centuries.