Editing Polonization (section)

=== Ruthenian lands ===
[[File:Percent of Poles with surnames of Ruthenian origin by county.png|thumb|Percent of Poles with surnames of Ruthenian origin by county]]
Jogaila's successor [[Władysław III of Poland|Władysław III of Varna]], who reigned in 1434–1444, expanded the privileges of the nobles to all Ruthenian nobles irrespective of their religion, and in 1443 signed a bull equalizing the Orthodox church in rights with the Roman Catholicism thus alleviating the relationship with the Orthodox clergy. These policies continued under the next king [[Casimir IV Jagiellon]]. Still, the most cultural expansion of the Polish influence continued since the Ruthenian nobility were attracted by both the glamour of the Western culture and the Polish political order where the [[magnates]] became the unrestricted rulers of the lands and serfs in their vast estates.<ref>Ulčinaitė E., Jovaišas A., [https://web.archive.org/web/20071026081117/http://ualgiman.dtiltas.lt/vid..html#Hermanas_Vartbergietis_ "Lietuvių kalba ir literatūros istorija." Archived by Wayback.]</ref>

In the 1569 [[Union of Lublin]], the Ukrainian territories controlled by the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] were transferred to the [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland]],{{sfn|Stone|2014|p=62}} and thus found themselves under the direct influence of the [[Polish culture]] and [[Polish language|language]].

Ukrainian lands of Kyiv and Braclav voivodeship were rather sparsely populated and attracted a lot of settlers, mostly from Volhynia, but also from central Poland. One of the reasons was that serfdom was not introduced there.{{sfn|Magocsi|1996|p=145}} Among the settlers was also a petty nobility. Ruthenian, just like Lithuanian, nobility was attracted by the Polish culture, which at that time flourished. Many of them adopted the Polish language and customs, even converted to Roman Catholicism. Even for those who remained faithful to the Orthodox Church and Ruthenian language, Polish political identity became very important, as they were inspiring to be part of ''szlachta'' – a ruling, privileged elite.{{sfn|Magocsi|1996|p=149}} It was at that time when the concept of ''[[gente Ruthenus, natione Polonus]]'' (a Poles of a Rus' religion{{sfn|Magocsi|1996|p=149}}) was born. It all resulted in the almost complete abandonment of [[Ruthenian culture]], traditions and the [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox Church]] by the Ruthenian higher class.{{sfn|Subtelny|2009|p=95-96}}

The creation of the Greek Catholic Church, following the 1596 [[Union of Brest]] which sought to break the relations between Orthodox clergy in the Commonwealth and the Patriarchate in Moscow, put the Ruthenian people under stronger influence of Polish culture.<ref name="EB_Unia">Staff writer, ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' (2006). [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/466681/Poland/28181/The-Commonwealth#toc28186 "Poland, history of: Wladyslaw IV Vasa".]&nbsp;</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=БЕРЕСТЕЙСЬКА ЦЕРКОВНА УНІЯ 1596 Р. |url=http://resource.history.org.ua/cgi-bin/eiu/history.exe?Z21ID=&I21DBN=EIU&P21DBN=EIU&S21STN=1&S21REF=10&S21FMT=eiu_all&C21COM=S&S21CNR=20&S21P01=0&S21P02=0&S21P03=TRN=&S21COLORTERMS=0&S21STR=Berestejska_uniia_1596 |access-date=2023-12-29 |website=resource.history.org.ua}}</ref> The unia was supported by the Polish authorities. In addition to the Unia itself, the eventual [[Synod of Zamość|Latinization]] of the Unia was one of the components of Polonization.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nowakowski |first=Przemysław |title=Statuty synodu zamojskiego 1720 roku: Nowe tłumaczenie z komentarzami |year=2020 |location=Cracow |pages=382–390}}</ref> The unia was accompanied by the spread of the Roman Catholic Church in the Ruthenian lands. Dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church were established as early as the 14th and 15th centuries by the Grand Dukes of Lithuania. After the Union of Lublin Jesuit schools were established by Ruthenian magnates.{{sfn|Subtelny|2009|p=94}}

Some Ruthenian magnates like [[Sanguszko]], [[Wiśniowiecki]] and Kisiel, resisted the cultural Polonization for several generations, with the [[Ostrogski]] family being one of the most prominent examples. Remaining generally loyal to the Polish state, the magnates, like Ostrogskis, stood by the religion of their forefathers, and supported the Orthodox Church generously by opening schools, printing books in Ruthenian language (the first four printed [[Cyrillic]] books in the world were published in Cracow, in 1491<ref name="Mikos">[[Michael J. Mikoś]], ''Polish Renaissance Literature: An Anthology''. Ed. Michael J. Mikoś. Columbus, Ohio/Bloomington, Indiana: Slavica Publishers. 1995. {{ISBN|0-89357-257-8}}, [http://staropolska.gimnazjum.com.pl/ang/renaissance/Mikos_renaissance/Literary_r.html "Renaissance Literary Background."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105200217/http://staropolska.gimnazjum.com.pl/ang/renaissance/Mikos_renaissance/Literary_r.html |date=5 January 2009 }}</ref>) and giving generously to the Orthodox churches' construction. However, their resistance was gradually waning with each subsequent generation as more and more of the Ruthenian elite turned towards Polish language and Catholicism. Still, with most of the educational system getting Polonized and the most generously funded institutions being to the west of Ruthenia, the Ruthenian indigenous culture further deteriorated. In the Polish Ruthenia the language of the administrative paperwork started to gradually shift towards Polish. By the 16th century the language of administrative paperwork in Ruthenia was a peculiar mix of the older [[Church Slavonic]] with the [[Ruthenian language]] of the commoners and the [[Polish language]]. With the Polish influence in the mix gradually increasing it soon became mostly like the Polish language superimposed on the Ruthenian phonetics. The total confluence of Ruthenia and Poland was seen coming.<ref name=KostKhmeln>"[[Nikolay Kostomarov]], ''[http://www.kulichki.com/inkwell/text/special/history/kostom/kostom36.htm Russian History in Biographies of its main figures.]'' "Little Russian Hetman Zinoviy-Bogdan Khmelnytsky." {{in lang|ru}}</ref>