Szlachta of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Counter-Reformation at the Beginning of the Second Decade of the 17th Century

One of the manifestations of the advance of the Counter-Reformation in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the late 16th – early 17th centuries were persistent attempts by Catholics to liquidate Protestant «zbors» in large urban centers of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. There were repeated attacks by the urban population on Protestant churches and their pogroms. Punishments of their participants were prevented by the state authorities, who supported the policy of the Counter-Reformation. The analysis of a number of texts, the appearance of which is associated with the attack on the Protestant church in Vilna in 1611, suggests a strong negative reaction of the broad circles of the szlachta of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to the actions of supporters of the Counter-Reformation. Some features of the available evidence indicate a stronger position of Protestantism in the Grand Duchy compared to Poland.