Elisabeta Movilă and Miron Barnovschi as patrons of Zadariv monastery (according to documents of the 17th and 18th centuries)

Abstract

Three documents from the first third of the 17th century on the history of the Orthodox monastery near the village of Zadariv in the Halych Land of the Ruthenian Voivodeship (Lviv Diocese) are introduced into scientific circulation. We are talking about two grants of Elisabeta Movilă (widow of the Moldavian voivode Ieremia; in 1613 and 1614) and one grant by Miron Barnovschi (also voivode of Moldavia; in 1630) in favor of the monastery. The act of confirmation of the privileges listed above, carried out in 1666 by Zygmunt Karol Przerębski, and the visitation of the Zadariv monastery (1760) are also considered. Based on the analysis of sources and literature, it is found out under what circumstances the rulers of the neighboring Moldavian principality were able to grant privileges to the Orthodox monastery in Commonwealth. Ieremia and Elisabeta Movilă settled in the Polish Kingdom in 1591 after fleeing from Moldova due to fear of persecutions from the Turkish sultan. In 1598, Ieremia purchased the Ustia estate, where he arrived in 1591, and the Liatske estate, where the Zadariv monastery was located (or where it could be founded by Ieremia or Elisabeta himself). Actually, these two are the most likely founders of the monastery. In addition to them, the list of probable founders includes the previous owners of both estates in the 16th century: Jan (senior), Jan (junior) and Andrzej Sienieński, Zofia Mielecka, Ivan Simeon Slutsky, Jan Karol Chodkiewicz.
Both grants of Elisabeta Movilă had the features characteristic of Moldavian grants to the local monasteries. First of all it is a curse to those, who would dare to violate the rights and privileges of the monastery in the future.
In 1628, the estate, in which the Zadariv monastery was located, was purchased by Miron Barnovschi from two sons-in-law of Elisabeta Movilă. This Moldavian voivode was a grand nephew of Ieremia. He too was a Polish nobleman. In 1630, Miron Barnovschi gave two subjects to the Zadariv monastery. The text of this deed is almost identical to Elisabeta’s document of 1613. We assume, that the “act of 1613.” was actually written in 1661, shortly before it was entered into the Halych court acts.
Keywords: Zadariv, Lviv Diocese, Orthodox monastery, Elisabeta Movilă, Miron Barnovschi, Principality of Moldavia