Cultural Strategies of the Ostrozky Family in the European Context of the Early Modern Period

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to study the content and features of the cultural strategies of the Ostrozky family in the context of European intellectual and patronage practices of the early modern period. The methodology is based on a combination of historical-retrospective, comparative, structural-logical, and cultural-historical approaches, which allowed us to trace the local features of patronage and its compliance with European trends. The scientific novelty lies in the attempt to consider the patronage of the Ostrozkys through the prism of the European model of cultural policy, in which patronage acts as an instrument for the formation of symbolic capital, the intellectual environment and the representation of power; at the same time, the question of the Ukrainian elite’s own strategies aimed at asserting the cultural subjectivity of Ukrainian lands was raised. Conclusions. The work states that the creation of the Ostroh Academy and Printing House was not a random initiative, but part of a well-thought-out cultural strategy of Vasyl-Konstantyn Ostrohsky, which was focused on the formation of an Orthodox intellectual elite, the modernisation of the national educational tradition, and the expansion of the communicative capabilities of Ukrainian culture. It is proven that the educational project was based on university models of European countries, which were adapted to the needs of the Orthodox environment, which made it possible to combine the Latin intellectual tradition with the Byzantine theological heritage. It is emphasised that printing activities acted not only as a technical basis for publishing, but also as a key instrument of ideological influence. It is substantiated that the patronage of the Ostrohsky family contributed to the formation of the Ukrainian educational and book space, as well as the formation of a network of intellectual contacts.