ABSTRACT
This chapter determines the unique position of Poland, compared with the rest of Europe during the period, with regard to religious toleration and the Reformation, as a result of which Poland attracted immigrants from all parts of Europe who were fleeing from religious persecution. They brought with them new ideas and skills, which served to enrich and invigorate Polish culture. Lutheranism spread throughout Silesia, Royal and Ducal Prussia, and Greater Poland, attracting townspeople, but not the nobility. In 1551, when the Bishop of Kraków tried to take action in the ecclesiastical courts against a Calvinist nobleman, the provincial sejmik took up arms in the defendant's defence. Poland has long been identified strongly with the Roman Catholic Church, but such was not always the case. Although the Catholic Church has an unbroken presence in Poland, in the early modern period it did not enjoy a monopoly.
