Religion and Culture

The Ukrainian peasants were staunchly Eastern Orthodox. It became expedient to their nobles, however, to convert to western, Latin Catholicism. Roman Catholic monasteries, churches, and schools began to creep into Ukraine. The lease-holders of the great estates were largely Jewish. This was a socio-economic-religious mix which had much the same properties as charcoal-potassium nitrate-sulfur; a spark could cause a severe reaction.