Purpose of Terekhtemyriv legend

Nicholas Zharkikh

It is necessary to distinguish the original creator of Báthory's legend – Paul Piasecki – and later Ukrainian adaptation of the legend (in this adaptation a key role, as we have seen, played a piece of G. Grabianka).

Throughout the 17th century we have not seen any case to Báthory's legend used as a political argument in negotiations Cossacks with the Polish or other government – for the simple reason that legend was still a little known, and the people who ran the negotiations too well aware that no Báthory's gift existed. In the 18th century legend became practical application, which speaked in the next section. At the same time it served as a reinforcement for autonomist or secessionist aspirations of the Ukrainian elite in its competition with the Russian centralism.

It is an abstract of the chapter. For the full text see please ukrainian version.