This paper analyses, using the recently restored Evangelical cemetery at Radzewice as an example, the circumstances of the phenomenon which should be described as funerary inheritance. The cemetery, just like tens of other cemeteries in its nearest vicinity, fell into oblivion after the Evangelical community was displaced. However, in contrast to the majority of non-Catholic burial sites in the region, its further decomposition and ruination were stopped owing to the activity of the persons indicated in the publication. The above was possible in view of certain specific local relations, the existence of which formed the basis of the inheritance process. Above all, they included the dominance of individual memory over the collective and the national memory, and the preserved sense of sacred space, connected with the area, space of the cemetery. The reconstruction of the former cemetery chapel was a harbinger of the restitution of the cemetery, which was carried out in the late 1980s. Its circumstances and consequences, i.e. the establishment of a memorial site and a new Catholic cemetery next to the former Evangelical cemetery, now covered by maintenance, picture the funerary inheritance announced by the title of this paper.

This article, written on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, focuses on the subsequent 100th anniversary of this event and the celebrations in a given historical context and in relation to the perception of the person of Martin Luther. Within 500 years of the memorable speech of the Reformation Father, which initiated the “Protestant reform” movement, at least every consecutive hundred years was celebrated as a special commemoration of this fact, which changed the course of European and World history and moved deeply into Christianity. The individual anniversary of the Reformation should therefore be considered in relation to social and political situation in Europe of that time, especially in Germany. It is no less important to draw attention to the figure of the founder of the Reformed Church, which has always focused, even today, on the celebration of the anniversary of the Reformation. The article presents the main themes of Martin Luther’s life in the context of his reform of Christianity and the basic ideas guiding his thoughts. Then, the development of the Reformation is analyzed, understood as the deepening of doctrine and the stabilization of practice, in the years after the death of the founder of the reform movement. Against this background, successive anniversaries of the Protestant reform are presented with regard to the religious and political situation in Europe and in the world, with particular emphasis on the last anniversary i.e. 500th anniversary of the Reformation and its perception in Protestant Churches as well as in the Catholic Church in the context of the development of the ecumenical movement.

The article presents Polish historians and their work in the times of the Saxon kings of Poland. In particular the Author seeks an answer to the problem what was accepted and what the Polish authors of the first part of the 18th century condemned.

The crisis of the Catholic Church due to the Reformation marked a profound shift in European religious dynamics during the 16th century. This transformation led to confessional conflicts previous-ly unseen in Europe’s history. Within this context, the Warsaw Confederation 1573 stands out as an extraordinary event. Unlike traditional peace settlements following religious wars or edicts is-sued by rulers, it was a political and pragmatic measure introduced by the Sejm and aimed at maintaining peace during the Interre-gnum period, and preventing bloody conflicts. The path to this uni-que solution lay in the multiculturalism of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on which territories Roman Catholics already in the late Middle Ages coexisted with Orthodox Christians. Besides, through Poland’s diplomatic efforts, the protestant Duchy of Prussia was established in 1525 following the secularization of the Teu-tonic Order. The Warsaw Confederation remains an exceptional example of resolving internal religious conflicts in the early modern period, as the Western countries, with their conflict-oriented mind-set, were less inclined to pursue such a path.