Burial of the Hetman B.Khmelnytskyi in Subotiv: Visions and Realities

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to find out the burial place of the Hetman of Ukraine B.Khmelnytskyi and his eldest son Tymish. Emphasis is placed on the relevance of a comprehensive analysis of the problem in the context of the latest search for the crypt of B.Khmelnytskyi and the version of the Russian historian T.Tairova-Yakovleva.

Scientific novelty is determined by the involvement and elaboration of a wide range of sources on the raised problem, the latest and critical view of the problem, unbiased by ideological layers.

The main results of the study. The historical tradition is based on a number of sources that point to the burial of B.Khmelnytskyi in St. Elijah’s Church in Subotiv, Chyhyryn district. The fact of B.Khmelnytskyi’s burial in St. Michael’s Church is openly debatable. P.Aleppo’s notes on his stay in Subotiv in 1656 need linguistic clarification given the multiplicity of their lists and translations. The area near St. Elijah’s Church is more in line with the purpose of the market square, taking into account the topography and toponymy of the area, than the probable locations near St. Michael’s Church. The subjectivism of Fr. M.Hrushevskyi in selective coverage during the publication of Subotiv’s legends and retellings of episodes about the burial of B.Khmelnytskyi is proven. Given the anomalies discovered in 2019 inside St. Elijah’s Church, the latest publications and sources, the search for the burial place of B.Khmelnytskyi and, possibly, his son Tymish under this church seems promising today. In view of the above facts, which testify to the periodization of the history of St. Michael’s Church, the idea of the functioning of this church as a parish one, and St. Elijah’s Church – as the ancestral tomb of the Khmelnytskyi family has been confirmed. The practical significance of the results achieved. The research makes it possible to reduce the uncertainty in solving the problem of B.Khmelnytskyi’s burial and to draw the attention of historians, local historians, journalists, philologists and politicians to the outlined issues. A scientific substantiation for purposeful searches for the burial place of B.Khmelnytskyi and T.Khmelnytskyi is offered.