THE FIGURE OF I. MAZEPA IN THE MONOGRAPHIC RESEARCH OF THEODOR MASKIW

Abstract

The article analyzes the monographic studies of T. Maсkiw, which concerned the figure of I. Mazepa. The personal contribution of the historian to the study of political circumstances and public sentiments in which the documents described by scientists were created, the genesis and texts of research sources, as well as their influence on memoirists of that era are determined. Attention is drawn to the refutation by scientists of falsified data and erroneous assumptions of other researchers about the figure of the hetman. The types and kinds of sources used by T. Maсkiw in his research are described. The differences in the factual content of texts of sources of different European countries, the dependence of these texts on the place of creation of the source and its author are studied, the structure, genesis and differences of the main works of the historian on this subject are analyzed. Emphasis is placed on new information on the history of Ukraine in the time of I. Mazepa, which T. Maсkiw found in European archives. The archeographic aspect of the historian’s activity is also reflected in the article. An important contribution of the author can be considered his reflections on the objectivity / subjectivity of the European press, which covered the events of Europe and Ukraine in the era of hetman I. Mazepa, its influence on European politicians, as well as the dependence of the press on the state. The main attention in the research is paid to the ukrainian-language monograph «Hetman Ivan Mazepa in the that time western European sources 1687-1709». An analysis of the change in assessments of political events in Ukraine by the foreign press after the transition of the hetman to the side of the Swedish king, a description of the reasons for this transition, the dependence of foreign assessments of the events of 1708 on the position of the Russian Empire, causes and consequences for I. Mazepa, vicissitudes of granting the hetman the title of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire.