Wave of Calvinism

In the 1590s, when the Wave of Protestantism had started to change the fabric of Lithuanian society, numerous refugees of the Reformed Faith arrived in a second wave. These were the Dutch, English, French and Spanish fleeing from the narrow-minded Catholic governments of their former countries. The refugees were a mix of farmers and city-dwellers and they influenced the Lithuanians in a similar way as the earlier Protestants. However, the Lithuanian Magnates in opposition of the king viewed fellow Poland as the perfect societal form. When the king converted to the Lutheran form of Protestantism, many of them became reformed. Both to underline their difference with the king and because the Reformed ideals place God before king. The Reformed faith was also a perfect ideology for them to imprint upon the serfs. They were serfs because God wanted them to be and thus they became more manageable. In the 1630's a growing dissent between the Protestant state on one hand and the Reformed and Orthodox magnates on the other could be felt.