Orthodox brotherhood

Brotherhoods (Ukrainian: братство; literally, "fraternities") were non-monastic organisations of Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic citizens or lay brothers affiliated with individual autocephalous churches. Some of their focus was of an evangelical or theological character, but much of their activities were in fact secular.^[1] Their structure resembled that of medieval confraternities and trade guilds, and can be characterized as the Orthodox equivalent of Catholic religious orders.^[1][2] Beginning in the western Ukrainian lands,^[3][4] they became common in the cities throughout the Ruthenian part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth such as Lviv, Vilnius, Lutsk, Vitebsk, Minsk, and Kyiv.