Jakub Becal’s scandal and religion conflicts in Toruń as an illustration of the religious and political situation in the Commonwealth at the end of XVII century

The religious situation in the Commonwealth during XVI and XVII centuries was very dynamic. Starting from the Warsaw Confederation in 1573, Polish national assembly (sejm konkwokacyjny) granted religious freedom to the nobles and ended with the religious tumults of the XVII and XVIII centuries. The article illustrates the change of religious situation in the Commonwealth based on the selected events: Jakub Becal’s scandal and religious conflicts in Toruń. These events show the transformation of the Polish-Lithuanian state and indicate the reasons for this transformation. Starting from the tolerant country since the reformation, through counterreformation and wars and ending in the discrimination against religious minorities in the turn of the XVII and XVIII centuries.