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{{See also|Lithuanian mythology}}
After the baptism in 1252 and coronation of King [[Mindaugas]] in 1253, Lithuania was recognized as a Christian state until 1260, when Mindaugas supported an uprising in [[Courland]] and (according to the German order) renounced Christianity. Up until 1387, Lithuanian nobles professed their own religion, which was [[polytheistic]]. Ethnic Lithuanians were very dedicated to their faith. The pagan beliefs needed to be deeply entrenched to survive strong pressure from missionaries and foreign powers. Until the seventeenth century there were relics of old faith reported by counter-reformation active [[Society of Jesus|Jesuit]] priests, like feeding [[žaltys]] with milk or bringing food to graves of ancestors.
The lands of modern-day [[Belarus]] and [[Ukraine]], as well as local [[duke]]s (princes) in these regions, were firmly [[Eastern Orthodox|Orthodox]] Christian (Greek Catholic after the [[Union of Brest]]), though. While pagan beliefs in Lithuania were strong enough to survive centuries of pressure from military orders and missionaries, they did eventually succumb. In 1387, Lithuania converted to [[Catholicism]], while most of the Ruthenian lands stayed [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]]. There was an effort to polarize Orthodoxes after the [[Union of Brest]] in 1596, by which Orthodox Greek Catholics acknowledged papal authority and Catholic catechism, but preserved Orthodox liturgy. Country also became one of the major centers of reformation.
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