THE CHARISM OF THE ORDER

The Order's main goals and objectives are to preserve the traditions and heritage of the Crimean and Azov Greeks and Urum Christians, who are direct descendants of the Goths.

The Ecumenical Order of St. John of Gothia is a follower of the ancient traditions of the Goths, the Goth states on the territory of modern Poland and Ukraine, the Orthodox Goth Metropolis, the heritage of the Polish and Ukrainian nobility of the “Goth and Sarmatian genus,” Crimean Christians who were forcibly evicted by the Russian Empress Catherine II from the Crimea to the Azov steppes in the 18th century. The Order preserves the continuity of Goth traditions and unites the descendants of ancient noble families of various nationalities of the ancient Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus) and the Crimean Khanate, as well as individual representatives of other nations who share our worldview and desire to achieve a common goal. The Polish kings from the Swedish Vasa dynasty, namely: Sigismund III (1587-1632), Władysław IV (1632-1648), Jan II Casimir (1648-1668) had the hereditary title: By the grace of God, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, Russian, Prussian, Mazovian, Zhmud, Infland, Smolensk, Siversk, and Chernihiv, as well as the hereditary king of the Swedes, Goths, and Venedians. That is, the “Goth” identity is present in the titles of some kings of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. One of the popular theories about the origin of the Polish Piast royal dynasty is gothic roots. Therefore, the Gothic foundation of our order organically fits into the “Sarmatian-Gothic” narrative of the Polish and Ukrainian nobility traditions.

In the 15th century, the Polish historian Jan Dlugosz was the first to write about the phenomenon of Sarmatism in Poland, which was later confirmed in the works of other historians - in particular, the “Treatise on Two Sarmatias” by Matwij Michowski, Martyn Belski, Martin Kromer, and others. The nobles who were preoccupied with the fashionable in 15th-century Europe searched for historical roots and believed that they were descendants of the Goths and Sarmats, tribes who lived in the south of modern Ukraine. Sarmatism influenced the nobility's lifestyle and clothing. At first, it was an idealistic movement that glorified religiosity (regardless of denomination), honesty, national pride, courage, equality, and love of freedom. Just the features that are characteristic of the Polish and Ukrainian nobility.

The Goths and Sarmats had certain examples and ideals of a man, citizen, and king. The main features that every Goth and Sarmat must possess have been formed. Such traits were: love of freedom, sincerity, courage, hospitality, good-naturedness, individuality, independence. The king should think not about his benefit, but the welfare of the country. Above all, he must protect the freedom of the nobility, and be fair and generous towards it. According to the Sarmats, the model kings were Boleslav the Brave, Casimir the Just, Casimir the Great, and Jan III Sobeski.

The Order has an “ecumenical” character, that is, it is open to the faithful of all Christian churches. The order is not knightly and does not confer titles, other than the general title of archon or archontess, which has a long history rooted in the Byzantine period of the life of the Goth Church.

Archon (old Greek ἄρχων from old Greek ἄρχη, which means power, word for word translation is “lord”, “leader”) - the highest official in many city-states of Ancient Greece. In ancient Athens, they were elected from 1068 BC., from the time when the tsarist power was abolished. Initially, three archons were elected termless (for life), later for 10 years, and from the 7th century BC. for 1 year only. From 582 BC. the number of archons increased to nine.

According to researchers, the positions of archons originate from the gradual separation from the king of certain aspects of his power:

•        the archon-polemarch received military power;

•        archon-eponym, received judicial-administrative power, after him the year was named;

•        Archon Basileus was a priest.

Athenian archons were appointed since the time of Solon from the highest property class, since the time of Cleisthenes they were appointed by lot, and since Aristides – from all citizens. Former archons were part of the Areopagus. The title of archon was later used only as an honorific until it disappeared in the 5th century BC.

During the Byzantine era, the archonship turned into the title of the ruler of individual states or territories, as well as court officials. After the fall of Constantinople (1453), the honorary title of “archon” was given by the Patriarch of Constantinople, and in the 21st century, it was given also in the Bulgarian Church, as a recognition of merit before the Orthodox Church. Our Order, by granting the honorary title of Archon of the Great House of Gothia, emphasizes the equality of all noble members of the Order among themselves, as it was accepted among the nobility of the Commonwealth of Nations before.

The Order's main goals and objectives are to preserve the traditions and heritage of the Crimean and Azov Greeks and Urum Christians, who are direct descendants of the Goths. The first step on this path is the liberation of Crimea and the Azov sea region, which is a historical region where the Goths and other peoples who belonged to the Goth Church lived for centuries, from Russian occupation. All-round support of the independent Ukrainian state, which, together with the present-day Republic of Poland, is the heir of the Commonwealth of Many Peoples, to whose ethnogenesis joined the Goths and other peoples of historical Goth.

Our Order has the honor of protecting and defending Ukraine and Poland since the Goths don’t exist nowadays as a separate nation or ethnos but dissolved among other ancient peoples, who today make up the present-day Ukrainian and Polish nations. The next goal of the Order is to support the development of the idea of ​​the Intermarie. Intermarie is the concept of a partner states blocking from the Baltic to the Black and the Adriatic seas, as well as to support the idea of modern “Prometheusism”, which should inherit the movement of diaspora political organizations of the peoples of the former Russian Empire led by interwar Poland for the joint struggle against the USSR for the creation of their national states. Today's new Prometheusism is support for the liberation movement of peoples enslaved by the Russian Federation.

The idea of ​​an alliance of Intermarie states “from sea to sea” has a long history, dating back to the “Jagiellonian Commonwealth of Nations” within the borders of the common Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In the 19th century, this idea was promulgated by Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski as a means to secure Poland and Europe altogether from Russian expansion and it involved the expansion of Poland to the south and the inclusion of Prussia.

The first head of the revived Polish state, Józef Piłsudski, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Józef Beck, and the leader of the Ukrainian national-democratic liberation movement of the late 1980s and 1990s, Vyacheslav Chornovil were later the supporters of the Baltic-Black Sea Union.

The project underwent numerous changes regarding the involvement of different peoples depending on the historical circumstances. Thus, after the First World War, Józef Pilsudski considered the Intermarie project, which was to include the modern territories of Poland (except Prussia), Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia.

The president of Poland, Andrzej Duda, who was elected in 2015, said that he wanted to create a new interstate alliance, the idea of ​​which has long been known under the name “Intermarie”. He stated, “I am considering the idea of ​​creating a partnership block of states from the Baltic to the Black and Adriatic seas.”

The modern concept of the Intermarie is actively popularized by such Ukrainian philosophers of conservative orientation as Oleksandr Maslak, Ihor Zagrebelnyi, Olena Semenyaka, Eduard Yurchenko. The founding conference of the Baltic-Black Sea Union Development Assistance Group was held by the Azov Movement in July 2016. The second conference was held in April 2017.

After the beginning of the war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine, in February 2022, the Order supported the Territorial Defense Unit, which was created in the Zaporizhzhia Region and took St. John of Gothia as its patron. The Order follows the example of its patron Saint John of Gothia, who at one time raised the Christian people of Goth to a liberation struggle against the Khazars and provides volunteer assistance and encourages noble people in Ukraine and the whole world to support Ukrainian national liberation movement against Russia, which is a modern Khazaria – the enslaver of other peoples.