Page "Polish–Lithuanian–Muscovite Commonwealth" Paragraph 10

The very possibility that such an idea could have been seriously considered by the Polish side early on was likely based on the spirit of the 1573 Warsaw Confederation ( Warsaw Compact ), that guaranteed, at least formally, an equality for non-Catholic nobles in the Commonwealth.

However, while the adopted convention was an unprecedentedly liberal act for its time, such full equality was never achieved in reality even within the Commonwealth itself.

Taking into account that the most divisions of that time, if not dynastic, were the religious divisions and the relationship between the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox branches of Christianities were strained at best, it remains surprising that such an idea was seriously considered at all.

It remains equally unlikely, that such an idea could have been accepted by the Russian side because the view towards Catholicism in the Russian Empire was highly negative.