The dissertation is the first comprehensive investigation of the German printed chronicle "Theatrum Europaeum" as the source of the history of Ukraine in the second half of 17th - early 18th century and monument of historiography. In the dissertation, the state of scientific elaboration of the problem in European, Russian and Ukrainian historiography is explicated. The history and stages of creation of "Theatrum Europaeum", the specifics of subject headings of the German chronicle and its main topics are studied. It is the first time in the Ukrainian historiography that the coverage of full biography of publisher of 'TE' M.Merian is presented and scientific and organizational activity of the Frankfurt publication is analyzed. In particular, biographies of compilers of "Theatrum Europaeum" were compounded, main features of their historical concept and social and political views were characterized, contribution to compilation of a particular part of the German chronicle is assessed, reasons for changes in the editorial membership. The source base for the Frankfurt publication is determined along with the specifics of approaches used by the chroniclers in sources' handling. The main sources for the German chronicle were the so called 'leaflets', reports from ambassadors, documents provided by private individuals and witnesses of events, fragments of Frankfurt periodicals, business and personal correspondence. At that, one should notice that in process of studying the Ukraine-related messages, a hypothesis was formulated on Polish-origin messages having been used by the authors of the chronicle as a priority. It was determined that the Ukrainian news in "Theatrum Europaeum" were indissolubly connected with the history of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, less frequently - with the Ottoman Empire and the Tsardom of Muscovy. The messages were focused on the key figures, first of all - the hetmans; sometimes the role of the central personalities was played by the Cossack colonels. The authors of the periodical grouped the messages into mini-blocks, which subjects varied within the military and political events (military campaigns, battles, entries into peace treaties and allied agreements) and description of diplomatic missions. Infrequently, the focus of the compilers was placed on extraordinary events, e.g. miraculous phenomena or natural cataclysms. Ample informative opportunities of "Theatrum Europaeum" when studying events in Ukraine in the period from the second half of 17th to early 18th century were proven. E.g., news blocks dedicated to activity of the little-known hetmans S. Kunytskyi and A. Mohyla, descriptions of Jewish pogroms of 1664, siege of Hlukhiv fortress and Chyhyryn (1667, 1668) are of value for the source study. Another significant array of original messages is found in short but numerous descriptions of tartars' attacks on Ukrainian population aggregates. These pieces of information are of value for the local history source studies. In the context of "Theatrum Europaeum", they are first of all the messages on the history of villages and towns in regions of Vinnytsia, Volyn, Kyiv, Ternopil, Lviv and Cherkasy. However, Cossack Ukraine in general has not emerged in '"Theatrum Europaeum" as a holistic political entity. Most of the compilers of "Theatrum Europaeum" used the title "Ukraine" without putting efforts to comment on specific geographic location of the territory mentioned. Nevertheless, regardless of biased and to certain extent one-sided presentation of Ukrainian events by the authors of the German printed chronicle "Theatrum Europaeum", a sufficient amount of original news that have informative value can be found on the pages of this publication. Hence, this monument can be regarded as not only of the value for the source study but also for the historiography, which can enrich the source base of the history of Ukraine of the second half of 17th - early 18th century.
