Лицкевич О.В. Граница Великого Княжества Литовского с Ливонией в районе Дрисвят и Браслава (1426 г.) // Вестник Полоцкого государственного университета. Серия А. Гуманитарные науки. – 2024. – № 1 (69). – С. 29–34. (original) (raw)
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Историко-географический журнал. 2024. Т. 3. № 3. С. 22-47. DOI: 10.58529/2782-6511-2024-3-3-22-47 “Radivil’s” border between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL) and the Livonian branch of the Teutonic Order was demarcated in 1474–1477 in accordance with the delimitation treaty concluded in 1473. The most important sources for reconstructing the line of this border, in addition to the 1473 treaty itself, are its descriptions made in the 16th century. These are the description of 1529, included in Book 223 of the Lithuanian Metrica, the protocol of demarcation of 1541, known in two Latin-language copies and a translation into Old Polish, and the descriptions of 1542, included in Books 559 and 560 of the Lithuanian Metrica. The article presents an analytical commentary on these sources concerning the section of the border of the GDL with Livonia from the Baltic Sea to the Western Dvina River. Most of the main control points of these descriptions (i.e. toponyms and hydronyms) are localized with reference to topographic maps. Boundary lines reflected in these sources are compared, including those with the modern state borders of Belarus, Lithuania and Latvia. It is concluded that all of the above sources describe “Radivil’s” border as a real physical object, referring to its border markers, and the 1542 descriptions also mention infrastructural objects that remained after the demarcation of “Radivil’s” border (e.g., camp sites of demarcation commission). The boundary line in the 1529 and 1542 descriptions is virtually identical in most sections, except for the sections from the source of the Dobe River to the confluence of the Suseja River with the Memele River and southwest of the Livonian castle of Bauska. There is a significant coincidence of “Radivil’s” border, reflected in the accounts of 1529, 1541 and 1542, with the modern state borders between Lithuania and Latvia and between Belarus and Latvia.
2022
The article examines the process of formation of the Polotsk-Livonian border of the Principality of Polotsk and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the 13th to 15th centuries. It analyzes the localization of the border zones that separated the areas inhabited by Eastern Slavs and neighboring tribes of Lithuanians and Latgalians. It is shown that in the 14th–15th centuries linear state borders marked on the ground by special signs were formed on these border zones. This process began during the reign of Grand Duke Algirdas (during 1350s and 1360s) and ended during the reign of Grand Duke Vytautas, when the demarcation of the border between the GDL and the Teutonic Order was carried out on the basis of the Melno Treaty of 1422. The next demarcation of the PolotskLivonian border took place in the reign of King Casimir after the treaty with Livonia had been concluded in 1473. It is concluded that to the south of the Western Dvina the configuration of the borders established in the 15th century differed. The border drawn during the reign of Grand Duke Vytautas in this area was always further south than the border demarcated during the reign of King Casimir and, therefore, it was more advantageous for Livonia than for the GDL. In the area north of the Western Dvina the borders drawn in the reign of Grand Duke Vytautas and King Casimir were mostly coincidental. In a number of sections the Polotsk-Livonian border, demarcated in 1474–1477, roughly corresponds to the modern state border between Belarus and Latvia.
2023
The article analyzes the influence of the traditions of Old Rus’ (Polotsk and Galicia-Volhynia principalities) on the legal regulation and practices of establishing internal and external borders in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It is noted that already in the second half of the 11th – early 12th century in the Principality of Polotsk the concept of political territory and borders of the state as attributes of its sovereignty and power emerged. From the Principality of Polotsk the position of a yezdok (a judge on the issues of drawing borders and resolving land disputes) was borrowed into the state apparatus and legislation of the GDL of the 15–16th centuries. It is shown that the methods of marking boundaries on the ground (grani, mezhy, koptsy), which were fixed in the legislation and practice of land relations of the GDL, were of East Slavic origin. It is noted that that Old Russian influences in this sphere were closely intertwined with European ones. It is concluded that the formation of the western external linear borders of the GDL on the place of ancient boundary spaces took place since the second half of the 14th century under the influence of contacts with Mazovia, the Polish Kingdom, and the Teutonic Order. At the same time, the treaty of the Lutsk Prince Lubart Gediminovich with the Polish Kingdom of 1366 reflected the peculiarities of perception and realization of borders, which have some similarity with the traditions of Rus’.
Studia Historica Europae Orientalis = Исследования по истории Восточной Европы. – Вып. 15. – Минск: РИВШ, 2022. – С. 88–103. The article examines a little known record from the 14th century in the codex OF 1b (from Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz in Berlin), which presents a draft delimitation between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Livonia, proposed by the Teutonic Order in 1388–1391. The connection of this source with the history of the land of Polotsk and Lithuania Transvilnensis is analyzed.
Купиш Д. Русско-ливонское пограничье в стратегических планах Стефана Батория в 1578–1582 гг.// Studia Slavica et Balcanica Petropolitana. №1(15). 2014. С. 65-76.
В статье проанализированы стратегия и тактика короля Стефана Батория и его советников в ходе войны с Россией в 1578–1582 гг. Главной идеей военно-политической концепции Батория стало возвращение Ливонии без ввода войск на ее территорию. Эту идею хотели реализовать путем захвата русских земель, прилегающих к восточной границе России. Это отрезало бы Ливонию от России и заставило бы капитулировать царские войска, размещенные в гарнизонах замков в Ливонии. Реализация этой концепции вылилась в три похода Батория на Россию в 1579–1581 гг. Автор оценивает стратегические и тактические планы Польши и приводит примеры альтернативных политических проектов.***** The article examines the strategic plans aiming at defeating Russia and regaining Livonia that were put forward by the King Stefan Bathory and his advisers in the course of the war of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with Russia in the years 1578-1582. It was so called «Moscow War», which consisted of three attacks of Russia: first was in 1579, when Poland captured Polotsk, second Ї in 1580, when Stephan Bathory captured Luky the Great, and the third was in 1581–82, when he besieged a fortress Pskov. The concept of regaining Livonia by Poland without invading its territory was the starting point. The whole idea was meant to be carried out through the conquest of the land along the eastern borderline of this region, which would result in cutting it off from Russia and force the tzar’s troops, situated in the local castles, to capitulate. The realization of the mentioned idea caused the three military expeditions to Russia led by Bathory. The author not only assesses strategic and tactic assumptions of the plans, but he also lists the examples of alternative projects proposed at that time.