Епоха Вітовта в історії України: 1387-1430

ENThe book takes a new look at the era of Vytautas the Great in Ukraine. Polemics of Lithuanian and Ukrainian historians in a form of discussions reveals the policy pursued by Vytautas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and his activities in Ukraine, taking into consideration contacts between Lithuanians and Ukrainians in the 11th - 15th centuries. First of all, the Lithuanian perspective is presented - to see Vytautas in Ukraine from the towers of Vilnius. In his texts Prof. Alfredas Bublauskas considers the genesis of the power of Vytautas the Great and the appearance of the title; he explains according to what criteria Vytautas was called the Great, why marches to the East were organised when the real danger lay in the West. The reader will find interesting considerations about the emergence of the Gediminian columns in Ukraine and about their possible arrival there along the Bug River. It is graphics of Drohiczyn seals that can be regarded as a precursor of both Old Russian dukes of the Grand Duchy in the 14th - 15th centuries and the Gediminids who ruled the regions, e.g. that of the Koriatians, sphragistics. Symbols of some seals are very similar to the Gediminian columns. It is well-known that Drohiczyn is a city on the Bug River, which comes flowing from Volhynia. Volhynia was part of the Grand Duchy under Vytautas' father Kęstutis, and Vytautas considered it his ancestral land transferring its coat of arms into his majestic seal. Hence, the Gediminian columns were formed on the basis of their own traditions, most likely from Kęstutis' linear marks. Relations between Drohiczyn and Volhynia, and the coronation of Danijel, ruler of Galicia-Volhynia, in particular, that took place during the coronation of Mindaugas in 1253 confirms this supposition.In this way Drohiczyn became a direct rather than accidental city linking Lithuania with Ukraine. Then it is necessary to mention that in Ukrainian heraldry, the so-called Tryzub (Ukrainian Тризуб 'trident')(who is already related to St. Vladimir, the Baptist of Kievan Rus') is directly related to the Gediminian columns. What is more, they are regarded as the rebirth of the so-called Tryzub. The author, with the help of historiographic criteria or biographical research (biogrphistika) on Vytautas, reveals why Vytautas was called the Great politician, which is confirmed by the epithets used to describe him in Jan Długosz chronicles (Lat.: 'gloriam Lithuanicam et per ilium partam et c um eo extinctam fore) - 'Glory of Lithuania, created by him, will pass away together with him'. It was during the era of Vytautas that the way towards Europe was paved. Lithuania followed that path and during a hundred years made a great progress in the process of Europeanisation. The author also draws attention to Vytautas' military policy and sometimes the question is raised whether it was worth marching so deep into the East. All those who are amused by the idea of the State of Lithuania extending 'from the sea to the sea' would, without doubt, answer that it was worthwhile. However, others give a different answer: Lithuanian forces were scattered in the East, and at that time the fate of the State was decided in the West, near the Nemunas River. However, Lithuania would hardly have been able to stand up against the Teutonic Order if it had not mobilised forces of the large region, if people of Rus' had not come to its aid. The expansion of the Grand Duchy closer to the Black Sea is presented from a new historiographic viewpoint. The Dnieper is in its east and borders with the Crimean Khanate; the Dniester is in its west and it borders with Moldova.Here attention is drawn to the 1398 march against the Tatars during which the castle of St. John, otherwise known as Tavane, was built on the Dniester. It is underlined that when marching, the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania also performed the function of demonstrating the power of Vytautas, and its mere appearance brought terror to the entire environs. The formation of the march had a terrifying power. The uncontrollable caravan scattering across the steppe at the radius of tens of kilometres marched towards Belgorod. Forming a dust cloud that reached the sky the monster half a kilometre wide and several kilometres long marched forward prepared to grapple with anything that blocked its way. Images of the heritage of the Congress of Lutsk meeting and the Lithuanian Dukes in Kiev help us to get acquainted with the emotional climate of Vytautas' times. Women in the surroundings of Vytautas the Great also deserve mention. When writing about such great men, women are usually ignored. Therefore, in her text the Associate Professor Genutė Kirkienė throws light on the role that Vytautas' women played in his political life focusing on the influence and significance of his immediate family - wives, sisters and daughters. It was in Vytautas' times that women took an active part in the public life of the State, in political and diplomatic activities.